Hello all,
Recently I became a victim of fraud and I have been trying to reach out to all the right people in order to correct this.
I purchased a brand new, still sealed mobile phone from what looked like a reputable seller on eBay. They had been on eBay for quite a few years selling all sorts of items with great feedback and not negatives.
I received the mobile phone after paying using my CC and used it for 6 months as there were no issues until February this year. It had turned out the original owner had put the mobile phone on the global blacklist as I believe they're the only person (except the police) that can do this. I tried to get in contact with the seller and it had seemed they had deactivated their eBay account, which was strange since they had been a long term user of eBay.
I'm reaching out to the eBay community for advice on this situation please. I have actioned the following so far:
- My CC company won't issue a refund due to a third party handling the transaction (PayPal). There is a Consumer Credit Act 1974 (yes, this is a problem in this day and age) that apparently stops banks from issuing refunds.
- eBay have said they wouldn't help and I needed to go to the payment handled.
- PayPal have said they wouldn't help being it's outside their 180 day limit. I have sent the CEO a letter with all the evidence screenshotted.
- I wrote a letter to the supplier of the mobile phone and report the fraudulent activity but I received a very unprofessional letter with no name or signature back. I am looking to send this to their CEO and ask if this is acceptable.
- I logged a case with Action Fraud who tried to pass it to the National Fraud Agency and got told they literally don't have the time to check this case.
- I am currently trying to work with the Financial Ombudsman Service to push my CC company into getting my money back.
Short of me running about and trying to get either my mobile phone working (off the blacklist and the IMEI number moved to my account) or getting my money back, I am running out of ideas. I could try legal advice but if anyone has any kind of appropriate and helpful advice, I would be grateful.
Kind regards,
Mark