Sold i-phone on ebay .....well I thought I did
Discussion
Soir said:
Common scam is buyer posts empty box back but has proof of delivery so eBay sides with the buyer & seller loses the money and the item
I can't believe the amount of people who sign for high-risk items like these before checking them. If you have any doubt at all, you open it in front of the courier and only sign if it's acceptable. If it's not, you tell the courier why and reject it.I agree with those saying you're in the s
t here, OP, but it is recoverable. You should definitely keep the buyer on side, it's possible that he's not trying to pull a fast one, but may quickly decide to if you aren't helpful. You don't want an eBay case open because no matter what happens it's predetermined which way it'll go.The best approach would be, as some have suggested, to ask that he returns the phone and offer to refund him in full plus postage once you have received it and confirmed it's the same one. Check as soon as you receive it, BEFORE signing for it. No matter what it is, if you sign for any package that buyer has tracking details for and it's not your phone, you're f
ked.So you can check properly, you should easily be able to find the IMEI from original purchase info.
cunning and I like itIf you read through my previous history on here, I got caught out with a scam on ebay.
Sold a good phone and described it perfectly. It was locked to Orange/EE but otherwise as new condition.
The person later raised a case with ebay that the phone was network locked and running custom software. It was in the advert it was locked and it wasn't running customised software at all.
I argued my case with ebay as I knew I was in the right. Ebay ruled in the buyer's favour and told her to send the phone back for a full refund.
I didn't heat anything for a while and assumed she had seen sense and calmed down accepting the phone. Then on the day the escalated case was closed, ebay had removed the money from my paypal account taking me into a minus figure.
My account was restricted and I was getting warnings about debt collectors after just a day or two.
Trying to contest the case with ebay was a real hassle. "The case is now closed" was repeated time and time again. They didn't seem concerned that I had £160-170 taken from my account and didn't have the phone sent back.
After a while of fighting I did get them to freeze the money and request the phone back. The women then supplied a tracking number using Ebay's managed returns and the refund was then processed again.
The phone never arrived back in my possession. Turns out the courier had left the phone outside fully visible next to the bin unaware of the value.
Contacted ebay again, this time the case was closed again with the reason given was I supplied the wrong return address and the loss was my fault.
However the address given on my ebay account was correct, the address I gave the woman directly was correct and the address the courier had was also right, yet ebay refused to reopen the case.
It took me hours of chasing up people on ebay to get the case reviewed. I think they were just sick of my persistence and I finally got my money back. They refused to refund and of the fees though. I gave up at that as I had the majority of the money back.
Never will I use ebay again after that experience. Scamming is rife on ebay and ebay always side with the scammers.
Just get the phone back as soon as you can and hope for the best is my advice.
Sold a good phone and described it perfectly. It was locked to Orange/EE but otherwise as new condition.
The person later raised a case with ebay that the phone was network locked and running custom software. It was in the advert it was locked and it wasn't running customised software at all.
I argued my case with ebay as I knew I was in the right. Ebay ruled in the buyer's favour and told her to send the phone back for a full refund.
I didn't heat anything for a while and assumed she had seen sense and calmed down accepting the phone. Then on the day the escalated case was closed, ebay had removed the money from my paypal account taking me into a minus figure.
My account was restricted and I was getting warnings about debt collectors after just a day or two.
Trying to contest the case with ebay was a real hassle. "The case is now closed" was repeated time and time again. They didn't seem concerned that I had £160-170 taken from my account and didn't have the phone sent back.
After a while of fighting I did get them to freeze the money and request the phone back. The women then supplied a tracking number using Ebay's managed returns and the refund was then processed again.
The phone never arrived back in my possession. Turns out the courier had left the phone outside fully visible next to the bin unaware of the value.
Contacted ebay again, this time the case was closed again with the reason given was I supplied the wrong return address and the loss was my fault.
However the address given on my ebay account was correct, the address I gave the woman directly was correct and the address the courier had was also right, yet ebay refused to reopen the case.
It took me hours of chasing up people on ebay to get the case reviewed. I think they were just sick of my persistence and I finally got my money back. They refused to refund and of the fees though. I gave up at that as I had the majority of the money back.
Never will I use ebay again after that experience. Scamming is rife on ebay and ebay always side with the scammers.
Just get the phone back as soon as you can and hope for the best is my advice.
Edited by Driver101 on Saturday 13th December 10:34
Edited by Driver101 on Saturday 13th December 10:35
oldcynic said:
And what if they don't comply with their own terms & conditions? On what basis would they chase you, and how far?
As far as the debt collectors letter i received for my old flatmate a few weeks ago for a Paypal dispute? Read the terms and conditions, they're long and written to screw you over in every possible way.
g3org3y said:
Hoofy said:
Number 5 said:
I've got absolutely nothing constructive to add but this topic reminds me of how much I hate eBay, it's a horrible place.
