eBay seller threatening court case on buy it now car.

[webmonkie]

Hello, I was wondering if I could get some advice.

 

I put an best offer in on a car that was listed on eBay motors as a classified listing then I totally forgot about it and ended up buying another car from a dealer.

 

A few days later I got a phone call from the seller of the car on eBay threatening to come round to my house to collect the money for his car. I gave my apologies and offered him a good will gesture to cover his fees. He proceeded to keep ringing me back with new threats like contacting my employer to tell them I am a lier and to watch my back. I ended up getting my number changed because of all the calls.

 

Now the seller is saying he is going to take to court to either get me to buy the car or to pay his costs unless I pay him £100 cash.

 

I know this started as my fault for making the offer but I didn't expect this reaction and I need to understand my legal position before I give the bully his money.

 

Thanks

[middenmess]

Was your offer accepted by the seller at the time that you made it?

[webmonkie]

There was 24 hours between the offer and it being accepted, but I didn't know it had been accepted till over 3 days later.

I am tempted to pay the guy as I think he is clinically insane.

Do I pay him or do I call his bluff.

He says he used to be a debt collector and now writes legal loan documents so he seems to believe what he is saying.

[rebel11]

I wonder if it's the same guy,

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-consumer-forums/270289-ebay-motors-i-refused.html

[middenmess]

If he is making threats against you then his actions should be reported to the police.

 

Has he started an 'item not paid for dispute' with ebay?

 

If so then any threatening correspondence that you have by email from him you should supply to ebay.

 

If he hasn't opened a dispute then you should still contact ebay and explain the situation and see what they advise as to whether the late acceptance of your offer 'sealed a deal' or not.

[webmonkie]

He did open and dispute and I ended up with a unpaid item mark which i accept and I still offered as a goodwill gesture to cover hsi fees but it has gone a little mental. His last reply was.

 

I see that you have not sought any legal advise. And as you ar a photographer / web designer and I am a structurer of legal loan documentation shall we go with my view for the time being. When you put in an offer through ebay, it is clear what you are offering to buy, furthermore a monetary value is attached so yes, you are entering into a contract and my acceptance makes it binding on both parties. As contract law goes, it really does not get any simpler than this. Legally, this is an open / shut case, the only complication is what to do with the outcome, do I force you to buy my car.. which will be a pain for me as I have to wait until the case is heard and closed and then you will claim not to have any money so we will have to go back to court and so it goes on..

 

Or, the optimal outcome is that I take you to court for costs arising from your breach of contract which hence far amount to the ebay fees, the cost of accomodation that was not used as a result of my cancelled weekend away, the cost incurred by having my other car stored and then transported which I was supposed to be collecting over that weekend away, interest lost on the money you were supposed to pay me, time spent chasing you, telephone calls and so on. The list continues, along with legal costs I would place a ball park of a couple of grand which of course also makes the legal process quicker as we can go through the county courts.

 

What I am offering you is a quick settlement in advance of this process and for which I you will have in writing that I will not persue any further claim against you, my proposed amount is one hundred pounds.

 

To be honest you have been very immature until now, but I would strongly urge you to wake up and see what a hole you have dug for yourself. My threatening behaviour is not a threat, it is a statement of intent and I have not proposed anything in any way outside of the law...

 

Mr Hughes

 

First this is, he keeps googling me and he seems proud of the fact.

 

I really dont know what to do with this guy, I have reported him to the police and eBay and none of that seems to bother him.

 

This is the item :- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160449686809&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

[middenmess]

If you now have an unpaid item strike against you then his ebay fees have been returned/credited back to him by ebay.

 

Why not phone ebay as the ''buyer'' did in this example posted above by Rebel and copy them his latest communication and highlight the My threatening behaviour line.

 

 

ebay motors - I refused to purchase

[rebel11]

It's intimidation and bullying you into paying him, have you checked out

E-Bay terms and conditions. I think you need to send E-bay a letter (Recorded)

enclosing a copy of the text.

I personally think he doesn't stand a chance in court and he won't go that far.

I would personally send him a letter telling him to go for it.

Why would he want only £100 if it's cost him thousands.

If anything you could counter sue for trying to extort money from you.

 

[webmonkie]

I already have, they are investgating the user and have stated that they don't accept that kind of behavior. This is not stopping him taking me to court and he has told me to take my problems up with ebay after the court case.

 

This guy is really starting to get on my nerves, he seems to bark alot but I need to find out about his bite.

[middenmess]

Contact ebay by phone first as writing to them and awaiting a reply could be a couple of weeks.

 

I sold a car on ebay recently.

The winning bidder emailed to say he was only bidding for fun and didn't want the car.

Annoying yes but that's life the world is full of idiots so I just contacted the under bidder through 'second chance' and he agreed to buy.

 

Unpaid item strike to 'fun bidder',blocked him from bidding on my auctions and moved on.

 

Your seller is just a bully--phone ebay and ignore any more correspondence from him unless he is daft enough to serve legal papers on you and if that happens come back here for advice in defending but that really is unlikely to happen.

