Sold an iphone , goes wrong 35 days later and they want a refund ?

Dom29

Hey , i sold an iphone 4 on ebay and apparently the home button is not working as it should 35 days later?

And now they are threatening me with an ebay case if i dont refund them immediatly ? i never had any problems with the phone and because it is out of warranty apple will not repair the iphone.

Do i have the refund them?

Thankyou

zenseeker

Ask them to return it first, you do not have to refund until it is back in your hands.

Only concern is that they could be attempting to swap a working phone you sold to them for a broken phone they have. Do you have any serial numbers jotted down?

Mandles

35 days? I don't think I would. It could have got wet or something. May be their fault . Sounds mean but I don't think you have to.


I would think that if they return it that paypal may see the proof of return and allow refund. Unsure though.

plumface

Mandles wrote: »

35 days? I don't think I would. It could have got wet or something. May be their fault . Sounds mean but I don't think you have to.

It doesn't matter what you think,the buyer has 45 days to open a dispute in paypal.

Mandles

plumface wrote: »

It doesn't matter what you think,the buyer has 45 days to open a dispute in paypal.

OP asked " do I have to refund item" I said I don't think I would! I have had damaged items sent to me after 30 days and despite seller acknowledging to me that item indeed was damaged upon receipt paypal DID NOT agree and cancelled case . I would not have got refund at all if seller hadn't been a decent seller in the end. So I still wouldn't refund. Let them dispute as he sent a fully working phone.

Dom29

Thanks for all the replys , ive asked them to return it to me and im going to have to refund them and get it repaired and sell it again.

Its a bit unfair but i know for a fact that ebay will go with the buyer as they always do when you open a case.

The only other option i have is to edge them on until over the 45 days but i don't think ill be doing that.

Although the woman has told me it was her daughters birthday present so i dont imagine it will have been handled brilliantly.

Thankyou anyway

plumface

Mandles wrote: »

OP asked " do I have to refund item" I said I don't think I would! I have had damaged items sent to me after 30 days and despite seller acknowledging to me that item indeed was damaged upon receipt paypal DID NOT agree and cancelled case . I would not have got refund at all if seller hadn't been a decent seller in the end. So I still wouldn't refund. Let them dispute as he sent a fully working phone.

My point was that it doesn't matter what you think,if the buyer opened a case with paypal and returned it tracked the YOU WOULD REFUND whether you wanted to or not.
It would not be your decision.

Mandles

Dom29 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replys , ive asked them to return it to me and im going to have to refund them and get it repaired and sell it again.

Its a bit unfair but i know for a fact that ebay will go with the buyer as they always do when you open a case.

The only other option i have is to edge them on until over the 45 days but i don't think ill be doing that.

Although the woman has told me it was her daughters birthday present so i dont imagine it will have been handled brilliantly.

Thankyou anyway

You are a nice seller. I am still betting that her daughter dropped it ( as mine does daily!!) or got it wet and not given this information to her mother and just said its stopped working.

I would get the repairer to diagnose ( if possible) the cause for the fault and then tell the mum. Maybe if she is half decent she will wait and see the reason for it breaking, i mean not working and maybe pay for the repair and have it back as you have been so reasonable.

Crowqueen

35 days, depending on the fault, is no time at all for an expensive item.

Think how you would feel as a buyer. As a seller I'd be mortified - I've sold faulty and unused electronic items before, but I always baulk at selling stuff I've used (and believe me any items like an iPhone would get rigorously put through their paces) because it might be on its last legs.

Sometimes that is a risk with selling used electronics and as said above, a dispute would force you to refund anyway. You're effectively giving someone a 45-day guarantee when you sell on eBay, so I think you've done the right thing.

If the wrong item comes back you can take it to eBay and report the buyer - you might also have civil recourse against them which for the price of the average iPhone might be worth pursuing. But in an ordinary situation buyer protection is buyer protection - so you do have some responsibility to refund.

If you don't like this idea - don't list stuff like this on eBay - I wouldn't, I'd take it to CEX.

pulliptears

The home button fault on an iPhone 4 can be happen by dropping the phone.... I did it myself on my old one, dropped it barely a foot onto the floor and the home button became unresponsive gradually getting worse over the day until it stopped working completely.
I got it fixed in a local phone shop for £35.

Check all the edges of the phone for any sign of dropping.

Dom29

Hey all just thought id give you an update as i want i need a bit more help

Recieved the iphone back today , after turning the iphone on i found the ios software had messed up so i restored the iphone using itunes and the phone works perfectly fine!

There is no problem with the home button it works perfect and has no problems in the slightest.

Could i send them the iphone back as it works fine ? i know they wont be happy as i offered to repair the iphone before and they said they just wanted there money back.

What do you think ? thanks