Don't buy AppleCare on Ebay

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

!!!Just a warning!!!

I recently bought AppleCare for my iMac on Ebay. The seller did NOT send me the original Apple box for the contract.

6 days AFTER the PayPal protection for the auction expired - I received an email from Apple telling me that the Registration Number that I bought is null and void.
Unless, I also submit the serial number from the box or a paper receipt from an authorized reseller (see attachment in German).

The seller did not answer any of my email requests that I wrote.

Conclusion: Do not buy AppleCare on Ebay unless you also receive the Box...

+++++++Email from Apple+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sehr geehrter Apple-Kundin, sehr geehrter Apple-Kunde,

AppleCare-Registrierungsnummer: 5340xxxxxxxxx / iMac/eMac
Fallnummer: 122xxxxxxxx

Vielen Dank für Ihren kürzlichen Erwerb eines AppleCare Protection Plan. Gerne schließen wir die Registrierung für Ihren Plan ab. Allerdings benötigen wir dazu weitere Informationen von Ihnen. Bitte senden Sie uns eine der folgenden beiden Angaben bzw. Unterlagen:

1. Die Seriennummer Ihres AppleCare Protection Plan. Sie finden die Seriennummer auf einem Etikett auf der Verpackungsunterseite des AppleCare Protection Plan. Bitte senden Sie die Seriennummer sowie die oben aufgeführte AppleCare-Registrierungsnummer und die Fallnummer per E-Mail an acaa@apple.com.

ODER

2. Ein Kaufnachweis für Ihren AppleCare Protection Plan. Sie können den Kaufnachweis einscannen und per E-Mail an acaa@apple.com senden oder unter Verwendung des angefügten Deckblatts an (916) 399-7337 faxen. Geben Sie in beiden Fällen unbedingt die oben aufgeführte AppleCare-Registrierungsnummer und die Fallnummer an. Bitte beachten Sie Folgendes:

- Ein gültiger Kaufnachweis für Ihren AppleCare Protection Plan ist der Beleg, den Sie beim Erwerb des Plans erhalten haben, zum Beispiel ein Kassenbeleg. Darauf sollte Folgendes genannt sein: 1. Kaufdatum des Plans, 2. detaillierte Produktinformationen, 3. Gesamtpreis und 4. Informationen über den Apple Store oder den autorisierten Apple-Händler, bei dem Sie den Plan erworben haben. Wenn Sie den Kaufbeleg nicht mehr haben, fragen Sie bitte beim Verkäufer nach, ob ein neuer Beleg ausgestellt werden kann.

- Folgende Unterlagen können wir nicht als Kaufnachweis akzeptieren: 1. Dokument zum Bestellstatus, 2. Versandbenachrichtigung oder 3. E-Mail-basierter Kaufbeleg, der bearbeitet werden könnte.

Bitte senden Sie uns die Seriennummer oder den Kaufnachweis für den AppleCare Protection Plan bis zum 5/15/2009. Wir werden die Registrierung abschließen. Anschließend erhalten Sie von uns eine Bestätigungs-E-Mail.

Sollten wir die Seriennummer oder den Kaufnachweis für den Plan nicht bis zum 5/15/2009 erhalten, können wir die Registrierung nicht abschließen, und Ihr Produkt wird nicht vom AppleCare Protection Plan abgedeckt.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Abteilung für AppleCare-Verträge

clyde2801 · Apr 23, 2009

Hopefully, you paid with paypal, pal.

nick9191 · Apr 23, 2009

I bought mine from ebay, no problems.

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

clyde2801 said:
Hopefully, you paid with paypal, pal.

I did, however PayPal protection is only 45 days, the email from Apple hit 52 days later

No luck here

Hmac · Apr 23, 2009

I've bought 4 Applecare programs on ebay representing hundreds of $$$ in savings with no problem. 2 of them supplied the shrinkwrapped box, the other two emailed my the registration number. Everything worked fine in both cases.

You have to be careful buying stuff on ebay. You got scammed.

/

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

Hmac said:
I've bought 4 Applecare programs on ebay representing hundreds of $$$ in savings with no problem. 2 of them supplied the shrinkwrapped box, the other two emailed my the registration number. Everything worked fine in both cases.

You have to be careful buying stuff on ebay. You got scammed.

