Police want to question me under caution

[loopylou2828]

I am most bemused. The police have contacted me today by telephone about an Ebay item I sold over 4 months ago! Apparantly the person I sent it to states they never received it. this is the first I have heard of the item having not been received. I used to sell on Ebay full time and never had any problems and now I sell full time on my own website. Anyhow I explained to the police that I keep all proofs of postage but after all this time I may not have this particular one but that I would be more than happy to refund the buyer. The police said that would be fine but they still need to talk to me face to face as part of the case, this means I have to go to a police station about 60miles away and be interviewed under caution. He said once I have done that he is sure it will just be classed as a civil matter but that it needs to be done. I can't help but think this is completely ridiculous we are talking about �95 which I am happy to refund and I never knew the item did not arrive. Also I am not happy to give fingerprints and DNA over something so minor and when I have not committed a crime. I have agreed to phone in a few days to make an appointment nearer Christmas. This is very time consuming especially near Christmas and as i don't have transport. The PC said he can come to me and take me to a local station but either way it seems completely over the top. I am not a criminal, have no previous convictions and am quite happy to give this small sum back with no problem. He has already said it is a civil matter so do I have to allow myself to be questioned under caution? What does this mean for me? Will it go on my record? Do I have to give finger prints etc. I don't have a criminal record and don't want one. Please advise.

[funkymoped]

are you sure it was the police that phoned you ???
why would you have to travel 60 miles to sort this matter out ? from my experience with the law, its always delt with locally.
what would have happened if you were at the extremes of the country ?
would you be expected to travel from Scotland to Cornwall for an item sold on E-bay ???
my first call would be to the local police station.
you should have been given a contact number and possibly a crime number..
take both with you and get it sorted at your local nick !!!

from my point of view �95 isnt a small amount of money...
if we all saw �95 as a small amount, some people would be making a fortune from little mistakes !

[seatrout]

This all sounds very strange. There does not appear to be any evidence that a crime has been committed. The fact that the item never arrived does not mean you didnt send it.
It wasnt a couple of CDs by any chance?
If I were you I would tell the Police that you would happy to give a voluntary interview ie not under arrest and not under caution to explain what you have done.
Do not attend the Police Station on any other basis than this and certainly dont travel 60 miles to do it
There is a great legal brain on this site apparently who may tell you to prepare a written statement but why would you want to do that. You have nothing to hide

[Ethel]

Have you telephoned that number? Are you sure it is the police? That is the first thing to do.

Then ask exactly what offence you are being investigated for. My guess it is some sort of deception / fraud.

Do you know the ebay sale this refers to?

[themas]

It does seem very strange, but it bothers me that you think you may not have the proof of posting for something sent only about 4 moths ago. I would have thought that, particularly as you are apparently in quite a large way of business, you would have realised the vital importance of keeping such documents. Perhaps you need to keep your paperwork in better order in future?

[froggequene]

This sounds really weird, I would either seek legal advice or go to your local police station & ask for further advice - and don't give out any details about yourself

[perigra]

If it were me i wouldn't go.

[dot.hawkes]

why didn;t the purchaser contact you before this? sounds like a practical joke to me, a nasty one at that

[Bewlay Bros]

Sea trout is completely wrong again. I am at odds what legal knowledge he actually has???/

If there is a whiff of a crime, the police CAN NOT speak to you unless it is under caution. This has been law for OVER ") YEARS, not policy but LAW, it's called the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

So in the nicest possible way ignore sea triuts advice--- Voluntary statements can not exist!!!!!

As said, check out it is the police. From what you have said, there sounds like very little and flimsy evidence.

Advantages of going to a police station will be legal advice is free. It will be your right, even though you will not be under arrest.

If interviewed at home (which you can elect if not arrested) you may have legal representation, but you will have to pay.

If a crime report has been lodged, it will be difficult to speak with the copper concerned about the actual case, as ANY QUESTIONS MUST BE UNDER CASUTION RELATING TO THE CASE. You can speak about procedure not under caution.

