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HELP eBay purchase nightmare

A

Akanae

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 24, 2014
4
0
My first listing on eBay is my iPhone 5s that went swimming. I listed it on eBay and included the water damage to the phone and that it will not turn on. Within 12 hours I had a buyer. He requested the IMEI number and I sent it to him. He quickly responded that the phone was locked in Icloud and that he doesn't buy stolen phones. (Jerk) I call my carrier to insure there was no link to me and the phone and then I contacted Apple and confirmed there was no link to me, the phone or my iCloud. This guy is insisting that the phone is locked and he refuses to pay. This has now gone on for almost a week. I have goggled all the different ways to check an IMEI and all of the websites I've found show my phone free and clear. Could there be something this guy is doing that I don't know about or has this guy realized that he doesn't have the money to buy the phone now that he clicked buy?
Of course since the phone was unexpectedly damaged, I was not able to turn the Find My Phone feature off but it has been deleted from my Icloud account so should that matter?
BTW, I think my last update was IOS 6.3
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you if anyone can help
 
I would just report him for non payment and include negative feedback. If he was so worried about the IMEI, he should have asked you before committing to buy.
 
Snot Rox said:
I would just report him for non payment and include negative feedback. If he was so worried about the IMEI, he should have asked you before committing to buy.
Click to expand...

Could I be missing something? Does someone on here have access to double check my checking? I'd be more than happy to share the IMEI
 
Odds are he didn't read the description very well and thought he was buying a working phone and is lying to get out of it. Happens alllll the time.... And I really don't think it's possible to check iCloud lock like that.
 
Akanae said:
My first listing on eBay is my iPhone 5s that went swimming. I listed it on eBay and included the water damage to the phone and that it will not turn on. Within 12 hours I had a buyer. He requested the IMEI number and I sent it to him. He quickly responded that the phone was locked in Icloud and that he doesn't buy stolen phones. (Jerk) I call my carrier to insure there was no link to me and the phone and then I contacted Apple and confirmed there was no link to me, the phone or my iCloud. This guy is insisting that the phone is locked and he refuses to pay. This has now gone on for almost a week. I have goggled all the different ways to check an IMEI and all of the websites I've found show my phone free and clear. Could there be something this guy is doing that I don't know about or has this guy realized that he doesn't have the money to buy the phone now that he clicked buy?
Of course since the phone was unexpectedly damaged, I was not able to turn the Find My Phone feature off but it has been deleted from my Icloud account so should that matter?
BTW, I think my last update was IOS 6.3
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you if anyone can help
Click to expand...

It appears YOU are wrong here ... if you did not turn off the Find my iPhone, then its still on.

That means when someone trys to use another SIM in your phone, the phone will be iCloud-locked and ask for your details.

Basically, he bought a useless brick from you since he can't get past the Activation Screen.

Cost to remove iCloud from an iPhone ? Around $150 ... so obviously see his point.

https://iphoneunlockguys.com/mobile/detail/model/iCloud_Bypass_Unlock_Service_(BETA)

With the IMEI, you can use a Find my Iphone check service to see if it's on or off ... but taking you on your word you never turned it off before the damage, then it's definitely locked.

You should give it to him so he bypass that, then disable Find my iPhone.
 
Yet another reason not to use FeeBay.

Stupid ***** buyers.

Relist and move on. Even if he paid he'd just do a chargeback. No way I'd ship to that type of buyer.

And yes, there are ways to check iCloud status. It's seperate from sim lock status, and most unlocking sites charge for it, but can check.

Who cares though? You would lose no matter what selling to that guy...

Move on
 
You do not sell to buyers like this.

I have over 700 positive feedbacks and never a negative and when some does something like this I make sure his user name is on my restricted list so he can not bid! It is not worth the trouble.
 
libu said:
No, you can't remove iCloud lock online.

It has to be done physically with phone in hand, in the settings.
Click to expand...

You can do it without the device, I had to do it with an iPhone 5 I sold on eBay and had forgotten to do it before I sent it.
I followed the instructions at the link provided http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702

And straight away the buyer was then able to register and set up in his name.
 
I never use ebay after being scammed for my iphone 5s, buyer did chargeback 30 days after i sold it, i obviously lost the case and phone so I just rang up and blocked the phone.
 
pojo1806 said:
I never use ebay after being scammed for my iphone 5s, buyer did chargeback 30 days after i sold it, i obviously lost the case and phone so I just rang up and blocked the phone.
Click to expand...

