Got badly burned on gumtree - now seller is harassing me

redcard

Next time you buy something on a Gumtree take along someone who knows what they're doing.

Handling stolen goods, great start to your accountancy career!

parking_question_chap

Laptop 6 weeks old £210 and seller says they do not have password to get into it. Let me guess, no box or paperwork.......?

Sorry, why did that not ring alarm bells??

Rather than calling police to complain, I think you should be reporting stolen goods!

Free_Spirit_31

I would not touch Gumtree with a bargepole!

Avoriaz

Free_Spirit_31 wrote: »

I would not touch Gumtree with a bargepole!

There is nothing wrong with Gumtree if you are sensible.

Most buyers and sellers on there are fine but, like everything else, it has its share of scammers, con artists etc.

I've bought a few items on Gumtree without any problems.

Avoriaz

mollusk wrote: »

Hi all

I know if anyone can help me solve this, it's you guys!

So, last week (Sunday) I bought a laptop from a guy whose ad I saw on Gumtree. I went to his house, looked at the laptop, it seemed fine, so I bought it. He said that the laptop was only six weeks old and that the only thing he'd done to it was upgrade the operating system. ......

It isn't common to buy a new laptop and upgrade the operating system.

New laptops normally have the latest OS already installed.

So, unless this was new old stock with an older version of Windows on it, or he wanted to install an alternative OS, why did he upgrade the OS.

Did you ask?

It isn't very common to sell a 6 week old laptop. Did you ask him why he was selling an almost brand new laptop.

Did it look almost brand new?

I'm sympathetic with your problem but see this as a lesson in taking more care buying second hand goods from strangers.

Have you asked the Police to investigate this as possible stolen goods? They won't be interested in the civil matter of wrongly described goods but they might, with a lot of persuasion, be interested if it can be shown to be stolen. Or perhaps the seller is known to them if he has sold stolen goods before.

Good luck.

buglawton

If the laptop is running Windows XP (granted, unlikely on a newish laptop) it would be a simple matter to decode the password.

ballisticbrian

I'm suprised anyone would want to buy a second hand laptop and keep the OS someone else has installed (and possibly hacked)? Especially as laptop have a miniature web cam pointing at you. :O

SimonSays

Sick_Boy wrote: »

Not true.

Laptops with Windows 8 have got COA.
The key is encrypted in BIOS and is easy to recover.

Not true my Windows 8 machine doesn't have a COA only a Windows 8 sticker with no serial.

mollusk

The guy said he'd had it through as an insurance claim, but the screen was too small. The screen is a little small, so fair enough comment. It did come with a box and packaging. It seems (seemed) legitimate. I am usually cautious when buying electronic stuff as I know that a defect can be hard to detect, which is why I went for a newer computer than an older one.

I am not really that angry, just irritated (it's a first world problem, after all). Having experienced Gumtree's approach to rogue sellers, though, I don't think I'll ever be buying anything I'm not an expert in from the site again.

buglawton

Well let us know what happened when you get it back from the repair shop you mention in opening post.

If you think the seller has something to do with the 'mailbaits' then we have to conclude there's near-criminality involved. At the absolute minimum you want the repair shop to format the disk and re-install Windows from scratch, for your own safety.
Quote that the the repairer: "format the disk and re-install Windows from scratch" and make sure they do it!