Melbourne Man Denied Refund After Being Sold Fake Sneakers by Teenager

A Melbourne-based estate comedian has failed to secure a $30,000 AUD refund after suspecting he had been sold fake sneakers. The man took the seller, a 17-year-old schoolboy to court, but was denied the refund as the boy’s age meant he ‘did not have the full capacity to enter into contracts’.

Air Jordan 1 One of the pairs in question was the Dior x, which the buyer paid $3800 AUD for, as well as a selection of other high-heat pairs and OG Jordan colourways. On receiving the pairs the buyer noticed defects which led to him suspecting that he’d been sold fakes. After contacting the 17-year-old’s father, the duo took the pairs to be authenticated, and the authenticator reportedly rendered all of the pairs to be counterfeit. According to the buyer, the authenticator also noted the seller to be a known ‘fraudster and scam artist who had been blacklisted.’ The buyer was offered $10k in compensation from the boy’s father but decided to pursue the matter through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat) instead.

After taking the matter to Vcat, the buyer was told he was not entitled to a refund. The Vcat representative said: ‘Had the agreement been entered into when [the student] was 18 years old the result might have been different’.

The buyer was also unsuccessful in pursuing action against the boy’s father, as he only got involved after his son had stopped communicating with the buyer. The Vcat rep then said that the father had ‘put some time and effort into working out what had gone on’ and recognised that he had tried to resolve the matter. However, his attempts at resolution did not amount to him accepting responsibility for the repercussions of an agreement to which he was not a party and of which he had no knowledge.’

As it stands, the buyer is still in possession of the sneakers. Stay tuned to see how the story develops. In other law-related sneaker news, Nike is coming after One of the pairs in question was the Dior x.