iphone 6 blocked blacklisted after 3 months

Johnny_Storm_2

Hi

I bought a iphone 6 locked to tmobile from a seller with 100% feedback and a score of 156. I was using the phone happily for over 3 months (plus some change) when it stopped working. I contacted T mobile for technical issues or outages but was informed there wasnt ( my heart was beating faster). They asked for the imei number and then told me the phone was blocked / blacklisted !! ( heart attack - my worst nightmare realised )

They told me the account holder had not paid their mobile phone bill for the last 3 months and after no response they had frozen their account and blocked / blacklisted the phone. I explained I was an innocent party who bought it on good faith from this user on eBay but there was nothing I can do as I was not the actual account holder. They advised to contact the user or contact eBay.

Obviously I was very shocked and angry with them as I was their customer who was completely innocent but after speaking to different teams there was nothing I can do (partly due to date protection laws).

So now I had the worlds smallest tablet and expensive alarm clock !!

I asked around and was given options to ;

1- sell it on eBay for parts ( clearly stating it was black listed / blocked - eBay customer service said it was OK to do this ?!) I would get between £150 to £250 ( excluding ebays cut )

2- take it to Asia / Middle East to sell it , they would unblock it and the phone could only be used there not UK / Europe

3- take them to through small claims court ( at a further cost of £100 with no address details)

4- contacting eBay ( not hopefully due to the time period)

5- contact the seller and see how they respond ( if any ) and then threaten them with legal action


Since I bought it for £410 I wasn't prepared to lose out any more money.

Taking it abroad wasn't an option , plus I was told ( by various private mobile shop owners ) that as it was locked to Tmobile it was impossible to get it unblocked in those countries, only if it was unlocked (originally ) then there may been a way to make my money back. Anyway as mentioned earlier I wasn't interested in that option as I'm not Superman or have access to a private jet !

Umm slightly interested with the court option however complicated and costly

No response from ebay user - duh

So I contacted ebay ......

I got their phone number via google search and they advised I couldn't get my money back as its been over 30 days but passed me to the account team to report the user. I did this and they passed me to Paypal dispute team.

I explained it all to them and they have now opened a dispute case. Paypal informed me I should either get my money back or will need to send the phone back to the seller ( via their tracking service ?!) and again a refund from Paypal

They will contact the seller and see how they respond. I have to wait 10 days for the seller to respond to Paypal...

Now its a waiting game...

I've just received an confirmation email from Paypal..

Will keep you posted....

TKPeters

Yep, typical con on eBay, the other one is to claim on the insurance, both result in a blocked phone, which why I'd only buy from a registered business selling phones all the time.

Edit: seen you have already done this>> Call Paypal CS [eBay give you 30days] & explain the issue & that you would like to submit a SNAD claim.

This will require you to post it back to seller, which you should use RM Special Delivery or a courier with Tracking & Signature.

eBay's phone number with a code linked to your account is available on their help & contact page; http://ocsnext.ebay.co.uk/ocs/cuhome?from_ocs=1

Paypal's have a similar system on https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_contact-phone

You can obtain the sellers' partial details from http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/ebayadvsearch?_sofindtype=9 & Possibly from the you've won email

Once you have some of their details, try 192.com for more address details
You will have their email address/es, try it on Facebook & Google

I would also report it to Action Fraud

I would also try their phone number & see if they answer & tell them that you have reported them to the Police & Action Fraud you might get them to immediately refund you.

theonlywayisup

If eBay have allowed you to open a case it may not be the best option. Cases opened after their 30 days period are usually at the discretion of the sellers ie it will probably not be acted on.

TK - if a buyer has a case open on EBay they are not permitted to open one on Paypal (and vice versa). There are instances where the system will allow both to be opened but CS will promptly close both. The OP needs to check to see if he really has a case open or not.

For future reference this could have easily been sorted out by opening a Paypal case. You can open one up to 180 days after the payment. All you would need to do is upload your evidence from the phone company that the phone is locked. And Paypal will rule for you to return.

If you ever come back to this thread you need to be clear in what has happened regarding any open case as I'm unsure where you have one open.

I explained it all to them and they have now opened a dispute case. Paypal informed me I should either get my money back or will need to send the phone back to the seller ( via their tracking service ?!) and again a refund from Paypal

Is it Paypal you have the case with? If it is, you will be perfectly fine IF you do as instructed. Paypal don't have a tracking service but eBay do, which makes me wonder if you were speaking with Paypal or if your call - to eBay - was merely transferred to the disputes team in eBay.

If it is Paypal you need to: Upload evidence showing the phone has been locked. Keep within the Paypal strict deadlines and when told, return using SPECIAL delivery - do not use any other service.

bramble43

Modern mobiles cannot be unblocked, what is blocked is the imei number and it cannot be changed, when you switch on a phone, it registers the imei on the network, this is how they are blocked, the network declines the connection.

It will only be in the UK though, send it to france or anywhere else non ukl and get it unlocked and put a local sim in and it'll work. Stick it on ebay saying you'll sell to non uk buyers only and offer european delivery.