Stolen Mobile Phone

eliza2811

Complex, so apologies.

Bought a mobile phone from a private seller on Ebay UK last August. Mid June this year, it became blocked. Turned out it was stolen property. Stolen in London in Jan 2015. Phone came to me in A1 condition with proper box and accessories. Imei numbers match. Used it for 11 months with no problems.

Phone is with police now. Are next to useless in trying to investigate. They've had it since 9th July 2016.

Have tried to do VISA chargeback dispute with Nationwide bank and they have rejected the claim as it does not fit into a scenario. I am within time limit for claiming still.

Any advice? Thanks

[Deleted User]

If you've purchased stolen goods from a private seller then I don't see how you can claim back the money from your Bank.

eliza2811

Yes because it's kind of illegal to sell stolen phones on eBay and my payment was by Visa card.

eliza2811

The bank wouldn't refund me. They get the money back from the seller

glentoran99

eliza2811 wrote: »

Yes because it's kind of illegal to sell stolen phones on eBay and my payment was by Visa card.

Was it? Or was it by paypal?

eliza2811

They handle the transaction but the money was debited from my Visa card. I didn't add funds from bank account to PayPal account and then pay.

shaun_from_Africa

The use of Paypal doesn't invalidate the possibility of credit or debit card chargebacks. It does however mean that "section 75" claims can't be attempted.

eliza2811

Section 75 is credit card only. I used a debit card. Cheers

glentoran99

eliza2811 wrote: »

They handle the transaction but the money was debited from my Visa card. I didn't add funds from bank account to PayPal account and then pay.

Have you tried a paypal case?

eliza2811

It's past 180 days.

dj1471

I don't think there's anything you can do here... You're beyond the time limit for PayPal disputes and for chargeback and have no S75 protection.

If you happen to have a genuine name and address for the seller you can take them to small claims court, but I figure that's unlikely. Are they still active on eBay?

I expect you will get the phone back eventually, the rightful owner is unlikely to want it given it's no longer a new model and is in a used condition...

Not much help now, but always use one of the online IMEI checking tools when buying on eBay. Even if the phone initially works OK on your network it could be blocked by another, it can take a long time for blacklists to be distributed and updated. Decent sellers will include a print-out of such a check with the phone.