A talkback caller this morning to John Laws on Sydney radio's 2SM told of his eBay drama.
This man and his wife listed and sold a caravan on eBay to a woman for $6,500. He said the money went into their account via BPay (perhaps he meant PayPal). He mentioned something about $170 in fees. His wife spoke to the buyer over the phone who arranged to come and collect the caravan.
When the woman failed to show they tried to contact her but she never answered her phone or replied to any emails. As they already had her money they assumed she must have had a car accident or a sudden death in the family. Days, then weeks went by without any contact. She never answered their phone calls or emails. They assumed she must have ended up in gaol or passed away.
Stuck in limbo they ended up having to pay to put the caravan in storage and then pay for it to get re-registered even though technically it belonged to someone else. Three months later the money had been nearly all spent.
Yesterday out the blue they get a request from eBay that they have 48 hours to return the money this woman paid or it will be taken from them. The woman told eBay that she did not make the purchase. Somebody else must have used her account. Very suspicious considering this man's wife actually spoke to the woman.
Anyway, now this couple are out of pocket their PayPal fees, storage fees, rego renewal fees and to top it off don't have the $6,500 to give back. In addition to all that they've now had to engage a solicitor.
Messy stuff.