[rebel11]

Keep a diary, you could sue him for Harresment, keep a record of letters and phone calls.

 

Do your best to ignore him, he's a chancer.

[webmonkie]

Does the fact that is wasnt a auction but a classified advert with a best offer system?

ebay will not do anything as they say the seller is going to take me to court.

Also I am really worried now, I have done a HPI check on the car and it states it was registered in 10/03/2010 with no model number and no mileage.

That does not match up with the car as described does it?

[raydetinu]

I very much doubt he will proceed with court action, just being a bully!

Suggest you either ignore anything further and do not enter into any further communication, or if you are inclined make him an offer to settle the dispute for a smaller sum say £25 and make this final.

It might be interesting to know if he actually went on to sell the car and for what price tho! if it was for more than you offered then his claim evaporates.

[middenmess]

I don't think you read the advert very well---

The registered date relates to the date that it was reg in the UK

I wouldn't offer anything to him as he will sense your willingness to give him more money for nothing.

What was the offer to purchase that you made?

It might be useful to keep a copy of the email header that you sent to make the offer with the time and date and also the email header that he sent of acceptance with time and date.

[mightymouse_69]

If he did go to court, I doubt very much that he would be able to recover all of the costs he has listed.

 

the ebay fees

 

These will have been refunded anyway.

 

the cost of accomodation that was not used as a result of my cancelled weekend away, the cost incurred by having my other car stored and then transported which I was supposed to be collecting over that weekend away

 

That will all depend on what the arrangement was regarding this "weekend away"

 

What I am offering you is a quick settlement in advance of this process and for which I you will have in writing that I will not persue any further claim against you, my proposed amount is one hundred pounds.

 

You can tell he used to be a debt collector!!

 

As for forcing you to buy the car - thats equity and to be successful there he would have to show that he has been reasonable. So keep records of all the calls and threats - have you got an incident number or some record from the police?

 

Also - I assume you used the "buy it now" button? Was there a reserve price on the car?

[hightail]

the seller is going to take me to court.

 

Stop answering his emails. Stop encouraging him. Every time you respond he'll see it as a sign of weakness. Ebay is full of cyber bullies.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I note that the seller's keenness for things to be legally correct doesn't extend to his number plates...

[naughteblonde]

Hey!

Im a naewbie to the site but thought this may have some impact:

Non-binding bid policy

 

Motors such as the car you've bid on are covered by the non binding bid policy which means there is no formal contract for him to enfore via the courts.

 

Just a thought, the others here would know the system better than I but I hope this helps ^_^

[Hammy1962]

I note that the seller's keenness for things to be legally correct doesn't extend to his number plates...

 

Or his spelling and grammar. What the hell is a 'Structurer of legal documents' That has to be a made up word.

 

Hammy

[middenmess]

It wasn't a bid as such....

[rebel11]

He needs to try and make out he knows something, when in reality he knows nothing. The object of the excercise (e-bay) is to sell a car, not extort money.

 

Or his spelling and grammar. What the hell is a 'Structurer of legal documents' That has to be a made up word.

 

Hammy

[perplexity]

A contract of sale is of course enforceable, and the acceptance of an offer to buy is thus a contract.

 

A consumer owns the right to cancel a distance contract concluded when a buyer accepts a seller's offer to sell at a price, but when a person with a good made available accepts an offer made to purchase, it is not at all so clear that this would count as a consumer contract.

 

At any rate, eBay are not so likley to concern themselves with an offer made privately, which I take to have been the case.

 

[Kraken1]

As perpx says above, he has a case.

 

What the seller has said is sort of right, except, as MM pointed out above, he won't be able to claim most of the costs he is claiming.

 

Getting you to go through with the deal, called specific performance, is unlikely. His claim would be for any losses he has incurred that were within the reasonable contemplation of the parties at the time the contract was agreed. You probably can't be certain of his actual losses until he actually sells the car. Many of the losses he is claiming are probably unrecoverable as they would not be foreseeable.

 

As for his legal qualifications, trite. I often find that those with legal qualifications rarely shout about it or try to threaten folk with them. They just sue.

 

Harassment? Not on the basis of the email you have put up. Assertive, yes. Harassing, no. Granted, there might be other things he's been up to which might cross the line, but the email alone won't get you anywhere.

 

 

In future, make sure you go back and retract any outstanding offers before buying something else. An offer can be revoked at any point up until acceptance.

[webmonkie]

Thanks for all the advice.

I know I am in the wrong here but the guy just will not give it up, I got this email a few moments ago.

As indicated last week, I will submit the county court application tomorrow unless we can resolve this in an amicable manner as outlined in previous mails. I will hold off until COB tomorrow for your response. As indicated previously, it would be my preference to resolve this out of court, however as I have incurred real costs these must be ratified.

 Kind Regards,

 Richard

Its the final chance to give in to this guy but by the sounds of it you guys think he is just chancing his luck. Could I ask, if this did go to county court, would he have a chance of winning?

It was a classified advert with a best offer function, it wasn't a auction hence it had no buy it now price.

[Kraken1]

Winning? Good.

Winning all the stuff he's claiming for? Poor.