Ebay Advice: Buyer saying iPhone = damaged

[Hambones]

So I sole my 3g on ebay unlocked/jailbroken.

The phone arrived at the buyers house and 4 days later he notified me the phone had cracks/dents in the bottom of the phone which I could have sworn weren't there. He wants a refund. How much time do you give someone before they claim what happened wasn't there fault?

I think it should be the buyers responsibility to verify the phone is in the shape they purchased it in immediately upon receiving the phone, not waiting 4 days. To me that looks like a bad excuse for dropping the phone yourself and blaming the seller.

 

[fishmd]

This is touchy man. I always put the clause "Sold As Is" and "No Returns" on my auctions and then make sure that I am as upfront as possible and have pictures of everything. Especially with electronics. If you have pics that do not show what he is claiming, then you are probably good to go. Good luck.

 

[pelicanflip]

Do you have pictures of the iPhone when you were selling it? If so, usually on digi-cams, they'll have a date attached to the photos. You can verify the condition with the date, and go from there.

It could have been the shipping that damaged it, it could have been the actual buyer who damaged it. Either way, it's not your fault if the cracks/dents weren't there when u sent it out.

As for return policys, eBay has no blanket return policy. It is up to each and every seller to determine the return policy of their own products that they are selling, or just to say that there is no return policy.

Since you didn't specify what the return policy is, or if there is one, the buyer cannot demand a refund and make a case about it.

 

[Cescfabregas4]

There is nothing he can do. I always sell my electronics with the option for the buyer to pay for shipping insurance. Just ignore him. If he files a dispute tell them what happend. Unless you have a bad history on eBay, the will not file judgement against you.

 

[Hambones]

He started off saying "Well, I would have gotten back to you sooner but I was busy and didn't open the phone for a few days".

That to me was a red flag, even though I state I do NOT accept returns, the phone should have been examined upon receipt and if I had been notified within a day or so before the auction I would have made an allowance.

Having the phone for 4 days gives the buyer plenty of time to create his or her own damage to the phone and try to blame the seller, IMO.

 

[Cescfabregas4]

This is touchy man. I always put the clause "Sold As Is" and "No Returns" on my auctions and then make sure that I am as upfront as possible and have pictures of everything. Especially with electronics. If you have pics that do not show what he is claiming, then you are probably good to go. Good luck.

Sold as is does not apply in this case because the OP is selling a working phone. I he was selling a phone that didn't work or had problems, then sold as is would be fine.

 

[-aggie-]

He started off saying "Well, I would have gotten back to you sooner but I was busy and didn't open the phone for a few days".

That to me was a red flag, even though I state I do NOT accept returns, the phone should have been examined upon receipt and if I had been notified within a day or so before the auction I would have made an allowance.

Having the phone for 4 days gives the buyer plenty of time to create his or her own damage to the phone and try to blame the seller, IMO.

Yeah, I always spend a few hundred dollars on eBay and then when the package arrives I throw it somewhere to look at later....NOT! Forget about the loser buyer. In the future, you might want to sell only to buyers with good reps, but that keeps you from selling to first-time buyers, who might be just fine.

 

[pelicanflip]

He started off saying "Well, I would have gotten back to you sooner but I was busy and didn't open the phone for a few days".

That to me was a red flag, even though I state I do NOT accept returns, the phone should have been examined upon receipt and if I had been notified within a day or so before the auction I would have made an allowance.

Having the phone for 4 days gives the buyer plenty of time to create his or her own damage to the phone and try to blame the seller, IMO.

If you try that bs with a legitimate company, it wouldn't fly. "I didn't take the TV out of the box, so I didn't know."

That's the customer's fault, not the seller's. If you state that you do not accept returns, then that's that. Tell the buyer he's SOL and if he has a serious problem with it, to take it up with eBay.

 

[pacmantech]

This is a very touchy situation. I sold an original iPhone for my buddy on eBay, only for the buyer to say that the screen had dead pixels and that he wanted all his money back.

What you have to understand is that eBay is that the folks at eBay and PayPal could really care less about sellers. Full stop, they don't care, and they almost always side with the buyer, at least in the short-term. I am a Powerseller with over 10 years of experience, and maybe 1 in 100 of my sales are affected by this. Sometimes, it's not worth the time or money, but most of the time it is.

I did list "as-is" on my auction for this iPhone, and sent it via FedEx overnight, but the d-bag decided to open up a dispute on PayPal and eBay for a full refund because of the dead pixel. This was really bad because it took my PayPal balance into the red. In the end, listing "as-is" on your auctions means nothing, because remember that eBay doesn't care about sellers, and will take your money immediately even if a 0-feedback buyer raises any issue about the item you sent them.

I decided to put my foot down and deny any refund. He sent me endless amounts of blurry pictures that showed nothing. He said he would send the phone back but never did. The guy even requested a $50 refund at one point, but I think he gave up after awhile. I talked to folks at PayPal throughout the whole thing, which helped it get expedited once the response deadline for the buyer passed.

Anyway, my response to you is that you should request pictures of the damage from the buyer, with your serial number clearly visible in the pictures. Beyond that, you may be in trouble if the buyer decides to escalate the case. PayPal/eBay calls for you to get shipping insurance on anything over $250 if you want to stay "protected" under their policy, so if you didn't insure it, that could cause problems. Four days is a long time for the buyer to bring up an issue, so that could be in your favor.

Good luck to you, I hope it all works out.

 

[iMrNiceGuy0023]

was it done through paypal?? More than likely he's going to win, even if e is lying

Just empty all your funds from paypal ASAP

 

[Diseal3]

Dump the cash to your bank account. Dont be the one who gets screwed!

