Beware this car Beware this seller Do not buy it

[quest63]

Yesterday I won this Milly in an auction for a good price. I bought it at around 2.00pm and could have been in Wakefield last night any time to pick it up.

Repeated attempts to get a response any response from the seller failed, when I did get a response it was I havent been paid yet, and the sellers alleged postcode was given.
No address no contact numbers just give me the money heres a postcode, and some reference to it being in a car park (whether this was the one where the seller lived or a public one or garage one ws not explained)

I politely explained I would like to ensure the car was the sellers to sell and that it was complete with the promised MOT before I paid. I also made repeated requests for the address and contact numbers which still the seller will not provide. Its only common sense to make sure a cars seller is the owner or at least the registered keeper, also probably legally incumbant on us to do our best not to buy a stolen car.

Anyway the seller wont give me contact details, wont give me the address and clearly now I cant send a Tow truck up there on the off chance the car and her/ him are actually there even if they did.

The seller also tried to withdraw the sale with ebay but failed.

I do not know if the car is stolen or not the sellers to sell,or as I suspect it might be sour grapes because they didnt get a good price. either way I currently consider it to be mine and would advise people to steer clear if someone tries to sell it to you as I very likely will be contacting the police and DVLA to find out whats going on

Thanks

 

[martinthrapston]

Dont you need the keys and paperwork aswell,or has he just left it in a carpark unlocked?
Sounds a right idiot,if you paid by paypal get a refund,sounds like its going to be a problem car.

 

[quest63]

No like I said I wanted to check the sellers right to sell it before I paid, they said no cash so I said OK give me the address and phone number Ill check the docs are OK and Ill paypal you the money from my phone.

Yep keys and paperwork would be cool :-D actually she didnt even say what car park just a car park in some Wakefield postcode. Must be like one of those what do they call them earth caching games?

She, it feels like a she for some reason rather than give me any contact details tried reporting me to ebay for errm errm trying to buy the car I won in cash :shock: didnt try reporting me for non payment tried reporting me for payment :?

Then threatened to report me to the police for harrassment ie three or four polite messages :shock:

 

[BenF]

maybe I missed it in your posts but have you raised a complaint with the auction house?

 

[quest63]

Complaint made and some unspecified sanction applied, however they dont mediate and cant force a sale.

I also left negative feedback but only after the other party reported me and tried to cancel the sale.

 

[grayfox]

Definitely sounds like she/he's not happy with the price IMO and trying to get out of it. Reckon the cars fine and registered to the seller.

 

[quest63]

Yeah sour grapes is definately a strong possibilty :thumbs:

 

[Muzboy]

I reckon it's this one -

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/ford-puma-millenium-for-breaking-many-good-parts-body-good-new-suspension-abs-etc/1048191141#photo-content" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Map link shows an industrial estate in Featherstone (about 5 miles from me)

 

[quest63]

Actually when the seller originally messaged me they said it was in a car park in WF7 6EP which made it sound damn supicious I speculated that they might have meant a garage car park, is there a garage there? Also its out of tax so could be at someones place of work to keep it off the road or it might just have broke down there.

I did some hunting on google for the house shown in the advert for the car in that postcode but havent found it yet.

Currently we have a situation where the seller just wont respond, my ebay complaint is upheld and they will have their wrist slapped and they have bad feedback but this doesnt get me my car or stop them shafting the next person along, which might be one of us.

Currently the situation is, I was the only bidder I won the car and the seller wont give me the address or contact details for me to check its theirs to sell prior to me paying. Im pretty sure I would be in legal trouble pretty quickly if I bought a car that turned out to be stolen and I had bought it in a car park with no ID. I spoke with a West Yorkshire police civvy employer on their chat line and gave them my details and the car reg and gave them every opportunity to tell me if it was stolen. They didnt say it was. What I want to do is find the car get a tow truck local to it and paypal the money via my phone to the seller and tow the car away. If it gets physical so be it.

Does anyone see any legal difficulty in my doing this??

 

[martinthrapston]

Personally i think it would be better to walk away from this,more so as the seller is refusing to contact you(which is also wrong) but if you do find where car is located,it could be in a height restricted access car park,so maybe wont get a recovery vehicle in to collect car,so you will be out of pocket,it could also be under cctv control,and could be done for stealing said car,i know you got it for a good price but sometimes we have to let things go,and find something else.

 

[hewy]

If the car is stolen and you get it, you will be done for receiving stolen goods. Best thing is to pay for a car check to make sure if it is stolen. If you don't get your money back, the best way is the claims court and the court bailiffs.

 

[quest63]

Good points Martin, I would actually first ascertain where it is without the tow truck and book one locally to the car I wouldnt gamble a tow truck from here in case it goes tits up as I would be honour bound to pay the driver even if the car wasnt collected.

