I need some advice on how to best handle this situation:
On February 14th I bid on and won a set of Zipp 909 wheels on eBay for $1,000. The seller had zero feedback and wanted a cashier's check. Before sending the check I wanted to talk to the seller to make sure that he was a real person. We exchanged phone numbers and in the resulting conversation I find out that he is a Slowtwitcher. In the past he has worked for both Softride and John Cobb. I even searched past posts and managed to match up the phone number that he gave me to one he posted in a reply on this forum. At this point I was very confident that the seller was a reliable person so I mailed the cashier's check for $1,000 plus shipping.
To make a long story short the wheels have never arrived. For the first 6 weeks he would return my phone calls and respond to my email. However over the last 2+ weeks he stopped communicating with me. I have filed a complaint with eBay and just today I put in a call to a friend of mine at the FBI for advice on how to legally purse this. As far as I can tell my options are as follows:
1. Wait for eBay to do nothing because as we know they accept no responsibility for transactions conducted on their site.
2. File a report with whatever police/federal agency has jurisdiction over this. If it is the FBI my friend might be able to pull a favor and at least rattle the seller cage a bit.
3. File a small claims action… I don't know if I file it here in Los Angeles or in the seller's city of Chattanooga, TN. This would give me a legal win but I doubt I would ever see the money or the wheels.
4. Post is name here on Slowtwitch and have some people who know him give me additional contact information or put a bit of pressure on him to live up to his agreements.
So… what would you do if you were me? Does anyone have any other suggestions? To be completely honest it isn't like the $1,000 will cause me to miss a meal or a mortgage payment but I just can't stand the thought of being completely ripped off.
Finally, I would never post something this serious anonymously.
Thanks,
Ron Johnson
626.354.0547
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On February 14th I bid on and won a set of Zipp 909 wheels on eBay for $1,000. The seller had zero feedback and wanted a cashier's check. Before sending the check I wanted to talk to the seller to make sure that he was a real person. We exchanged phone numbers and in the resulting conversation I find out that he is a Slowtwitcher. In the past he has worked for both Softride and John Cobb. I even searched past posts and managed to match up the phone number that he gave me to one he posted in a reply on this forum. At this point I was very confident that the seller was a reliable person so I mailed the cashier's check for $1,000 plus shipping.
To make a long story short the wheels have never arrived. For the first 6 weeks he would return my phone calls and respond to my email. However over the last 2+ weeks he stopped communicating with me. I have filed a complaint with eBay and just today I put in a call to a friend of mine at the FBI for advice on how to legally purse this. As far as I can tell my options are as follows:
1. Wait for eBay to do nothing because as we know they accept no responsibility for transactions conducted on their site.
2. File a report with whatever police/federal agency has jurisdiction over this. If it is the FBI my friend might be able to pull a favor and at least rattle the seller cage a bit.
3. File a small claims action… I don't know if I file it here in Los Angeles or in the seller's city of Chattanooga, TN. This would give me a legal win but I doubt I would ever see the money or the wheels.
4. Post is name here on Slowtwitch and have some people who know him give me additional contact information or put a bit of pressure on him to live up to his agreements.
So… what would you do if you were me? Does anyone have any other suggestions? To be completely honest it isn't like the $1,000 will cause me to miss a meal or a mortgage payment but I just can't stand the thought of being completely ripped off.
Finally, I would never post something this serious anonymously.
Thanks,
Ron Johnson
626.354.0547
----------
