Internet Fraud - Small Claims

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ninainpa

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I was the high bidder on an item listed on Ebay. In the description on Ebay it was listed as solid mahogony but when received, it was cheap wood and plastic. After numerous emails asking for a return of my money, and filing reports with PayPal and Ebay (both of which can do nothing), I feel that my only option here is to take him to small claims court. He lives in NY and I live in Pa. Does anyone know which state I would have to file the claim in?

Any tips you could pass on would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Nina
 
Originally posted by ninainpa
I was the high bidder on an item listed on Ebay. In the description on Ebay it was listed as solid mahogony but when received, it was cheap wood and plastic. After numerous emails asking for a return of my money, and filing reports with PayPal and Ebay (both of which can do nothing), I feel that my only option here is to take him to small claims court. He lives in NY and I live in Pa. Does anyone know which state I would have to file the claim in?

Any tips you could pass on would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Nina
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Unfortunately Nina, small claims is usually limited to having jurisdiction (power) over a local defendant within the jurisdiction. The easiest thing to do would be to have someone in NY file the case for you and prosecute the claim there and obtain a judgment in NY. You should FIRST send a demand letter, certified return receipt, to this person with a copy of the ad and demand for the return of your money within a certain period of time for the reasons explained above. In the event the letter comes back to you, it might be able to serve as evidence for you to prove your case. Unfortunately, even if you obtain judgment you will need to enforce the judgment as well. If it is a small amount you may wish to just have someone file, obtain a judgment, and file a lien on the person so that it will make a dent in their credit history...

Yes, this is the danger of using ebay and one of the reasons I will rarely use it.
 
Originally posted by zas107
File a complaint with the better business bureau
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Unfortunately that will not address the problem directly although good advice when dealing with a business. In this situation, and frequently on ebay, you are dealing with private individuals as opposed to businesses. The BBB is also not an enforcement agency, merely an organization that attempts to facilitate dispute resolution and keeping on file complaints of bad businesses.
 
Originally posted by h2opilot
Make sure you report the problem to ebay. Check this link for some more information about ebay's fraud policies.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/insurance.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEBRL:014
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It would seem that this is ebay's attempt to deal with the problem, an excerpt below. It is always good to report the problem so as to help prevent it from recurring and hopefully to eventually create a trail to nab the perpetrator of the continued fraud.


Fraud Protection Program
Under the eBay Fraud Protection Program, most items on eBay are covered for up to $200 (minus $25 to cover processing costs). Please note: the maximum reimbursement for any claim is $175. For example:

If the item price is $500, you are eligible to receive $175;
If the item price is $100, you are eligible to receive $75;
If the item price is $26, you are eligible to receive $1.
While the vast majority of eBay transactions are trouble-free, rest assured that when fraud happens, our program can help. Here's how fraud is defined on eBay:

Paying for an item and never receiving it or
Receiving an item that is less than what is described -- such as winning a solid gold necklace but receiving a copper one instead.
 
I should also point out than when I buy on ebay I ONLY buy after checking feedback from others. Read what other people say BEFORE bidding. If the seller won't provide satisfaction after you've tried to resolve the issue then tell them you are going to leave negagtive feedback for others to read and you'll report them to ebay. Sometimes people will have a change of heart after they realize that you'll follow through with the complaints.
 
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