What would you do?

[johnhoward]

Say you "won" a nice new chainsaw on an famous online auction site. Say you instantly fell in love with the saw when you got it. Then say you called the company that distributes it with a technical question and they asked for the SN. Say you innocently gave it to them along with your phone #, first name, and zip code. Then they call back and tell you that there is "bad news" and that the saw is hot. Then they suggest that you take the saw to the local cops and turn it in and to tell the cops to call another guy at such and such number at the company. And that's all the dude tells you. Only your money is already gone, but you've got this great saw...only...

Seriously, what would you do if you found yourself in this situation?

 

[buckwheat]

Ouch. In legal terms, you've been screwed.
The saw belongs to someone else. It was stolen from them, and you received it through apparent legal means. The manufacturer now knows where the saw is and who has it, and they have informed you that the saw belongs to someone else.
At this stage, you knowingly have stolen property in your possession.
The only other immediate option you might have is to notify the local PD, backed up with a letter, and keep the saw until you are told otherwise, but that is tricky, and may not work.
You need to contact the seller, the auction company, and if appropriate, your credit card or payment company to see if you have any recourse. The seller could possibly be just as innocent as you, and thus willing to refund your money; and some credit cards offer insurance against such purchases.
You also might want to call the manufacturer number yourself and see what redress they might be willing to offer. If the saw was stolen from one of their shipments, they may be willing to write it off as an insurance loss since it is now used.
The fact that you've advertised your plight tells us that you want to do the right thing, but as painlessly as possible, which no one can blame you for. See if they will work with you, and keep your moral compass on point.




(I'm not an attorney, and I never played one on tv... and my icon has no bearing on the above comments!)

 

[ricksvar]

Well.....seems like you're in a pickle,but you purchased the saw in good faith and can prove it.

Contact the auction site,you may be covered by their policy.If you paid by PayPal you could have other options.

As for as the seller,find out what they have to say.DON'T ASK FOR,DEMAND YOUR MONEY BACK if it can be proved the saw was stolen.

I would also ask for a copy of the police report proving that the item was actually stolen.Without a police report that the item was stolen and when,I would keep the saw in my possession.

I'am not a lawyer,
Rick

 

[trimmmed]

I'd keep the saw and lean on the auction site if the **** hits. You did nothing wrong here and chances of enforcement are slim. Although if they sent a couple of state troopers to the house, I'd fork it over pretty quick.

 

[tony marks]

if this is a well known aution site with good feedback. u can bet they will want this behind them as quietly as possible.
pretty sure theyll give satisfaction.if not make reports to the auction . ebay doesnt like affiliation with crooks .

 

[wak110]

I wouldn't sit around and wait for the authorities to show up at my door. As others have suggested I'd contact the auction company and see what kind of relief if any they are willing to provide.
I would also check with an attorney to see exactly what my options were in my particular state. Some states even offer free legal advice in certain situations.
Keep all documentation just to protect yourself but most police and prosecutors are interested in the thief, not another victim.
Good Luck

 

[sedanman]

If you are in "possesion of stolen property" you can face a fine or jail time (very un-likely) . The law does not generally make a distinction for "I didn't know it was stolen" which in this case, you do.

 

[eyolf]

I suppose this is another one of those "gray areas" created by the internet, but you do have a documemt trail to show that you do, in fact, own an item of particular description, purchased in good faith, etc. <a href="http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/stolen.html
">Ebay's policy </a> says little that seems to imply they will be of any assistance to <b>you</b>(unless forced) but willingly comply with any and all law enforcement inquiries.

Next step? I'd say a call to the county attorney's office.

 

[sonny]

one other thought . lets say you were the original ownere & it was stolen from you. how would you feel if someone won your saw in a raffle or auction.

 

[jokers]

Hi Sonny, although I agree with that premise I would guess that the saw was stolen at the dealer or distributor level and not the level of an individual consumer. I say this because I doubt the manufacturer would give two hoots and a holler about a saw stolen after it was sold. If I am correct I think the maufacturer, who could easily verify that John bought the saw through legitimate means, should as a very small gesture of good will let John keep it, or if they need that particular saw as evidence they could substitute another of the same model to John. I`ll tell you what is going to happen to that saw if John turns it over to law enforcement, someone somewhere in the law pipeline is going to become it`s new owner. Even if it goes all the way through the system in a legit manner in accordance with procedure, at some time the manufacturer will lose interest in it materially and it will either be given to someone in the loop or it will go to a surplus equipment and evidence sale. Who gets first crack at items in these auctions? From what I`ve seen it`s the law officers. I think John should try to persuade the manufacturer to give him a new one or forget about this one. By this time they have either already received an insurance payout or they have written it off as a loss on their quarterly returns, the actual production value to them is minimal. John shouldn`t have to take it in the shorts and look at the positive PR they could get by cutting him some slack.

Another possible scenario is that a dealer who is prohibited by agreement from selling outside a certain are is web auctioning saws and reporting them as stolen to the manufacturer to prevent an audit from showing that he is peddling outside his territory. Should John have to eat it if he unwittingly helps the dealer break his agreement with the manufacturer? In this case the saw may have some value to the manufacturer because they would know where it is supposed to be and they could take the local dealer to task but this isn`t a criminal matter. Here again I think the manufacturer should capitalize on the PR potential and give John a saw. Even a saw they give away can be depreciated as a promo so they could conceivably have nill to no financial loss against the true cost to produce the saw. John has to persuade them to give him a saw that he has already paid for.

Russ

 

[johnhoward]

Thank you all for the advice and opinions. All very helpful...

I cannot "just keep it" and pretend I don't know even though that's what I want to do...

Yesterday I printed out the paper trail of my purchase and then made photo copies of it all. Today I will call the distributor and get more details and then ask for a police report proving it is stolen. Then I suppose it's on to the auction site and perhaps the attorney's office. In my state there is a consumer protection agency. They might be one to contact too.

The call to the distributor should tell me more.

If you are interested, I'll keep you posted...

 

[johnhoward]

Russ,

I just read your interesting post.

I plan to BEG the distributor to work out some way for me to keep this saw (or get one in exchange). I like it alot. I didn't mention that because I figured it would be a hopeless task, but what you said makes sense as this saw is already probably a loss written off to the distributor and once I turn it in it will be swallowed up by the system (of course I also want to avoid being swallowed up by the system).

It was definitely NOT stolen on a consumer level. That I'm pretty sure of...