Seller sold me wrong item and now taking me to court

A question about : Seller sold me wrong item and now taking me to court

I have posted this in the ebay section but really looking for some urgent advice please.

An ebay seller sold me some software on 22nd February 2012 which turned out to be wrong (he sent me an upgrade version as appose to a full retail version). The item cost Ј160 plus postage.

I contacted the seller and we agreed a refund/return on the 29th February 2012. The seller refunded me Ј170 on 29th February to include the cost of return postage. The parcel was returned the same day by First class post.

Following a series of emails where the seller informed me that the parcel hadn't arrived, and giving me links to the royal mail claim form, etc, the last contact I had from the seller was on 3rd April 2012 saying that he had not received the item still but sorry for wasting my time, got really snotty and said Don't worry I won't bother you or waste your precious time any further!

Fast forward to this morning and I get a letter through the post from small claims saying that he has filed a claim against me. I've not received any warning of this or any further contact since 3rd April and this court claim has appeared from nowhere. If the guy had contacted me, we could've come to some sort of agreement about us splitting the loss or something. However, now he is claiming for the full refund to be returned which is outrageous.

Where do I stand legally given the fact that I never received a letter of intention to take me to court or anything like that?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Best answers:

• You did send it back by recorded delivery ?
  Other:
  What exactly have you received and from where ? stamped court papers or filled in blank ones and if so from which court ?
  STAY ONLINE !
• No but it will have been franked by work so they should have a record of the parcel.
• About these papers ?
• I don't know about Northern Ireland but in England, if the court paper isn't stamped it hasn't been lodged with the court. Perhaps he has sent it in the hope it will scary you into paying up without him actually filling them with the court.
• Do the papers have and case number or hearing reference number on them ?
• You should fill the claim in defend the whole amount + file a counter claim , request it be transferred to your local county court and defend on the basis that this was an item sold under e.bays auction terms, found to be the wrong item and returned as requested by the seller, that the item supplied by the seller was not was claimed in the listing and hence any value attached by the seller to the item is a false one as by own admission the item was not what it was claimed to be, so the value has been falsely claimed.
  That the dispute was dealt with by way of e.bays terms and conditions and the item returned in a manner requested by the seller.
  Proof of postage included.
  Therefore I request that the court strikes out the claim on the following points:
  The Plaintiff has had the item returned as requested :
  The value of such item is falsified :
  The Plaintiff having had the false valued item returned has suffered no such loss as claimed as they have the Goods and returned payment.
  That no notice before action was served and the Plaintiff is attempting to claim for which they have not asked.
  Also requested is an application for counter-claim for losses incurred in attending court which will be the loss of 1 days work pay and a claim for harassment which has been caused by the plaintiff in dealing with this vexatious cliam for which they have suffered no loss, that this has caused embarrassment and a loss of confidence with your employer in having to demand time from work to defend this case and subsequent stress involved request that such damages be set at Ј750 for harassment.
  Therefore total amount of counter claim stands at Ј750 + loss of 1 days pay + travel expenses to court.
• Thanks Vax2002 - I agree with most of what you say to put in the claim and I will do so. I do not wish to file a counter claim because I do not wish to pay the court fees, but I will go ahead and file a defence.
  I have asked work for a record of the parcel being sent by first class post but I'm just worried now incase they can not give sufficient evidence.
  I think the crucial bit to any claim being quashed is the fact that the seller has not requested repayment of the refund and has not served any notices. Also, as you say, the value of the item will be falsified because the item was the wrong one. He actually stated in one email that he had resold the item as the correct item at a price of Ј135 but then went on to say it had never arrived with him after I returned it.
  Is it worth me posting my proposed defence statement on here for you guys to check over before I submit it?
  I have also emailed the seller asking for a contact number to discuss with him as I'd much rather come to an agreement ourselves than to go through court.
• Regarding the lack of proper notice before legal action, you could probably successfully ask a court to dis-allow the court costs the plaintiff would have added to the summons.
• Yes you can do, without the counter-claim still request a pre-estimated costs of attending, even if a days holiday it is a loss and needs to be requested as costs on the claim form.
  on the form list all documents you intend to use in a simple reference system and make sure the copies with headers are printed and sent with the defence form.
• Thanks, I will work on a defence this evening and post it here for you guys to look over...thankfully the claim form gives me until early August to defend.
• Anything you send back via ebay should be by tracked means, (ie special delivery) your office sending it back 1st class will not stand up as such.
  Good luck in getting this sorted.
• I suggest you PAY UP then!