Stolen bike seller

I bought a track frame over the summer from ebay.
It turns out it was stolen.
I have found the righteous owner and he shall be reunited with his frame.
I have also now tracked down the seller's name and email (Due to never tidying my inbox!!).
I met with him in London to pick up the frame so know what he looks like.
I cannot search for his ebay ID as I have had no activity with him in the last 60 days.
I feel that he owes me my money back, the original owner a pretty fucking good apology and possibly more.
What is the general consensus on how to go about resolving the issue?
Ebay, Paypal, Police, Own hands?

send the email to me via pm and I will hunt him down for u lol (P.S I am bored)

Good on you George for being so honest, theres a lot who would of kept quiet and just ridden it. Couldnt you give the info to the police?

Good idea to report it to the police. They will probably not give a shite, but if EBay/you/bounty hunters try to take it further, having not originally reported it would work against you.

PS. Nice one. Hopefully the goddess of bike kharma will reward you.

Take it up with Paypal, and ebay, report it to the police frist and tell them you have done this, give them the case no.

Yes, unfortunately the original owner has no photos of the bike/no serial number (Even though it has been filed off) and I bought it long before my ebay records date back to. Surely ebay have records dating back further which they can access though?
I think I will take the legal route and hope something comes of it. I just think that unless he can be caught doing the same thing again it's gonna be really hard to prove anything!

the seller will not get in any trouble besides a possibile banning from ebay under that name, Paypal should refund your money, if you can convince them its stolen.

send the email to me via pm and I will hunt him down for u lol (P.S I am bored)

I'm a bit dubious of giving out his email/details. I have not even sent them to the original owner of the bike. Just don't really want 4th/5th parties getting involved.
Thanks for the offer and all. No offence like ;)

1st, good on you george for being stright and honest
2nd, has paypal got a complete history list of your transactions?

Were they a regular seller with a good rating? Do you think that they were aware that it was stolen themselves?

122 100% positive feedback. Think the guy was full of shit as he told me how he got the frame off some retired racer guy. I have also seen him since selling another badly resprayed frame.

1st, good on you george for being stright and honest
2nd, has paypal got a complete history list of your transactions?

I actually paid for the bike in cash on collection, however I did at a later date send him some cash via paypal for a seatpost, which I have found records of.

I actually paid for the bike in cash on collection, however I did at a later date send him some cash via paypal for a seatpost, which I have found records of.

you are not getting a dime back.

Good karma to you both. Looks like there's nothing you guys can do, there's no way you could prove that he stole it whatever the records show.

?

I'm the original owner, massive respect to George for being so honest- he deserves his own thread and a present. It looks as though it might be a matter of taking it into our own hands, I am a skinny fucker though

oh shit man, is this your Barry Chick frame you so dearly missed ?

?

Hell yeah!

split the loss between you and the original owner?

report the thief/seller six ways from sunday, just don't expect any $ back

wouldn't expect a penny back if you go through the paypal/ebay complaint route....unless you paid via paypal and a credit card, then talk to your credit card company. it's the only way i got money back from a fraudulent seller, even after the police got involved e-bay and paypal didn't give a monkeys. they wouldnt even ban him. f'kin useless.

Just had a chat on the phone with the guy who stole my Lemond Fillmore on Saturday.

Saw it down on Brick Lane on Sunday - got the police out when I saw it chained to railings, and cos I couldn't prove ownership they couldn't do shit.

And then saw it on Gumtree today but the guy had sold it on last night.

It's a proper joke how easy it is for thieves to pass bikes on.
And they don't even need to be able to spell.
(http://www.gumtree.com/london/17/34507517.html)

I didn't tell him that the bike was mine, just asked if it was still for sale. When he told me it wasn't, he was asking me what kind of bike's I liked, frame colours, handlebars, that kind of shit. Offering to get them to order. Was proper disgusting.

If anyone has bought the bike (you paid £150 I think), think how noble you'd be if you took a leaf out of George's book...

'It has top bits' - What a wanker!

Timmy - gutted to hear that was yours. Was down in BL on a Sunday for the first time at the weekend and saw some dodgy characters selling your bike at the bit further down from the foot tunnel (they had it out around midday, when I walked back past it had gone). Hope you get it back somehow.

Also, and I know it's unhelpful at the moment, but frame numbers are invaluable. Often if you bought the bike new the shop will have jotted the number on the receipt.

Condolences again...

if you google his mobile number it also comes up with this
probably belongs to another poor fuck

WAC

Yeh Seeds - the first time I saw it was when it was being sold - propped up on the curb - down in Brick Lane. Think I must've done a double-take on it that was a bit too obvious cos by the time I'd ducked down an alley to call the police he'd scarpered.

It was after that that I found it chained to the railings.

And I have kept the frame number, but cos it's tagged with a chip and has a code sprayed on the frame, didn't bother to bring it with me. Thought they'd be enough, but when the police came down, they didn't have a scanner for the chip, and they couldn't get through on the phone number.

So, with those two times, and then this last occasion on Gumtree, it's been three times that I've found it and lost it again since it was stolen.

Which very strangely has made me feel slightly better than just having it nicked the once.

You sound remarkably calm - I'd be fucking raging with the pigs if they couldn't get me my stolen bike back because they had forgotten the scanner for the chip I put in my bike to combat theft. Couldn't they at least have had it removed if you'd offered to pay for the lock in the event of a misunderstanding...? Haha, wishful thinking, I know!

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but weren't you tempted to liberate it yourself with a hacksaw? Or was the thief himself on the scene by then?