Being scammed by ebay buyer on paypal

[aisforandy]

Hi, I hope someone can help me,

 

I recently sold a laptop for spares/repairs on ebay. The item sold for £162. I sent the item via Fed Ex, however the buyer said that the laptop was left out in the rain and when they opened it the screen was smashed.

 

I contacted Fed Ex who sent me a copy of the Proof of Delivery form with the buyers signature on. I raised this with the buyer who said that the courier must have signed it themselves. I disagreed (partly due to their attitude - I could tell something was not right) and explained that I did not believe them and if they thought they were a victim of fraud they should go to the police - I even poste them a copy of the signed POD form.

 

They immediately made a claim with Paypal, however they made it under te option of "Goods not as described". I replied to the claim stating I had a copy of the POD form with the buyers signature which I was happy to provide.

 

Paypal immediately sided with the buyer and didn't even asking me to provide the Proof of Delivery. The only option they gave me was to agree to pay a full refund if the item was returned to me in its original condition - which is obviously impossible if the screen has been broken.

 

Anyway, I received the item back today and when examining it I find they have taken of the Windows XP COA with product key from the bottom of the laptop and replaced it with another (I noticed because the replacement was so tatty and came right off).

 

I have contacted both paypal and the buyer - Paypal have instructed me to contact the police to obtain a statement number in order to proceed with an appeal, and I have been met with a torrent of abuse from the buyer asking me to provide the product key number which is correct so he can send me the right one. Why did he remove and replace in the first place!!?

 

Anyway, I am not responding to buyer, following his profanities and jibes of "little man" etc. I am going to the police station tomorrow night to make my complaint - I was hoping someone could advise of anything else I should be doing?

 

Thanks in advance!!

[raydetinu]

seems you have done all you can at this point.

Have you checked the buyers feedback and history, may have done something like this before. It is usually a good indicator if has bad feedback etc.

You can contact other sellers or buyers who have dealt with him and get the info on their dealings with him.

[Conniff]

What is his feedback score and what other products has he bought?

 

You mention 'jibes and profanities', is this in a letter or have you spoken to on the phone?

 

Are you certain that you have the same laptop returned that you sent?

Edited July 23, 2008 by Conniff

[Meldrew2]

As you can no longer leave negative feedback for a bad buyer, it's no longer possible to judge a buyer by his feedback score.

 

One reason why I stopped selling on eBay.