Try the Inspector of the the local nick. It is my understabding that if a crime report has been lodged, the crime has taken place in your locale, no matter where the recipiant lives. Unless you live in wayward countryside, I am sure there is a local station nearer than 60 miles.

All smells a little fishy to me.

The only reason they may be saying 60 miles is they plan to arrest you all sneaky. Although, you can be interviwed anywhere by the police, you have to go to what is known as a "designated" police station when under arrest.

Good luck.

(PS, although it may make life easier to simply repay the the �95, think twice he or she is not trying it on. It was their. choice not to pay for insurance on the item, not yours)

[mrs_overall]

Have you contacted Ebay to see if the buyer has filed a complaint or report of not having received the goods? Has the buyer been in touch with you?
If the buyer went straight to the police they would tell him/her that it was initially a civil matter and to follow the Ebay complaints procedure.
I think you are the victim of a hoax.

[loopylou2828]

I am not sure how this works as I want to update you/answer your questions and only realised I have replies today as I was expecting an email alert. Anyhow, yes I am sure it is the Police and I am very annoyed. Basically we moved some time ago and I closed my Ebay account etc, The complaint was made the the buyers local police who I presume got my old address from my bank (the buyer never requested it) so the police in my old area went to my old address (which we rented). The new tenants told the police they did not have our new address so the police contacted our old landlords. For some reason they did not give our new address (I am not sure if they ever had it) and instead told the police that my mother in law works at a local firm. The police then go to my my in laws work and get her address and go to her house to get our details. This is after going to a few other properties where my mother in law used to live and also my grand mother in laws house!!! A simple look in the phonebook would have given the correct address of my mother in law in less than 2 minutes!

[loopylou2828]

So we receive a frightened call from my mother in law saying the police have been round and want me for something, not being a criminal I have no idea why and worry about it all weekend. The police never phone me on the number she gave them, do not return any of my messages and it takes 3 days of me chasing them to find out what on earth is going on. Anyhow I get hold of the police and he tells me it is about an ebay item (a second hand sat nav) that I sold 4 months ago before we moved house. this is the first I heard of it and I explained I am not longer on Ebay, but am happy to refund. He says to do that and gives the buyer my phone number and says you need to come to the station and 'be interviewed under caution'. Obviously as we have moved it means travelling over 60 to our old area. I said we probably would not be going there anytime soon and can he not fax over the info to my local police. Apparantly he would rather not as there is too much paperwork to fax, he says if I don't go and see him he will travel to me. So I have refunded this guy (who phones me non stop asking where the cheque is, never heard of Xmas post obviously). And I have to phone the police to arrange sorting this out. As I have refunded the guy and the police have told me the case will end up being a Civil Matter, I see no reason to have to go through this. Why should I be interview at the police station under caution when I have done nothing wrong? They are not going to arrest me and I believe this is vountary and I can leave at anytime, if this is the case do I have to actually allow myself to be interviewed under caution? What if I refuse, obviously they can come and arrest me but will they really bother over something so stupid? I find this very upsetting and although I don't have anything to hide I don't want to be questioned under caution and recorded at a police station.

[loopylou2828]

Personally I think the police have done a terrible job so far and have treated me with complete disregard. The policeman did apologise on the phone for the way he went about things and thanked me for cooperating. Where do I go from here? I am thinking of just calling and saying I am not travelling to his station and see what he says but what I really want to know is can I refuse to be questioned unless they arrest me? Thanks in advance.

[hussy]

just ignore it unless someone actually comes to your front door. was it through a pp or a cheque?? if you keep ignoring it believe me it will go away. the minute you go to the police station they will take your dna, fingerprints, swab straight away so just leave it be. its a civil matter so wont trouble you unless they can prove its theft.

[loopylou2828]

Well I have not had any calls from the police chasing this matter up. I was supposed to call a few days ago and arrange to go in maybe this weekend for the interview but am not going to the area so he will have to sort something out. I have not called him and he has not called me so who knows what is going to happen. I am just going to leave it until I hear anything but am considering making an official complaint about the disgraceful way the police have handled this situation.