Bought a phone off eBay: would you say this is in "excellent condition"?

Erm, no.

When a sale is subject to this warning the purchaser assumes the risk that the product might be either defective or unsuitable to his or her needs. This rule is not designed to shield sellers who engage in Fraud or bad faith dealing by making false or misleading representations about the quality or condition of a particular product. It merely summarizes the concept that a purchaser must examine, judge, and test a product considered for purchase himself or herself.
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^Indeed. If the item is described as "excellent" then we can safely say that the seller has made a misleading representation of the quality of the item because it evidently is not excellent.
 
Definitely poor condition.

You should have known better when the auction only has one image.


..^ that listing image is from a youtube video :rolleyes:
 
Sent the seller this message:

Would you like to explain why the image you used in your listing is in fact from a a YouTube video and not the phone you were selling at all?

For your convenience, here's a screenshot of the thumbnail of a YouTube video, which shows the same photo as used in your listing. http://imgur.com/ikNrQXN.

Why did you not post your own photos of the phone? Is it possibly because you knew that if you did, they would show the phone to not be in "excellent" condition, as you stated in the listing?
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Edited as changed the message after I posted it here.
 
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I would NEVER buy a phone from ebay. I used to work for Vodafone and we got calls about it all the time. People would sell their phones through ebay, then as soon as they had the money they would call up their provider and report the phone stolen, so they could claim a replacement through their insurance. The phone would be blacklisted as a result, and the poor sap who bought it would suddenly find themselves with a useless phone. And since the person who bought it never had the original sales receipt, there was no way for them to prove it wasn't a stolen phone. Which means the network couldn't unblacklist it for them. We had to tell customers to try their luck getting the seller to give the money back.
 
Craig1981 said:
I would NEVER buy a phone from ebay. I used to work for Vodafone and we got calls about it all the time. People would sell their phones through ebay, then as soon as they had the money they would call up their provider and report the phone stolen, so they could claim a replacement through their insurance. The phone would be blacklisted as a result, and the poor sap who bought it would suddenly find themselves with a useless phone. And since the person who bought it never had the original sales receipt, there was no way for them to prove it wasn't a stolen phone. Which means the network couldn't unblacklist it for them. We had to tell customers to try their luck getting the seller to give the money back.
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This x1000
Used mobile phone sales are a snakepit best left alone.

OP's phone is what I would call in used condition at best. I would class my S5 as excellent condition with an immaculate screen and just some slight chipping to the chrome bezel. Screen/hardware damage such as buttons is definitely not 'excellent'.
 
Craig1981 said:
I would NEVER buy a phone from ebay. I used to work for Vodafone and we got calls about it all the time. People would sell their phones through ebay, then as soon as they had the money they would call up their provider and report the phone stolen, so they could claim a replacement through their insurance. The phone would be blacklisted as a result, and the poor sap who bought it would suddenly find themselves with a useless phone. And since the person who bought it never had the original sales receipt, there was no way for them to prove it wasn't a stolen phone. Which means the network couldn't unblacklist it for them. We had to tell customers to try their luck getting the seller to give the money back.
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Surely if they've claimed on a Vodafone insurance policy, you could do somethig about it? That would be illegal fraud perpetrated against Vodafone.
 
i've learnt that when buying phones brand new or members market is your best bet, nothing else. only a fool would buy a phone off ebay unless it's from a shop/retailer with thousands of feedback.

when selling them - if they are worth less than £100 use ebay. why? because your not insured to send phones through the post. so if the seller claims it got damaged in transit your screwed, even more so if it goes missing, etc. so never sell expensive phones on ebay your opening yourself up to get screwed as a seller.

worth more than £100 then prepare to have your time wasted for 3-4 weeks by morons, scammers and low ballers before you find a decent buyer on gumtree. it's just not worth the hassle any more.

i've now decided it's best to just either stick to budget phones (<£100 like the moto g) and upgrade often or just keep your current phone til it's busted.

edit: i could also tell straight away when i saw the listing that picture was taken off the web. i could tell it a mile off. seriously OP you need to get clued up. when buying anything second hand you either want to see it in person or at least 10 photos from different angles and sides when it's not from a reputable place.

a picture of the back which was all fuzzy? seriously? you bidded £170 on that?
 
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Why not? It didn't work out, he's getting his money back.

I'm sure some of these things mentioned do happen on eBay, but I've used it for years and only had 2 issues, both of which eBay cleared up very quickly. They do fleece you with massive fees, but to their credit they've been great when needed.
 
muon said:
Surely if they've claimed on a Vodafone insurance policy, you could do somethig about it? That would be illegal fraud perpetrated against Vodafone.
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That probably wouldn't work anymore as Vodafone can see the SIM that is in the phone. They would see a SIM that was not listed on the person's account at the time the phone was "stolen" rendering the policy invalid.
 
Last time I bought a phone in "immaculate" condition and "used for one week" from ebay it was in horrific condition had been used for months and had videos and pictures of the previous owner having sex.
 
Skyfall said:
Last time I bought a phone in "immaculate" condition and "used for one week" from ebay it was in horrific condition had been used for months and had videos and pictures of the previous owner having sex.
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So at least there was some positives out of it? :D

Tbh eBay always covers buyers, so I'd just buy with eyes wide open
 
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