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Sold an iPhone on Craigslist

A

Appleduder

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 4, 2008
13
0
I need some advice on how to respond to this situation.

I sold my old unlocked iPhone which I also had originally bought from someone on craigslist. Met up with the dude about 4 months ago to sell him the iPhone which I had advertised on criagslist as UNLOCKED.

He wrote me an angry email 4 months later (today) saying that AT&T is charging him $800 because the iPhone is not registered under his name. He threatened me in the email stating that I 'cheated' him and his uncle works for the police and he will come find me.

I find this situation kind of comical. NO, I am not trying to scam some guy. I simply posted the iPhone on craigslist as a "8gb Unlocked iPhone" which he purchased from me in person.

I mean am I responsible for these charges he is getting from AT&T? I have never heard of AT&T applying charges for iPhone registration? When I bought the iPhone all I had to do was pop my T-Mobile sim card in it. What I dont understand is why he is emailing me with threats 4 months after I sold him the iPhone.


***UPDATE****

I emailed him back stating that the iPhone he bought from me was an UNLOCKED iPhone which I used for T-MOBILE. I asked why he was emailing 4 months later.

He responded by saying he wants me to call him asap so we can have a conference call with AT&T. He wants me to tell AT&T that the iPhone is registered under my account so they can drop the charges. (WHY THIS GUY THINKS I HAVE AN AT&T ACCOUNT AFTER I TOLD HIM REPEATEDLY I USE TMOBILE IS OUT OF MY MIND) He said if this goes on any longer more charges will occur.

I really do not want to waste my time with this guy. The person I bought the iPhone from (Almost 8 months ago) may have activated the phone through AT&T and then unlocked it. I dont have the contact info from that dude though. This guy just needs to re sell the phone to someone who will take advantage of it being unlocked.

I forgot to mention earlier that when we met up (at starbucks) after we had made the transaction he sat in his car for a little while then ran out to where me and my friend were sitting and took a picture of me with the iphone. His rude email also stated that all he needed was my photo and that he would find me. How creepy.
 
...Because he doesn't want to pay it. You didn't falsely advertise it (according to your story), and if it's true, you have nothing to worry about...I would think.
 
MBHockey said:
...Because he doesn't want to pay it. You didn't falsely advertise it (according to your story), and if it's true, you have nothing to worry about...I would think.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your quick response. My ad honestly said something like "8gb Unlocked iPhone...Great condition, comes with headphones and usb." I feel like he is trying to scam me into paying his cell phone bill
 
Do NOT listen to him. In fact, report that to craigslist asap. If he continues somehow, then report it to the cops. You have nothing to worry about, as he bought it, and now it has been 4 months later.


If he responds, post here.
 
Appleduder said:
Thanks for your quick response. My ad honestly said something like "8gb Unlocked iPhone...Great condition, comes with headphones and usb." I feel like he is trying to scam me into paying his cell phone bill
Click to expand...

Just ask him why he didn't have a problem with buying the phone from you in the first place.
 
First of all, his stupid uncle has no jurisdiction over you. This would be handled by actual police, not someone's uncle (if you were fradulent). But if you put "unlocked" in the title, it's his fault for not knowing what that meant. If he literally threatens you physically, you can take that to the cops. Clark Howard mentioned something about that with collection agencies recently. Nobody can do you physical harm over any debt owed.

However, it seems very fishy to me. I have never heard of something like that from AT&T. What does registering a phone under someone's name have to do with anything? I mean they would only charge you $350 if you terminated your contract early. The $800 is probably a BS line he's using to try to get money out of you. Report this to craigslist and get a printout of any e-mails or whatnot you have. If you have a listing clearly stating "UNLOCKED IPHONE," you're pretty good.
 
That is a very interesting story from your buyer. Sounds like he is claiming that AT&T will allow someone to sign-up with a stolen phone if they pay $800?

His uncle works for the police? What does that mean? Janitor? He didn't say his uncle is a cop?

I think I would ask him to email a scan of his bill with his charge and the explanation from AT&T. Can't he just tell them he bought it used? Surely there is nothing against selling an iPhone.

What does he want you to do? I would think the best he could hope for from you is you give him his money back and he returns the phone but after four months? Sounds like he just changed his mind maybe.
 
