Can You Sue Someone if They Sent You a Racist Abusive Email?

Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:04
Last edited 04/09/2018 - 19:04

Sorry guys not sure where to post this.

Anyway, can you sue someone in Australia if they sent you a Racism Abusive email?

I sold something on eBay but because its a very small item it was sent using non registered mail (about $15 is the total with postage included)

They claimed they didn't receive it and from their feedbacks they did it before.

They sent me a very racism email first, then a few days later I have reported their email to eBay they opened a item not received dispute. Again, name calling with the lot.

I have been in this country for a long time (26 years in Australia), I am Asian by the way and honestly dont think I should be treated like this.

Hence the question above.

Thanks many

Education & Work

closed Comments

  • EightImmortals on 04/09/2018 - 18:12
    +10

    None of us should be treated like that but that's the way the some people are, you can run around trying to 'sue' everyone who slights you or says/does something you don't like or you can use those rare situations as opportunities for personal growth. You will never change the world's idiots but you CAN change how you react to them (and how you act yourself of course). :)

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:37

      Wouldn’t they would at least toned it down if they received a letter from indicate to sue so the next time they are thinking of doing it they will have a second thought?

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:02
          +2

          Indians, Chinese and middle eastern gets the worst abuse in Australia. Not sure about white person but it’s sad that any race gets the abuse from the others

        • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 04/09/2018 - 19:03
          -7

          @house2015: "Indians, Chinese and middle eastern gets the worst abuse in Australia. Not sure about white person but it’s sad that any race gets the abuse from the others"

          Nonsense.

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:34

          @Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead: Back at you if you truly believe that

        • mick123 on 04/09/2018 - 20:32
          +1

          @house2015:

          As a non-white male, I agree with Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead. I hate this concept that white people cannot be victims of racism because they are white (white privilege etc etc).
          Any racism is bad. It seems these days its ok to be racist against white people though, and they just have to take it..

          edit: also you just wrote off the racism experienced by Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead. Would you have done that if he ws of another race. I believe he was just saying to get over it as its an online thing, he wasn't saying it was ok. You however chose to say racism against you should lead to a lawsuit, but racism against whites should be disregarded..

        • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 04/09/2018 - 20:35
          -1

          @mick123: Agreed, South Africa is a great example of this.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2018 - 18:20
    +2

    Technically you can sue, but practically, you really need to have suffered a loss. You'd need to demonstrate mental pain, suffering, anguish, loss of enjoyment and joie de vivre and whatever.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:48
      -2

      My sister has been very upset after seeing this email. It’s my fault for asking for her opinion. Should have left her out of it.

    • Almost Banned on 04/09/2018 - 19:55

      I would be curious to know what your cause of action would be…???

    • elgrande on 04/09/2018 - 20:39

      For a claim for pure mental damage, I am pretty sure it would need to be capable of causing a recognisable mental illness to a person of normal fortitide.

  • oscargamer on 04/09/2018 - 18:33
    +4

    Realistically no.

    You can report it to police.

    In reality, ignore it and move on.

  • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:34
    -3

    My sister actually saw the email and she was very very upset about it. I am angry hence the thought

  • chumlee on 04/09/2018 - 18:36

    On what legal grounds are you suing for?

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:37
      -1

      Emotional damage?

      • chumlee on 04/09/2018 - 18:38

        For how much $$ will be your claim?

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:47

          Not money, just to giving them a warning so they won’t do it next time.

          So I am not after money.

          An apology letter will do

        • chumlee on 04/09/2018 - 18:52
          +7

          @house2015: so you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars for an apology letter that is forced upon the person rather than them genuinely being sorry?

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:59
          -1

          @chumlee: it cost that much to sue someone? I thought it will be few hundred dollars. A thousand at most

        • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 04/09/2018 - 19:00

          @chumlee: +1

        • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2018 - 19:03

          @house2015:
          Realistically, you should write a complaint to the race discrimination commissioner….but I wouldn't really expect action or justice.

        • elgrande on 04/09/2018 - 20:40

          @house2015:

          I am happy to write the letter for $500.

      • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2018 - 19:01
        +1

        If you can sue for emotional damage, there would be a whole lot of leftist on the road with Lamborghinis.

  • Cyphar on 04/09/2018 - 18:36

    This isn't America. You would need to prove how the email has affected your way of life and your capacity to earn. Suing somebody is also very expensive which is why it so rarely happens too.

