Bought a faulty mobile from eBay

DocQuincy

I bought a Google Pixel 1 from eBay for £195. It was ex-display in very good condition and the phone is really great. I bought it because my in-contract phone is broken and I still have 9 months left on it.

Anyway, after a month or so of usage, calls, WhatsApp video, volume keys, headphone jack and fingerprint stopped working. Sometimes they'd work and then stop again calls, video and the headphone jack do not work at all.

I checked the phone was genuine and it was.

I did a factory reset and tried safe mode but it makes no difference.

It turns out after looking into it a lot of the Pixel 1's have a faulty motherboard, which causes these problems. In the US, Google are paying for the repair.

As a UK customer who bought from eBay, do I have an options? £195 for less than six weeks of usage seems unfair. I emailed the seller (who from his history has sold thousands of phones, i.e. it's a business, not a person selling off their old phone) and he said he'd look into it and get back to me. That was yesterday but I have not heard back yet.

Do I have any rights with regards to getting my money back? I can't go to Google since I didn't buy it from them and the phone came without any original packaging or the as-new receipt.

keith1950

Just one of the problems of buying off of eBay.....did he give you any guarantee with it at all ( e g. One month, Three months ) ?
I suppose it's down to how much he values his eBay reputation as to whether he will do anything but from his point of view he doesn't know that you haven't done something to damage it in some way.
You may have to write this off to experience....wait and see what he comes back with but don't be impatient.

DocQuincy

Just one of the problems of buying off of eBay.....did he give you any guarantee with it at all ( e g. One month, Three months ) ?

Thanks. It had 30 days return on it but I assume that's if you change your mind. Other than that it just says Protection: eBay Money Back Guarantee.

from his point of view he doesn't know that you haven't done something to damage it in some way

He would do if he asked me to return the phone to him since it is in the same condition I bought it from him in. The kind of fault I am claiming (motherboard) is not something I could damage and then pass off as an inherent fault like I could with cosmetic damage. Additionally, if you Google it there are hundreds people suffering the exact same problem with the exact same phone.

If I am not entitled to anything I will have to chalk it up to a bad experience as you say. eBay seems to be set up to be heavily weighted in favour of the customer so I thought it was worth checking.

wait and see what he comes back with but don't be impatient.

I was posting here not because I expected a reply by now but for when he does reply I know what my rights are. I am sure he will get back to me today or early next week.

Comms69

Im not sure you can claim the phone was faulty at the time you bought it. Which is the test for consumer rights.

DocQuincy

Google are (reluctantly) admitting the cause is faulty soldering on the motherboard on some first gen Pixels. That they are picking up the tab for some of the repairs in the US even though they are out of warranty implies to me there's a case to be made that they were always faulty even though the fault did not manifest itself until after purchase.

I'd imagine that's nigh impossible to prove though without having Google inspect the phone and saying so — which is never going to happen.