Phone advertised as "new"; arrived and it wasn't..

Willeh

I'm having a bit of an issue here.
My sister saw a phone she liked on eBay, out of all the listings, this was the only phone that was [advertised as] new. As her birthday would be in a two days, and this phone would be my present to her, and the listing still had about 4 days left, I proceeded in e-mailing the seller to arrange closing the auction early on a price we both agreed upon.
Fast forward, the phone arrived, my sister turned it on, had a little browse, and told me that the contact book was full with people's names and numbers, there were photos taken with the camera and there were messages in the inbox and sent box.

This was the listing:
"This phone is new...it's in it's original box although it's ripped and the screen protector has been taken off.its an unwanted present,has been briefly turned on to test it out. It was £100 plus in the shop.thanks"

The sent messages go all the way back to January of this year and one in particular said something along the lines of "hey, sorry, i'm having trouble with this phone, i really dislike it!".
Basically, do I have any power to do anything?

Thanks for any suggestions and help.

Scarlett.1974

Yes, it's clearly not as described, so you could open a dispute with paypal. You would need to return it by trackable means and you would then get your refund, along with original p&p costs (but not the costs of returning it).

You should contact the seller first, express your disappointment and see what he/she says. What do you actually want? Do you want to get your money back or would you be happy with a partial refund?

I must say, the seller must be pretty dim to not have cleared all that out of the phone first.

Willeh

A partial refund would be great I guess, don't really fancy going through the hassle of sending it back.
Technically, this wasn't an eBay sale; she cancelled the auction and sent an invoice via Paypal.. does that affect anything?

iieee

Willeh wrote: »

A partial refund would be great I guess, don't really fancy going through the hassle of sending it back.
Technically, this wasn't an eBay sale; she cancelled the auction and sent an invoice via Paypal.. does that affect anything?

Yes, unfortunately, if you buy outside ebay you are only covered for non-receipt, not for items not as described.

Also, you won't get a partial refund from a paypal dispute either way, the best they would offer you is a refund on return of the item. Your best bet is to write a calm polite email to the seller explaining why you are not happy and what you want them to do to fix it.

Willeh

iieee wrote: »

Yes, unfortunately, if you buy outside ebay you are only covered for non-receipt, not for items not as described.

Also, you won't get a partial refund from a paypal dispute either way, the best they would offer you is a refund on return of the item. Your best bet is to write a calm polite email to the seller explaining why you are not happy and what you want them to do to fix it.

Can I still raise a dispute if they don't reply and ignore my e-mails?

suited-aces

Anything incriminating in the phone that you can use OP?

Willeh

suited-aces wrote: »

Anything incriminating in the phone that you can use OP?

I guess all the messages in the "sent" box and the contacts already saved in the phone. There's a contact saved as "mum" :P and one of the sent messages reads "not getting along with this phone!" which was dated the 28th July.

suited-aces

I mean "blackmail the seller"-style incriminating!

Willeh

suited-aces wrote: »

I mean "blackmail the seller"-style incriminating!

Oh, LOL!
Nope, no dirty messages or anything :P
How long should I give the seller to reply to my e-mails? He/she was quite prompt in replying prior to purchase!

theonlywayisup

iieee wrote: »

Yes, unfortunately, if you buy outside ebay you are only covered for non-receipt, not for items not as described.

Also, you won't get a partial refund from a paypal dispute either way, the best they would offer you is a refund on return of the item. Your best bet is to write a calm polite email to the seller explaining why you are not happy and what you want them to do to fix it.

Fortunately you are incorrect.

Paypals protection policies recently changed to include non ebay purchases.

https://cms.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/BuyerProtection_full&locale.x=en_GB#13.%20PayPal%20Buyer%20Protection

13.2 What are the eligibility requirements for PayPal Buyer Protection?




You must meet all of these requirements to be eligible for a payment under PayPal Buyer Protection:

1. Your payment must be for an eligible item and made from your PayPal Account (see Section 13.3 for further details on item eligibility);
2. Pay the full amount of the eligible item in one payment. Items purchased with multiple payments – like a deposit followed by a final payment – are not eligible;
3. Send the payment to the seller through:
   1. the eBay “Pay Now” button or the eBay invoice, or
   2. the “Send Money” button of your PayPal account by selecting “eBay Item” and entering your eBay User ID and the eBay item number; or
   3. for purchases made off eBay: the Send Money tab on the PayPal website by clicking the “Purchase” tab, or the seller’s PayPal checkout flow; and
4. Open a Dispute within 45 days of the date you sent the payment and follow the online dispute resolution process described below under “How do I resolve my problem?” in section 13.5.

OP, you fit all the criteria (as long as you didn't send the payment as a GIFT). Email the seller, be clear what it is you want - ie refund or partial. The seller does not have to agree to a partial. However, they may think they don't have to agree to anything as the rules changed only a few weeks ago.

If you get nowhere with the seller. Then open a SNAD dispute on Paypal. The seller will have time to respond, give them 24 hours and then raise it to a full claim. Enter all the info you have outlined on here, the fact the item was sold as NEW but has texts dating back some months.

You will be required to send the phone back (use special delivery). Add the tracking details to the claim and then you will receive back your FULL initial payment. Special Delivery will cost just over a fiver.

If you get stuck at any point, come back on here. Under NO circumstances do you close the dispute.

theonlywayisup

Just to help claify...

13. PayPal Buyer Protection


If you are not a registered UK Account holder, please see section 13.7 on how PayPal Buyer Protection applies to you.

13.1 What types of problems are covered?

1. PayPal Buyer Protection helps you with either of these problems:
   1. You did not receive the item you paid for with PayPal – “Item Not Received” (“INR”).
   2. You received an item you paid for with PayPal but it is “Significantly Not as Described” (“SNAD”). Further information on what we mean by “SNAD” is set out in section 13.9.

13.9 What is Significantly Not as Described (SNAD)?

1. An item is Significantly Not as Described if it is materially different from what the seller described in the item listing. Here are some non-exhaustive examples:
   1. You received a completely different item. For instance, you purchased a book and received a DVD or an empty box.
   2. The condition of the item was misrepresented. For instance, the listing said “new” and the item was used.
   3. The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic.
   4. The item is missing major parts or features that were not disclosed in the listing.
   5. You purchased 3 items from a seller but received only 2.
   6. The item was damaged during postage.