When my son was 16 he sold a CD on ebay for £6. It took four attempts and afterwards was given a bill by ebay for around £150 - he was too scared to tell us but consulted his older brother who said it must be an error and to contact ebay and explain. He thought it would be fine and they would realise it was a mistake. My son took his brothers advice and heard no more until today.
Over a year later, a Debt collectors letter arrived in his name for even more - £171.25. It stated if he didnt agree a repayment plan within 48 hrs they would either instruct a solicitor to take legal action or send round a collector to make a personal visit to our home address to collect the outstanding balance. How can a company charge such a huge sum for such a small sale? Ebay's non reply indicated to him that they had accepted they had made an error.
Ebay apparently have a bad reputation for repling to emails and we cannnot find phone or address for them, what do we do if they dont reply?.
2006-11-23 13:43:07 · 10 answers · asked by ShumB 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Contacting eBay would do no good. If the bill has been handed over to a debt collector, the account now belongs to the debt collector, not eBay.
You will need to deal directly with the bill collector at this point.
I'm not sure how the bill went from £6 to £171 - that seems a little extravagant.
Whatever you ultimately settle with the bill collector for payment, I would suggest having you son pay it entirely. It will be a good lesson to him, and I'm sure he will be much more careful in his future financial dealings. This could be the best thing that happens to him! (Better a £171 mistake at 16, than a £10,000 mistake at 25!)
Good luck!
~ ♥ ~
2006-11-23 13:47:41 · answer #1 · answered by I ♥ AUG 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure about UK law, but in USA a person under the age of 18 cannot be held legally responsible for such an action. When I was 17 I took advantage of this law to get a set of cookware that was being sold at an insanely inflated price by a salesman who was trying to take advantage of gullible college students thinking we were all 18 or over. He was shocked when, after I took possession of the cookware, I told him I was 17 and therefor not liable for the payments he demanded. I conned the con man, and 26 years later am still using the pans!
2006-11-23 14:19:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the person a minor thier not accountable for the transaction, and the parent is. I would talk to ebay to get rid of the charges for the transaction. I would fight the charge most likely if the transaction occured without full knowledge of whats going on. Courts will look at if the Child is the age of majority when the transaction occur, and if full details involving the transaction occured. It depends on how the transaction was agreed upon, and if they follow local laws by ebay providing a service agreement. I wouldnot waste time on bill collectors if ebay made the mistake with the transaction because if ebay is not accounting for how the transactions occur thier liable to charges to the bill collector not the person with no knowledge that is was a transaction. I dont know English Common Law, but American Common Law if a tranaction occured without full detials on the oligation a small claims court will void out the contract.
2006-11-23 13:50:11 · answer #3 · answered by ram456456 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No they cannot legally collect from a minor. They are not going to send a bill collector to your house.
They just threaten people like yourself an Hope you are too cowardly to stand up to them. That is called bill collector terrorism. Send e-bay an e-mail disputing the charge and save a copy for the future. Send the bill collector a registered letter disputing the claim. They must now either drop the claim or take you to court. Anything else they tell you is a lie. Did you hear me ,I said a LIE. Do not worry about it. They are not going to take you to court. Believe me I have had much experience with these people over the years and not one of them has ever got a dime out of me. Just pay the bills that you owe an tell the rest to go to Hell. Just remember once you dispute the claim in writing( and you have 30 days to do so), they must by law leave you alone or take you to court. Anything after that is harassment and then you have them. If they bother you after that then call your federal or states attorneys generals office for help. Ps: you don't have to be nice to them( bill collector)
2006-11-23 14:19:29 · answer #4 · answered by goodtimesgladly 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get down to you local citizens advice bureau if you want solid advice.
I dont see how they can charge you over £170 for a transaction that was only £6, its grossly disproportionate! sounds like bullying to me. Try and get a copy of your statement (paypal has them online if thats what your son used, but ebay normally provides one) then you can see where the payments are coming from / how they arose. You will also get a clearer picture of how ridiculous this is!
plus, your son was only sixteen at the time, and no one under 18 can enter into an auction (i believe, has been 2years since i studied contract law).
if you're still not sure, pop down to either the cab, or if thats not open, check out the contract law books at your local library.
the bbc website also has advice pages, might be worth checking on there...
good luck, and dont let the gits bully you!
2006-11-23 21:05:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the sale is open to rescission because he is a minor. If the creditors come to collect, you can tell them so (make sure you talk to a lawyer to make sure of this, however). If they picked up an account that is relatively null from ebay, they would have a dispute with ebay.
2006-11-23 14:24:17 · answer #6 · answered by jhessick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it starts of as £2 but then you get charges and interest incurred so by the time the debt collectors come the debt is worth more then £2 so just pay it. It is not worth the stress, hassle or the bad credit rating.
2016-03-29 07:08:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
firstly how did he sign up as you need a credit card to bid/buy. I personally don't see how £5 can go to £171, it sounds like the seller trying it on. As you have to be 18 to use eBay I would try saying that he shouldn't have been given access as he was too young and the transaction is not binding. go to www.ebay.com as they have live help (like instant messenger) as there is no phone number for eBay UK.
2006-11-23 13:54:06 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
0208 605 3000 Try this number its Ebay Administration they might be able to help
2006-11-23 20:30:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes they do charge.
Regards,
Gerald Bouthner
http://www.loansolutioncenter.com
2006-11-26 22:04:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