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eBay Troubles with selling Galaxy S4...

E

Ent

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 24, 2009
233
175
I'm never using eBay again. Such a scam. Read on..

So I sold a Samsung Galaxy S4 on Ebay with pictures of the phone (front, back, and side) and all the items it included. In the description, I listed that the item has an unlocked ESN and will work right out of the box for AT&T.

The auction closed Monday night. I shipped the item Wednesday with tracking and signature required, and also insured the package. The phone was shipped in its original box as well as a black hard travel case I got from Costco in USPS's medium sized box with adequate packing so the package wouldn't move much.

Buyer receives the item on Friday, Saturday morning at 12:30am and I receive a message (in broken English) saying "there's a huge dent in the top left corner of screen" and that "the phone has a locked ESN". He escalated the case to eBay and I need to resolve it by the 5th.

A couple things -
-I asked him to take it to USPS for inspection - will this have any merit in getting the insurance money back?
-Maybe he dropped the phone and claimed I sent it damaged? If so, how would I prove it?
-Perhaps he swapped the phone with another and is sending me back the damaged phone?

Am I basically screwed in this situation? Would I be better off having him send the phone back and giving a refund, or escalating the case to eBay?
 
Just tell him to return it, and see for yourself..Sounds like a scam..sell on Amazon, much safer.
 
I should have avoided eBay in the first place.


Anyway - he said the packaging was perfect and the box was untouched. He said the phone however was damaged. I told him to take pictures but he hasn't responded yet. I sent him a 3rd message asking him to display the serial number with the damage on the phone. I also told him to open a case with USPS regardless.

----------

I have pictures of the phone (front back and side) in the eBay listing. I honestly think he dropped the phone, but I wont jump conclusions until I see pictures from him with the serial number.
 
What's his feedback rating? Frankly, eBay doesn't help sellers. Even if you can show them proof that it isn't a bad ESN 90% of the time they'll still side with the buyer.

Edit: I'll PM advice.
 
He has some negative feedback. 2 or 3 negative feedback out of 30 feedback comments. One or two comments said he was supposed to ship an item but changed his mind.

He sent pictures and it looks like he dropped the item on a hard service and chipped the front right side of the bezel. Claims he wants a refund. I have pictures of the item and the phone was flawless but I'm not sure how visible the undamaged part of the phone was in the pictures.

Help?
 
Ent said:
He has some negative feedback. 2 or 3 negative feedback out of 30 feedback comments. One or two comments said he was supposed to ship an item but changed his mind.

He sent pictures and it looks like he dropped the item on a hard service and chipped the front right side of the bezel. Claims he wants a refund. I have pictures of the item and the phone was flawless but I'm not sure how visible the undamaged part of the phone was in the pictures.

Help?
Click to expand...

Check your PMs. eBay amd PayPal most likely won't help; they go by the mantra "the buyer is always right."
 
He has some negative feedback. 2 or 3 negative feedback out of 30 feedback comments. One or two comments said he was supposed to ship an item but changed his mind.

He sent pictures and it looks like he dropped the item on a hard service and chipped the front right side of the bezel. Claims he wants a refund. I have pictures of the item and the phone was flawless but I'm not sure how visible the undamaged part of the phone was in the pictures.

Help?
 
I know it's not what you want to hear but most likely ebay will make you refund him and have him send it back. Buyers > sellers to them...
 
MICHAELSD said:
I know it's not what you want to hear but most likely ebay will make you refund him and have him send it back. Buyers > sellers to them...
Click to expand...


Thanks Michael. This was an expensive lesson but indeed a lesson learned. Thanks for your and everyone else's feedback.

Do I issue him a refund as soon as he says he returns the phone, or do I wait to escalate it to eBay?
 
Ent said:
Thanks Michael. This was an expensive lesson but indeed a lesson learned. Thanks for your and everyone else's feedback.

Do I issue him a refund as soon as he says he returns the phone, or do I wait to escalate it to eBay?
Click to expand...

Once he returns it. Just make sure it's in your possession first.
 
DO NOT ISSUE ANY REFUND WITH THE CASE OPEN! After ebay looks into the matter, let them decide if he should receive a refund. If they decide he should, they will initiate the refund. You did good with the insurance and signature requirement. Submit your information to them and include the photos. Good luck!
 
Jnesbitt82 said:
DO NOT ISSUE ANY REFUND WITH THE CASE OPEN! After ebay looks into the matter, let them decide if he should receive a refund. If they decide he should, they will initiate the refund. You did good with the insurance and signature requirement. Submit your information to them and include the photos. Good luck!
Click to expand...

^ It is best to wait for eBay's response. They haven't helped me personally but there is a 10-20% chance they'll side with you.
 
when i sell on ebay i will check the boxes so people with negative feedback can't bid. and once the items sells i will look at their profile for feedback, if it looks sketchy you can always refuse to ship, refund their money and relist it or give a second chance offer.
 
