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Sealed iPad bought on ebay came with seller's engraved details

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deadlystriker

deadlystriker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 15, 2011
221
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Bought an iPad on ebay only to realize that the seller's name and mobile number is engraved on the back of it. This was never mentioned in the listing description. I was planning to cover it with full bodyguardz but now seems like putting it in a case would be a better idea. However I would still feel uncomfortable as this is a gift for my parents and an engraving like this makes it less "personal".

Should I

1) Contact the seller and try to return it? Got it at quite a bit off retail price and thus a bit reluctant

2) Try and remove the engraving. Is this possible?

Thanks for reading
 
I don't think there is any way to remove the engraving. So your only options are to try to return it, or keep it. What you decide depends on how much it being there bothers you.
 
I'd return it, or if they won't accept that contact ebay and tell them what's happened. They should very definitely have made it clear that it's engraved in the product description. (Assuming that they didn't - if they did and you bought it anyway, you're obviously pretty stuck).
 
If it was going to be a gift then I'd see about returning it. If it was going to be for myself, I'd probably just keep it. Seems like a pretty ingenious move. If you keep it and it get's lost, it gets returned to the original user. So then he'd have gotten your money and the iPad back.
 
Keep it and report the seller to eBay for not mentioning it. It's for your parents. They probably won't care.

Find an artist and let them paint over it or something. It's not that big of a deal. My mom would give two s****. She would only care that it's an iPad
 
DO NOT mess with the finish on the back. It's a bead blasted matte finish much like on the iPhone 4's antenna band and you will make it look absolutely terrible if you try to alter it.
 
Same thing happened to me

I bought an ipad for my wife for her birthday on e-bay. Totally sealed packaging. I get it and open it so that I can sync it with her itunes account and notice that there is a personal engraving on the back of the name of some school and a number. I contacted the seller and she said that was impossible so I took a picture of it and sent it to her. She denied all knowledge until I pointed out that the school is curiously from the same town she's from. She didn't respond so I contacted Paypal and E-bay and they straightened her our quickly.

J51
 
Thanks guys for all the replies


jargon51 said:
I bought an ipad for my wife for her birthday on e-bay. Totally sealed packaging. I get it and open it so that I can sync it with her itunes account and notice that there is a personal engraving on the back of the name of some school and a number. I contacted the seller and she said that was impossible so I took a picture of it and sent it to her. She denied all knowledge until I pointed out that the school is curiously from the same town she's from. She didn't respond so I contacted Paypal and E-bay and they straightened her our quickly.

J51
Click to expand...

How was it resolved? Did you return it and get full refund including return shipping fee?
 
are you kidding? contact the seller and demand a refund and he pays for shipping. If not, open a case with ebay/paypal to get refunded. If not, do a chargeback on your credit card.

ITEM RECIEVED NOT AS DESCRIBED

Easy peasy
 
1st choice: i would ask for a refund including shipping. the item was not as described and it's a gift and it looks awkward.

2nd choice: demand a big discount and put a skin with a nice picture on the back.

3rd choice: demand a big discount and find a shop that does laser engraving and have them put a rectangle over the engraving.

4rd choice: demand a big discount and leave it as is.

if the seller offers no refund or no discount report them to ebay/paypal.

semms a lot of peole accidentally checked the box for the free engraving on apples website. or they got it as a present from mom and she chose to engrave it without their knowledge.
 
Maybe an overlooked option. If it's sealed, warranty should still be good. Check for any screen bleed or other defects. Exchange it at the Apple store.
 
nickbarbs said:
are you kidding? contact the seller and demand a refund and he pays for shipping. If not, open a case with ebay/paypal to get refunded. If not, do a chargeback on your credit card.

ITEM RECIEVED NOT AS DESCRIBED

Easy peasy
Click to expand...


Jeez.

Does the iPad work? Did you get a box of old socks instead? No? So whats the problem?

If the seller did not maliciously intend to defraud the buyer, going "balls to the wall" to exact revenge is not really a good idea.

