conned help needed please!!!

[jdh1975]

i recently came back from a holiday in spain, whilst there i bought a limited edition pack of marlboro cold mint cigarettes, when i returned home i realised that shops over here dont sell them, so i used google and found them for sale in an advert in a london online freeads site, i contact the seller and agreed to purchase 200 cigs from her, she sent me her sortcode, account name and number and i transfered nearly 50 quid into her account (this included recorded delivery mailing), anyway needless to say, they never arrived so i emailed the seller and she told me that she forgot to send them recorded and will credit me the difference in the mailing fee, they still havent arrived and neither have i had the postage fee sent back to my account, she isnt returning my emails either!!!
could i go to the police with this matter when it was for cigarettes?? are there any chances of getting my money back?? any advice would be appreciated :)

[Ethel]

No chance at all.

You can prove you sent the money, but you can't prove they were for a legal transaction and you never received the goods.

You can report her to the police for selling cigarettes illegally, but I doubt you'd get your money back.

[jdh1975]

i have got all of the emails that were sent between us, including ones which told me how much she was charging for the cigs and different rates of postage, i offered to buy 1 carton and she emailed me back with a confirmation of total due and enclosed her bank details, i have proof from my bank that the money was sent to her account for the exact amount as the total due, i have emails stating that she supposedly sent out my parcel(albeit that it happened to slip her mind to send recorded)! and i also have an email from her twice admitting she had posted the cigs, isnt that proof enough??!!

[buildersmate]

I think the police may advise you to sue her as a small claim in the County Court - a civil case, not a criminal one.

[Ethel]

She can't sue in the civil court because it was an illegal transaction.

jdh1975 is not an innocent party.

[Skyline D]

I'm not entirely clear on why this is an illegal transaction?

Is it actually illegal to sell these cigarettes in this country for some reason? Or is it to do with selling tobacco products without charging duty which presumably we do not know for sure the seller is not doing properly?

If she is selling goods illegally surely at the very least trading standards would be interested? And if just perpetrating fraud then I guess the police would be interested. There are recorded cases of prosecution of people taking money on ebay without supplying goods. A lad who lives near me was jailed for it not that long ago.

[Ethel]

Trading standards would only be interested if the seller is a business. A legitimate business seller is unlikely to advertise on a london online freeads site, nor take money via direct bank transfer.

The cigarettes are not sold in the UK, so have not been properly imported.

Customs and Excise and the police would be very interested, but that will not get her money back.

Cigarette sellers have to be licensed and be sure the buyer is over 18, which is impossible to do by post when payment is made by direct bank transfer.

[sandmaster]

Ethel's right. This is not a legal transaction. But for your personal satisfaction you could just hand all your info to the police.

[Ethel]

That is exactly what I would do - and Customs & Excise

"A Banbury man who acted as a distributor of large quantities of smuggled tobacco and cigarettes bought over the internet for sale in the UK was jailed for four months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday."

[Oneeyedvic]

Cigarette sellers have to be licensed

I don't think so

[Oneeyedvic]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_ar ticle_id=46180&in_page_id=34&in_a_source=

[nogginthenog]

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showt hread.php?t=47148

[jdh1975]

thanks everyone for the advice and info but an amazing thing happened today, i actually recived the cigarettes!!! i feel foolish now but its taught me a lesson and i wont be doing any shady deals again!!!

[Ethel]

You could still report the seller to C&E, if you were so inclined.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7273976.st m