Sold iphone 4 on ebay, buyer claims received empty box

RFW

an0n1 wrote: »

Anything else I should add?

You're the victim of a crime, so contact the police. Either the buyer or someone handling the parcel has robbed you of an Iphone. I'd also consider contacting Trading Standards regarding Parcelforce, it may well not be their fault but at the very least I would hope they would investigate the weights between collection and delivery.

Stoke

RFW wrote: »

and if it turned out it had been nicked by the courier?
I know I wouldn't be quite so pleased with the idea of someone and their family being murdered for the sake of a few hundred quid.

It's quite clearly a scam. The buyer has filled out the survey from Parcelforce and claimed the item was received successfully.

I don't think anyone deserves to die over possessions, but right now, many people are short of money. Selling something like an iPhone is a quite a large amount of money.

SeduLOUs

Yep, this is why I never sell on eBay anymore. If I have a phone to sell I sell it to CeX or another trade-in store. I get much less than the 'going rate' but at least I know I'll definitely get something other than ripped off.

With eBay policies as they are I'm shocked that anyone would consider selling anything of any real value on there anymore.

My fella works for Vodafone and there's an endless number of people who 'return' faulty phones, get a brand new one, and then when the return box is opened it turns out they've actually posted back a potato. Customer denies any knowledge of it, courier denies any knowledge of it, Vodafone take the hit and customer gets a brand new free iPhone every time. Yes the phones get blocked, but you can still sell them for a decent amount of money to people who know how to get them unblocked and they aren't blocked overseas.

RFW

Stoke wrote: »

It's quite clearly a scam. The buyer has filled out the survey from Parcelforce and claimed the item was received successfully.

I don't think anyone deserves to die over possessions, but right now, many people are short of money. Selling something like an iPhone is a quite a large amount of money.

It probably is a scam by the buyer, to prove that you need to check out other possibilities. Because the buyer told Parcelforce they received the package undamaged doesn't mean that they didn't receive an empty box. There may well be a courier worker with a stash of empty Iphone boxes for just such occasions.
I have mentioned that I've received a Galaxy Tab via courier that was an empty box, it wasn't the seller who sent it empty, it was somewhere in the delivery process it was stolen. When I received and signed for it it was a sealed package. The seller is a big company so sorted it immediately but I expect I'm on some possible fraudster list with that company.
If you received an empty Iphone box from a seller in a sealed parcel your immediate instinct would be that the seller is scamming you and you would complete the Parcelforce form as this buyer did.
If it ever did go to court, it isn't a clear cut case for anyone. The only possible help would be the police, if they actually investigated. They would know if the buyer has previous or if there had been similar reports relating to the depots that the parcels went through.

Stoke

SeduLOUs wrote: »

Yep, this is why I never sell on eBay anymore. If I have a phone to sell I sell it to CeX or another trade-in store. I get much less than the 'going rate' but at least I know I'll definitely get something other than ripped off.

With eBay policies as they are I'm shocked that anyone would consider selling anything of any real value on there anymore.

My fella works for Vodafone and there's an endless number of people who 'return' faulty phones, get a brand new one, and then when the return box is opened it turns out they've actually posted back a potato. Customer denies any knowledge of it, courier denies any knowledge of it, Vodafone take the hit and customer gets a brand new free iPhone every time. Yes the phones get blocked, but you can still sell them for a decent amount of money to people who know how to get them unblocked and they aren't blocked overseas.

You don't even need to do that. You can break them for parts, screen, battery, case, even a bricked motherboard are all good for a few quid. Unblocking them isn't as easy as it used to be.

Stoke

RFW wrote: »

It probably is a scam by the buyer, to prove that you need to check out other possibilities. Because the buyer told Parcelforce they received the package undamaged doesn't mean that they didn't receive an empty box. There may well be a courier worker with a stash of empty Iphone boxes for just such occasions.
I have mentioned that I've received a Galaxy Tab via courier that was an empty box, it wasn't the seller who sent it empty, it was somewhere in the delivery process it was stolen. When I received and signed for it it was a sealed package. The seller is a big company so sorted it immediately but I expect I'm on some possible fraudster list with that company.
If you received an empty Iphone box from a seller in a sealed parcel your immediate instinct would be that the seller is scamming you and you would complete the Parcelforce form as this buyer did.
If it ever did go to court, it isn't a clear cut case for anyone. The only possible help would be the police, if they actually investigated. They would know if the buyer has previous or if there had been similar reports relating to the depots that the parcels went through.

Bit too coincidental how often it's happening though right?

RFW

Stoke wrote: »

Bit too coincidental how often it's happening though right?

Not sure if you're misunderstanding me or not. I'm not disputing it happens and that it may well have done so in this case, just pointing out that it isn't proven what has happened here. If it was quite so prevalent as we're led to believe I doubt there would be online sales of phones or any electronics. Presumably it happens to Carphone Warehouse and others too.

If this thread was from the buyer asking for advice having received an empty box, how different would the thread be? Sellers sending empty boxes does happen too. Unless you're the buyer or seller there's no way of knowing who's telling the truth.

anotheruser

You could try ebay?
Scan in the receipt showing the weight.

They may refund you.
That may is a huge one though.

However learn the lesson - NEVER send abroad anything valuable.

s30jok

You have the buyers address, if they are close to you, you could go round and ask them have they received the phone, you might catch them out or even see them coming out of the house with a new iphone. You could look at their feedback and see if they buy a lot of premium products and then you could approach the sellers to see if they are reporting that the buyer isn't receiving the goods. all evidence you could give back to police/eBay etc

an0n1

Cheers guys - Tried police already they won't investigate they just say contact eBay and Parcelforce.

Do you think I should call up eBay and shout as well or just pursue Parcelforce and only approach eBay if I don't get anywhere? I have been on the phone to eBay waiting for someone to answer for 20 mins or so a couple of times and if they are just going to say contact Parcelforce first after 20 mins of wait, not so keen to do it. But Parcelforce may take a while to come back and I don't know if there's a period within which I need to contact eBay?