Ebay - iPhone I bought has been blacklisted.

dollifer

Hi all, I bought an iPhone 4 from a business seller on ebay at the beginning of June, it worked perfectly well up until about 5 days ago. I went to Orange and they informed me that it has been blacklisted which is why I can't make calls or text etc.
Seller offered me an exchange as it's been over 14 days since I purchased it, but I refused this as the next one could be blacklisted at any time and I'd be constantly paranoid.
I told the seller that I just want my money back but he has refused saying that it could have been me that blacklisted it. If I can prove that it wasn't me then he will refund me. How can I prove that it wasn't?
Thank you.

Valli

have you complained to ebay/paypal?

bris

Then take an exchange, sounds pretty reasonable to me, if he was out to deliberately do you, you would get nothing from him. He is doing all he needs to under SOGA.

dollifer

Hi thanks for the replies,

Yes I've complained to ebay, I have to wait until the 20th before I can escalate.

In regards to refusing the exchange, I've lost the trust. I don't want to be worrying that the phone is suddenly going to stop working. How do I know that it wasn't them that had it blacklisted?

I certainty shan't be buying another used phone.

bris

Why would they blacklist it only to offer you an other one, that doesn't make sense now does it?

The seller has the right to remedy the problem by repair, replacement or refund, their choice not yours, by giving an exchange they are doing all they need to do.

However I see you are still in the Ebay claim window so you should get your refund as that's the Ebay way, they have their own policy when it comes to returns and the seller has to abide by it or lose their account.

dollifer

Thanks for the reply Bris. If it comes to it I'll have no choice but to accept a replacement, but my concern is that this phone has been blacklisted 4 weeks after the purchase date, how can the seller possibly guarantee that come 1 week, 1 month or even a year, that the replacement won't be blacklisted by the original owner? I'm done with second hand phones, not going through this again!

Lifeforms

Run a mile.
Assuming you paid with paypal, open a case against them (probably significantly not described). For what exact type, ask in the ebay forum section. Return it completely traceable ie special delivery and await a refund, you wont get the return postage back, but do no skimp as it needs to be special delivery, recorded will not count in the case.

Do Not take another one. It's too risky! I'd suggest it was blacklisted for non-payment, or reported stolen after being sold on either to them, or they did it themselves. Just be glad it happened in the 45 days time protection limit!

Edited to add:
Do not close any claim until you have a full refund, including your first postage.
Do not close it on the seller saying they will refund. Always check it first that you have the refund and that it has cleared. A paypal echeque can bounce and will take several days to clear.
Keep all correspondence to ebays email messaging service only. Don't waffle on in the case, say the phone is blacklisted and not working and let the seller respond to that. When requested to, send the phone back, as said by special delivery only.

A case can only be opened once per item won ie one time only! You do not have to do the repair replace refund of distance selling if you are under 45 days of the ebay/paypal claim time. Return and refund is the option there.

Kite2010

Be thankful it's within the 45 day window for paypal, the scam is normally to report the handset stolen after the window has closed.

Return via Special Delivery for full-return.

Caitlin_Bree

Totally agree with what others have said re getting your money back through ebay, so I assume you won't have to bother faffing around for an INAD. If it wasn't sold as blocked, refuse another one on that basis and get your money back.

dollifer

Thanks so much for the replies. I'm feeling a little more hopeful now. The seller has stated that if I can prove I didn't blacklist it, he will refund me. Orange were going to print me off the details last week but it was on a non printable page. I'll go back today to see if I can take a photo. There's a chance they won't let me due to data protection maybe, but they were more than willing to let me have a copy of it if they were able to print it last week.
If I manage to get it should I send the copy to the seller like I told him I would? Would the information be of any use i.e. will it say who blacklisted it or just when?
Initially he offered me a 16GB replacement at no extra cost which I declined, or a full refund. I replied saying that I'd like a refund and would send the phone back recorded delivery. Luckily I didn't have chance that day as when I got back from work I had another email to say he's just noticed that it's been over 14 days and no refund was possible.
I replied saying that I wasn't being funny, but 14 days in neither here nor there, it's been reported as a lost or stolen phone, if I need to contact the police to say I have it and details of who sold it to me then I would.
Now I probably shouldn't have said that but I acted in haste as I was quite cross.
This is when he wanted me to prove that the phone hadn't been blacklisted by myself. I replied asking him why would I want to blacklist a phone that I was perfectly happy with? Orange say that the original owner that registered it is the only one that could blacklist it and that I will get a copy of the details about it from Orange and forward it to him.
I have 2 cases open against him, one requesting a return and another as advised by eBay; item not as described. The first one eBay can't get involved in and it's up the seller if he refunds me, the second case it the one I can escalate to eBay. Both cases are open and will remain so until I have my money back.
Do I keep hold of the phone until a refund has been agreed or send it back now?
To be honest, I'm fed up of debating the issue with him and would just rather leave it to eBay to decide what happens.

peachyprice

He's within his right to insist that you send the phone back before he gives you a refund, if you return it and he doesn't give you your money back Ebay will refund you anyway.

Just make sure you send it by a traceable method.