eBay problems, resolutions, shenanigans, questions and info (not bike finds)

Will say I've had one of three second chance offers accepted so, as they only last 24hrs, there's no harm in giving it a go?

Did the original owner report it to the police when stolen, is there a crime reference number?

Without any contemporaneous evidence I'd wonder whether it was stolen or just sold and the register not updated.

I've asked Bikeregister to forward my details to the 'owner'. When they get in touch I'll request they provide crime ref no before arranging picking up of the bike.

It might also be worth asking for evidence that the bike, when stolen, had any of the components still on it now. A bike can change a lot in 4 years! They might change their mind about wanting it back if it's literally just the frame they'd be receiving.

Did the original owner report it to the police when stolen, is there a crime reference number?

This.

If he didn't report the theft at the time, I wouldn't be so quick to hand it over.

Apart from aggi's point, because of the time elapsed it'll be much harder for you to recover what you paid for the bike from the previous seller.

Equally, it's bollocks that someone could do their due diligence (ie check with Bike Register that it's not stolen) and buy a bike, only to have taken off them some time down the line because the original owner couldn't be bothered to report it.

I'd tell him he can have it back if he refunds you what you paid for it (his fault you bought a stolen bike), plus an amount for your labour in maintaining it, minus new parts (adjusted for original parts that were removed).

I fucking hate ebay.

Bought some Shimano AX deltas off a guy in Serbia, finally arrive and one of the mounting bolts has been replaced with a rusty flathead bolt and nut, which apart from being ugly as fucking sin won't fit recessed mountings, will it. Abject fucking dickhead deliberately concealed this in all the fucking listing pictures.

WAFC.

Cue typical ebay bollocks asking me to pay return shipping to get a fucking refund. Waste. Of. My.
Fucking. Time. And. Money.

You should get a full refund on return postage, no? Item isn't as described.

In theory, if the seller accepts the return he should send you a label. 99% of the time they say "send it back and I'll refund you when I get it" knowing ebay only refunds monies paid in the original transaction. For international shipping I have no idea if the system is the same for every country the seller is in too-i.e in the UK you can send someone an Royal Mail shipping label online through ebay, Germany, no idea.

Activate this anyway: https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns

oh nice-didn't know about that one, cheers.

Yeah you can use it up to 12 times per year. I ended up creating a 3rd paypal account so I could get around this limitation and rinse Paypal for a few more quid.

Previous owner has got in touch... Bloke appears genuine and clearly isn't the person I purchased the bike from originally. He apparently reported bike stolen to the police but did not register it as stolen on bike register. I suppose whether he reported it as stolen or not on BR doesn't really change the fact whether it was stolen at the end of the day. I suggested that if he can provide evidence of it I'll give him back the bike minus the parts (so basically frame, forks, stem and handlebars). He's instead suggested, given it's not really the same bike, I pay him £50 and call it quits.

He's instead suggested, given it's not really the same bike, I pay him £50 and call it quits.

Tell him to jog on

What's the point of Bike Register if you don't report the item as stolen? Defeats the purpose really, doesn't it?

Previous owner has got in touch... Bloke appears genuine and clearly isn't the person I purchased the bike from originally. He apparently reported bike stolen to the police but did not register it as stolen on bike register. I suppose whether he reported it as stolen or not on BR doesn't really change the fact it was stolen at the end of the day. I suggested that if he can provide evidence of it I'll give him back the bike minus the parts (so basically frame, forks, stem and handlebars). He's instead suggested, given it's not really the same bike, I pay him £50 and call it quits.

Sounds like a chancer.
A receipt of purchase, crime reference or do one.

He apparently reported bike stolen to the police...

He can apparently give you a crime reference then.

Failing which >>>>>>>>>>>

It was £50's worth of hassle either way and I very much doubt I would be able to find a police reference number 5 years after a bike was nicked.

I think the odds are pretty low of him banking on being able to get back a bike he'd sold 5 years ago by lying to bike register. On top of that, his response was what I'd expect: elation when he thought he was getting his bike back, indignance when I'd explained the parts attached to the bike belonged to me and grudging acceptance when I sent him photos of the bike compared to when I'd originally bought it. We're only talking a stock langster here btw, I'd be more suspicious if he was looking for £50 if the bike was worth £1000.

Anyway, maybe I'm a mug but tbh I couldn't be arsed to strip the bike and I'm fairly sure, whether he was the rightful owner or not, it's highly unlikely he'd bother to contact the police or transfer ownership if I started demanding crime ref numbers. Because I probably would think fuck it at that point if I was him.

Moral of the story appears to be don't purchase a second hand bike without the owner transferring the bike register details when you buy it if you don't want to be held hostage for £50.

Sounds suspect. If I was certain it was a scam I would consider stripping the bike and left it for collection in the thames..

if you don't want to be held hostage for £50.

What's he got on you though? What happens if you ignore?

I’m 80% sure it wasn’t a scam having spoken to the bloke on the phone, via email and having completed the cursory stalking on social media. Bike Register were also helpful although I reckon it may have been them that suggested a payment as a makeweight.

I reckon:
higher probability - someone didn't report bike as stolen on bike register until they'd inadvertently been informed it had been 'found'.
lower probability - someone asked to transfer ownership thought they'd get the bike or a payout if they reported it as nicked.

Haha sounds like the consensus is I shouldn't have paid. If I hadn't, I'd have potentially ended up having to strip the bike before handing it over to the police. Otherwise I'd have ended up with a bike flagged as stolen on bike register and also potentially reported as stolen to the police.

What's he got on you though? What happens if you ignore?

If you ever tried to sell it without doing a deal with the real owner you'd be guilty of handling stolen goods, something both the police and the courts tend to take quite seriously.

Won an item cheap and seller cancelled the sale claiming the item is damaged. It's clearly bullshit, so what's the form, just leave negative feedback?

Is he actually transferring ownership then? Otherwise don’t you run the risk of him contacting you again in a year and asking for another £50?