I would certainly try to argue my case first with Ebay before even considering a refund. Yes you may still lose but at least you have the satisfaction of saying you tried. Send Ebay the photo of the undamaged phone and explain that if it was damaged that it was most likely damaged by the buyer due to the fact that they have already claimed that the packaging was in perfect condition.

Due not be rude or arrogant with Ebay, but stand your ground. You seem to have a solid case to argue. Like i said, you may not win, but at least you tried. Then my next course of action would be to go after USPS for the damages. That might be harder as the packaging was not damaged as per the buyers statements.

But none the less, still worth the try. You have nothing to lose at this point in time. Sorry I can not offer any further advice, but I have seen these cases won with a good factual argument. Keep all records of contact and emails between you, the buyer and Ebay. That way you can always fall back on it if you need to. Paypal as well if they become involved.
 
I've heard stories of buyers returning the item only for the seller to discover the item is something else. When the seller reports this, the buyer denies it and ebay/paypal sides with the buyer/scammer. Paypal then returns funds to buyer. Seller is screwed.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
I've heard stories of buyers returning the item only for the seller to discover the item is something else. When the seller reports this, the buyer denies it and ebay/paypal sides with the buyer/scammer. Paypal then returns funds to buyer. Seller is screwed.
Click to expand...

Yep, easy scam. Which is why I write down and document the serial numbers of any computer or phone I have sold. So far I haven't gotten burned yet!
 
CALL eBay. Don't email, just CALL. They actually have a phone number. If you can prove that he's lying about the ESN and he has negative feedbacks from other sellers for something similar you have a pretty good chance of winning the case. I've done it before.

I had one case where buyer lied about not receiving item overseas. I was young and naive and didn't spring for the much more expensive registered mail with tracking. Positive the buyer lied because package never came back and buyer had several negative feedbacks. Paypal refunded my money. I called both Paypal and eBay and reported this ***.

So call them, explain to them what's going on, give them ESN proof and have his negative feedback on screen. There is a chance they'll side with you, especially if your own feedback is good.
 
This was the first item i've sold so unfortunately I have had no prior feedback as a seller.

Now, obviously the photos which I originally took were uploaded with the listing and there's no clear shot showing the side of the phone which was damaged.

I called eBay yesterday and the rep said the pic I had in the listing appeared to show the phone undamaged and she notated my account after reviewing the pic the buyer sent me. I'm going to call USPS tomorrow and get a copy of the signature from the person who signed over for the package. I checked tracking and he received it at 4:30pm (presumably signed for it) and he sent me the first message at 12:17am.

The buyer sent me a message today which was very rude and hostile. Hopefully eBay can review the case and resolve the issue quickly.
 
Ent said:
He has some negative feedback. 2 or 3 negative feedback out of 30 feedback comments. One or two comments said he was supposed to ship an item but changed his mind.
Click to expand...



I would have canceled his bid right away... I only sell to buyers with excellent tenured feedback... Good luck with your case!!
 
They gave the buyer a full refund and they're allowing him to keep the phone. Bunch of B.S... Im going to call eBay in a little bit.
 
Ent said:
They gave the buyer a full refund and they're allowing him to keep the phone. Bunch of B.S... Im going to call eBay in a little bit.
Click to expand...

That's it. eBay won't help but I'll be pleasantly surprised if they do :(
 
I do hope you don't get screwed on this one... :(

I have never sold anything on ebay. But after reading all the comments in this thread, I came up with solution for next time. Before shipping the item through a postal service, take a pic of the item inside the packaging so it is hard evidence taken right before it's shipped. That would include both the item's and the packaging conditions.
 
MusicEnthusiast said:
I do hope you don't get screwed on this one... :(

I have never sold anything on ebay. But after reading all the comments in this thread, I came up with solution for next time. Before shipping the item through a postal service, take a pic of the item inside the packaging so it is hard evidence taken right before it's shipped. That would include both the item's and the packaging conditions.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Update - eBay claims since I had insurance, that I should file with USPS First. They closed the case but said I can re- open within 30 days. They also "asked" the buyer to keep the packaging available in case the post office needs to inspect the package, which won't yield me much because the buyer said the packaging was flawless...
 
Final update - buyer sent back the phone. Phone is barely chipped up top but it seems like it was dropped because the case is also cracked. I'll most likely keep the phone and drop the USPS case now..just glad i've got the phone back.
 
Ent said:
Final update - buyer sent back the phone. Phone is barely chipped up top but it seems like it was dropped because the case is also cracked. I'll most likely keep the phone and drop the USPS case now..just glad i've got the phone back.
Click to expand...

If that buyer is also a seller, you should do the same crap to him.
 
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