Help! Think I'm being scammed!

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:10

I sold a camera on a well known auction site last week for £250. Posted it off via PayPal's system to the buyers registered address and paid extra for the insurance.

The buyer's sent me a message today saying that the camera wasn't in the parcel and that there was some plastic ducting instead. He's sent me photos of it but I didn't put that in there.

He's claiming either I put the wrong thing in the bag or that ParcelForce nicked it.

I've got a horrible feeling this is going to end up with me being £250 out of pocket and minus a camera as I imagine it'll be hard getting ParcelForce to pay out when he says I posted the wrong thing.

Already emailed said auction site and paypal explaining what's happened to try and stop them instantly reversing it as soon as he tells them.

I'm really ****** off at the moment, won't ever be selling on there again but I could really do with some advice on what to do next as I really can't afford to lose that amount of cash at the moment

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:17

Gamer_T said:
This is why I'd never send anything online. Just too risky IMO.

How likely is it that a ParcelForce employee tampered with the box and stole it? I think it's highly unlikely tbh.

He's probabaly just an ebay scam artist who has done it before.

I wish you the best of luck, I'd also be really ****** off.

Well I emailed him a couple of hours ago saying that as he's accusing a PF employee of theft that he'll more than likely be asked to make a police statement and I've not had a response yet...

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:20

Gamer_T said:
You have his address? Why don't you go pay him a visit? He would be under more pressure to tell the truth.

Other side of the country

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:24

AcidHell2 said:
Why not put a claim in with PF and clam down a bit. You posted it the right way and have insurance. So hopefully it'll be fine.

If you were PF would you payout when the other person's saying "he put the wrong thing in the box"?

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:49

joffy said:
What's his feedback history like?

gumbald said:
How much did the parcel weigh? Got your receipt?

Steeps said:
Don't suppose the "exif" data is in tact on the images he sent? Might be worth looking at them to see if the photos he took of the ducting were really taken with your camera.

exif's in tact, taken with a Panasonic

Feedback is 200+, higher than mine but sadly it doesn't stop someone trying it on

Got the receipt, heading to the Post Office I posted it from tomorrow to attempt to sort everything

Cyanide · 12 Jan 2010 at 18:53

gumbald said:
Does it not say the weight on there? Would you expect the camera to be heavier or lighter than the ducting he claims?

A lot heavier, weighed in at 2.7 kg and, from the photo he's sent, the duct can't weigh more than a couple of hundred grams

Cyanide · 13 Jan 2010 at 10:59

Dropped the claim form off at the PO today. There's only 2 staff there and they both remember me packing the parcel there and were happy to sign the claim form to say I posted the camera. Still not heard back from the buyer after telling him to call the police to get a crime number.

Cyanide · 13 Jan 2010 at 13:49

Greenlizard0 said:
Urgh, don't say this, I'm about to use a courier myself.

Odd question, not worth making my own thread, but when the postal address says "The Vale of Glamorgan", can I shorten it to just "Glamorgan"?

I'd use the full, as given, address just to be sure.

I'd deliver it by hand. So far I've had major problems with Royal Mail, ParcelForce and DHL and CityLink don't do personal deliveries anymore

Cyanide · 13 Jan 2010 at 14:58

jaybee said:
I don't get it, why does tamper tape help? I'm not being an arse I don't get it.

If he accepts it when the tape's broken then it's tough ****

Doesn't stop him saying it was fine and the stuff's wrong though

Cyanide · 14 Jan 2010 at 15:53

Nope, still not heard back from him and I don't expect PF to respond until at least next week

Cyanide · 14 Jan 2010 at 17:16

slylittlefox said:
If he's got the camera, he can just put everything back in the box and weigh it?

I assume ParcelForce will be wanting to weigh it though, which is the only glimmer of hope I have at the moment

Cyanide · 12 Feb 2010 at 11:38

Update to this - he filed a complaint through Ebay (not PayPal).

I've still not heard anything back from ParcelForce so I escalated the complaint and explained to Ebay that I'd got proof and witnesses of me posting the right thing, that it'd bee tampered with when he got it, his flatmate had signed for it, the weights didn't match and he'd refused to contact the police to help speed up the claim.

They refunded him anyway.

Thankfully it's Ebay who's given the refund, not me. My PayPal balance has stayed the same and the resolution says "Ebay has refunded this item, you do not need to take any further action"

So when ParcelForce finish processing it technically I'll be £250 up

Cyanide · 12 Feb 2010 at 12:00

RiPz said:
Technically any insurance monies you recieve from parcelforce should go to ebay (or ebay's insurance company). not you. as ebay have paid out and are as such out of pocket.

you should get the money for the camera you sent. anything more would be fraud on your part.

True, but tbh I really can't see them paying out anyway

Cyanide · 12 Feb 2010 at 13:11

Tute said:
Nothing. Why do you think it happens so much?

And I wouldn't bet against EBay realising their mistake and billing you for it at a later date. I would get that Paypal account unlinked pronto.

It's deleted and I've put in a request to close my ebay account too, I've encountered 6 scammers in the last year and I'm sick of it. There's plenty of other places to buy stuff online