Scammed and send abusive messages by seller trying to extort more money on Shpock

awanders

Hi, would be really grateful for your help.

Yesterday my girlfriend bought an iPhone on Shpock and it is locked - so completely unusable, despite being described as unlocked.

She used their buyer protection, but it was dropped off in person, so we had to release the funds to get the phone. Buyer protection only works when you get an item delivered apparently, we didn't know the phone was locked until we tried to use our SIM at home.

So clearly we were scammed.

We have been trying to resolve the issue with the seller, but he is claiming the phone is working perfectly fine and is unlocked. We appealed to Shpock, but all we got was an automated message saying that we have to resolve the issue with the seller (despite it being less than an hour since we got the phone).

We tried to resolve it with the seller again, but he is sending my girlfriend - and me - super aggressive messages, saying that he hasn't been paid yet and that if we don't release funds he will go to the police. We have already paid for the phone of course.

Shpock's customer support and policy documentation is non-existent for these situations. It's clearly a place where scammers can get away with anything, and where no support is given to buyers that get ripped off and abused for it.

The seller is now hammering me with messages trying to extort more money. Shpock are being completely unresponsive.

Realistically, what can I do?

jon81uk

I would advise when buying items in person always test them and check they work before handing over the cash. Paying up front and collecting like this leaves you open to these scams unfortuantly.

awanders

Thanks for your response Jon - appreciate you taking the time. We paid via Shpock's payment system with Buyer Protection, so I would have expected at least some support from them! We are getting messages every other minute asking for more money and there is no way to speak to the team there.

Aylesbury_Duck

What can you do now?  Send one message to the seller, explaining that you are awaiting the outcome of Shpock's resolution process and once it's resolved, he will either get his money or the phone back.  Any more aggressive messages from him will be logged and reported to the police as harassment.

jon81uk

awanders said:

Thanks for your response Jon - appreciate you taking the time. We paid via Shpock's payment system with Buyer Protection, so I would have expected at least some support from them! We are getting messages every other minute asking for more money and there is no way to speak to the team there.

I've never used Shpock but it seems to imply that if you pay for buyer protection they won't release funds to the seller until you confirm receipt of the goods. Did you do this?

[Deleted User]

Could you get it unlocked? Might be easier. 

awanders

jon81uk said:

awanders said:

Thanks for your response Jon - appreciate you taking the time. We paid via Shpock's payment system with Buyer Protection, so I would have expected at least some support from them! We are getting messages every other minute asking for more money and there is no way to speak to the team there.

I've never used Shpock but it seems to imply that if you pay for buyer protection they won't release funds to the seller until you confirm receipt of the goods. Did you do this?

We released the payment after I looked over the phone in person, but I didn't have a SIM to check whether it was locked. Saw that there was a 7 day period from receiving the item that you could get a refund so thought it was safe, but this confusingly only applies to delivery - though Shpock let us pay for this added protection with no delivery involved anyway. Thought we would get further support because the item has been missold - which is against UK law - but no.

awanders

Aylesbury_Duck said:

What can you do now?  Send one message to the seller, explaining that you are awaiting the outcome of Shpock's resolution process and once it's resolved, he will either get his money or the phone back.  Any more aggressive messages from him will be logged and reported to the police as harassment.

Thanks, we're going this route 

jon81uk

awanders said:

jon81uk said:

awanders said:

Thanks for your response Jon - appreciate you taking the time. We paid via Shpock's payment system with Buyer Protection, so I would have expected at least some support from them! We are getting messages every other minute asking for more money and there is no way to speak to the team there.

I've never used Shpock but it seems to imply that if you pay for buyer protection they won't release funds to the seller until you confirm receipt of the goods. Did you do this?

We released the payment after I looked over the phone in person, but I didn't have a SIM to check whether it was locked. Saw that there was a 7 day period from receiving the item that you could get a refund so thought it was safe, but this confusingly only applies to delivery - though Shpock let us pay for this added protection with no delivery involved anyway. Thought we would get further support because the item has been missold - which is against UK law - but no.

Private sales are not covered under UK law so unless you bought from a business that won't protect you.
Unfortunately it sounds like you should have checked with a SIM card before releasing the payment.

DiddyDavies

jon81uk said:

Private sales are not covered under UK law so unless you bought from a business that won't protect you.

That comment is incorrect.
Private sales are covered under UK law (The consumer rights act), it's just that there are not as many parts of it that apply to sales from a private individual.
There is still a legal requirement for any goods sold to match their description so if the advert stated that the phone was unlocked and this wasn't correct, it is a breach of the legislation.

Wanderingpomm

iPhones usually lock to the first network they are put on. You should be able to get it unlocked