Please Read Report Tarnished

I'm a newbie to this board and I have no idea if it is legal or not. Since I'm just beginning to learn <g>, I have to ask how they would put something on your credit report without your social security number? I don't recall ebay asking for SS#'s?

I look forward to reading experienced member's replies.

Personally if I had placed a bid and it was my own error, then I would pay it anyway. That's just me though, and no judgement on another's personal decisions.

Tia

 

Can anyone advise bill on this?

 

FWIW, I believe you were wrong to "refuse to pay for something you didn't need." You bid on it. It's not the seller's fault that you made a mistake. That final bid price might have been earmarked to pay the seller's telephone bill.

In any case, I too am not knowledgeable in this area either but agree with the other poster that without your SS# they can't do anything. I also don't think they can go near your credit report without your permission, which you obviously have not and would not give this person.

Your credit report contains information on revolving and installment accounts, not single outright purchase information. I find it very hard to believe that this seller would be able to view your report, let alone insert information.

By using the word "tarnish" it sounds like a threat to get you to pay up. I wouldn't take kindly to that but on the other hand, I can understand the seller's frustration in losing a sale.

 

As an occasional eBay seller, I can tell you that nowhere in the seller's agreement nor the non-paying bidder policy does it state that the seller reserves the right to report eBay activity to the credit reporting agencies. Legally, they don't have a leg to stand on (to be able to report you). You never took possession of the goods. You made a fair effort to cover the costs associated with the auction. No judge would allow them to continue to report you (if they did), and I'm certain that many would certainly side with you if it came down to a legal battle.

On a side note, any person, company or entity that has a policy that states "We also have a Contract with Experian Credit reporting agency and we provide them the information necessary to tarnish one's credit report" is (a) lying to you and (b) simply trying to scare you into paying.

Personally, I'd tell them to take a hike. They're going to provide negative feedback to your user account, so all you can do is reply to it (on eBay) and live with it.

If you value your eBay rating, make sure you plan on paying for something you bid on. In your buyer's agreement, it specifically states that you can't retract a bid simply because you decided that you don't want it or that you decided that you bid more than you really wanted to bid.

 

And Ebay is very unforgiving if you get three non paying bidder warnings. They will permanently kick you off and anyone in your house will be removed if they open an account.

Steph

 

If I were you, I would write to ebay and report this. I have sold numerous items on ebay and have had a few people cancel. It was not a big deal. Anyway, I would report this to ebay because they may want to take action against this person for these types of threats.

 

Although I like Ebay and have gotten some really good bargains, in my bad experiences I have found them to be VERY unresponsive.

I purchased a PC from a seller there for my son, and paid immediately as I always do - The payment was accepted via Paypal the same day of the bidding. Shipping was to be Fedex - next day from Philadelphia to Baltimore. No package arrived the next day, or the next, or the third. I emailed the seller - no response. After about a dozen Emails without response I went through EBAY's complaint process via some arbitration type service - The seller did not respond. Numerous complaints to EBAY only resulted in form emails referring me to the arbitration or "safe harbour" I believe it is called.

After 3 weeks, I sent a final demanding email to the seller - informing him I was filing a fraud complaint with the local police and would ask it be referred to Philadelphia - the local police informed me in MD over $250.00 is basically a felony. Finally the seller emailed me saying my "threat" was in violation of Ebays terms, that he had 30 days to complete the transaction and he was reporting me to EBAY.

I never heard from Ebay, but did receive the PC, of course it was a hastily put together generic system which was nowhere near as described.

As much as I enjoy Ebay - it is definitely "Buyer Beware"

 

I am a heavy E-bay user as well. I do not believe that anyone can do that to your credit rating, as there is no "credit" contract. only a contract to purchase. If they did this to you you would be more than able to sue the pants off them. the only thing e-bay allows is to leave negative feedback. and in a case such as this, i would expect e-bay would look deeply into that seller. i would e-mail a copy of what you have directly to them. I know myself, i take pride in my feedback rating, and would think that others do as well. good luck!

shawn

 

It doesn't have to be a credit transaction to be put on you're credit report. Any time that you owe money, and do not pay, they are free to report you to the credit bureau. You also don't have to give them you're social security number. Generally a name and address is sufficient. People have collections on their report for doctor bills, returned checks, and any number of non-credit transactions that they didn't pay, or didn't feel they should be obligated to pay.

I'm not saying that they were right, but I do believe they would be able to report this to the credit bureau if they do actually have a contract with Experian. Technically, you bid on the item and agreed to pay for it. If you buy something at the store, and come back 15 minutes later saying you bought the wrong item, are they obligated to give you a refund? I agree that most decent stores will gladly give you a refund, but there are a**holes out there that will take your money and say too bad.

 

I don't think they have to mention it ahead of time. I have never seen anything like this on doctor bills, hospital admission sheets, etc... Not only that, but I have seen several people with bounced checks on their report, and there is nothing on the check that states that they will put the info on the credit report if it is returned. I think a lot of credit card companies mention that as a scare tactic to keep people from defaulting, but I don't think it is required.

 

Even your local library can put your overdue book fines on your credit reports, however......the fact that you did not take possession of any property or service in connection with this transaction causes me to believe they can't do it. If you used electricity and didn't pay your bill, or didn't return your library book or bought something with a check and the check bounced, in all those cases you received a product or service that was not paid for. I don't see how they can ding your credit report because you said you would buy something and then changed your mind prior to every receiving the product.
Just my opinion

 

Something tells me that threatening another eBay user in any way is against the eBay Terms of Service. They have a special department set up for reviewing member-member issues like this -- it's called the "Safe Harbor Department." Call eBay at 408-558-7400 and ask for the Safe Harbor Department directly.

Doc