Appleduder said:
I need some advice on how to respond to this situation.

I sold my old unlocked iPhone which I also had originally bought from someone on craigslist. Met up with the dude about 4 months ago to sell him the iPhone which I had advertised on criagslist as UNLOCKED.

He wrote me an angry email 4 months later (today) saying that AT&T is charging him $800 because the iPhone is not registered under his name. He threatened me in the email stating that I 'cheated' him and his uncle works for the police and he will come find me.

I find this situation kind of comical. NO, I am not trying to scam some guy. I simply posted the iPhone on craigslist as a "8gb Unlocked iPhone" which he purchased from me in person.

I mean am I responsible for these charges he is getting from AT&T? I have never heard of AT&T applying charges for iPhone registration? When I bought the iPhone all I had to do was pop my T-Mobile sim card in it. What I dont understand is why he is emailing me with threats 4 months after I sold him the iPhone.
Click to expand...

Your buyer is a moron who porbably bought the iPhone, took it to AT&T and told the AT&T rep (or whoever), "hi, I bought this unlocked iPhone, but I want to go with you guys now". Problem with this is AT&T rep is gonna want a cut from those $800 so he tells that moron its the 'only' way.

Long Story short, he bought, his problem. 4 months later comes and claims anything from you? you are officially off the hook after 90 days (3 months) from any thing...so that means he went over a month.

Anyway, why the hell does he buy an unlocked iPhone if he is gonna use it on AT&T??!! That is the million $$$ question. You buyer is an arse, don't pay attention to him, report him to the cop and craigslist if he continues to pester as you can get a restraining order or jail time for him if his conduct keeps up.
 
Appleduder said:
Thanks for your quick response. My ad honestly said something like "8gb Unlocked iPhone...Great condition, comes with headphones and usb." I feel like he is trying to scam me into paying his cell phone bill
Click to expand...

I think you nailed it. Tell him what he is doing and is fraud and YOU will contact the police if needed.

More than likely, he wants the 3G version....
 
Send the mail back, "Return To SENDER" next time. And yes, he's an idiot without a clue. Why would you buy an iPhone (unlocked) and then go to AT&T for service. He must have taken the "little yellow bus" to the AT&T store. :D
 
If you wouldn't mind, could you keep us updated on how this turns out? I'm curious to see if this jackass tries to pursue this any further with you.
 
Nice!

I don't know how long the Ads on CS stay up. But just for the heck of it might not be a bad idea to take a few screen captures just incase. If they are still there in all.

Doesn't really sound like you have anything to worry about though.
 
TsuaSai said:
Nice!

I don't know how long the Ads on CS stay up. But just for the heck of it might not be a bad idea to take a few screen captures just incase. If they are still there in all.

Doesn't really sound like you have anything to worry about though.
Click to expand...

I deleted the Ad from CL as well as the confirmation email as soon as it was sold.
 
For future reference, this is why I use a fake name and my non-primary email address to sell on Craigslist. I know what I sell is exactly as described, so just in case an idiot like this decides to try to rip me off, he has no bearings.
 
Four months?????

File his e-mail address under junk mail, and set up a special rule to auto-reply to him with some generic message saying that you are unavailable.

If you used it unlocked on T-Mobile and he's bitching about AT@T charges, that's his problem. Not yours.
 
bamaworks said:
For future reference, this is why I use a fake name and my non-primary email address to sell on Craigslist. I know what I sell is exactly as described, so just in case an idiot like this decides to try to rip me off, he has no bearings.
Click to expand...

I totally agree.
 
its not your problem 120 days after.. and why would at&t wanna charge him 800 bucks for not registering it? idiot probably virginised and reactivated it....
 
I'm still wondering what exactly would cost $800 for four months?

That's approx $200 a month, and the only thing I can think of is if he went with a ton of minutes and a poor text message plan and texted like crazy. I mean the most expensive plan which is recent is $120 a month and if he stuck with the minimum 200 text message plan and used those up, PLUS another 400 text messages (at the going rate of 20 cents a text with ATT), for a total of 600 text messages will give you about $200 a month.

And why would he wait 4 months to tell you this? If he wasn't aware of what was going on after one month, wouldn't he tell you that right away?

I'm gonna call shenanigans on this.
 
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