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Is this a small claims court case?

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erh12

Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? KY and Virginia
I made 3 payments ( 2 paypal and 1 cashier's check) to an ebay seller for a 1979 Fiat spyder described as in excellent working condition and examined by a mechanic in the original listing. The vehicle was described as garaged and ready to drive away. The seller ended the auction early after I agreed to a purchase price of $2,600 based on the seller's description of the vehicle. I made several phone calls and email queries as to specifics of the condition of the car including whether there was any rust on the floors or in the wheel wells, whether any of the gears popped out while driving, and whether the heater/fan system was working (all expensive repairs). The seller claimed that there was no rust, transmission was fine, and everything worked great.
I then purchased a RT airfare from Cincinnati to Wash DC to pick up the car on Augsut 10th as agreed. Upon arrival the vehicle was parked in a grove of tree, covered in leaves and cicadas, had no working tail-lights, a leaking fuel line, needed a new transmissin and brake repair, and had rusted through under the driver's seat in 3 places. I requested that the seller relist the car on ebay and refund my money, or consider a reduction in price ( $2,200) and his covering the cost of a later trip for me to pick up the repaired vehicle.
He has refused a refund despite me offering to cover 250-300 in ebay listing and paypal fees. He claims the car is completely repaired now and that I agreed to purchase it. It has been 30 days since the day I went to (unsuccessfully ) pick up the car and he still has all of my money.
I have negotiated in good faith with the seller and, finally, as the 30 day limit was expiring last week,filed a claim with Paypal. Unfortunately, I only realized paypal's 30 day limit in time for one $800.00 claim. I have documentation of the vehicle description, as well as two paypal payments ($1,000, $800.00)and a money order for the remaining amount ($800).
I live in Kentucky and He lives in Virginia. I have been trying to determine how best to recover my money via court order? Can you suggest my best and worst case scenarios for recovering the money.
Thank you.
 


gryndor

Member
Well, now you know never ever buy something that complicated from ebay. You should have looked at it (or had somebody local look at it) before you bid.

You can bring this guy to small claims for anything you like, thing is, though that it's very unlikely you'll win your case, and you'd have to go to VA to file.

Also, ebay is for sh!t with claims. They can't force you or the bidder to do anything, and they will probably not do anything at all.

You should have called a local mechanic to go over and look at the car, then call you back. Or not done this at all.

My 2 Cents
Gryn
 
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erh12

Guest
Why do you think it is unlikely that I would lose in small claims court? It is definiely worth it to me to go to VA for the amt. involved.
 

gryndor

Member
erh12 said:
Why do you think it is unlikely that I would lose in small claims court? It is definiely worth it to me to go to VA for the amt. involved.
Well, if it's worth it to you, then I say go for it. I just think (from a non-lawyer perspective) that even if you are 100% in the right and the buyer was trying to defraud you, you would have to come up with some solid proof. It is unlikely that you would win you case unles you had some hard evidence that he had purposely and knowingly defrauded you, and as a result, you have damages. He could always counter with, you tried to screw him by placing a bid that you are trying to back out of.

Also, if you really cared about a solid, secure transaction, you wouldn't have gone through ebay. The only things I buy off of there are simple little things that if they aren't as advertised, I leave bad feedback and move on.

If I were in your shoes, I would want to recover the money, or the car as described, but the reality of it is much less fair.

Good luck to you,
gryndor
 

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