I have no problem with CCTV I have discussed the matter with the local police and would welcome them attending to perhaps help get my log book and keys. In fact you can all come if you like we can make a mini meet of it, The currant buns are on me :grin:

I agree it was a bargain but what follows really is nothing to do with money,its all about the principle I assure you. I would pursue something at my extra cost if there was a reasonable chance of success even if it was about £10. If this (insert four letter word of choice had sent me say a brocken Milly dash badge for a tenner I would be at his door on principle.


Cheers Martin

 

[madhillbilly17]

if you've paid for the car and you have got proof i can't see how you could have a probably,print off the ebay info and take it with you if you find the car,i had a problem with someone not sending me some car parts not long ago,so i did fly byes in the area he lived on google earth and matched pictures i found of his car on his drive and found his address!by the end of the day i pretty much had every little detail about the guy! if you post up all the details you have on the person more people could track and hunt lol, our have a bash when i get back home on Tuesday im away at the mow with a crappy connection,i love a good hunt :-D

ps have you hpi'd it?

 

[quest63]

If the car is stolen and you get it, you will be done for receiving stolen goods. Best thing is to pay for a car check to make sure if it is stolen. If you don't get your money back, the best way is the claims court and the court bailiffs.

Hi Hewy I f I find it and go ahead I think that would be a wise further precaution. However it is also on the record my discussion with West Yorkshire police who had every opportunity to tell me if it was stolen and did not.

There does however remain the possibility of it say being at a garage who have done some work on it and that they are trying to sell it behind the owners back or even with the owners consent to cover some work on it. In which case it wouldnt show as stolen but isnt theirs to sell.

I agree the courts and bailiffs are a good choice and have worked for me before, however the car will be long gone by that time.
Cheers

 

[quest63]

if you've paid for the car and you have got proof i can't see how you could have a probably,print off the ebay info and take it with you if you find the car,i had a problem with someone not sending me some car parts not long ago,so i did fly byes in the area he lived on google earth and matched pictures i found of his car on his drive and found his address!by the end of the day i pretty much had every little detail about the guy! if you post up all the details you have on the person more people could track and hunt lol, our have a bash when i get back home on Tuesday im away at the mow with a crappy connection,i love a good hunt :-D

ps have you hpi'd it?

Hiya, good suggestions I intended to turn up there with the ebay printouts and the paypal print out and screen prints of the ebay messages where the seller refuses me access to the car and a printout of the online chat with Wakefield Police etc etc.


Cheers

 

[hewy]

If you get your money back I know there is a yellow one is and its in a Ford dealership. I'm going to find out the price and see if its worth it. k:

 

[zinc2000]

I have to say that good price or not, walk away from it, there are more genuine cars and sellers out there.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

It was a really good price though! I can see why Questy is pursuing it to be honest. If someone sells something on eBay with no reserve or starting price, they have to consider the fact that they may possibly not get the price they want for it. They put it up, Questy won the auction fair and square, that's a sale in my book.

 

[748]

It was a really good price though! I can see why Questy is pursuing it to be honest. If someone sells something on eBay with no reserve or starting price, they have to consider the fact that they may possibly not get the price they want for it. They put it up, Questy won the auction fair and square, that's a sale in my book.

I fully agree with that, there are so many people using and abusing ebay lately. It's taking away the essence of what an auction site is...you take a gamble when selling. I recently sold some bike leathers, unfortunately for me there were not a lot of people there at the time. The buyer got a bargain, but that's the way it goes (or should do).

 

[quest63]

I discoveed today it was on gumtree for £400 which is I guess where the problem lies,and there were any number of other things the seller could have done to avoid all the following hassle

1) put a start price at the minimum they wanted
2) Put a reserve price on it
3) Reserve the right to sell it elsewher (although I think this is pretty dubious personally)
4) Cancel the auction
5) Accept they made a mistake and take responsibilty for their actions at the get go
6) Respond positively to my more than fair / polite attempts to conclude the matter

It and they are now removed from gumtree and they cant list it again on ebay, so I expect it will turn up elsewhere

I agree with 748 I to have got less than I would like for stuff, its just part of the game. And if say as few as 20% of people did this ebay would just collapse due to lack of trust. I also had the pleasure of having a bid removed from an item I was selling this week for no reason at all, I didnt even know this was possible. On checking out what was a current not an ended auction the buyer said they cancelled because they couldnt get in touch with me, They hadnt even tried, and if they had so what the auction still had days left to run. I can only suggest everyone complains to ebay and gives bad feedback every time someone shafts you because it seems people are getting the message you can get away with anything on ebay nowadays.