galaxyS2 bought off Ebay 4 months ago and does not work now

northernsoul

Hi
I successfully bidded for a Samsung Galaxy S2 on July 1st and paid by paypal on my credit card. Within a month it stopped working. Virgin media said it was blocked and i should contact the seller. I contacted the seller and he got it unblocked saying 'sorry, this has never happened before, if it goes wrong again please contact me'. He had a 100% feedback with about 350 feedbacks.
The phone has stopped again. Virgin media said it had been reported as lost or stolen. I have tried to contact the seller but he is no longer a registered user. He only replied to me through Ebay. I hav tried to contact Ebay but because it is 4 months old the item number is not accepted any way i try to get in contact with them.
What can i do or have i just got to accept i have lost £260 i paid for it.
My moral now is - if something goes wrong, do not accept a repair, get your money back, because 4 months later it looks like you have no comeback (maybe Barclaycard though?)
Thanks in advance

OneADay

Go to police with all the documents, emails and seller contact details. It will be insurance fraud / theft and police might do something or maybe not ... you can find more information on dedicated met police site for mobile phone crime

http://www.met.police.uk/mobilephone/

macman

You can still pursue it yourself if you have his physical contact details, assuming that they are genuine. But you are out of time for a Paypal/ebay claim.
What does your card provider say?

northernsoul

Hi
I will look into contacting the police for fraud, thanks.
Unfortunately, i have no physical contact details for him. I only had contact through Ebay (emails) with him. I will contact my card provider, thanks

scottishblondie

Unfortunately I believe (and if I'm wrong, please correct me) that because you went via PayPal, the introduction of the 3rd party means that the card provider won't be interested. I'd post on the Ebay board, the people over there have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

Also, you may be able to request his full contact details from Ebay.

northernsoul

Scottishblondie (i love scottish ladies and their accents hehe). I fear you may be correct about my card provider. I will try the Ebay board, thanks. Did not need this, having been made redundant 2 weeks ago , never mind

Sgt_Pepper_2

Did you buy this phone new or used?

Strange how it was blocked the first time and then reactivated.

northernsoul

The seller said it was brand new. Cosmetically and functionally (using and looking at what is in its memory etc) it seemed brand new. I could not tell it was not brand new. It is locked to Virginmobile.
I too find it strange it was blocked first time and then reactivated.
Might ask Virginmobile this question

macman

It may well be new-did it have the original packaging? The seller may have bought it new, sold it to you and then reported it stolen in order to claim the insurance. Then IMEI blocked by the network.

northernsoul

It had the original packing but with the seal broken. I assumed he took it out to check it. A month after i bought it and it was blocked, he got it reactivated.
Suppose he could report it stolen after he sold it to me, or after the first time it was blocked, and get it reactivated, knowing that the next time it was blocked, it would be outside the time i can contact Ebay and by that time he had left Ebay. For someone with about 350 feedbacks and 100% feedback seems not very likely or maybe i was just the unlucky one when he decided to pull this one.

Sgt_Pepper_2

macman wrote: »

It may well be new-did it have the original packaging? The seller may have bought it new, sold it to you and then reported it stolen in order to claim the insurance. Then IMEI blocked by the network.

That's my thinking possibly an upgrade. If that's the case the op is in possession of a stolen phone.