Hi all,

Do anyone knows how to handle if we have problem in Internet shopping. ie., www.ebay.de. I am not sure whether this is the right place to post a message or not! But expecting a response from you. Btw., I have bought one product from ebay.de and it was damaged, and informed to the seller and he said send me back and i will pay the amount. But he didn't pay the amount after receiving the article. Infact I have sent the return post through registered post with tracking number, so he cannot say that i didn't received like that. Since I can see in deutschepost website, it was reached the destination. It was about 1 1/2 month ago and yesterday i have sent a mail and he is asking me for what and why I should pay like that... looks very strange. I know i can inform to police but i don't want it now, may be if doesn't come down than we can go to police. Do anyone knows what shall i do now?

VSK

Hi,

I can quote a good article discussing the subject in c't magazine, but I guess you'll have something in mind because it's in German...

so I'll try to summarize:

1. Get written proves (letters, e-mails, receipts, etc.) together - you'll need evidences if it gets worse. Do it in the future too.
2. Send him warning letter (Mahnung) with a deadline for getting your money back. Threat engaging your lawyer (even if you don't have one). Inform e-bay about the case.
3. If till the deadline you haven't received anything, you can try second time p.2. The best thing is if the letter is really form a lawyer, but this could be expensive.
4. Make your mind what is more worth - your lost money or the effort/expenses you'll have trying to get your money back.
5. You'd better had a "Rechtschutzversicherung" cause you should at least at this point go for a lawyer. You can also inform the police and skip the lawyer consultancy (expensive if you don have the insurance I mentioned above) they will register the case... but don't expect more... at least not in reasonable terms. I had a friend who had a similar problem (you're not the only one) and he had to give the hope away for getting his money back.
6. Eventually you get some money back from e-bay, but not much though... just to cover your telephone/letter expenses ;(
7. Think twice before you make your next deal... there's always a risk. Prove as much as you can before you deal.
8. Make finally "Rechtschutzversicherung" - it proves to be very useful for "strangers" like us here. There are a lot of expensive surprises waiting for us.

In other words - try to arrange the thing personally, because the other ways are in many cases not worth the effort/money.

Of course there could be something more to do, but there's no standard way to do it... different people - different ways.

Sorry if I represent it in such dark colours but you should have known it - if you risk you can lose.

Anyway wish you good luck! Until there's hope - there's a chance.

hi Vsk,

i have faced similar problem.. At the first point, the stuff didnt reach me at all.. I tried calling this guy and even mailing.. but it didnt work.. I went to police and forgot about the incident.. The amount involved was 85 Euros. After one year i got a post from police or some one, saying that this guy has done this several times with several others and has put him in jail for 1 year 3 months. But if i want my 85 Euros back, i have to goto a civil court.. I didnt go for obvious reasons.. I still wonder what a silly guy he must be to steal say 1500 Euros.. in return for a 1 year jail term.. Must be pretty stupid..

You can tell him that you will complain to the police.. And you also let him know that you have his address and his bank account.. You can do kind of arm twisting. Tell him simply not to mess with you.. Give me your number(mail to cmreddy@yahoo.com) i will tell you how you can have fun with this guy..

If you want i can also fax you the letter from the police which i got.. May be you can send this to that guy.. and it works as an effective threat... what ya say?

Cm

Hi Cm,

this with the FAX is a good advice! Along with a good warning letter should do the work!

GI

Thanks for the response. I have sent many mails. He just hiding his face and telling not yet received like that... so I have sent the proof of Receipt(registered post receipt) and confirmation of the post from www.deutschepost.de/briefstatus. I can see the tracking number of the article was been reached the person. So now i am waiting for his reply. I have already informed to Ebay, they said sent 2 or 3 letters to him and contact him over phone like that. If nothing works, then contact again like that. Anyway i will wait for his reply, if not i don't want to take any risk like that, i will just inform to police.

VSK

Hi CMR(Chandu),

I will be online at my yahoo(vsrikanth9), you can reach me at my messenger. So we can have chat about this matter. BTW., I have bought SIPPhone too.. It will come today or tomorrow. It reached Germany on 18th of cleared the customs and everything. I am eagerly waiting for the packet.. btw what is ur SIP number?

VSK

welcome to the small club.. Sipphone works fine.. I have also found another way to call india cheap if you guys dont have a dsl here.. But in anycase one should have a sipphone in india with a dsl connection..

Then it works like this..

register yourself at www.fwd.pulver.com
and get a fwd number and also buy a sipphone from there.

then register the fwd number in http://fwd.calluk.com and get a uk number for free..

And now call this uk number which will inturn connect it to fwd number you have in india.. this uk call would cost you like say 3 cents a min.. pretty cheap huh..

Cheers,
Cm