Lying ebay buyer

xSlinky

Hi all,

I sold a clearly marked faulty iPhone 3gs on eBay.

The phone turned on to the restore logo, but when I tried to restore, iTunes gave an error. I'd bought it myself on eBay and tried to restore, but the restore failed so I sold it on again so that someone with more tech knowledge could fix it.

The buyer received the item on Saturday, and it's only now on Thursday night that I've heard back from him for the first time.

He said that the phone wasn't as described, and there were some components missing inside the phone when he took it to a repair shop.

I replied that he should seek resolution by involving eBay customer service as the item was described as faulty in the auction.

He then raises the eBay dispute, now saying that the phone doesn't turn on at all.

I replied that if it didn't turn on at all, then it wasn't how I described it in the auction, so why would he take it to a shop to be took to bits rather than raise the issue with me straight away? I also said that I took a photo of the phone in the 'connect to iTunes' mode on the evening that the auction was started, and this time stamp is on the photo file properties.

Does anyone have any experiences similar to this?

xSlinky

I've just received a reply saying that they didn't try to turn it on when they received it, they sent it straight on to a repair place who told them it had been taken apart previously and broken inside.

So if I've sent it to them and it turned on, and they sent it on to a repair shop without first checking that it turns on, surely that's their own fault if they receive it back from the repair shop and it won't turn on, isn't it? Surely it's one of the responsibilities of the buyer to check that the item received matches the auction description?

EssexGirl

I'm no expert, but did you make a note of the IMEI? It may not be the same phone you sold them. Apparently that happens a lot.

Sazzarella

Also you are better to not mention in the auction what you "think" the fault is as people have been able to send faulty items back through a SNAD case because they dispute the fault is as has been stated per the auction.

xSlinky

I don't have the IMEI as the phone wouldn't load up properly but I do have the phone's serial number. Either way, even if it gets refunded and it's a different serial number, it's just my word against his.

Yeah, I definitely avoided stating what I thought the problem was in the auction - I didn't know anyway. I stated what condition the phone was in and what happened when I turned it on: it went to the apple logo and iTunes restore logo and stuck there.

He's now saying it doesn't even go that far, but I just know that's because whoever's took it apart has caused further damage, that's why I don't want to give the refund - he'd be returning the item in inferior condition than that which I sold it to him.

He keeps repeating his argument that the parts inside are broken - but what do you expect when you buy a faulty phone?!

Gandalfthesecond

xSlinky wrote: »

I don't have the IMEI as the phone wouldn't load up properly but I do have the phone's serial number. Either way, even if it gets refunded and it's a different serial number, it's just my word against his.

Yeah, I definitely avoided stating what I thought the problem was in the auction - I didn't know anyway. I stated what condition the phone was in and what happened when I turned it on: it went to the apple logo and iTunes restore logo and stuck there.

He's now saying it doesn't even go that far, but I just know that's because whoever's took it apart has caused further damage, that's why I don't want to give the refund - he'd be returning the item in inferior condition than that which I sold it to him.

He keeps repeating his argument that the parts inside are broken - but what do you expect when you buy a faulty phone?!

You don't and won't know that unless you had the phone apart yourself.

zenseeker

xSlinky wrote: »

I don't have the IMEI as the phone wouldn't load up properly

The IMEI number is usually printed inside the phone, behind the battery.

steven_garner

zenseeker wrote: »

The IMEI number is usually printed inside the phone, behind the battery.

The IMEI is located on the original SIM tray (very small text) thats the only way to get the IMEI number without getting the phone apart (other than *#06#)

By any chance it wasn’t the error 23 was it? very common recently with the 3GS phones after a recent (botched) Apple update.

Surprisingly you will need to replace the battery to get around the error, you need the newest model battery (with a Sony chip as appose to a Samsung chip - the part number 616-0435 works fine)

If you do get it back with missing parts ect PM me as i pretty much stock every part for every phone around

xSlinky

Gandalfthesecond wrote: »

You don't and won't know that unless you had the phone apart yourself.

It booted to the Apple logo when I sent it.

Apparently now it doesn't.

That's what I mean about returning it in worse condition which I sent it in.

steven_garner wrote:

The IMEI is located on the original SIM tray (very small text) thats the only way to get the IMEI number without getting the phone apart (other than *#06#)

By any chance it wasn’t the error 23 was it? very common recently with the 3GS phones after a recent (botched) Apple update.

If you do get it back with missing parts ect PM me as i pretty much stock every part for every phone around

It was error 40.

I thought it was the serial no. in the SIM tray, and that's where I got the number from, so it turns out I do have the IMEI.

From what this guy is saying (and I don't really trust him), it was missing the WIFI module, the phone arial, and the mainboard is broken. I hope they haven't harvested it for parts to screw me over!

Hammyman

Tell them it was sold as not working and they've got an iPhone that doesn't work. Don't worry about the negative feedback.

Invalidation

Gandalfthesecond wrote: »

You don't and won't know that unless you had the phone apart yourself.

My thoughts exactly.
I once bought a computer which stated, Disc Drive broken. When I received the computer, it wasnt broken.....it wasnt even there, there was the front of a disc drive stuck on. The fool I bought it from must have bought it and decided it was rubbish and tried to palm it off.
It cost him a lot more than me.

If you sell something as faulty you better describe the item 100% or have it checked out. Simply saying "it doesnt work" or giving the opinion that it might work if someone looked at it simply wont wash. People these days are becoming a bit brighter about scamsters passing rubbish on.