Advice about non paying buyers

[Sean]

I recently responded to a member of this forum that was looking for a registrants details. I tried to broker a sale but the asking price and the offer price were quite a way apart so I put them in touch directly. This morning I got an e-mail from the seller asking if I knew the buyer well - I don't, they're just a name on this forum - because he'd trusted him and transferred the domain on the agreement that immediate payment would be made. The buyer said he'd paid but no money arrived and he's now gone to ground and hasn't replied to numerous e-mails.

It's poor behaviour that reflects on me and I've promised I will do all I can to help but I've never been in this situation before so perhaps anyone on here that as can offer some advice. For example, can DRS be used in a situation like this?

 

[Nigel]

Can't see you're at fault in any way Sean, you only did what most forum members would have done. Usual protocol is to wait for payment before transferring a domain. That's what we do. Not sure about DRS situation - have any forum members ever had a similar situation?

 

[bens]

Personally i'd go with this option: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

 

[Adam H]

Name and shame the user aswell so others are aware not to make the same mistake in dealing with them

 

[Sean]

Name and shame the user aswell so others are aware not to make the same mistake in dealing with them

I've sent him an e-mail this morning and I'll give him 24hrs to respond, after that I will. I know it may seem a silly thing to trust someone like this but I've always done it myself and - maybe luckily - people have always been honest.

 

[Sean]

Can't see you're at fault in any way Sean, you only did what most forum members would have done. Usual protocol is to wait for payment before transferring a domain. That's what we do. Not sure about DRS situation - have any forum members ever had a similar situation?

I put them in contact with each other so while I'm not to blame, I do feel partly responsible. Like I said above, selling a name without an escrow service means that one of the parties has to trust the honesty of the other and this situation says more about the buyer than the seller.

 

[Sean]

Personally i'd go with this option: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

I'm not sure he'll have the buyers details other than an e-mail address

 

[bens]

Then as Adam said, name and shame. There are plenty of people on the forum that can find out details

 

[martin-s]

Worth saying that it is the Easter holidays and people may be away, so less contactable than usual. Most people are good and honest

 

[Sean]

Worth saying that it is the Easter holidays and people may be away, so less contactable than usual. Most people are good and honest

I hope you're right but saying that, most people have a smart phone and roaming these days and it's not an insignificant sum of money so a common courtesy would be to say I'm on holiday but will deal with it when I get back. The seller tells me that the buyer has ignored 5 e-mails now and I wrote this morning and so far I also have no reply.

 

[dee]

How long as it been? Unfortunately, you can't rely on everyone being as on the ball with emails etc as yourself as I've been finding out lately. I had a couple of DL sales that took ages to complete because every email took a week plus to get a reply, and from someone, you'd expect to be on it. Their priorities were obviously not the same as mine.

As @martin-s said. People are generally good and honest. Hopefully its just half term holidays....

Stick a tracking pixel in so you know if the mails are being opened.

 

[Sean]

I introduced them on the 11th and from the whois it looks like the name was transferred on Sunday. I know it's not a long time to wait but the worrying thing is the buyer said they'd paid but have ignored e-mail since. Hopefully there's a genuine reason and it gets sorted.

 

[Lovekraft]

it can take a few working days for some BACS payments to clear, depending which bank it is coming from and going to. I'd give it a while longer before worrying too much. Hopefully they've just been busy, quite likely on holiday and not monitoring emails as much.

 

[Sean]

He wrote to say the money hadn't arrived, do you think it's okay to make him wait "1-2 business days" before you reply?

 

[newguy]

It looks like an unfortunate situation. I hope it works out okay for all eventually :s.

 

[keys]

I have regretted several domain sales, but always honoured a deal with prompt transfer. Over time it builds trust and confidence, which possibly accounts for many strangers transferring relatively large sums into our bank account, after exchange of a few emails.

Misplaced trust really sucks, and it is challenging to reach any other conclusion here. GDPR is an additional hassle to work around. In a similar scenario DRS action could clarify what has happened, and current Registrant details. It would be interesting to know Nominet's view this and whether DRS has scope to return a domain.

 

[keys]

A few months ago ...

@ Trauiner "I'll thrown an offer for £1,000." Which I accepted.

Thankfully you did not pay, and another forum member completed purchase for a significantly higher price soon after.

You missed a really good deal there.

 

[Sean]

With respect, I've bought a few domains from the seller and he's fast, professional and extremely responsive. On one occasion he was on holiday in Morocco and afforded me the courtesy of letting me know that the transfer may take longer because of poor internet access. I certainly don't recognise him as the person you're trying to portray.

You sent an email asking him to put up a web page with your name to prove he's the registrant, which suggests you're not so trusting yourself. He also says in his reply that he'll release the domain to your tag if you send payment by "faster payment", something which you agree to.

"Faster Payments Service (FPS) is a UK banking initiative to reduce payment times between different banks' customer accounts from the three working days that transfers take using the long-established BACS system, to typically a few seconds."

So I don't think he's being unreasonable to get worried when no payment arrives and two days later he's still had no reply, especially given that your replies during the sales negotiation are on a Sunday and within 30-60 minutes of each other

 

[martin-s]

Come on lads, play nice. It looks like a big misunderstanding to me.

 

[Sean]

GDPR relates to how EU businesses handle and process data, it has no relevance here but if you check, I'm the person that instigated the e-mail and it was me that cc'd you in.

Pay the man and stop trying to divert attention.