E-bay disappointment re. Balenciaga fake

[lizziecat]

Hello,
This is my first posting on Purseforum. I have recently been scammed by a UK seller on e-bay, who advertised a so-called Balenciaga City bag together with original receipt. I foolishly paid £450 for the bag and soon after it arrived, I took myself off to a central London store to purchase the real things. I bought a wonderful black Twiggy. But I'm now left with an expensive fake and no-one seems very interested in doing anything about it. The seller did not offer paypal and so I paid with a credit card cheque, which I've now discovered does not have the same rights of a refund that a credit card has! I've approached the police, trading standards and e-bay here in the UK and am getting nowhere. What could I do next, please? This lady continues to trade on e-bay and now that I've fully read her feedback, I can clearly see that she has been doing this for over 18 months, ripping people off.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[sjc0105]

Sorry I can't help, but hope everything turns out in your favor!

 

[Faithful]

If the Police and Ebay can't do anything then I will issue a small claim for a fixed amount (ie the £450.00). The Court fee would be £120.00 however if the Court found in your favour then this would be paid by the Defendant along with the £80.00 Fixed costs. I am guessing though if you drafted a claim form it may just spur them into action!

HTH

 

[lizziecat]

I've just had a long conversation with the local police and they have been really helpful with their advice and support. They appear genuinely concerned about what has happened and about the fact that the seller is still actively trading. I'm cheered up already and thank you for any comments and views, which you share with me.

 

[Roxane]

I am sorry this happened to you, but in large cities with many more serious crimes going on, I doubt police would be at all interested in prosecuting sellers of fake purses on eBay. In fact, police only crack down on large-scale counterfeiters when pressured by manufacturers, so as to be seen as enforcing intellectual property laws. I had all my luggage stolen from *inside* my motel room while visiting Disneyland several years ago, and the police who showed up told me that they would file their report, but basically, I should never hope to see my luggage again.

 

[leanbeanee]

Do you know where she lives? Same country as you? Do you have her address? This could be helpful for the police? If you don't then you can probably find out. You said she doesn't accept Paypal, then she must accept other forms of payment like cheque that require you to snail mail the payments to her! Use another account to bid on one of her auctions. Tell her you wish to pay by cheque, she should then give you her address. Take that to the police! If she lives in the same country, they should hopefully be more willing to help! If not, even with her address you could scare her by threatening to go to the police. Devious?