As a buyer, it's very decent. I've purchased most of my model cars from there, the vast majority with no problems at all. I've also got various car parts cheaper than even ECP (e.g. bulbs and wipers)
I've never sold anything and I wouldn't dream of trying - who needs that kind of hassle?
Even selling old 'phones to the specialists seems fraught. We keep them - there's always someone in the family who eventually needs them.
marshalla said:
"I'll refund as soon as you've returned it and I've confirmed that it's the handset I sent to you by checking the secret marks that I put on it as well as confirming the IMEI and serial number."
Bluff called.
THIS. You don't have to have this information, they just have to think you have.Bluff called.
Suddenly they will be able to unlock and use the phone.
Just a thought - Did your daughter remove the icloud lock on it? Could be that causing the issues...
It will show up as icloud locked (which happens on stolen phones, hence the assumption by one of these people it has apparently been taken to) and you cannot deactivate without the code.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702?viewlocale=en_U...
It will show up as icloud locked (which happens on stolen phones, hence the assumption by one of these people it has apparently been taken to) and you cannot deactivate without the code.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702?viewlocale=en_U...
Jasandjules said:
THIS. You don't have to have this information, they just have to think you have.
Suddenly they will be able to unlock and use the phone.
I wouldn't add the secret marks bit but the serial and IMEI number i would. Suddenly they will be able to unlock and use the phone.
Only problem is if you say that there's every possibility they'll just open a case and you'll end up losing out when eBay sides with them
Whenever I've sold phones or anything of high value on eBay I've always stated that I will be logging the serial, IMEI (if applicable) and video the packaging process and any attempts at fraud would be directly reported to the Police.
Always seemed to work, sold stuff after a couple of days, usual stupid offers but mainly got what I wanted for it and never had (touch wood) massive issues with it.
I know, hindsight and all that, but I would ask the seller to send it back, and once I have checked it I will issue a full refund, plus postage costs.
Always seemed to work, sold stuff after a couple of days, usual stupid offers but mainly got what I wanted for it and never had (touch wood) massive issues with it.
I know, hindsight and all that, but I would ask the seller to send it back, and once I have checked it I will issue a full refund, plus postage costs.
Christ what a mess! Hope it all works out for you OP.
Sold my old iPhone 4 for full asking price within an hour of going on GumTree!
nick s said:
This. All my old phones go on Gumtree and are sold cash on collection! Never had any problems at all...
This is exactly what I do as well. Buyer comes and checks the phone, hands over cash, done. No issues. Sold my old iPhone 4 for full asking price within an hour of going on GumTree!
Just have to repeat what others have said really.
Get in touch with your old Provider (o2/EE etc) they should have the details on file.
Or get in touch with the shop you bought it from. Carphonewarehouse for example will have every phone you have ever bought stored as long as you can give correct address and name details.
Also check the buyers account out for recent purchases or sales. I was about to get scammed on a sale years ago but I checked the buyers account and found he had sold my item on and it was the buyer from him that had the issue.
Once I had pointed this out to ebay it got sorted in my favour.
Finally if you do agree to refund the phone, make sure you state it has to be a courier and has to be signed for. Then when you have the courier on your door step open the box before signing for it and explain to the driver whats going on, if its not your phone, then take pictures of the box and refuse it.
Once you have your IMEI get that recorded as stolen at the very least it will stop the phone working in the UK.
Get in touch with your old Provider (o2/EE etc) they should have the details on file.
Or get in touch with the shop you bought it from. Carphonewarehouse for example will have every phone you have ever bought stored as long as you can give correct address and name details.
Also check the buyers account out for recent purchases or sales. I was about to get scammed on a sale years ago but I checked the buyers account and found he had sold my item on and it was the buyer from him that had the issue.
Once I had pointed this out to ebay it got sorted in my favour.
Finally if you do agree to refund the phone, make sure you state it has to be a courier and has to be signed for. Then when you have the courier on your door step open the box before signing for it and explain to the driver whats going on, if its not your phone, then take pictures of the box and refuse it.
Once you have your IMEI get that recorded as stolen at the very least it will stop the phone working in the UK.
Nickyboy said:
Jasandjules said:
THIS. You don't have to have this information, they just have to think you have.
Suddenly they will be able to unlock and use the phone.
I wouldn't add the secret marks bit but the serial and IMEI number i would. Suddenly they will be able to unlock and use the phone.
Only problem is if you say that there's every possibility they'll just open a case and you'll end up losing out when eBay sides with them
BorkFactor said:
Christ what a mess! Hope it all works out for you OP.
Sold my old iPhone 4 for full asking price within an hour of going on GumTree!
Exactly. Every phone I've ever put on there is gone the same evening. I can't believe people use anything else! Completely hassle free. I even meet at the local Tesco up the road so everyone is safe.nick s said:
This. All my old phones go on Gumtree and are sold cash on collection! Never had any problems at all...
This is exactly what I do as well. Buyer comes and checks the phone, hands over cash, done. No issues. Sold my old iPhone 4 for full asking price within an hour of going on GumTree!
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