Purchased Domain - Still No Transfer - Advice Needed

Hi guys I was wondering if anyone has experience with purchasing money for a domain and not being transferred ownership.

To give you a bit of background I found a .com I wanted to purchase, went through the whois data and contacted them directly with an offer which they accepted.

Did my due diligence and learnt a bit about the guy including that he is/was a legit businessman, and has had directorship of many companies in the past. I got the impression he was now retired as he has moved from the UK to Spain. Anyway, all seemed legit.

So I transferred him the money which ended up taking about a week to go through (UK to Spanish bank transfer? I dunno...). Money was sent on the 24th he confirmed it was received on Feb 3rd.

Still no transfer, he said he was having some trouble with his internet (although he lives in Malaga), and promised to make the transfer on the 4th.

Any suggestions on what I can do before taking legal action? Or is that now my only option?

Thanks!

I'll suggest you to threaten him with legal actions. Tell him you've got all his details and that he won't be able to run from legal actions if he doesn't transfer you the domain in like 1 week.

It may be true that hes having problems.Wait until the date he said.How much did you pay for the name? Why didn't you go with Escrow?I hope everything works out well for you.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies. DiamonMike sorry I didn't make it clear it was the 4th Feb he said he was going to transfer.

To be honest through I have purchased 10s of domains for large amounts of money (I won't go into detail) and never used escrow. Although this is a process I will now obviously put in place.

I have his name and address from the invoice he sent. I also know he is currently selling his UK property. So it doesn't seem like he had planned malicious intent but who knows.

Over 2 weeks is a long to be having "internet problems" Has he kept in contact with you since then? Tell him he has 48 hours to get to an internet connection and initiate the transfer. In this day and age that's a very poor excuse. Whether hes trying to scam you, or just being lazy, it sounds like its time to light a fire under his ass.

You're scammed bro... No internet 2 weeks, now almost 3.. wtf??? Where he lives? In Zimbabwe?

Open a dispute with your bank, thats what I usually do even if I go through paypal, actions usually taken within a week and refund in two if I have proof, which you do

Well threatening legal action worked, think he was just being a bit lazy/forgot. Faith in humanity restored.