Small claims court case - will i win, will i get money if i do win?

Question

Bought car on ebay after seeing 3 photos and full listing + long chat with seller on phone. (yes i know) - should have seen it before i bid. Anyhow - he asked for a small deposit . Deposit not mentioned in listing nor discussed as non refundable.

Went to get car over 200 miles away. Got there and it was a wreck , not like photos at all both physically or mechanically. Worth less than i paid for it. So he basically missold it and lied. He had the £300 of mine and said he was ok to refund as had another buyer if needs be and would return by paypal that evening. I offered to pay his listing fee and he agreed.

Long story short he kept stalling, saying he waould pay soon, or its in the post but then got threatening and said never going to payback. He has done to others on ebay as seen in his feedback.

Claiming £300 + costs etc = £460. I have collected all evidence up and followed process and looks like he wont even respond to my claim. Will i win and how do i enforce best?

Answer 1

I would start with an ebay dispute and if that doesn not work you will have to sue him. You can only get back actual monies out of pocket for a contract dispute.

You could possibly have him prosecuted criminally for fraud though...go check with your local prosecutor (sorry in USA so don't know exactly how your law system works).

Answer 2

If someone sells you goods on Ebay (if in the UK) they are bound by the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (amended 1996). Certain implied provisions of the Sale of Goods Act are excluded by a seller (e.g. S14 quality and fitness for purpose).

However, under the Sale of Goods Act goods must match the description which is applied to them. This is contained in s13 of the act and states:

(1) Where there is a contract for the sale of goods by description, there is an implied term that the goods will correspond with the description.

If I describe something as "new" its must be "new" or "as new". Something falling to pieces clearly could not be ascribed such a term!

If the car you saw did not in any way resemble the description or the images on the internet then clearly there has been a breach of S13 - it’s as simple as that!

If the money you placed as a deposit was not said to be non-refundable at or about the time the contract was made this is refundable. For this to be effective the terms and conditions must be communicated pre-contractually. They have not been. It only seems reasonable that this sum is recoverable.

What you can do is sue and obtain your money back.

Another route you may wish to take:

The Misrepresentation Act 1967. A misrepresentation can be made fraudulently, innocently or negligently. It is an untrue statement that induces a contract - this is clearly the case with you.

By suing under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 the Claimant/Plaintiff is afforded an immediate procedural advantage in that the person making the misrepresentations must show they had reasonable ground for so doing. The act states:

“…unless he proves that he had reasonable ground to believe and did believe up to the time the contract was made that the facts represented were true.”

It could not possibly be said, on the balance of probability, that the seller had reasonable grounds for believing his statements were true when the images do not portray the motor vehicle in it’s proper state. If he says otherwise at court a judge will not believe him and enter judgement on your behalf. Furthermore, the very fact of the negative feedback shows that you have dealt with a fraudulent seller. The fact he is not responding to your claim he is playing right into your hands. Why is he ignoring you in the first place?

A judge may, if he so wishes, award what are known as “aggravated damages” in your case. This is where a seller has clearly induced a contract by fraudulent means. It does not mean he will - it means he MAY!

Yes, you will win. In a court case it is said that “costs follow the event”. The general rule of thumb is that the loser pays the winner costs. You can also claim additional heads of damages such as “”inconvenience” etc. You may not get them but stick them in anyway!

Enforcement procedures:

1. Warrant of execution against goods - bailiffs
2. Garnishee - bank account
3. Charging order on land/securities
4. Attachments of earnings order (not available if Self employed or company director)

You can find out more about the above when you win your case!

Good Luck!

VIP Guy

Answer 3

Interesting - I got ripped off on an ebay purchase.
Still waiting for ebay and paypal to resolve but not holding out much hope as I have never heard of anybody being succesfull - they don't seem to try too hard despite there offers of protection.
If you paid via paypal was it linked to your credit card . If so take it up with your credit card company.
Unfortunately if you are dealing with a dishonest person then even a judgement in small claims court might not bring you your money back.
I reported my ripp off to the police who told me thay receive around 10 incidents a day ( thats just my local station) and their advice is never pay any money for ebay sales unless you can afford to loose it and always use a credit card as your best recourse is through the credit card company.
Its sad that there are dishonest people using ebay.
If anybody has had a successful claim against ebay or paypal I'd love to know.

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Answer 5

I have little doubt that you wil get judgment if he does not put in a written defence. This may be set aside on application if he has a sob story. Then he will be advised to put in a written defence and if he does not you get judment again. It can go on a couple of times. Having got judgment the trick is to get him to pay. If he does not any further action will be at your expense recoverable if it succeds. i have deliberatly painted a bleak picture, but often a bailiff s a wake up call. ihope you have claimed interst at the county court rate which was 8% pa some years ago but could be less now. or coommercial rates with a daily rate shoewn in your claim

Answer 6

Well since you have proof you did work for her, that can greatly help you. However, it alarms me you never had a contract regarding your internship employment with this women. That was not truly smart. However, the defendant can defend the case claiming there was no contract signed and she did not agree to this. This is why she did not have a contract explaining your internship. She can clearly claim this was a free work position for the person to gain experience. See where I'm going with this? Yet, the judge can dismiss this and I see the judge awarding you what is owed. The reason I see the judge awarding you despite it not being in writing is one: you have the documented proof you did work for her. You will need to gather the hours you worked for her, the time frame of which you worked for her, and proof of the projects you worked on with editor name. Two you cannot work for free by law under employment rights. See if you can get a validation of her business. Does she have a business license? Is she taxed controlled by the local government under her business name? See if you can also gather that evidence. The reason is, you want to also prove she is operating her business under legit regulation. If that is the case, she is in serious violation of employment constitutional rights! Hope I helped

Answer 7

You would probably win your case, as he is not going to turn up from 200 miles away, but enforcing the court decision would be a real headache with such a character. Even if the bailiffs arrive at his doorstep, will he have anything worth seizing?

As he does this habitually, it sounds as though you should in any case be reporting this matter to the police. He is a criminal and a con man.

Answer 8

One may win a case in Small Claims Court, but that does not guarantee payment.
Only a civil suit can be enforced.

US here.

Answer 9

first of all i anticipate that you do not even have a case....sinc eyou just gave him the $$$ without anything in writing.

but let's say you do win....do you get your money right then? NO...even though you have a judgement against someone, they can refuse to pay and then you will need to attach a lien to any of their property (including bank accounts).
when you go to small claims...they are suppose to list all of this for you, but they may omit...then in order to file a claim you will need to do some investigative digging.

also - make sure you report him to EBay and give him a bad rating...so others know of him in the future.

good luck

Answer 10

If your claim is successful in court you should get your money PLUS the cost of issuing proceedings in the first place (plaint fee).

If the Defendant refuses to pay following the court case, you then have a choice - you can ask the court to issue a Bailiff's warrant against him (distraint against his goods and possessions).