Complaints Against Sonja Hammer- Dianascloset

Steinkjer, NT 7715      Norway

dianascloset@lycos.com

If you have questions about the complaint,
please contact the person who it was filed by.

May 5, 2003
Complaint filed by:  Walrathgwk@aol.com

I am seeking help for a problem I have recently incurred via an off eBay transaction. I have tried all venues, and I have run out of options.

On March 19, 2003 I sent $650.00 to Sonja Hammer via credit card through Paypal.com. I had e-mailed her previously asking if she had another item similar to her auction items and she said she did. The item was a Princess Diana/Prince Charles signed photo. I received the photo on April 01, 2003 and immediately suspected it was non-authentic. I brought to item to two autographic experts in the area and both deemed the item non-authentic. I e-mailed Sonja and she stated she was sorry and that a refund would be given. I have a scan of that e-mail. On April 08, 2003 she sent $100.00 via Paypal.com stating she did not have enough money to pay back the whole amount and she asked if she could pay in installments. I agreed. On April 09, 2003 I sent the item back to her and I have the original mail receipt. It is now May 05, 2003 and I have yet to hear from her nor receive any further payments. Ebay will not help as it was off of auction. Paypal will not help because they do not cover buyer dissatisfaction with items. I have filed a mail fraud complaint and I am waiting for correspondance. I have also filed a complaint through intergov.org. Her e-mail address is "dianascloset@lycos.com", her eBay user-id is "dianascloset" and her shipping address is:

Sonja Hammer
Asveien 86
Steinkjer, NT 7715
Norway

I have no phone number for her, and neither eBay nor Paypal will provide me with any contact information. I have looked for a phone number online, but it is virtually impossible to track her down that way. She will not answer any e-mails I have sent her. Please let me know any advice you might have.   I did compile a written statement with evidence and sent it to my credit card company. I was looking over the user-agreement on the credit card and it did state that purchases would only be covered if they were made within a 100 mile radius of your home. It did not state anything about internet purchases. I am going to see what will happen, as technically I purchased the item from my home, but they will probably see it as a purchase from Norway. I did read over the truth in lending act as well and the credit card legally has to cover it, but because of their user agreement, they might be able to swindle out of it. I guess I will have to wait and see. In regards to her private feedback, yes it was private when I purchased from her, yet she only had 2 negatives; in the past month and half she has racked that number up to 5. I conducted correspondance with her prior to purchasing the item to "feel" her out. She did have over 600 positives and she explained the two negatives which were both from the same unique user. She explained they contained slander, but eBay refused to remove them. I did trust her 600+ positive feedback and she continued correspondance even after I e-mailed her about it being fake. She stated, "Honestly-I would never have sold it to you had it been a fake, I am not that stupid-or dishonest for that matter". Well......I guess we have proven otherwise. The only reason I have waited this long is because she continuously placed large amounts of items on eBay and utilized Paypal. But since mid April, she has not placed anything up for auction. She has placed other high level autographs up for auction and that is why I don't understand why she would be phased by this one. She is a power seller, so she is taking in large amounts of money from other buyers as well. I have been studying/buying/selling autographs for the past five years and some of her items were without a doubt authentic, this is why I trusted this item. When I did receive it however, the autgraphs were "trace-overs" of authentic examples (not trace overs of autopens). As result, this was not capable of being noticed in the scan she sent me. The fact that she is no longer placing any items on eBay and she isn't responding to my e-mail puzzles me. Perhaps when she gets wind of the complaints filed she will smarten up. Thanks again for your help, and let me know anything else it might be good for me to do.     Thank you!

Brian King    walrathgwk@aol.com

I just wanted to let you know that I did receive a credit from Visa today after some arguments over the phone. They first claimed they were not responsible (because of that glitch in the user agreement), but once I spoke my way up to the managers I received a credit for the entire amount owed. I have noticed though that Sonja's feedback on eBay (dianascloset) has had 4 new negative additions in the past week. I want to thank you for your help and advice regarding the matter, I thoroughly appreaciate it.  Brian King    walrathgwk@aol.com