    Best thing you can do is add the user to your spam filter and move on. Anything else is just wasted effort.

  • Randxyz123 on 04/09/2018 - 18:36

    I sold something on eBay but because its a very small item it was sent using non-registered mail (about $15 is the total with postage included)

    First of all, as someone who buys and sells on eBay frequently, I really don't like it when sellers don't use tracking. It only costs a bit more to send with tracking and to be able to tell the buyer to bugger off and contact Australia post trust me it's worth it.

    It does not, however, give excuses and I don't condone this person's behaviour.

    To answer your question you need to demonstrate it caused you pain and suffering. I don't think it's worth engaging a lawyer. Just block the arsehole.

    If they didn't receive the item just refund them and move on.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:49
      -1

      Yes my faults for not including a tracking.

      But the abuse is unwarranted

    • whooah1979 on 04/09/2018 - 18:50

      Registered post costs ~$3. Op sold the item for $15 inc s&h. $3 extra could have killed the transaction.

      • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:53
        +2

        Still doesn’t warrant the abuse either way. But I have learnt my lesson

  • whooah1979 on 04/09/2018 - 18:42

    Asian

    How did they know?

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:46

      Name. Very easy to guess by looking at it

  • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:45

    The email is very very very abusive. If anyone of you has read it you will just jump.

  • tsunamisurfer on 04/09/2018 - 18:46
    +3

    26 years and your English is still shit.

    Well done.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:51

      really? My English is that bad?

      • Axelstrife on 04/09/2018 - 19:02
        +1

        Extremely obvious, just from the title i knew you where not the best at English.
        "Racism Abusive Email" You used the word Racism instead of Racist.

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:03
          -2

          Bloody auto correct……lol

        • FIVEDOLLAR on 04/09/2018 - 20:17

          "an abusive and racist email"
          racist abusive nor abusive racist is….

    • chumlee on 04/09/2018 - 18:54

      Compliment?

    • Randxyz123 on 04/09/2018 - 20:19

      It's not great, to be honest mate. I'd recommend using Grammarly.

      There are minor mistakes which I'm not going to point out. Regardless it doesn't excuse this person's behaviour.

  • ibuy on 04/09/2018 - 18:49
    +1

    It is pointless to sue. The wasted time and legal fees would make it not worth your while. Treat it as a learning experience. There are many buyer scammers on eBay. You could probably sue on the grounds of harrassment if you have many emails that are disturbing.

    You can have eBay put a strike against their account by reporting them. EBay won’t get involved with the legal side of things.

    Protect yourself by blocking them so they can’t buy from you anymore. You can leave feedback for the buyer but beware it can’t be negative. You can state the facts, for example “Sent to buyer, claimed not received, abused seller”. Don’t give an opinion eg “scam buyer” as they can report you and eBay will put a strike on your account.

    I know it seems silly but every item I send has some tracking. If it was a small item and you can fit it into an envelope then that will be a lot cheaper than parcel rates and you have peace of mind.

    Unfortunately with people like this you have to use tracking for protection. If you’re a large business on eBay you calculate the risk of people like this and it is factored into your pricing.

    You’ve probably wasted a good half a day or more dealing with this. It’s time you can’t ever recover so do what you can to protect your account. Make sure if negative feedback is left you can find a way to remove it if needed. Time is the one commodity we cannot buy back no matter what we do. So don’t waste your time.

    Eventually things will catch up with the buyer and their actions will come back to bite them.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:54

      Oh you can block eBay buyers? Great to know. Thanks for that:)

      • ibuy on 04/09/2018 - 18:59
        +1

        At the top of the screen there should be a “help” in the menu, click it and then type “Block buyer”. It will appear with several links. Select one and then scroll down to the link to block buyer. You can enter their id there and click the button to confirm. They can’t buy from you anymore after that.

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:05

          Ok great! Thanks heaps for that. New to eBay and didn’t know all the features

        • ibuy on 04/09/2018 - 19:12
          +1

          @house2015: go to youtube and search buyer scams. Know what can happen before you sell anymore otherwise you will get burnt a few more times. There are lots of professional eBay buyers who pick up on new sellers who don’t know eBay rules.

