Why would you ship someething back without the refund or partial refund? You gave the seller the complete upper hand and obviously you had skepticism before due to the shady dealings up to that point. File as many claims as needed, at this point you have proof he is avoiding you and worst case scenario you cancel the claims. Lets hope you took proof of damage, shipping (assuming since you have fedex signature), proof of packing quality, etc..... Better to cancel the claim then miss out completely and be SOL $5k

Agreed huge mistake on my part by not getting partial/full refund first --- as you can see I've never experienced anything like this before so a lot of mistakes were made on my end.

Sorry to hear it. I would absolutely initiate a claim with the credit card company given the guys lack of communication. hope it works out.

So very sorry to hear this - it is bad news for everyone here on this board. One bad apple can spoil the basket, as the saying goes. I sincerely hope that the seller comes to his senses, takes full responsibility, and makes things right. If not, at the very least I hope that you recover your money.

I second the advice given above: at this point file as many claims as possible (starting with your credit card company). Also, put together a folder including whatever documentation you have, including original listing, any e-mails, credit card statement showing the charge, postage receipts, etc. And, by the way, it is not too early to contact the authorities and report fraud.

Best of luck, please keep us all posted.

Dispute it with your CC company and move on...you have done more than enough, tell the seller what you are doing and keep all the documentation including that you packed it "better" to reduce further damage, and note the spacer issue.

Good luck.

Because PayPal requires us to ship items back to the seller before they will issue a refund. Learned from experience. Bought a BMC off here that was in horrible condition. Got my money back via paypal disputes which took a while.

Notify his local atrocities, this constitutes wire fraud and is a federal offense.

That's not true at all, its dependent on the seller. Sellers have the option to refund money without any proof or anything, partial or full refund. On numerous occasions I've received a full refund for items that arrived completely damaged and I didn't have to send the product back.

The seller had the option and still does have the option to issue a full refund, even if there is an open claim. If you open a claim the seller usually doesn't want to do a thing because they hope paypal will side with them and their scam works, however they still have the ability to refund you the money. Sounds like in your case the seller never issued a refund, paypal sided with you and just took the money from them and gave it back

 
Options at this point are:

1. Paypal dispute

2. Credit card dispute

3. Local authority fraud department

4. Out him on ST

I would definitely go ahead with the credit card dispute right away. Then contact your city and ask about a fraud department. My wife had some shady dealing with someone who was supposed to charge $50 to unlock her running car and instead charged the card $200. We disputed the charge but also contacted the city fraud department, they contacted the locksmith, threatened legal action and he shaped right up.

If he doesn't refund you he can be criminally charged for wire fraud, sometimes that threat is enough to spur on some action.

That sucks man, hope you get all your money back. I would out him on slowtwitch, I wouldn't want to buy anything from him and I doubt anyone else does either. IMO you gave him enough chances to make good, outting him at this time shouldn't be frowned upon.

buy a plane ticket, go to the address you shipped the frame to.... with a baseball bat.

+1..Not that we are an exclusive club, but we do need common sense. If one cheat a fellow biker, triathlete on small stuff like bike, parts, then that person doesn't deserve to be a member of ST.

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Formerly known SCENERYNW

How did you list the paypal as a gift or for goods?

Put a dispute through paypal, even if it's paypal gift. If it's not paypal gift but for goods and services, you are protected very well by PayPal. They protect the buyer Moreso than the seller.

Who did he file the insurance claim with, the freight company? If so, I would follow up on that claim to see if fraud was committed and notify the freight company. Remember you have the file #, it should be the tracking number.

There looks like it's a double fraud situation at this point. Remember this is fraud over $5k, so it's a big deal.

If you paid PayPal for goods or services, you should have no problem with the dispute. PayPal will go after him/her and refund your money regardless.

Good luck

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Fitness, Like Life, Is a Journey!
http://www.trifitcoaching.com

If he is currently selling on slowtwitch I think you should post a warning on his thread, just for the sake of others. Or at least let him know you're going to, might make him jump.

Who did he ship it through? If he's trying to get an insurance claim, with the information you've provided, sounds like fraud. You could give the shipping company a heads up. Just to help build the case

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach