What to do about a deadbeat seller?

I really dislike starting a negative thread and using a word like deadbeat, but I am frustrated and at wits end. I paid for two centerboards for my tornado from a seller in the classifieds and the box arrived
on November 16th. When I opened the box there was only one board in it. There was a sizable tear
in the box that was re taped. i contacted the seller and was assured they were both in the box with cardboard between them. there was a thin piece of cardboard along with the single board. The box had only to travel 150 miles. The seller supposedly was working with UPS for a refund for the lost part. After over a month he asked me to fax a copy of my receipt to UPS. I did as asked and since that time, three weeks ago, none of my emails have been answered. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt until last night when I checked craigslist in his area and saw he posted two items for sale yesterday. I am now convinced that he is ignoring my emails and stiffing me. Any advice on how I can resolve this issue would be appreciated.

--
Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
--
I once sought a refund from UPS when the contents of a package was destroyed. As I recall it took about 2 months, and being the Christmas season it may take awhile. As seen on some news casts the delivery people are not always gentle in handling packages. But regardless of all that, THE SELLER SHOULD RESPOND TO ANY AND ALL EMAILS, PHONE CALLS ETC. ASAP
You can also go on craiglist in his area and post a reference to his current ads stating your experience with the seller. I had to do this once and got a pretty fast response from the seller I was dealing with.
sorry to hear about your experience.

I used to sell supplements for a local company and we sent out 100's of UPS packages daily. They did not all arrive. UPS will start an investigation at your or the shippers request (probably require the shipper to do it)

was the package insured? If not, UPS automatically (or used to) insure packages up to $100.

do you have the original packaging still? the shipping weight will be on the label and you should be able to determine if there was 2 boards in the package. If the weight suggest only 1 was sent, you are pretty screwed and will have to attempt to manage this yourself. you can contact ebay, states attorney's office, bbb, small claims court and/or get a lawyer.
Getting damages from UPS is a real pain and you kinda have to get nasty with them. Your seller will also have to provide proof of the value of the boards. How did you pay for it? CC or PayPal should resolve it

--
Greenville SC

Offering sails and other go fast parts for A-class catamarans
--
drive 150 miles and take it outta his hide

--
Mike Conway
H16
Hilton, NY
--
Give him one more chance, then post his email and phone number on every sketchy porn site you can!
I will at least cost him $30-40 to change number and email plus hours of fustration explaining to his wife and everyone he's in contact with. Should level his bad karma to about even..... LOL

* I personally wouldn't do it, but it might make ya feel better!

icon_evil
I do expect it to take some time but the seller who I may name has cut off communications and as far as I am concerned his bad packaging caused this issue and he owes me a refund. The issue of a UPS refund is
between him and UPS. I find it hard to believe that UPS can't find a board the size of a small coffee table.
I have no idea if the box was insured. The label says 30lbs. A board weighs 12lbs. Not sure the label was accurate and was shipped by someone with a different name. I used Paypal for payment. Filed a dispute with them last night but I doubt it will amount to anything. I faxed UPS a copy of my Paypal invoice as proof. At least I sent a fax to a number he gave me. Fxloop got any of those site names LOL. Thanks for the responses. Luckily I am out less than a 100 bucks, but it is still principal.

--
Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
--
You may be in luck then. If he blows off the PayPal dispute team- you will get a refund. Takes about 5 weeks.
Good luck!
Tim

--
Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi
--
Christmas miracle. I post here and start a Paypal dispute and suddenly the refund is offered. Go figure.

--
Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
--
~~ Hey Pete....... You, me and Catsailor Mike are from NY State.... All 3 of us can go take it outta his hide icon_eek

--
~ Vietnam Vet 69-71~ 17 Hobie w/big jib, ~18 Hobie mag,~DN Ice sailor,
and other toys.......
~~ I live in NY state on the north shore of Oneida lake in
Bernhards Bay. ~~~~~~
--
QuoteChristmas miracle. I post here and start a Paypal dispute and suddenly the refund is offered. Go figure.

refund from who?
yeah we can popeyez7.........hope all is well at oneida...............good here. even made it thru sandy with not to much damage. the day she hit, monday, i just brought the 16 off the beach. good thing because she would have been gone...... have a merry christmas brother

--
Mike Conway
H16
Hilton, NY
--
Thanks for the offer Paul. Maybe we could sail down the Hudson and meet up with Mike icon_biggrin . The seller said UPS paid him $75 and he would send that. Total I paid was $165. Apparently he feels I have some fault in this and will get what UPS paid. My Paypal account still says $0. Am I wrong to believe He owes me and UPS owes him? Don't really care at this point as long as the $75 appears. Lesson learned.

--
Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
--
Good question Pete. I thought that shipping loss was the responsibility of the buyer .... the old FOB.... freight on board law. ..once the shipment is out of the sellers hands it is the buyers problem . The exception wasthat poorly packed items would be responsibility of seller. I would like to hear the answer to this question of where the real responsibility lies. Obviously, the seller has a responsibility to cooperate in the investigation. Just wondering if anyone here is in the business.
In this era of eBay and the sensitivity to sellers feedback there may be disconnect between the law and protecting feedback. I know that Paypal and credit card companies are quick to side withthe buyer and expect the seller to eat problems even if they are not his responsibility.

--
Mooched Beachcats in the past
Time to try ownership with Nacra 5.7
Port Clinton, Lake Erie Islands, Ohio
--
I would post his name here anyway. No use setting someone else u for a ripoff. You don't even have to specifically mention the name.
"I'm not naming names, but his ad & moniker start with "X" & end with "Y" and has the word "----" in it.
Doing deals online, where there you have no idea about the sellers reputation always involves some risk. This is generally mitigated by the ability to very quickly inform the entire community about a bad vendor. This means the reputable people take pains to make it right.
I once bought some spreader bars from Dan Berger here. They turned out to be seized. He replied quickly, and offered a full refund, no questions asked, when they couldn't be fixed. His reputation as a straight shooter is to important. To this day he is one of the first I suggest when sailors are looking for Cat parts.
PayPal is another layer of insurance. They require banking information, making it harder to cash your check then ignore you. I followed their procedure when a purchase never showed up, & the refund was pretty quick.
Outing those who misrepresent, or outright lie about items, or won't follow up, is the single best thing one can do to prevent fraud.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--