I wasn't going to write about this situation I am experiencing, because i felt that it would be giving some power to a person I have chosen to ignore. But after being harrassed via email and the phone for about 5 days now in a row, I just wanted to touch base with you guys and ask you for some opinions.
Last year I got ripped off on ebay by a guy who sold me a computer(it was an expensive server, for hosting my web sites). It was supposedly in good working condition and came with a 12 month warranty. Anyway, to cut this long story short, it didn't work, the warranty was never honored, and my emails were mostly ignored (he strung me along for a bit, but then just stopped answering my emails altogether)
Eventually I went through a `dispute' process through ebay, and ebay gave me a partial refund, which I was happy about. Then several months later I reported the seller to the office of Australian consumer affairs. Meanwhile, i repaired the computer myself, and eventually resold it.
Reporting him to consumer affairs turned out to be a huge drain and a waste of energy. The seller used the opportunity to make up lies about the whole thing, attack my credibility, and write rude, expletetive emails to me during their investigation intended to wind me up, which he denied writing to the consumer affairs case manager.
In short, he seemed to get off on bullying me and the process of trying to convince someone in authority that I was the `crazy bad' person and he was the victim. A few screws loose of a marble. The case manager didn't seem to have the personality or professional skills to deal with someone like this, so the investigation dragged out was totally ineffectual.
Meanwhile I felt badly affected by the situation emotionally, and I was so angry and in knots a lot of the time. So after one particular nasty email from him, full of lots of `F' words, I decided that things had become ridiculous and I ceased all contact with the seller and closed my case with consumer affairs. He kept writing for a while, but I ignored the emails without even opening them. Eventually they stopped altogether.
Anyway, in recent months the seller has ripped off many people on ebay (you can see it written on his feedback) and he has been suspended from selling there.
Well for some reason the guy still can't let it go. Last week he got my phone details from ebay, and has been ringing our phones 4-5 times a day and sending threatening emails to us.
The gist of his messages is that he is demanding that I give him $400, because thats what ebay will make him pay to become a seller on ebay again after he was suspended. In some of his messages, he has threatened to take us to court to get the money. (lol)
My partner and I think of this as a bit of a joke, really. And after reading CB's `cyberbullying' thread from the other day, I feel that the best approach with this guy would be to keep ignoring him. Ok, but having said that, he tried calling another 5 times in a row this afternoon, and I didn't like the way it made me feel. I feel apprehensive.
What is your take on this? Do you think ignoring this toxic guy is the best approach?
