Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.

On Sun, 23 May 2021 21:58:56 +0100, JoeJoe wrote:

Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.


If he's in the Freemasons (or is a friend of someone who is) then he
will be able to get your name and address from the car's registration
number. It's not entirely 100% legal, but it happens routinely.

JoeJoe wrote:
Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?

https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla

On 24/05/2021 00:03, Theo wrote:
JoeJoe wrote:
Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?

https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla


Thanks.

Was totally unaware of that option.

Very easy then :-(

On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:
Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.

Did you get his details?

I would have thought though that any attempt to claim it was a bad unit
should be covered by what you said in the advert. Also the civil courts
folk are not stupid, and they would take a very dim view of him trying to
extract cash from you for an item that was second hand to start with.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Cursitor Doom" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 23 May 2021 21:58:56 +0100, JoeJoe wrote:

Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.


If he's in the Freemasons (or is a friend of someone who is) then he
will be able to get your name and address from the car's registration
number. It's not entirely 100% legal, but it happens routinely.

On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:
Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.

You've said that it seemed like he considered it a substantial amount of
money. Maybe he was just wary of being asked to meet in a car park,
thought you might be trying to rip him off and simply wanted to have
your registration in case he wanted to report a fraud (non-working goods
or the like) to the police later.

On 24/05/2021 08:54, Steve Walker wrote:

snip

You've said that it seemed like he considered it a substantial amount of
money. Maybe he was just wary of being asked to meet in a car park,
thought you might be trying to rip him off and simply wanted to have
your registration in case he wanted to report a fraud (non-working goods
or the like) to the police later.


+1

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Steve Walker wrote:

Maybe he was just wary of being asked to meet in a car park, thought you
might be trying to rip him off and simply wanted to have your
registration in case he wanted to report a fraud (non-working goods or
the like) to the police later.

sounds plausible.

On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:
Against my better judgement I sold something online to someone who turns
up to be a very unsavoury person.
I had had a bad feeling when we communicated online so arranged to meet
him in a supermarket car park for the exchange. I never gave away any of
my details (name, address etc), and when it was all done I intentionally
went into the store do to some shopping.
When I left some 15 minutes later I realised that he was still sitting
in his car in the same place where I had last seen him. I pretended that
I forgot to buy something and went back in, stayed for a little longer,
and when I left his car was gone.

When I drove away I suddenly noticed that he was positioned in the far
end of the car park, near the exit, and I am 99.99% certain that he took
a photo of my car (+ number plate).

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

Is there a legal way for a member of the public to get hold of your
details through your car details?
What about an illegal way? Can you ask your mate the policeman for "some
help"?

Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: he did mention that he was in the car business (mechanic I believe)
if that makes a difference.

If one were to play devil's advocate here for a moment, look at the
transaction from the PoV of the buyer. Very cagey seller, not giving a
name or address, arranging handover in a anonymous location. A behaviour
which could look very much like what one would expect for someone trying
to offload stolen goods etc. So a photo of the numberplate might be seen
as reasonable corroboration of his storey should PC plod pay him a visit.

To answer the more specific question, then I would not expect it to be
too difficult getting the registered keepers address from a registration
number.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
I sold a car many years ago, a demic for pocket money
The buyer came back with it some weeks later because the exhaust had
fallen off, expecting me to sort it!

On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:
On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
I sold a car many years ago, a demic for pocket money
The buyer came back with it some weeks later because the exhaust had
fallen off, expecting me to sort it!

Give up. What's a demic?

On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:
On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
I sold a car many years ago, a demic for pocket money
The buyer came back with it some weeks later because the exhaust had
fallen off, expecting me to sort it!

Many years ago a mate of mine sold an old Audi with a slightly "iffy"
automatic box (iirc reverse engagement was a bit intermittent) although
he had been driving it around for months without any real problem.

So he offered the bloke two deals. Something like £150 as seen, no come
back, or £300 and if the gearbox fails in a year I'll take it back and
give you all your money back. The guy thought for a bit and took the
first deal. A smart (but fair) bit of negociating, I thought. Revealing
his confidence that it would be OK, and reassuring the buyer.

On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

I've known it all my life as something that doesn't work properly or is
broken and I too assumed that it was a common term, but I just looked it
up and apparently it's Mancunian slang.

