Advice needed please?

niteflite01

Heya there.

I am a quite experienced e-bay and have recently become a powerseller with 100% feedback over about 400 transactions.

However I have a problem relating to the purchase of a mobile phone.

Yesterday I purchased a mobile phone on e-bay for about £140. I got caught up stupidly in the whole bidding thing, and didn't, for my sins, read the auction properly. Which is pathetic considering, I know...

Anyway, I won the phone and noted the seller (registered Feb 06, feedback of 3) only accepts a cheque as a form of payment. I would not have bidded if I had of noticed that before. Anyway, I'm a good e-bayer - always - so I still intended to buy and pay for the phone, no problems at all.

So I go through the check-out process and e-bay inform me that they do not have the seller's address on file and I should request it directly from the seller. Which I have done, several times.

Should I be concerned about this?

I have e-mailed and messaged the seller a few times now, as I said, since the end date, but with no response. Because I use MSGTAG (a programme that tells you when your outgoing emails have been read) I know that they have seen my e-mails and not replied.

For all of these reasons, I have lost a bit of confidence in this seller, partly through my own stupidity I accept.

Any advice anyone please?

Snooze_Control

niteflite01 wrote:

Any advice anyone please?

Yes. Email again stating a time limit for a reply and offering an alternative email address just in case you're having receipt problems. Mention that if no reply is received by the stated date then you will assume that they no longer wish to continue the sale and it's null and void. Make sure your spam filters are turned off if you use any and then if no reply is received by your stated date, forget about it and get a phone elsewhere, this time making sure to read the small print properly.

SC

niteflite01

Thanks very much SC, I'll do just that. Cheers!

I think I'll stick to selling in future

Snooze_Control

niteflite01 wrote:

Thanks very much SC, I'll do just that. Cheers!

I think I'll stick to selling in future

No prob .

The other thing you've got to be careful of when you buy contract phones, is that the seller doesn't report it as stolen after you've paid. The network will block the SIM and the IMEI number (ie. the handset) so you can't use it at all, not even with a different SIM.

SC

niteflite01

I think in future when buying a phone I'll stick to retail outlets and the like - as my stupidity and lack of knowledge is shown up a little at the moment

It is a network locked phone so that's all noted. The seller has sold 7 phones today, all of different makes etc, and seems legit enough. I've just lost all of my confidence in him/her now and if I wasn't such a good e-bayer, I'd probably back out.

But I won't and shall persist as per your advice.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

So the seller has been registered nearly a year, has a feedback rating of just 3 and has sold 7 phones today...I would be worried. Personally, I would walk away.

niteflite01

I can't really though can I? Not without risking negative feedback, an unpaid item strike, and the possible loss of my powerseller status?

Sugar_Coated_Owl

As you know by placing a bid you have agreed to purchase the item. Perhaps I'm cynical but something doesn't seem quite right.

You could request the sellers contact details from eBay and try to call the seller. If the details turn out to be incorrect then you can report the seller for that and not feel guilty about walking away from the transaction.

niteflite01

No, it doesn't feel or seem right to me either. It's just a gut feeling admittedly.

I've requested the seller's details and have a phone number, but still no address. I'll give them a bit longer to reply to my e-mails and then call perhaps.

birchy

niteflite01 wrote:

I can't really though can I? Not without risking negative feedback, an unpaid item strike, and the possible loss of my powerseller status?

I would rather risk a neg than lose £140!

Pull out of the deal.

Or ask if you can pay via PayPal and pay the charges?

niteflite01

birchy wrote:

I would rather risk a neg than lose £140!

Pull out of the deal.

Or ask if you can pay via PayPal and pay the charges?

When you put it like that....I do sound a little dumb.

I will ask about Paypal and see what the seller says. Getting any sort of answer from them at all would be nice at the moment.