/

The seller had a 99,x% reliability rating + over 10,000 recommendations + has been recommended on this forum.

I guess somebody has to be first...

kastenbrust · Apr 23, 2009

You can force the seller to respond by filing a complaint with Ebay, also file a complaint with Paypal also showing them the evidence and they will freeze his paypal account and assets until his responds.

kyrian · Apr 23, 2009

don't mean to offense

I'm sorry you got scammed. But you can't just judge everyone else who also happened to sell their stuff on ebay base on one transaction ... it's just unfair to the remaining (large) percentage of ebayers.
And did you pay with a credit card or a bank account? the CC might offer some type of protection, doesn't hurt to call and ask them, since you already have all the documentations.

Hopefully your situation will be resolved.
Kyrian

and no, I don't sell things on ebay, just buy them.

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

kastenbrust said:
You can force the seller to respond by filing a complaint with Ebay, also file a complaint with Paypal also showing them the evidence and they will freeze his paypal account and assets until his responds.

I did this already (1 week ago). Tell you what - nothing happened.

I guess Ebay needs to maintain their profit and does not like kicking their Powerseller cash-cows.

I also gave feedback today to Apple about this. Hopefully they do not like to be ripped of by people like these...

Wild-Bill · Apr 23, 2009

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I bought my Mac Pro applecare from Ebay, and all I received was an e-mail registration code. (This was stated in the auction).

Only thing I did was made sure it was a reputable seller by checking past feedback.

Hope you get your issue resolved.

mgridgaway · Apr 23, 2009

I did the same thing as you back in January and have not had a problem. Sorry to hear it though.

kastenbrust · Apr 23, 2009

Detektiv-Pinky said:
I did this already (1 week ago). Tell you what - nothing happened.

I guess Ebay needs to maintain their profit and does not like kicking their Powerseller cash-cows.

I also gave feedback today to Apple about this. Hopefully they do not like to be ripped of by people like these...

Write to paypal using the official complaints form you find on your profile, dont just email them or something, and they always respond within 24 hours, then you have the option to file a formal complaint.

If paypal refuse to do anything inform them your going to involve the police and watch them s**t bricks.

Also is your PayPal account linked to your credit card or directly to your bank account? Because if its your Credit Card then you will be protected.

techound1 · Apr 23, 2009

I too have had great applecare transactions on ebay.

Ebay is so pro-buyer these days that it surprises me to hear your comments. I would recommend pushing the point with them - the very least you can do is leave a negative for the seller.

GoCubsGo · Apr 23, 2009

I have never bought Apple Care from anywhere but eBay. There is actually a pending transaction between me and someone else here, which will represent the first time I'll buy off eBay. That said, sorry you were scammed but are you sure it's not an honest mistake?

BTW, I have one box from AC ... I never cared about the box.

belvdr · Apr 23, 2009

jessica. said:
I have never bought Apple Care from anywhere but eBay.

jessica. said:
There is actually a pending transaction between me and someone else here, which will represent the first time I'll buy off eBay.

So, you're saying you've just bought your first item off eBay and it's AppleCare from someone here?

Seems like a confusing way of making that statement, as first it appears you have done many transactions on eBay (comforting the OP) only to say that the first transaction is still pending.

Dimwhit · Apr 23, 2009

Detektiv-Pinky said:
I also gave feedback today to Apple about this. Hopefully they do not like to be ripped of by people like these...

Well, Apple probably doesn't care. They're not getting ripped off. They'd just tell you that you shouldn't buy discounted stuff off eBay. I'm sure Apple would much prefer you buy at full price directly from them.

Keep bugging PayPal.

GoCubsGo · Apr 23, 2009

belvdr said:
So, you're saying you've just bought your first item off eBay and it's AppleCare from someone here? Seems like a confusing way of making that statement, as first it appears you have done many transactions on eBay (comforting the OP) only to say that the first transaction is still pending.

Sorry let me break this down.
I have purchased apple care more than 4 times from eBay and never had an issue. Also note I am in a state where Apple Care can only be registered by calling Apple due to some tax deal.
The first time I ever considered purchasing apple care from some place other than eBay would be at this present moment.
The aforementioned transaction is pending, meaning it is incomplete and in process.
Therefore, one can conclude that I have purchased ALL apple care protection plans from eBay right up until the point I send the cash to the seller here for the Apple Care.

