Bringing the Hammer

The text should tell you what’s going down, but the quick of it is I bought something from this guy, told him I didn’t know when I’d be there to get it (made it clear it would be a while), he sold it in the interim, and refuses to refund my money. I’m giving him a day to resolve this. Afterward, I’m sending the following to his police department:

To whom it may concern,

My name is Michael [Last Name]. I participated in an online transaction with a resident of your jurisdiction by the name of Ricky Weaver on October 22, 2009, to purchase a pair of car seats for the amount of $125.00, which I paid in full. I have electronic proof of this transaction.

I very clearly communicated with Mr. Weaver that I “don’t know when i’d be able to get up that way to actually pick them up” as I am from the DC area and don’t have all that much spare time. To this, he replied “That would be fine, I can hold a set.” In our correspondence, there was no mention of a date by which I had to pick up the items. I have electronic proof of the above quotes and all communication between Mr. Weaver and I leading up to and including the sale.

On February 27, 2010, I got back in touch with him to let him know I was still alive and trying to find a free day to pick the seats up. He did not respond to this. On March 28, 2010, I again attempted to get in touch with Mr. Weaver as I was now available, but again, no response. On March 30, 2010, again an inquiry was sent to Mr. Weaver, and again no response. During this time, I had also sent him numerous e-mails, which were ignored. I have electronic proof of each communication cited above with a date.

On April 11, 2010, in search of a better method for reaching Mr. Weaver, I came across the discussion thread located at http://hondamarketplace.com/showthread.php?t=2757158. In this, he was being discussed in relation to another transaction in which he sold someone faulty parts as well a a few other negative deals. Mr. Weaver finally responded to me in this thread, claiming he had resold the property which I had previously paid for in-full [with no sort of forfeiture date associated with pickup] and said I was out of luck as I had waited too long. He also claims he did not get in touch with me as he had deleted all of our correspondences. Fortunately for me, I paid using Paypal, which provides both of us with a history of all transactions ever made; had he tried, he would have found my information there.

If you could provide me with instructions on how to formally open a case against him, I would greatly appreciate it. If this is out of your hands as the transaction crosses state lines, please let me know the proper authority to contact.

The following is the contact information I have for Mr. Weaver:

Ricky Weaver
(717) 521-9494
202 Ark Drive
Dallastown, PA, 17313

Sincerely,
[My Contact Info]

Your thoughts? 100% of people I’ve shared this with sided with me. If you don’t, why?

Comments

cd's nuts

April 15, 2010

You’re owned money, but the cops aren’t going to do anything.

Have you made a claim through Paypal? He has to provide proof he transferred the item to you or they will credit you from his account. If Paypal told you you’re screwed, the next step is small claims court and you’ll likely have to file in his county of residence. If you win a judgment and he refuses to pay, you’ll then likely have to pay a Sheriff or court enforcer to confiscate something of his to sell. The cost of them doing that will be deducted from the amount they repay you.
cd's nuts

April 15, 2010

Missed on thing. If you used your credit card (and not bank acct or Paypal balance) to pay, you can dispute the charge with your credit card company. They will do an investigation and if he can’t prove transfer of item, they will credit you and go after him themselves.
Mike

April 15, 2010

His police department just got back to me.

“I am the Det. Sgt with the York Area Regional Police Dept. whose jurisdiction covers the Ark Drive address where Ricky Weaver lives. I have read over your complaint and due to the length of time that has elapsed , have forwarded it to the DA’s office for review. Although Weaver failed to return your money , you certainly made no significant effort to claim your goods.

My suspicion is that they will direct me to contact Weaver and advise him to refund your money or face charges of theft. Should charges be advised, you will be required to appear here several times for court proceedings. I will let you know as soon as I hear something.”

I’ll readily admit I didn’t make a great effort to claim my goods, but it’s glad to see the law thinks I’m right.
Mike

April 15, 2010

Chris, we’re well past the time in which I can file a Paypal dispute AND I used my bank account for the funds.
Jess

April 15, 2010

Why don’t you contact Weaver and tell him about the Sgt’s response and that the matter is being forward to the DA’s office. That may be enough for him to refund you, in order to avoid having to deal with the police dept.
driz

April 15, 2010

your bad. shouldn’t have bought the seats in the first place if you couldn’t pick them up for 5 months.
Mike

April 15, 2010

Jess, I am forwarding him everything.
Driz, I’m not surprised you feel that way. You and this moron are the only 2 to come to that conclusion out of at least 50 who know about this issue. Do you not understand how a contract works? You can’t just make up stipulations as you see fit, which is what you and the moron are suggesting.
driz

April 15, 2010

i’m not siding with the kid or saying he doesn’t owe you the money but it’s your bad you are in this situation.
Mike

April 15, 2010

Should I have picked up the seats sooner? Sure, but it’s not in the contract, that’s just goodwill.
Does he have any right to sell my property without granting me a refund? Absolutely not, and that’s just the law.

Please stop posting until you can understand the difference between the law and what you and this moron think.
jayray

April 27, 2010

1) he definitely owes you the money
2) he should’ve contacted you if there was any sort of intent to sell the seats to someone else or when he wanted to unload the seats – you own them
3) you should not have waited 5 months to pick up something that you bought

this guy is definitely in the wrong for selling your seats. it wasn’t a deposit, it was a sale. bad communication on his part and failure to act swiftly to pick them up are the reasons for this crappy situation. i’m happy the police are actually siding with you and i hope the threat of them showing up at his door will give you your refund, you’re entitled to it. it just sucks that it may have to come to small claims court…which, depending on the cost of a lawyer, could cost about the same or more than the seats themselves…
mama

May 26, 2010

What was the final outcome on this?
Mike

May 26, 2010

Still nothing. I got the guy banned from everywhere he was selling stuff. The detective told me the DA was not going to followup because I had waited so long, but has suggested that the detective put some pressure on the guy. That was about two weeks ago… I’ll get in touch with the detective again next week.
Pudding

June 4, 2010

[thumbdown] Mike, you explicitly ask for opinions and then when driz offers one, you allude to him being a moron by association and then tell him to stop posting until he changes his mind to agree with you.

I can understand wanting to use a blog to vent your spleen, but why bother inviting discourse when you’re going to rudely reply to anybody who isn’t 100% aligned with your world view?

For what it’s worth, I think the guy was in the right to sell the items on after almost half a year of no contact, but that he should have fully refunded you when he did so.
Jess

June 5, 2010

hahaha
Mike

June 7, 2010

Dear Pudding,

Thank you for your post. I’m going to assume you know nothing of the posting habits of “driz.” He is merely here to be an antagonist. He is also a family member, which means I don’t have to take it, and won’t. I think you’ll agree that is far from silencing anyone who “isn’t 100% aligned with my world view.”

I fully agree with your feelings on the situation (selling is OK, but lack of a refund is not), and again thank you for your post; we don’t get too many “guests” around here.