[Platinum Joinee West]

Right, so my thing I bought off of eBay (see PayPal dispute thread) turns out to have been reported stolen in Australia. Possibly several years ago. Obviously going to hand in to police, as I can't do anything with it legally (or morally!) knowing it is stolen.

My question is, is there any way of getting your money back (from anyone) if you accidentally purchase stolen goods? I have inadvertently ruled out the option of disputing this through PayPal. I raised a dispute when the item was late, and when it arrived in pefect working order, I closed the dispute. You can't re-open a PayPal dispute, you're meant to be 100% sure everything's ok, and change the dispute reason if not. So, my bad. Sort of. Well it was working so I thought everything was ok. It's taken me nearly a week to find out its stolen, it's been a fairly complicated process.

Having researched section 75s a fair bit this evening, looks like stolen goods aren't covered for refunds from your credit card company, and neither are purchases through PayPal anyway. BUT, might they still be worth a try? Seems absurd that by doing the right thing I will be out of pocket.

Is there any sort of victim of crime fund type thing? Or do I just have to spend the next year paying off a credit card bill for something I don't even own, and next year paying for its legitimate replacement?

I should add, I'm not entirely sure the seller is aware it was stolen. It's not brand new, they may have received it in good faith. Gonna give all her details to the police anyway, but still...

Also, which police do I contact about this?! Shouldn't imagine it's worth notts police being bothered about, but might need UK crime reference number. But I want the ozzy to get their goods back too...

[Joinee Hathorn]

Obviously there are slightly better placed people to comment, but getting a crime number is exactly the thing the police are happy to issue in cases like this. Also, refunding for stolen goods on a credit card should be OK... it's surely not a section 75 issue?

[Silver Joinee Rachel]

Oh what a pain!

Legally, you have never technically owned the item because the item remains with the original person it was taken from. So if it is stolen, you would have to give it back to the owner (which you want to do anyway!). But then that leaves you out of pocket.

One thing I think you would be entitled to do is make a claim for your money back against the person who sold it to you. They would then sue the person who sold it to them, etc. But it would be a good way to get some money back, although going to court would take a lot of time and hassle!

I don't know if your credit card company will be able to help you at all.

If your item is worth a lot of money and you’re not having any luck with paypal/ebay/credit card company/seller, it might be worth talking to the Citizens Advice Bureau and getting some legal advice.

[Gold Joinee Spaca-Sweeney(GA)]

Go to your local police station, report the item as found and that it was reported stolen in Australia and that you are going to keep hold of it. Tell them that if the owner wants it they can have your details and you will get it sent to them or come to some arrangement.

What was the item?

[Gold Joinee Spaca-Sweeney(GA)]

You need to report it to Notts police as you recieved the goods in their county. If the item is quite old, i dont know what it is, the Ozzy might have a replacement or insurance payout by now. If the purchase was on a credit card, then talk to them and see what they say. As the good have turned out to be stolen, they might be able to refund you the money.

The important thing to remember is that you commit no offences if you go into a police station and say, "I bought this online, i'm pretty sure it's nicked in Australia. I'm happy to give it back to the rightfull owner if they want it but they'll have to contact me and arrange collection for it.

You are not being 'Dishonest' and not stealing anything because you have no intention to 'permenantly deprive the owner of their property'. you can then give them 28 days to contact you before the items is yours legally.

Andy

[Gaz]

I would also email PayPal and tell them the situation. Opening a dispute is one thing, but selling stolen goods is another. They may make an exception in such circumstances as you acted in good faith.

[Joinee Hathorn]

Oh, and how do you know it's stolen? The only reason I ask is that when searching the net about it I found a weird email conversation posted up about a supposedly stolen item from Aus, which started with an email to the buyer recommended contacting Manly police station about it. I appreciate this may not be the case, but I thought the whole thing to be a strange coincidence that it was an Australian item.

Oh, then my machine crashed so I'm not quite sure where I found it...

...found it, it was an Australian forum, so no real surprise then!

This post has been edited by Joinee Hathorn: 22 January 2012 - 07:23 PM

[Poohbah (Gsq)]

You really haven't had much luck with this thing, have you Zena?! I hope you manage to get it sorted so you've either got your money back or got the item. (I'm quite intrigued now as to what it is!)

Good luck...!

[Platinum Joinee West]

Joinee Hathorn, on 22 January 2012 - 07:17 PM, said:

Oh, and how do you know it's stolen?

It's an iPhone. Took it to an apple store and they told me what network it was locked to (Vodafone Australia) and I tried to unlock it through vodafone Australia's website, and it told me based on the IMEI number that this specific handset has been reported as lost or stolen.

[Gold Joinee Spaca-Sweeney(GA)]

With regards to the moral use of the phone. Lost/Stolen could (and frequently is) "I'll report it stolen and get a new one, then flog the old one as well".

Speak with Apple, see if they will unlock it for ya.

Andy

[Mr Phil]

Gold Joinee Spaca-Sweeney(GA), on 22 January 2012 - 10:05 PM, said:

With regards to the moral use of the phone. Lost/Stolen could (and frequently is) "I'll report it stolen and get a new one, then flog the old one as well".

Or possibly "My phone's gone! Where's my phone gone! Yes, I'd like to report my phone stolen please. Oh, here it is."