How to file a police report?

Don't worry, this incident does not involve any member of Sythe, I just would like clarification regarding the procedure.

Long story on short: on June 12, 2014 I sent $666 USD to a seller to fabricate a custom prop. Basically, he led me on for months stating various delays getting started etc, and when I finally requested a refund close to a year later he gave me several excuses why he didnt have the money on him and that I would have to wait.

We are now in 2016. I should not have let it get this far but I was extremely busy and naive during that time. Now he is basically thumbing his nose at me that because our transaction is well over 180 days old he's saying there is nothing Paypal, my Credit Card company, or anyone can do.

I have not contacted Paypal yet. Is this really the case? Can you lead someone on until the transaction dispute date has passed and then walk away with their money??? What should I do? I have kept all our interations and emails saved. I think my only option at this point is to file a Police Report. I am somewhat fortunate because his Paypal identity is all confirmed and he literally only lives in the next town over.

This has been causing me a great deal of stress.

 

You can always do a charge-back on PayPal & notify them of the situation, maybe they can do something.

 

The original Paypal transaction is from 2014. I don't think you can charge back a payment after 180 days.

 

Filing a police report is easy, just go into your local police precinct and notify them of the situation. I'm assuming the person lives in the US? If so, you can file a small claims case against him.

I'd contact your credit card company to see if they can do something just in case, as far as paypal the limit is 180 days.

 

Thank you. We are both in Canada by the way, but I assume the process is the same?

I'm going to call Paypal and my Credit Card company tomorrow to see if there's anything they can do. Should I notify the seller, maybe give him an ultimatum, or at this stage would it be wiser to cease communication?

I was so laid back and time went so fast. =(
The timeline of events was I was supposed to have recieved my item in time for Christmas 2014. over the almost 2 year period the excuses were, "delayed due to moving", "3D printer problems", "Waiting for 3D printer parts", "moving again" etc... I gave him the benifit of the doubt. I finaly got tired of it and requested the refund in August of last year and let him take his time with it. By that time I'd already ordered, paid for and recieved a replacement prop from another seller (which only took 1 month) so it did not matter much to me. 6 months later, Here we are.

What other options do I have? I am gathering all the details now. The thing is, I don't think he's evil or out commit fraud, just extremely incompetent and irresponsible with money. But how else am I supposed to get my money back? Why do these people even go into buisness? =S

 

I may be wrong as i'm UK based, but don't expect the police to take this much further than "speak to your lawyer" as it's likely a civil matter.

My understanding is that you entered into a contract (albeit a verbal/informal one) and he has technically just not delivered what you required.

I would imagine they would recommend that you initiate a process to formally request the funds, be it through letters and formal notices. Then if he is still unable to/be forced into refunding you, you will likely need to make the decision as to whether you want to take it further/to court.

 

How would I go about "Formally requesting funds" ? We keep in contact through email and Facebook messages, which I'd wager is not exactly formal.

He's not hiding or anything but If the police can't/won't do anything... I don't know what to do. I've never had to do anything like this.

It's kind of rediculous, all he is is a guy on the internet who took my money and managed to stall past the 180 days, and now he's completely free and can just say "nope" to me, Paypal, Credit Card, Police etc all these entities are powerless. I'd find it funny if it wasn't happening to me... Lol...

666 USD isn't that much money all things considered, but it is significant. Is it worth getting lawyers involved? How much does that cost? I can't just let the guy walk away with it can I? But Im getting way ahead of myself.

 

I had something happen 3-4 years ago with car parts and i filed a police report/all of his information as it was over $3,000 and i never heard anything back from the police after the day i filed the report. Best of luck to you though bud!

 

Dear lord that's reassuring lol!

 

I'm really interested in what happens after you file small claims, could you keep us updated? ^_^ Unfortunate that you couldn't backcharge via paypal, but calling them up and explaining could do you some justice if you have proof.

 

It's just so Seinfeldian... Like seriously, he can do that? You mean to say I can take someone's money, mark down the date on my calander, and if I can manage to stall and lead them on for 180 days, I can walk away with their money and theres not a damn thing they, PayPal, the Credit Card Company, or the Police can do about it? It's like the perfect crime. Can he just say "No", to a lawyer too? What's the lawyer gonna do? Insist that he pay? Give him a court date that he wont show up to? It's ridiculous. Can the lawyer force him to pay? If a lawyer gets involved, he HAS to pay right?

It blows my mind. It's like a joke, he isn't even trying to hide, he still goes about his buisness like normal. I wanted to call him out for it in public (well, on the internet), but I don't want to commit slander or anything. And I know for a fact he has enough money on him now. I know exactly where he is, litterally less than an 8 hour drive but I can't do anything. Lol...

 

Paypal will not refund you because you went over the limited time period for chargebacks. To be honest it's your fault for letting it drag on so long, I would have chargedback within 100 days, because honestly, if someone is going to give me a deadline for when their services will be completed by then I'm not going to keep accepting 'delays'. I'll get someone else more professional to do it for me.

You can file a report to the police but I honestly doubt it'll conjure any results, especially if he lives in another country (if so it'll be literally useless attempting to contact the authorities).

 

It was a fairly intricate completely custom made prop. On average these things take 3-5 months (usually longer), to design, model on the computer, 3D print, assemble, paint, finish etc. There is also a waiting list with these items, while other peoples orders are also being made. These things take time, Its an expected lengthy process, I trusted the dude was working on it, but after the 5-6 month deadline had past (ordered June 2014 and expected in time for Christmas, even by then it was too late), he was leading me on and did not work on it at all. I got extremely lucky and found an opening with someone else, so I got my prop from them, and requested a refund from the previous seller. I've been trying to get my money back since then, about 6 months ago now.

Apparently, The length of the fabrication process of such goods creates an obvious loophole lol. I am fortunate we live in the same country.

TL;DR Seller said it was being made but it wasn't. Exploited the after 180 days no chargeback window. No choice but to file police report and small claims etc.

 

Ahh, my bad. Thought it was a simple custom purchase that would take like 2 weeks to make and send over. Good luck with the police report, I hope he is punished for being a scammer.

 

Update: I sent a simple message a while ago that I was preparing to file a police report and small claim and I just now recieved $750 CAD (equal to $506 USD). This is obviously not same currency or even the same amount he owes me (He's $160 USD short by the looks of it...), should I accept this???

 

Thing is he can chargeback at any time also if he sends you via paypal. I wouldn't accept it personally as 1. it's not the right amount or currency, and 2. still the risk of him charging back.

 

Yeah, I was thinking something like that too. Looks like he sent exactly $725 CAD (not $750 CAD, my mistake) as a gift, nothing in the notes etc so it's a contextless payment he could probably chargeback in the future. Im not gonna touch it for now.

 

Alright, I called Paypals dispute line.

I told the rep that I had been trying to get a refund for over a year and it was not until just yesterday where I said I would file a Police Report and Small claims case that I recieved any money at all (The payment was also not the correct amount or the right currency).

Regarding the $725 CAD:
In the $725 CAD (Equivalent of $511 USD) payment there was a line in the notes with the transaction ID it was a refund of, So the rep assured me it was clearly part of a refund and was safe to accept. (I'm still not touching it for the time being).

Regarding the remaining amount of $154 USD, the Paypal rep has sent him an email asking him to pay the remaining amount within 2 weeks or else I will get the authorities involved.

Hopefuly he will pay the rest back. Also, I'd like to apologize in advanced if this thread never gets around to me filing a police report lol

 

He paid up. :3

After 1 and a half years I finally got my money back lol.

 

Congrats, glad to hear you got your money back