People are people. Explain the situation and see what the seller says.

I honestly CAN NOT STAND buyers who, instead of doing the rational and normal thing in today's society of speaking candidly, go right to Paypal or eBay and cry foul. And when the seller attempts to contact them, rationally and calmly, they ignore it and hide behind eBay and Paypals skirt.

:cool:
 
Sdashiki said:
Jeez.

Does the iPad work? Did you get a box of old socks instead? No? So whats the problem?

If the seller did not maliciously intend to defraud the buyer, going "balls to the wall" to exact revenge is not really a good idea.

People are people. Explain the situation and see what the seller says.

I honestly CAN NOT STAND buyers who, instead of doing the rational and normal thing in today's society of speaking candidly, go right to Paypal or eBay and cry foul. And when the seller attempts to contact them, rationally and calmly, they ignore it and hide behind eBay and Paypals skirt.

:cool:
Click to expand...

Umm..the seller never said it was engraved. That's a huge no no. The item you are buying has to be described as it is. For some odd reason, I doubt the seller "forgot" that it was engraved. This isn't the same as not getting a charger or something like that. This is permanent.

Also, you have to contact the seller first before opening a ticket. If the seller doesn't cooperate, you move onto eBay Support. :cool:
 
Since you got it at a discount over retail and it is a gift for your parents (they should understand), keep it. I am assuming the discount you got is important to you because you bought it on ebay in the first place.

I would definitely contact the seller and ask for a further discount if the item was not as described. Get at least enough to pay for your time and expense in getting something to cover the engraving on the back. If the seller is a decent person they will gladly discount rather than have you send it back.

You could go to a jeweler and have a thin piece on metal engraved with your parents name and phone number and have them glue it on top of the existing engraving. I had this done on an engraved metal picture frame once, it looked nice and not like something just put there to cover up something else.
 
deadlystriker said:
Thanks guys for all the replies




How was it resolved? Did you return it and get full refund including return shipping fee?
Click to expand...

I told my wife about it and she said that it was fine that way and it was the thought that counted anyway. She was very happy that I bought her an ipad. I did ask for a partial refund from the seller and received it but only after I contacted her several times and finally got ebay and paypal involved.

J51
 
i would return it. if its a gift i dont want to have it at the back of my mind that theres some crappy engraving on the back.

seller should have told you and its definitely not right for him to sell like that.
 
Contact the seller and see what they say. Chances are they know it's engraved, as what are the odds Apple would accidentally send them an engraved one.
 
Sdashiki said:
I honestly CAN NOT STAND buyers who, instead of doing the rational and normal thing in today's society of speaking candidly, go right to Paypal or eBay and cry foul. And when the seller attempts to contact them, rationally and calmly, they ignore it and hide behind eBay and Paypals skirt.
Click to expand...
As someone who's sold on eBay in the past, you are describing just about every buyer on the site now. eBay has made it so that, as a seller, you are screwed no matter what you do.

Given that the engraving wasn't listed in the description, it's a good bet the item was stolen and sold without the seller ever knowing it was engraved.

If the seller did know it was engraved, they might as well have put it in the description since they were selling a sealed iPad at such a discount anyway. Is it the seller's name and number or just a random name and number? Call and find out.

If the iPad was stolen, the person who's number is on the back may want to know you found it.
 
miamialley said:
Contact the seller and see what they say. Chances are they know it's engraved, as what are the odds Apple would accidentally send them an engraved one.
Click to expand...

it is possible he didn't know, my buddy ordered an iPad, and like an idiot filled in all the info not realizing he also filled in the engraving portion.
 
Sdashiki said:
Jeez.

I honestly CAN NOT STAND buyers who, instead of doing the rational and normal thing in today's society of speaking candidly, go right to Paypal or eBay and cry foul.
Click to expand...

And I honestly CAN NOT STAND sellers who negligently, or fraudulently as the case may be, misrepresent the items they are selling. That makes them either incompetent at best, or a cheat at worst. Why then should the buyer expect a calm and rational response?
 
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