I can see why this is so very important to you.

ski2moro · Apr 23, 2009

Is the seller still doing business on eBay?

belvdr · Apr 23, 2009

jessica. said:
Sorry let me break this down.
I have purchased apple care more than 4 times from eBay and never had an issue. Also note I am in a state where Apple Care can only be registered by calling Apple due to some tax deal.
The first time I ever considered purchasing apple care from some place other than eBay would be at this present moment.
The aforementioned transaction is pending, meaning it is incomplete and in process.
Therefore, one can conclude that I have purchased ALL apple care protection plans from eBay right up until the point I send the cash to the seller here for the Apple Care.

I can see why this is so very important to you.

Ah gotcha. I was all confused.

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

ski2moro said:
Is the seller still doing business on eBay?

Yes the seller is still active and is selling AppleCare contracts high and fast.

As I said he/she has 10,000 reviews.

And yes I contacted the seller, trying to resolve the issue as soon as I got this email from Apple - I got ZERO response ...

Hal1980 · Apr 23, 2009

Easy Solution

Only buy things with a credit card (even going through paypal). You have no time period when you can protest the charge, and excellent security. Just protest the charge with your credit card company.

Never had a problem when protesting a charge through a credit card company.

Illicit · Apr 23, 2009

Hal1980 said:
Only buy things with a credit card (even going through paypal). You have no time period when you can protest the charge, and excellent security. Just protest the charge with your credit card company.

Never had a problem when protesting a charge through a credit card company.

Aside from the CC fee that paypal charges, this would be the best bet for any online transaction.

Detektiv-Pinky · Apr 23, 2009

kastenbrust said:
Write to paypal using the official complaints form you find on your profile, dont just email them or something, and they always respond within 24 hours, then you have the option to file a formal complaint.

If paypal refuse to do anything inform them your going to involve the police and watch them s**t bricks.

Also is your PayPal account linked to your credit card or directly to your bank account? Because if its your Credit Card then you will be protected.

I did this today. Filing an official complaint with PayPal amounted to nothing. I got a fairly standard reply:

1. That I was out of the 45 days complain period
2. And they do NOT make any exception to this rule (ever)
3. They have closed the complaint and filed it
4. I should study their safety-tips on their website

I might try the credit card route. However, buyer protection is traditionally much less common in Germany than it is in the US (you have to dispute your payments within 30 days), but it does not hurt to ask...

I really do not like to get the police involved. I am currently short on time and I guess this could take ages and lot's of paperwork...

I also checked my complain status with Ebay. It appears they simply closed the file, so I send them a new reminder...

Dimwhit said:
Well, Apple probably doesn't care. They're not getting ripped off. They'd just tell you that you shouldn't buy discounted stuff off eBay. I'm sure Apple would much prefer you buy at full price directly from them.

Keep bugging PayPal.

I think Apple should care.
Apple has not a very good track record with their electronic license schemes (iTunes cards, iPod supplies database,...).
Looking at my registration number I would say it is not something generated by crypto.

I have this gut feeling that somebody figured out how to generate Registration Numbers that the Apple registration website swallows and makes a fortune selling them cheap on Ebay.

Somehow I managed to be the one where it went not so smooth and Apple is asking back.

If my suspicion is true this means that Apple either has to honour a large number of support contracts for which it has received no payment, or it suddenly has a large pool of customers that are very angry when their contracts purchased on Ebay go up in smoke...

jpyc7 · Apr 23, 2009

how soon did you register?

I'm wondering how long Apple has to claim that a registration is invalid? (I haven't looked on their website.) Seems like if you buy Applecare code (from ebay) then the day you receive it is Day 1.

You register it on Day 2. Then 50+ days pass and Apple emails you to say it is invalid? Seems like you should complain to Apple about not telling you sooner.

If you did not register until Day 44 and then Apple tells you a few days later that it is invalid, then you have less to complain about. It sucks since I would think Apple should know immediately from their database whether the registration code is valid or not. My guess is that someone else has used the same number.

I've only bought Applecare once and got the box at the store, but I'd be interested in knowing whether there are some published guidelines on timelines for registering with Apple.

gan6660 · Apr 23, 2009

I plan on buying apple care off ebay in the future since its so much cheaper but i will only buy one that is shrinkwrapped in its original box.

Don't buy AppleCare on Ebay

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