I was recently scammed over an ebay transaction. The seller sent me a broken tv and then refused to file an insurance claim with Fed-Ex (even though I paid for the shipping insurance).
I filed the claim myself, which was then closed by Fed-Ex because they told me in a letter that "Insurance claims are handled by the person shipping". And with that, they then opened the case under the scammer sellers name.
At this point, the seller seemed like he was going to help me recover my lost money via Fed-Ex insurance. I complied with Fed-Ex questions, filed out forms, and in the end Fed-Ex came and picked up the broken tv.
About 3 weeks later, I received an email from Fed-Ex saying their investigation was complete and that I would receive their final decision via standard mail within 7 days.
I waited and waited and never got this letter in the mail, so I emailed Fed-Ex and told them I never received the decision letter, they told me that the claim had been approved and had already been paid out.
So not only did this scammer take my original $300, but he then scammed me (and Fed-Ex) out of the additional $300 insurance check.
I researched this guy and found that he lives in the same state as me (Illinois) though he lives about an hour away. Is this enough to take him to small claims court? Do I need a lawyer? Can I file the lawsuit at my local court, or do I need to go to the one near him? If I have to go to him, can I sue for travel expenses?
Other info: The purchase was made from Ebay and paid over PayPal. I had a PayPal claim open, but it was open for too long and it was closed and will not open back up. I contacted Fed-Ex (several times) and they tell me every time that I need to make personal arrangements to get the claim money from the seller myself. I live in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago)
Yes you can file against him. Is your ebay account business or personal mainly? If personal no you dont need a lawyer just file at small claims court or call the police press fraud charges then sue (some states it’s federal some only civil), if it’s primarily a business account…unfortunately it’s mandatory to hire a lawyer. I’ve been at many cases that were thrown out due to this technicality. (I went to court 100′s of times for work, never as a defendant)
