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Advice needed urgently please

Started by melmoth,

22 posts in this topic

melmoth

melmoth

Posted
Posted

Hi guys,

 

Haven't posted in a while, but I need some advice here.

 

I bought a lot of 1,200 comic books from someone on Yahoo (I can already hear everyone cringing). In e-mail correspondence before I bought it, he says that the lot contains Ultimate Spidey complete set, FF from 69 to around 350, several manuals, then other junk, like Spawn, etc. Anyway, he claims to have sent out four boxes on August 13th, and sends me a DC number. The DC number does not register AT ALL on the usps.com site. Don't worry he says, they are all insured anyway. The boxes don't come. I continually ask for copies of the receipts for both the DC and insurance receipts. Nothing shows up.

 

I keep bugging him about the shipment. Eventually, I say, ok, let's start insurance claim proceedings. He then immediately sends me two DC numbers, which are obviously in the system. The sceptical among you are already groaning. Yesterday, while I am on the road working, two boxes show up. I tell my wife NOT to open them. The boxes have mailing labels on them which indicate that he posted them on September 2nd. I send him an e-mail, and he says that he has no idea where the other two boxes are, and that he didn't know how the boxes could possibly lie around for a PO for 2 1/2 weeks before they were posted out. I say, ok, I am going to send these two boxes back, and I want my money back.

 

He then made the following offer:

 

i/ I wait for the books (although, of course, where they are and how I claim insurance on them is a completely different matter).

 

ii/ He refunds half my money (acting like he's doing me a big favor). Now in this case, you know what will happen - I will open the boxes when I get home on Saturday, and they will contain complete junk (like Spawn, Sleepwalker), etc. Namely, not all four boxes are created equally!

 

Even at this point, he will not agree to send me the copies of the receipts to prove that the boxes went out in the first place.

 

I paid by MO ($380), and I have full receipts for everything that I have sent to him.

 

My question is, what can I do legally about this (any lawyers out there)? At this point, it is pretty much a matter of principle with me that I am not going to let this scumbag get away with it. I can claim on Yahoo fraud protection thing, and that protects me up to $200 (minus $25 'admin' fee). It pretty much washes out at the 'half refund' that this guy has offered.

 

Your advice is appreciated.

 

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Dave_Hennen

Dave_Hennen

Posted
Posted

Do you have the sellers phone #? If so give him a call and let him know you're not going to go away or let the matter drop and a half refund won't be acceptable unless the seller agrees to let you go through the boxes you've received to verify value of the contents and condition. It's easier to blow someone off over email than over the phone.

 

If you've given up on settling the situation amicably, file a mail fraud case and let the seller know you're doing so by sending a registered letter with the info.

 

The PO has requirements for wait time before you can file an insurance claim (30 days for insured Priority mail), probably this is also true of mail fraud claims so you'll likely have to be patient for a while longer.

 

hth,

dave h

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Dave_Hennen

Dave_Hennen

Posted
Posted

You've got documentation that the seller was supposed to send you 1200 comics in four boxes in August and that you made payment in a timely fashion and can prove he cashed the MO.

 

You received two boxes mailed in early Sept and the seller can't or won't provide evidence that he indeed shipped the product whole as agreed. The PO can research whether four boxes were shipped on one receipt or only two.

 

If you file a fraud claim you might benefit by opening the boxes and counting the contents. If there's 600 comics you can quantify your loss, you both agreed the transaction was for 1200 the seller only delivered 600 and perhaps those 600 represent less than half of the total value but that might be hard to prove.

 

It's probably worth a call to your local PO and speak with the postmaster about your options and whether you should open the boxes you received to verify the contents

 

dave h

 

 

 

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garthgantu

garthgantu

Posted
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Basically, a sound thrashing appears to be in order...! The whole mail fraud thing may shake the guy up, since mail fraud is a felony at some level (don't know if $350 would qualify, tho)... But someone like this is probably not going to leap off the (no doubt ill-gotten) couch and wire you a refund based on the threat of mail fraud charges... At least, that's my suspicion.

 

Now, if you know where the guy lives, and someone on these boards has a friend on the local police force who could pay the guy a quick visit just to get his attention, that might light a fire under him...

 

Man, stories like this [!@#%^&^] me off...

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Aces

Aces

Posted
Posted

As a buyer of large lots let me offer some advice to all.

 

When the large lots that I buy contain 1-10 nicer Silver-Age books (like a FF 48 or Hulk 102) with 50-500 $2-$20 junk Silver and Bronze/Modern, I always insist the seller seperate the good stuff and send them Priority/DC/Insured and email me the tracking number.

 

I pay the extra $5-$7 dollar for shipping, but it saves a lot of worry on a $500-$1000 lot that may otherwise take 2-4 weeks to get to me.

 

They can send the other junk on the slow boat from China for all I care... tongue.gif

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shadroch

shadroch

Posted
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Filing a postal fraud complaint can be like opening a can of worms. Some postal inspectors can be complete [!@#%^&^]. If they think you are conducting even a small mail-order business out of your home they can insist on all sort of paperwork,up to and including tax records before they even open a file on the seller.Had a friend whose life was turned upside down when a postal inspector thougt he was commiting fraud by submitting a exaggerated claim. I would suggest speakng to your local mailman first to see if he can give you a handle on what the local PI is like. You are dealing with comics and did get half the number of books promised so it very well may be that they will only entertain half a claim,which the seller has already offered you. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

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localshop

localshop

Posted
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Is the focus of a mail fraud claim to get the money back though, or to potentially bring charges against this guy? I guess my question is what is the point of melmoth filing the mail fraud claim, other than to demonstate (to whom) that the guy committed a fraud?

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Verbow

Verbow

Posted
Posted

Why don't you open the boxes and see if they contain treasure or trash? I don't think it would hurt your case, and in the remote event the seller is being honest you may make out in the deal if you received the USMs and FFs and he refunds your money for the missing Spawns.

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melmoth

melmoth

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OK folks, an update. I filed a Yahoo complaint against this guy and laid out the case. In the complaint, I stated that it was my intention to report this guy for mail fraud and report him to the FTC. I think that he knows that he's stuffed, because I have kept a record of every e-mail that we have corresponded with. After a lot of to'ing and fro'ing, he has offered the following:

 

- A refund of half the money, plus another two boxes of comic books. He claims that the two comic boxes will contain FF 180 to 350 and Ultimate Spiderman 1 to 40 (the #1 of this set being the regular first print, not the FBCD copy). Interestingly, of course, these items were in the original lot description that he sent me, further strengthening the case that he never sent them in the first place!

 

The problem is, well I have two problems:

 

1/ Should I let this guy off the hook for the fraud? Even with this offer, the whole incident is sticking in my thrat a bit.

 

2/ I really don't trust the guy at this point. I would not trust that he would put the comics that he said into the two boxes, and ship them correctly And I think then that my basis for further action is pretty much undermined. The only two ways that I could think of were:

 

i/ To state to him that I will open the boxes in front of a notary. This, of course, assumes that the boxes will reach me which has not been guaranteed so far.

 

ii/ A forum member who lives (relatively) locally checks the contents before watching him seal and post them. Anyone live near Manchester, PA?!?

 

Any advice or suggestions folks?

 

P.S. A BIG thanks to the forum members who have offered advice to this point, in particular, DARTHDIESEL and comicwiz. I truly appreciate it guys.

 

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