 

[Goodeye]

Dump the cash to your bank account. Dont be the one who gets screwed!

Well that used to be the case for many people BUT Ebay/Paypal has decided to screw over customers by forcing a hold on funds till 21 days passes or the buyer flags the product as received and in good condition.


Which is why after I sell my Blackberry Storm after I purchase and switch to the iPhone this week this will be the last thing I sell on ebay.

 

[iMrNiceGuy0023]

Well that used to be the case for many people BUT Ebay/Paypal has decided to screw over customers by forcing a hold on funds till 21 days passes or the buyer flags the product as received and in good condition.


Which is why after I sell my Blackberry Storm after I purchase and switch to the iPhone this week this will be the last thing I sell on ebay.

if you have been with eBay for a while and have a good seller rating they dont hold the funds

 

[VenusianSky]

I sold an item recently on ebay, and while I was filling out the details, I had to choose whether I would accept returns. Was this the same for you? I selected "No returns" to protect myself. I actually would of allowed a return as long as I thought the buyer was honest (it was a +$1000 item). Four days seems fishy. I was able to transfer the Paypal funds within a business week and the buyer was happy.

The auction is a contract and since you stated no returns, you should be in the clear. The buyer didn't have to bid on your iphone if they thought there may be a chance that they would need to return it. Yes, the iphone must be received in the condition stated by the description, but the buyer waited four days. He/she is going to have a difficult time trying to prove that the phone was not in the condition stated in the auction.

 

[Hambones]

I specifically stated "No returns". The buyer is claiming I did not sell him the state of the phone in the auction and deserves a refund.

 

[bildio]

You listed no returns, & sold it in undamaged condition, so no returns.

What's the buyer's feedback rating?

 

[pelicanflip]

I specifically stated "No returns". The buyer is claiming I did not sell him the state of the phone in the auction and deserves a refund.

The buyer can claim whatever he wants, it's not going to help him. He could claim that you were trying to sell him a 4G 128GB iPhone for all I care, it's still not going to help his case.

You said no returns, he agreed to those conditions by purchasing. Therefore, there are no returns for your sale. eBay will side with you, just say "sorry, but there are no returns, end of discussion".

 

[Goodeye]

if you have been with eBay for a while and have a good seller rating they dont hold the funds

Not true I have been with Ebay over 10 years (I think that would go to say something) have PERFECT seller rating anything I sold in the last year has had held funds.

 

[Carl G35c]

Not true I have been with Ebay over 10 years (I think that would go to say something) have PERFECT seller rating anything I sold in the last year has had held funds.

ditto, they just held my funds. Its on select items or categories.

Doesn't happen on everything

 

[Dominat0r]

This is why i take pics of everything, even the box before shipping.

If you said BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK or NO REFUNDS on your ebay listing, then i dont see the problem.

if they didnt say it was broken the second they got it, then i dont believe it

 

[christyn]

Not true I have been with Ebay over 10 years (I think that would go to say something) have PERFECT seller rating anything I sold in the last year has had held funds.

Yeah, I don't know how they determine this.
I just sold 2 iPhone 3g's on ebay last week, and they did not hold funds for either one of them.

To the OP, paypal/ebay really don't care about the seller, at all. I've gotten screwed over on more than one occasion, when the buyer was clearing scamming (not just on me, on multiple auctions). The only thing that will help your case is that they didn't report anything for 4 days.

 

[topherg]

Had the exact same thing happen to me! Buyer complains about a month after having the iphone that the iphone I sold him isn't unlocked and that the accessories are damaged(iphone and accessories were brand new)! I told him to go fly a kite and of course he trashed my 200+ perfect feedback with his false accusations... People will try to take advantage of you, Im sticking with craigslist for now.

 

[Dagobert]

Well if he's had it for 4 days and didn't get back to you about it any sooner then it's pretty much his fault unless he paid less than 30$ for it and didn't care that much to contact you sooner. I bought a laptop battery from some guy on ebay and the day I received it I noticed the battery had cracks on it so I contacted the person right away instead of waiting an entire day. Since he had an iPhone and assuming it worked, then there's no excuse that he couldn't contact you about it sooner.

By the way I once sold a computer to some guy at a swap meet. Now the computer worked at the time I sold it, but the guy comes a year and a half later claiming the computer doesn't work.

 

[RetiredInFl]

They only hold if they have reason to. I am on eBay 10+ years, 100% 350 rating and a Powerseller (woo-hoo) with a 4.9DSR and have recently sold 3 iPhones for $700+ and they never held anything. I've also sold expensive cameras & laptops with no holds. They also use your DSR as a guide to holding. If it's below a certain (unreasonably high) number they hold. Something in your history must have caused it. Whether the reason makes sense or not that is another issue but they don't hold without cause.

Not true I have been with Ebay over 10 years (I think that would go to say something) have PERFECT seller rating anything I sold in the last year has had held funds.

 

[RetiredInFl]

If you are "Goodeye" on eBay you have no selling feedback for over a year and only 13 DSR ratings which would probably be why they held your payments.. You need 20+ to not get holds.

Payment holds for eBay items are an effort to increase marketplace safety. We hold payments when we suspect a transaction may be risky. Here are the most common instances in which an eBay item payment may be held:

• You have been an eBay member for less than 6 months, and you sell an item for more than $100
• You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100, and you sell an item for more than $100
• You have a buyer dissatisfaction percentage* greater than 5%
• You have an average DSR of less than 4.5
• You have received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12 months
• You are listing your item in a high-risk category such as gift certificates, video games, cell phones, computers, or consumer electronics.

Not true I have been with Ebay over 10 years (I think that would go to say something) have PERFECT seller rating anything I sold in the last year has had held funds.