They do have some bloody annoying/stupid policies. I avoid it when I can but sometimes there just isn't a better option. Wish there was.
 
Akanae said:
BTW, I think my last update was IOS 6.3
Click to expand...


If you were definitely on iOS 6.anything then this is a non issue. Activation lock was introduced with iOS 7. Devices on iOS 6 can't be locked through activation lock whether find my iPhone is turned on or not.
 
Thank you!!

Wow, lots of good information. I think I will take the advice of sending eBay a non pay and just move on. I wanted to push the issue with this guy because I thought he was obviously trying to scam me in some way. I hadn't thought of the pay back or the repercussions that a buyer has.
At least I know that I have done everything I can to clean the phone from my PC.
Thanks again for all of your help. Love the Forum and I will be watching for good threads to learn more stuff from you professionals. ;)
 
Akanae said:
Wow, lots of good information. I think I will take the advice of sending eBay a non pay and just move on. I wanted to push the issue with this guy because I thought he was obviously trying to scam me in some way. I hadn't thought of the pay back or the repercussions that a buyer has.
At least I know that I have done everything I can to clean the phone from my PC.
Thanks again for all of your help. Love the Forum and I will be watching for good threads to learn more stuff from you professionals. ;)
Click to expand...

Did you log onto Find My iPhone (www.icloud.com) and make sure the phone is no longer listed? I've turned off Find My iPhone via the phone, factory reset it, then traded it into GameStop only to have them call about it being locked still. Low and behold, I log into www.icloud.com and found it in my device list still. I removed it and they were good to go.
 
Since he was asking about the IMEI maybe he was thinking it was carrier unlocked? Not sure how you can link IMEI to iCloud.
 
legioxi said:
Did you log onto Find My iPhone (www.icloud.com) and make sure the phone is no longer listed? I've turned off Find My iPhone via the phone, factory reset it, then traded it into GameStop only to have them call about it being locked still. Low and behold, I log into www.icloud.com and found it in my device list still. I removed it and they were good to go.
Click to expand...

I have gone to Icloud.com and I even did it with Apple on the phone with me to insure I did everything correct. I then closed Icloud and went back....Walah, no old Iphone listed. As far as I can tell on all of my research, the phone is no longer linked to any of my apple accounts and no longer linked to and provider account.

----------
erzhik said:
Why would you give out your IMEI? Stop doing it people.
Click to expand...

Since I'm the dummy here, tell me why it's a bad idea to give out an IMEI on a phone that doesn't work and I am selling? Is this something I should be cautious of when relisting the phone?
 
Akanae said:
I have gone to Icloud.com and I even did it with Apple on the phone with me to insure I did everything correct. I then closed Icloud and went back....Walah, no old Iphone listed. As far as I can tell on all of my research, the phone is no longer linked to any of my apple accounts and no longer linked to and provider account.

----------



Since I'm the dummy here, tell me why it's a bad idea to give out an IMEI on a phone that doesn't work and I am selling? Is this something I should be cautious of when relisting the phone?
Click to expand...

Like someone has already mentioned you have to remove it from your list of devices via icloud.com. I went through the same issues before and wanted the buyer to stop bothering me. But once I removed it (I removed all my devices just in case), after a while he could continue setting up the iPhone.
 
Akanae said:
I have gone to Icloud.com and I even did it with Apple on the phone with me to insure I did everything correct. I then closed Icloud and went back....Walah, no old Iphone listed. As far as I can tell on all of my research, the phone is no longer linked to any of my apple accounts and no longer linked to and provider account.

----------



Since I'm the dummy here, tell me why it's a bad idea to give out an IMEI on a phone that doesn't work and I am selling? Is this something I should be cautious of when relisting the phone?
Click to expand...

In the future, dont use ebay to sell electronics. especially iPhones. They are some of the most scammed devices ever. Example, a guy buys your phone which is in perfect condition and you send it to him. he then files a claim with ebay about it not being as described. He says it is not the item in the ad that it is damaged. Ebay has changed over the years to be more buyer friendly than seller. Meaning they almost always side with the buyer if they claim an issue. ebay will issue a charge back and instruct the buyer to return it. They do but when you get the return box it is NOT the phone you sent. it is a beatup crappy phone worth way less than what you sent him. He still has your better phone, & he has your money. you can try to explain to ebay what happened, but how do you prove what you shipped. even if you have pics of you shipping it they say you could have staged them. You are out of luck.

this story is from experience and is why I have not sold an item on ebay in 3 years.
 
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