Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

pac_73

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 23, 2018
7
2
Illinois
I bought an Apple Watch 3 a few days ago on swappa and had an issue with notifications. So I chatted apple support and was told immediately that this watch is owned by apple and was not authorized by apple for sale. So I gave them all the info I had and proof of purchase and was told someone would get back to me about this in a few days. Has this ever happened to anyone? If so what happens, I hope I get my money back at least.
 
Thats what I am thinking, gave apple all the sellers info they are doing an investigation and I notified swappa and showed them proof of apple chat, I am hoping that should be enough to get my money back from PayPal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: willmtaylor
Paypal will protect you, but like I said, contact the police. Have them do a report. You need proof that you unknowingly bought a stolen good and a police report is a very good thing to have just in case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: willmtaylor
I bought an Apple Watch 3 a few days ago on swappa and had an issue with notifications. So I chatted apple support and was told immediately that this watch is owned by apple and was not authorized by apple for sale. So I gave them all the info I had and proof of purchase and was told someone would get back to me about this in a few days. Has this ever happened to anyone? If so what happens, I hope I get my money back at least.

I’m just curious how you were even to get past pairing the demo Apple Watch with the iPhone? If it’s a demo model, they run on a continuous loop and they can’t be paired with an iPhone from my understanding. (At least that’s how it was from past demo models.)
 
I am not 100% sure its a demo, thats what the apple advisor said, but after that said can not give me any further information until they investigate the watch.
 
I’m just curious how you were even to get past pairing the demo Apple Watch with the iPhone? If it’s a demo model, they run on a continuous loop and they can’t be paired with an iPhone from my understanding. (At least that’s how it was from past demo models.)

Same thoughts exactly, but at any rate, there is always that one watch that fails to properly identify as a demo.
 
did you even try contacting swappa and reporting the seller, brought my apple watch S2 on their and it had apple care which apple replaced with a brand new one from me due to random bootloops.

sucks, but hopefully apple takes care of you. but you should really report this to swappa. they are the 3rd party company that facilitated the sale of the watch not apple nor some retailer like best buy.

good luck.
 
Last edited:
It is 100% a demo, the model # shows up as 3D21BLL/A

Spoke to apple again last night and they confirmed that it is a demo and apple still owns in and was never authorized for sale, so has no warranty or apple care on it. The senior advisor was really nice and even sent a letter in email detailing all this so I can send to swappa or PayPal to get my money back.

Spoke to seller and they want a $20 restocking fee. not happening!

Spoke to swappa and they agree that watch should have never been sold on swappa as they do not allow the sale of Demo's and should be refunded, now waiting on sellers final response.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apple_Robert
Swappa will help you out with this. I ran into an issue a couple years ago buying what I thought was an unlocked S7, come to find it a couple months later when I tried to use another carrier it was not unlocked. I was able to send the device back and get a full refund months after the fact.

Swappa has pretty solid customer service, keep on them for this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apple_Robert
It is 100% a demo, the model # shows up as 3D21BLL/A

Spoke to apple again last night and they confirmed that it is a demo and apple still owns in and was never authorized for sale, so has no warranty or apple care on it. The senior advisor was really nice and even sent a letter in email detailing all this so I can send to swappa or PayPal to get my money back.

Spoke to seller and they want a $20 restocking fee. not happening!

Spoke to swappa and they agree that watch should have never been sold on swappa as they do not allow the sale of Demo's and should be refunded, now waiting on sellers final response.

that's messed up the seller want a restock fee!!! knowingly they probably/definitely knew they sold you a stolen device/demo device.

do you have the name of the seller? please paste a link me so i know who should stay away from when buying from swappa. cause i buy from there 1-2x a year.
 
Just my own preference, but this is why I don’t buy/sell Apple products used online anymore. EBay and Swappa included, there is just too many unknowns with honest buyers being victimized by fraud from a seller/buyer scamming for your money. I would either purchase locally or through Apples refurbished program. I know there are more successful purchases online than faulty one’s, but I am not going to allow someone to waste my time with absurd problems like this one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PPCmike
I bought a phone used complete with box, charger, everything on craigslist. With the seller sitting next to me, I put my own chip in and activated the phone on my cell account, logged into icloud, etc. Come to find out it was a corporate phone. She quit her job and sold the phone. I called the company and they determined it was cheaper to pay off the phone than to stop the service on it as it was on contract - so they were ok with me keeping it. Still have the phone 2 years later. Won’t buy used again.
 
I dont trust anything secondhand anymore..kinda sad. I just go for the open box stuff at best buy.. that's about as risky as I get with electronics now.
 
I bought an Apple Watch 3 a few days ago on swappa and had an issue with notifications. So I chatted apple support and was told immediately that this watch is owned by apple and was not authorized by apple for sale. So I gave them all the info I had and proof of purchase and was told someone would get back to me about this in a few days. Has this ever happened to anyone? If so what happens, I hope I get my money back at least.
Hello,

Sorry to contact you after all this time. I am in a similar situation as you. How did it end ?

I paid for a watch but it turned out to stolen demo from apple.

Many thanks
 
I rarely bought new in the past. With all the theft going on, I am only buying new now, but I hang onto it for a long time.
 
Hello,

Sorry to contact you after all this time. I am in a similar situation as you. How did it end ?

I paid for a watch but it turned out to stolen demo from apple.

Many thanks

You need to file a police report. Nobody on here can help you if you purchase a ‘stolen demo’ watch.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.