On 24/05/2021 12:56, newshound wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:
On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
I sold a car many years ago, a demic for pocket money
The buyer came back with it some weeks later because the exhaust had
fallen off, expecting me to sort it!

Many years ago a mate of mine sold an old Audi with a slightly "iffy"
automatic box (iirc reverse engagement was a bit intermittent) although
he had been driving it around for months without any real problem.

So he offered the bloke two deals. Something like £150 as seen, no come
back, or £300 and if the gearbox fails in a year I'll take it back and
give you all your money back. The guy thought for a bit and took the
first deal. A smart (but fair) bit of negociating, I thought. Revealing
his confidence that it would be OK, and reassuring the buyer.

If the buyer had been canny, he could have taken the £300 option, then
deliberately broken the gearbox after 11-1/2 months and had a free car
for nearly a year!

On Mon, 24 May 2021 12:23:43 +0100, R D S wrote:

On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

I thought you meant 50 quid.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

On 24/05/2021 15:02, Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

a screwdriver made in manchester? :-)

On 24/05/2021 13:08, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:56, newshound wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:
On 23/05/2021 21:58, JoeJoe wrote:

I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
I sold a car many years ago, a demic for pocket money
The buyer came back with it some weeks later because the exhaust had
fallen off, expecting me to sort it!

Many years ago a mate of mine sold an old Audi with a slightly "iffy"
automatic box (iirc reverse engagement was a bit intermittent)
although he had been driving it around for months without any real
problem.

So he offered the bloke two deals. Something like £150 as seen, no
come back, or £300 and if the gearbox fails in a year I'll take it
back and give you all your money back. The guy thought for a bit and
took the first deal. A smart (but fair) bit of negociating, I thought.
Revealing his confidence that it would be OK, and reassuring the buyer.

If the buyer had been canny, he could have taken the £300 option, then
deliberately broken the gearbox after 11-1/2 months and had a free car
for nearly a year!

Thankfully most people are honest. If it lasted 11 months then there's
also a fair chance it's going to last somewhat longer.

In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

no, but I've heard of a Brumagum Screwdriver - possibly the same animal

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 24/05/2021 15:25, charles wrote:
In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

no, but I've heard of a Brumagum Screwdriver - possibly the same animal

You won't hear of a Brummagem or a Brummy screwdriver in Birmingham :-)

On 24/05/2021 13:06, Steve Walker wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

I've known it all my life as something that doesn't work properly or is
broken and I too assumed that it was a common term, but I just looked it
up and apparently it's Mancunian slang.

Used in particular in the railway industry, as in a faulty locomotive.
A faulty wagon would be a "cripple", as in "knock out a cripple" -
remove a wagon from a rake - e.g. one with a "hot box" (overheated
journal bearing). "Drop off a hot box", although apparently referring
to a similar occurrence, extends to other reasons for taking a PNB
(private needs break).

--
Kevin

In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 15:25, charles wrote:
In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

no, but I've heard of a Brumagum Screwdriver - possibly the same animal

You won't hear of a Brummagem or a Brummy screwdriver in Birmingham :-)

interstingly, I first heard the term when helping equip Pebble Mill.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 24/05/2021 15:58, charles wrote:
In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 15:25, charles wrote:
In article ,
Fredxx wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:23, R D S wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:10, Richard wrote:
On 24/05/2021 12:03, R D S wrote:

Give up. What's a demic?

Polite way of saying a piece of ****!
Is it not a common term.... It appears not, a dialect thing.

It's a term I've not heard of either, I live and learn.

But then given your location I expect you've never heard of a Mancunian
screwdriver :-)

no, but I've heard of a Brumagum Screwdriver - possibly the same animal

You won't hear of a Brummagem or a Brummy screwdriver in Birmingham :-)

interstingly, I first heard the term when helping equip Pebble Mill.

From outsiders no doubt?

In article ,
JoeJoe wrote:
I wasn't doing anything wrong, and was honest throughout, but as the
item was 2nd hand I have a bad feeling that he was the type that may
well expect a "lifetime warranty" to come with it...
The item was only a few tens of pounds, but I got the feeling that for
him this was a substantial amount of money.

I'd say you need treatment for paranoia.

--
*Remember: First you pillage, then you burn.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.