Bought a phone off eBay 6 months ago and now been blocked.

Pestilence · 14 Mar 2016 at 20:57

Diagro said:
Sounds like he bought a phone.
then sold it on.

Now it's blocked.

I don't think it's his fault

Yeah... but why muddy the waters by constantly changing story from:

a) Yeah we know we sold it to you, but it's too late; to
b) We have no records; to
c) It was my son's phone and it's totally legit?

If it was the son's phone then who reported it? Phones don't just magically get IMEI blocked without a report (or human error at a network).

HAz · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:00

Pestilence said:
Yeah... but why muddy the waters by constantly changing story from:

a) Yeah we know we sold it to you, but it's too late; to
b) We have no records; to
c) It was my son's phone and it's totally legit?

If it was the son's phone then who reported it? Phones don't just magically get IMEI blocked without a report (or human error at a network).

Yes hes contradicted himself a few times there

koooowweeee · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:21

Sounds like a dodgy phone shop bought a phone off someone, they sold on eBay, person who sold the phone to the shop has now reported it stolen to make a claim.

So not the eBay sellers fault but he should replace it.

Janesy B · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:26

It's not his fault but he should know the risks and take some accountability.

Take the swine to the cleaners.

teenwolf · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:27

who's ever the phone was there is nothing you can do about it now.

Adam · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:27

I had the same issue and there is nothing much you can do, eBay is a complete gamble for this kind of stuff. Maybe sell it as not working and get as much as you can to offset the loss. I'm sure someone somewhere will want it no doubt to do something dodgy with it.

muon · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:33

If it is a business seller, then small claims court is possible.

However, you will have to show it is the same phone.

It is worth reporting it to ebay just in case it is happening to others.

norm · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:34

Reasons not to buy a 2nd hand phone:

1) This thread
2) Potential spyware
3) No knowledge of what lies deleted but recoverable on the internal storage, could be highly illegal and land you in trouble.

Slam62 · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:35

Diagro said:
Sounds like he bought a phone.
then sold it on.

Now it's blocked.

I don't think it's his fault

Err handling stolen goods is a criminal offence.

He had an obligation to check the seller had the right to sell.

He keeps changing his story and then throws a tantrum, he is either scared or an amateur or both.

Unless the phone was blocked by mistake, seems unlikely.

muon · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:36

koooowweeee said:
Sounds like a dodgy phone shop bought a phone off someone, they sold on eBay, person who sold the phone to the shop has now reported it stolen to make a claim.

So not the eBay sellers fault but he should replace it.

The 6 months threshold is very convenient though. The seller could be complicit.

norm said:
Reasons not to buy a 2nd hand phone:

1) This thread
2) Potential spyware
3) No knowledge of what lies deleted but recoverable on the internal storage, could be highly illegal and land you in trouble.

The second two points are just ridiculous.

silverblack · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:38

Funny how it only stopped working after the 180 days paypal protection.

bledd · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:42

Kill it with fire, the seller

horrorwood · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:43

Second-hand goods

Second–hand goods that you buy from a trader are also covered by the minimum 2-year guarantee. However, goods bought from private individuals or at public auctions are not covered.

In some EU countries, the buyer and seller can agree to a guarantee period of less than 2 years, but no shorter than 1 year. This should be made clear at the time of purchase.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm

Just ring PayPal though, they can open a dispute manually outside the 180 days.

theMilitant · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:46

Sounds very dodgy to me, especially with the seller changing their story several times and with the phone only deactivating just after the PayPal buyer protection window closed. Chase it up with police and see if you can make any progress down that avenue. Otherwise, sell it on as not working.

dowie · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:46

pepsilol said:
Yes, also conveniently passed the paypal dispute time also.

Seller is good at this.

you have his address but he has your address, learn from this and move on.

or report seller to police + start a claim on moneyclaim.gov.uk

Sell it to someone overseas and end of.

what a dumb thing to say, it is useless and you'd want to then sell it to someone?

Rroff · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:50

Seems to be a not uncommon story - wouldn't buy a phone off ebay myself.

Many years ago I bought one from ebay due to a phone dying that used a propitiatory sim setup and the only way to get data off it was with the same type of phone - cut a long story short the seller's now ex-wife reported it stolen out of spite a few months later and I only found out it had been IMEI blocked (it had been sitting unused since) when the police got involved over the whole spat between them.

silverblack · 14 Mar 2016 at 21:58

The phones only blocked in the UK it will still work fine outside of the UK.
You can sell it under spares and repair,no signal etc.

413x · 14 Mar 2016 at 22:03

dowie said:
or report seller to police + start a claim on moneyclaim.gov.uk

what a dumb thing to say, it is useless and you'd want to then sell it to someone?

Yeah it will work outside the UK.
I think the phone I bought from USA had this

koooowweeee · 14 Mar 2016 at 22:09

People may buy it for the screen.

In the past I've bought a phone with "no signal" for the screen. They normally go cheap.

bayo000 · 14 Mar 2016 at 22:13

dowie said:
what a dumb thing to say, it is useless and you'd want to then sell it to someone?

It's only blocked in UK, it will work fine abroad.