I bought a used electric cargo bike on eBay for £3,300 but, when it arrived, I discovered a cut in the frame. I put the frame number in the national one. BikeRegister Databasewhich confirmed that it had been stolen.
The seller They didn’t respond when I contacted them so I called the police and they confiscated the bike. They gave me crime references and property registration numbers.
As I had paid by bank transfer, I contacted my bank, First Direct, to try to get a refund. asked evidence that the bike had been confiscated, which I provided.
I also reported the matter to eBay but because I paid the seller directly by bank transfer quite that through the site, has no responsibility.
Now I have received a response from the bank and they have rejected my claim because it is a electric bicycle. I don’t see why this makes a difference. It’s still a fraud.
Is there anything else I can do? The reason my claim was denied is confusing. Now I am without a bike and 3,300 pounds. I saved up for a year to buy this bike and I’m gutted. Can you help?
Florida, London
It’s a sad story, but you did the right thing by handing the bike over to the police. If other readers find themselves in this situation, they should do the same, ensuring that they obtain the crime reference and property registration numbers necessary to file a refund claim.
The seller urged you to pay by bank transfer rather than via eBay, to avoid paying several hundred pounds in fees, which you sympathized with. But this was a ruse and, by leaving the platform, any protection offered to the site’s users was lost.
Your bank provided appropriate fraud warnings during the transaction, but you still went ahead.
However, First Direct’s basis for rejecting the claim was unclear, so I asked it to reconsider the decision. After doing so, he discovered that an error had been made and that this case met the criteria for an Authorized Automatic Payment (APP) scam and that he had been provided with incorrect information.
First Direct says: “Protecting customers from fraud is really important to us and we are sorry that FL has fallen victim to a scam. “After reviewing this case, we have provided a full refund of £3,300.”
He adds: “As this case highlights, fraudsters are clever criminals who use a variety of techniques to steal money from people. We want to remind all customers to exercise caution when purchasing products from online marketplaces and never make purchases outside of recognized payment platforms. Customers can also further protect themselves by paying attention to fraud warnings when making payments and reading about common scams and techniques used by fraudsters.”
Many banks, including First Direct, are enrolled in the contingent repayment model code for APP scams. Under this code, banks must take a series of measures to protect customers and reimburse those who are not at fault when they are affected by a scam.
In this case, your full refund is a gesture of goodwill because First Direct made a mistake in handling your case. It is not based on the ins and outs of the scam.
If you take a risk like this, you won’t always get your money back from the bank.
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