Buyer saying item not as described - help!!!

roz84

I recently sold an iphone 4s to a uk buyer with 3500 positive feedbacks, so thought he was a genuine buyer. The phone was blacklisted (lost it, claimed on insurance, then found phone) so it was sold as spares or repairs although everything else functions perfectly - it was only a couple of weeks old when I lost it!

I have received an email from the buyer saying they want a refund as the water trigger has been tripped:

"Hi, I received the phone this morning and noticed that the water sensor has been triggered. I knew about the signal fault as that's what I fix but nowhere in the description does it mention the water damage. I would like to return it for a refund as I would not have bought it had I of known."

The phone has never been near any water!!!! And it functioned perfectly - BUT obviously this buyer has taken the phone apart and done god knows what to it in order to notice the so called water trigger, and on this basis i don't want to refund him as who knows, it might not even be the same phone that is returned. The warranty would be void anyway as the phone was blacklisted! Also, there was recently a feature on watchdog regarding apple water triggers and how easily they go off - link to article here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/06/iphone_problems.html

What should I do? I'm hopping mad, there ALWAYS seems to be a problem whenever an electrical item is sold to someone, i'm an honest ebayer and it drives me mad!!

mildred1978

There are 2 water trigger indicators on an iPhone - 1 in the headphone jack and the other in the dock. You don't need to take anything apart to see that.

Did you make a note of the phone's imei number before you sent it?

vuvuzela

roz84 wrote: »

I recently sold an iphone 4s to a uk buyer with 3500 positive feedbacks, so thought he was a genuine buyer. The phone was blacklisted (lost it, claimed on insurance, then found phone) so it was sold as spares or repairs although everything else functions perfectly - it was only a couple of weeks old when I lost it!

I have received an email from the buyer saying they want a refund as the water trigger has been tripped:

"Hi, I received the phone this morning and noticed that the water sensor has been triggered. I knew about the signal fault as that's what I fix but nowhere in the description does it mention the water damage. I would like to return it for a refund as I would not have bought it had I of known."

The phone has never been near any water!!!! And it functioned perfectly - BUT obviously this buyer has taken the phone apart and done god knows what to it in order to notice the so called water trigger, and on this basis i don't want to refund him as who knows, it might not even be the same phone that is returned. The warranty would be void anyway as the phone was blacklisted! Also, there was recently a feature on watchdog regarding apple water triggers and how easily they go off - link to article here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/06/iphone_problems.html

What should I do? I'm hopping mad, there ALWAYS seems to be a problem whenever an electrical item is sold to someone, i'm an honest ebayer and it drives me mad!!

If the phone was claimed for on insurance, it thereafter belongs to the insurance company and should have been sent to them. If the insurance company found out about this, it could be viewed as potential insurance fraud which really isn't a good thing.
Potentially even more likely as it was only a couple of weeks between it being 'lost' then sold on...

sharpy2010

roz84 wrote: »

i'm an honest ebayer and it drives me mad!!

You aren't honest, you sold something that doesn't belong to you.

How is that in any way honest?!

Crowqueen

I do know from hanging out on iPod forums there could be water damage if something leaked into the item through the holes in it. I've heard instances of sweat damaging it, either from joggers or from people putting the unit into clothing. Heard a story about someone stuffing an iPhone into her bra during a night out and ruining it. A bit of moisture getting into it somewhere could do an awful lot of damage - which is entirely possible if, for example, the package got wet in transit.

As people have said, the phone was not yours to sell though.

alykatz

If you have claimed on the insurance for this phone wont that mean its been blocked/blacklisted and is not allowed to be sold on ebay in the first place?

d123

roz84 wrote: »

the phone was blacklisted!


What should I do? I'm hopping mad, there ALWAYS seems to be a problem whenever an electrical item is sold to someone, i'm an honest ebayer and it drives me mad!!

Its called karma, you committed insurance fraud and sold a stolen phone. Now another criminal is trying to get one over on you.

Tough, isn't it?

NeverEnough

OP, did you tell the insurance company you had found the (now blacklisted) phone and ask them what you should do with it? They had refunded you the cost of the "lost" phone, so it stands to reason that once you found it, you would be fully aware it was no longer yours to sell??
:eek: