Advice on how to deal with deadbeat dealer (OT)

[spider9698]

Gang

I decided to try my luck on the comic board since you guys (and gals) often have great ideas in tackling difficult problems. I had originally posted this in the Water Cooler section.

First off, the dealer in question is NOT a comic dealer (so no finger pointing please).

Secondly, I would like to thank you in advance for any help in the matter.

 

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Howdy! I have been trying to figure out if I am out of luck on this one or do I have any recourse. I purchased an item from a Canadian dealer and unfortunately the item was no longer available. I have been trying to get the dealer to refund my money and was given excuse after excuse as to why the refund was never issued. Well, low and behold, a check finally arrives last month and (yup, you guessed it!!) it bounces. After I simmered down I emailed the dealer and demanded an immediate refund via money order or certified check. His reply, "Sorry, times are tough, I'm in receivership!"

My questions:

1) Since he is in Canada and I am in the US, do I have any rights as a consumer to get my money back through the Canadian or U.S. system??

2) How could I find out if he is in receivership or just yankin' my chain?

What makes matters worse is that this guy sells nn ebay as a powerseller and has over 10,000 feedbacks!!! If it were a matter or a few bucks I wouldn't care but I am owed a considerable chunk of cash.

I thank you all in advance for any sage advice.

 

stephen

 

[scottish]

Hmmm...is the seller a member of Squaretrade? Even if he isn't you might be able to have them mediate to some degree. I'm not totally familar with their policies.

 

I read this in your other thread and I think the poster who suggested putting the cancelled check on ebay where the dealer sells a lot is an excellent idea. Be sure the email the POS the link when you do it.

 

Depending on the amount you may or may not have legal recourse. I'm sure there are Canadian Lawyers that handle US interests in Canada and visa versa. Not sure where you'd find such info though.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[OldNewComicGuy]

Hi Stephen-

 

One possible link to try and find some info:

 

http://www.canadiancouncilbbb.ca/

 

Hope that helps, and please do keep the boards informed.

 

Happy Holidays, and Good luck with this.....

 

Don

[lighthouse]

The fact that he sent you a check gives you two separate courses of action you can follow. You can pursue the eBay side of things and the fact that you didn't receive your merchandise. And you can also pursue the bounced check.

 

The laws vary by state (and probably by province) but bounced checks are prosecutable in most cases. Some states apply restrictions based on the nature of the transaction. As an example, here in Oregon, you can't prosecute for a bounced check that is a payment on an existing account balance. But any bounced check that doesn't fit that description is prosecutable here.

 

I would check the provincial statutes for the province in which the check originated. You should be able to find them online with a simple google search. In many US states there are separate statutes for both civil and criminal claims (in Oregon you can pursue both simultaneously). The pressure of such filings may well be enough for the dealer to decide that it is cheaper to pay you and find someone else to screw over. Depending on how aggressively the local government treats such crime, you may have a very swift resolution to your problem. And make no mistake, bouncing a check is a crime...