          For example, if you copy a listing to make it easy to sell another item, make sure you don’t forget to change the details about the product. If the details don’t match the listing and you sell the item and send it to the buyer, they can claim item is not as described. You then have to pay return postage if you want it back and also refund them. If you don’t want the item back you still need to refund them everything (item cost + postage cost). Just a way a scammer can get something from you for free even if it is an honest mistake. Then you have to deal with them sending you negative feedback for “wasting” their time

        • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:17

          @ibuy: thanks for the great advice given

  • Axelstrife on 04/09/2018 - 18:53
    +3

    Seriously if you cannot handle things like that you should get off the internet, cause it's full of things you won't like if you want to try and sue someone for hurting your precious feelings.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:57
      -1

      Maybe I should have posted the email here. If you are Asian you won’t see this as an hurt your precious feeling thing either.

      • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2018 - 19:03
        +2

        The only other hurt this email or any other form of abuse can cause is physical or financial hurt.

        I doubt the email punched you in the nads and stole your stuff.

  • Godric on 04/09/2018 - 18:57
    +1

    Can't imagine you use the internet that much then, would break your soul

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 18:58

      Nope. Not much of an internet person.

      I don’t use social media. Ozbargin is the only website I visited frequently really.

      Oh also like reading news.com.au

      • Godric on 04/09/2018 - 19:01
        +1

        Good approach, you'd go bankrupt after every next comment you see in attempt to sue

  • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2018 - 18:59
    +1

    No

  • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 04/09/2018 - 19:01
    +1

    I'm glad to see the victim mentality is alive and kicking….

  • Ocker on 04/09/2018 - 19:02
    +2

    As a long time seller on Ebay, selling 5,000 items p.a. I have seen all sorts of problems with eBay, and honestly your complaint does not stack up!!
    Quite simply, if the buyer was as abusive, etc as you claim, and on reporting same to eBay they would have investigated. If your complaint was as posted then eBay would have shut down the buyer.
    Read their policy documents to confirm what I am saying.
    As a matter of interest did you actually sent the item, and was the address properly legible? As I said above we send 400-500 items a month and at most only once every couple of months is an items not received.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:07

      Yes. Sent it on the day. New to eBay so didn’t know all these things. But it’s interesting that eBay says they will only refer to the relevant department. Not sure if any action has been taken

    • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:08

      Oh thanks for the advice

    • ibuy on 04/09/2018 - 19:29
      +1

      Hey Ocker

      Give the guy a break. You don’t know where the item was sent to. It could be in an area where there is high theft from mailboxes, it could have been lost in the postal system, the postie may have put it in a location in the house where it was hard to locate (safe drop) - had that happen a few times or a multitude of other factors.

      EBay won’t ban a buyer because of a single instance of abuse. They have a few warnings before this would take place. You need quite a few reports before a buyer is removed.

      As house2015 is new to eBay and not an extensive user of the net they will be more sensitive to comments made by a buyer. I’m sure you’re a more extensive user of the net and eBay with lots of sales. Over that time you’ve probably developed a “thick skin” so you’re not too stressed about a few nasty comments here and there. Everyone has baby steps to take when starting out and it’s better to help than accuse or abuse.

  • Seedy seed on 04/09/2018 - 19:12

    You have his adress, take 100 envolopes, dont stamp but adress them to him (no return obviously) put a peice of paper with something silly on it like chineese quotes ect. When thwy arrive at his end aust post will ask him for the $1 stamp for each.

    • qwerty on 04/09/2018 - 19:17

      And who will he suspect sent the mail ? The buyer can get sellers address too and then he might have a visit from bikies

      • Seedy seed on 04/09/2018 - 20:17

        Can i have your adress?

  • Aerith-Waifu on 04/09/2018 - 19:13

    Ok thanks for all the comments guys.

    Much appreciated:)

    Mods: please close this thread

  • oscargamer on 04/09/2018 - 19:28

    Do you know the ethnicity of the person who sent you the email?

  • Almost Banned on 04/09/2018 - 19:58

    You could consider a complaint to the AHRC but unless the abuse was public I'm not sure you have a basis for a complaint.

  • AFOS on 04/09/2018 - 20:05
    -1

    Yes, you can sue that person.

    As others pointed, you will have to prove pain, suffering blah blah. However, you can go on a principle and seek damages of $1 and a letter of apology.

    This is not going to cost much: up to $100 application to small claims tribunal and up to $100 process serving (if they live in metropolitan area). There is a risk that they will not turn up in court for the sake of $1 so I would recommend initial claim of say $100 and then you will have ability to explain yourself to the judge. Good luck!

    • chumlee on 04/09/2018 - 20:28

      Doubt that.

      Application most likely in district court with lots of court application and filing fees plus lawyer fees.

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