You might make sure that you ‘win’ the auction to hold it until your actions prevail.
You should be able to get eBay to remove the auction given the circumstances. If the seller refuses to cooperate with you, why be gentle with him? Report him to the police so that you can get your set back.
Thanks to those who have contacted me, and thanks to one guy here who went to the trouble of contacting eBay. (Not easy, and totally unrewarding!)
As I said, the matter is in the hands of the police - specifically the officer who dealt with my original theft report. (Gardai is what the police are called in Ireland, Smithand.) She sounded interested in following up, but doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to close the auction. (And eBay will only respond to law-enforcement officers in cases like this, not mere punters like me.)
In the meantime Brian Doyle has been in email correspondence with me and it is fair to say that he has been fully aware for at least a day or two that he is selling stolen goods. He is also aware that what he describes in the ad as “bone” is in fact a big chunk of ivory. Any buyer needs to be aware of this, because unless he/she can demonstrate the vintage of that ivory, it is likely to be confiscated if ever the instrument is taken through customs.
Yes, I know, but I had assumed that the Scottish smallpipes player was in Scotland.
Andrew
Better get those internet detectives going:
From the auction listing -“* I have received an e-mail from a viewer to say that this set of pipes were taken from his car a year ago. The e-mailer has not offered any proof of purchase or reward/reimbursement for the set.??? At present the auction will continue & all private bids still stand.*”
Is there any identifying mark on these pipes you could report to the cyber cops to prove that they are yours? Don’t post it here!!!
I’m surprised that eBay won’t remove the auction. A number of scams selling harps on eBay have been noted on the harplist discussion list, and eBay responded very quickly and removed the listing. You might want to set up a second eBay ID in case the seller blocks your main ID from bidding.
Smithand wrote
I’m surprised that eBay won’t remove the auction
I for one am not surprised as Ebay is quite happy to auction stolen goods and the sooner they are prosecuted for it the better
For example pirate copies of software are always for sale and the only way Ebay will remove it is if the originator requests it. Within an hour it is relisted and again although it is obviously a pirate copy Ebay will let it stay until once again contacted by he originator
The “contact Ebay” system can also be very, very frustrating with its automated reply system of standard questions/answers
eBAY does not police auctions except for a few categories. They do police for Nazi items, etc. For instance, I have been trying to sell my vintage JARTS for years but they keep shutting down my auction due to recall for danger. Some 3.5M+ items are posted daily on eBAY; they are more of a listing/auction service only.
You do need proof beyond saying that it was stolen and/or do what the seller says, provide a reward, etc.
Perhaps the harp listings had become a recognised form of scam.
That harp list may have used identical text and photos, things that make it easy for eBAY to decide if it is legit. That’s what happened with the Froment auction - it was easy to identify as a fake and they shut it down.
It appears that Brian Howard himself has tried to contact the seller. Scroll down to the questions and answers at the bottom. Good on ya’ Mr. Howard.
The listing also says, " i will remove from auction unless i recieve serious bids or i am contacted to do so." which I believe is against eBay rules.
Thanks for your thoughts, folks, and thanks Jim for the eBay update.
Joseph, I don’t think anyone is seriously questioning that this is the stolen set. The police have accepted the fact, and if they were in any doubt, Brian Howard is willing to vouch. Among other things, we had two or three discussions about what to do about that crack in the ivory.
As well as making the chanter (which has a popping valve on it, which the seller seems not to have recognised as such), Brian had the set in his house for a while, on loan to a semi-pro piper then staying with Brian for a few weeks. (That guy bought the original Kennedy chanter from me, as a back-up for his own.)
My guess is that the police will get round to following up on all this. I must assume there is some good reason why the officer involved has not got round to it yet.
Peter Kirker
‘Anyone seen my CyberBadge? Now, just how do I find that World Wide Web?’
Here’s hoping that this works out for you but if it’s paid for and shipped, you’ll have another location to chase after.
With 17 hours to go on the sale I asked the seller about the pipes possibly being confiscated by police if the sale went through. His reply,…“The pipes cannot be confiscated by any authorities. these pipes were bought in good faith and will be sold as such”.
Obviously if the guardia doesn’t act soon these pipes could be shipped off to who knows where.
Jim, my guess is that his new comment will blight the sale. No-one in his right mind would bid serious money in these circumstances. The one bidder so far, “sullyetc,” may possibly be Brian Doyle himself, playing some strange game. It’s a new ID,created just after I told him the stuff was mine.
I told “sullyetc” he was bidding for stolen property. No reply - but I got a complaint from Brian Doyle, grumbling about what I’d told his bidder.
Kevin, thanks for taking that trouble. The police officer dealing is now off duty for several days so I passed that response from Brian Doyle to another officer and I will be amazed if they don’t follow up. The police told me it is quite simply an offence to sell stolen property - and ignorance of the law is no defence.
I have now had a phone call from a police sergeant in Dublin. I’m speechless.
Far from being pre-occupied with other matters, the original dealing officer (now based at Letterkenny) got on to the case from the outset, and was met with a wall of obstruction at eBay. Eventually she got uniformed officers to visit eBay’s Paypal offices near Dublin. They were refused the information they sought - ie Brian Doyle’s address etc.
They were told that a fax had to be submitted. A fax was sent. The fax was rejected. It was plainly from the police, but had no official stamp!
Garda Charlene Anderson has now gone into her police station to pursue the matter all over again, even though she is not on duty. My appreciation for what she is doing knows no bounds. My contempt for eBay equally knows no bounds.
The Dublin police officer who has just spoken to me just laughed when I told him that eBay proclaim their concern to prevent their marketplace being used to trade stolen goods. However I am confident that Brian Doyle is now very close to having his collar felt, whether eBay like it or not.
The winning bidder will be able to get the address, too. You might throw a pre-emptive high bid to win the auction and get that information.
I think this a good idea, it ought to give you and the police more time to nail down your set.