This. Hopefully you have pictures of the item(s) you can file with the police in his jurisdiction. If they go there and find the item, that's evidence in your favor.
Have you looked at his ebay history to see if he has any other negative feedback for stuff like this? Any time I've ever used ebay to sell, I'd only sell to someone with 100% positive feedback as a buyer.
I don't think sellers are allowed to leave negative feedback on eBay. Here's a response from the eBay community forum about this:
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Archiv...ve-negative-feedback-for-buyers/qaq-p/3126739
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If you shipped to him or he returned the box to you via US Postal Service, contact the Postmaster General's office and report the mail fraud. It it was not shipped USPS, then I would file a consumer complaint with the Federal Trade Commission... here is a link... https://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/submit-consumer-complaint-ftc
If he shipped it, that makes it Federal. However it will cost you more to get your money back then the initial loss.
If you have the resources, i'd do it anyway just for the principle of the matter. He's probably done this stuff before. This might be just an assumption, but he'll probably do it again.
You can probably sue him for lost time and resources, anyway. Because he did business with you in your State, he is under their jurisdiction. Just pay the small filing fee(i forget what it is in Oklahoma County) and fill out a small claims. Call his local Sheriff or a local company to deliver the notice to him.
After so many days after receipt of notice, you'll get a default payment. You can then take the Judgment and write a writ of execution for the local sheriff. This writ of execution can garnish the wages from his job, be taken to his bank to retrieve funds from his bank account or you can take a lien on his property. In any case, you will probably make significantly more from this judgment than the cost of the printing press. Plus you can file a complaint with the USPS and law enforcement to file charges against him for felony mail fraud. I'm no lawyer, but if i understand it correctly that's how it works.
He could potentially get decades in federal prison. No more guns for him, either, since he'll be a felon.
File a mail fraud complaint by filling out this form online;
http://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/default.aspx
Information on filing a small claims in court;
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/courtclerk/smallclaims.aspx
FAQ;
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/courtclerk/SmallClaimsFAQ.aspx
EZ PZ lemon squee Z
p.s. if you hire a lawyer you might be able to get a judgment for lawyer's fees as well.
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The legal issue this comes down to is whether Oklahoma has personal jurisdiction over the guy. To have specific personal jurisdiction over an individual, he must have "minimum contacts" with the jurisdiction you are wanting to file in. It really helps that his contact with Oklahoma is the same transaction your claim arises from. I think you have a strong argument for personal jurisdiction. I say go for it. And forget small claims -- go big. Ask for punitive damages over $10,000.00. The kind of blatant fraud he committed is exactly the kind of thing that courts grant punitive damages for. If you file suit here in your county, you will have to pay a process server to serve him in his state. Some of the bigger process serving agencies will probably have contacts in all states that can get this done for you, instead of having to pay someone to drive from here to Ohio. Like others have said, you will have to collect on any judgment you get. Probably the best way would be to file for a Hearing on Assets here in Oklahoma and having him served. If he doesn't show up, a warrant will be issued here and will show up any time he gets pulled over or anything. It might be enough of a pain for him that he would pay you some money to make it go away. Other than that, you'd have to register an out-of-state judgment in Ohio and go there to levy on his property.
Definitely follow up with criminal complaints, as others have suggested. That might be the surest way to get you paid back. Hopefully he was stupid and used USPS.
Definitely follow up with criminal complaints, as others have suggested. That might be the surest way to get you paid back. Hopefully he was stupid and used USPS.
Lucky for me, he did use USPS to mail the "package-o-crap". I've got a complaint filed with ic3.gov and uspis.gov as mentioned above. I live in Logan County, so I'll give the court clerk up here a call and see what I need to do. I'd love to go for punitive damages. And feel I could win that case, but it all hinges on where I have to file. If I'm required to file in his state I'm not sure where I could go with that.
At this point, I'm so damn pissed off I'm willing to pay an attorney and pin this guy to the wall on principle alone. A felony conviction would be perfect and most deserving for this bag-of-ass.
Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.
If you go through the process, let us know how it goes. This scumbag committed a sin against every gun owner, in my opinion. It would be nice to see him get punished, serve as a warning and give others who suffer these crimes a blueprint and experience for putting these people away.
What you can do is keep an eye on his auctions, included completed listings (whether they sold or not). See if he puts the same stuff up for sale. If so, you may be able to re-open your appeal with eBay and PayPal. I wouldn't hold my breath on this if I were you. eBay and PayPal "seller protection" is a bit of a joke, but once in a while, they'll surprise you.
Also, by keeping an eye on his eBay auctions, if you see him put your stuff up for sale, you help build evidence for any civil or criminal suit you bring against him in the future. Just be sure to take actual screenshots and print out the pages for that evidence. Don't count on it to be there on eBay when you really need it.
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