eBay Advice - sale gone bad

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firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#189375 26-Dec-2015 22:15

So I sold my iPhone 6 on eBay. It was purchased by a US buyer. The day it was signed for I got a return request via eBay with the buyer stating he is very angry and goods are not as pictured or described and wants their money back. They uploaded a picture of an iPhone 6 with a smashed screen stating that was how it was recieved.

Now I sent this thing in a Apple shipping box (consisting of two boxes) and then those inside another box with bubble wrap so I can, without hesitation state that this claim is fraudulent and false. Now if it's legitimate I am happy to assist but I need some advice on how to best protect myself here as I strongly suspect this picture he sent me is of another iPhone of his that is already damaged or he has damaged the one already that I sent him.

I have not contacted the buyer yet as I want to be careful with what I say. Ideally I want to get a picture of the damaged iPhone powered on showing the serial number so I can verify but I don't want him to say the LCD does not work so he can get out of that so was thinking of saying 'can you send me some pics with the phone powered on so I can see if the LCD is damaged or not' then ask him to do the same with the serial so he can't get out of it..

Will be the last time I sell on eBay! Any advice.. I am all ears... Thanks!

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Mad Scientist
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#1457572 26-Dec-2015 22:20

You can get the serial when plugged in itunes/computer?

gzt

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#1457573 26-Dec-2015 22:24

Did your send method include a nominal insurance? Some do. Can be worth a check.

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1457582 26-Dec-2015 23:10

gzt: Did your send method include a nominal insurance? Some do. Can be worth a check.

It was insured so will investigate this also with DHL. But if it was damaged as per the pictures then the boxes that it was in would have been significantly damaged and have to question why one would take receipt and sign for it. If I ask for photos of the packaging I'm sure he would just smash them first anyway! Frustrating situation.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1457586 26-Dec-2015 23:36

If this happened to me, I would contact the courier company to deal with it. They can then do all the checking with the buyer. The fact is that a lot of money was paid to get that to the buyer safety. If it was damaged to that extent, the buyer shouldn't have accepted the parcel or signed for it. In fact normally it was damaged to that extent, the courier wouldn't have delivered it to the recipient, the sender and buyer should have been contacted to say it was damaged in transit. The only thing I would tell the buyer is that I have contacted the courier to deal with it and they will be in touch, and that a refund can't be granted until this has been done and insurance has been paid out. I wouldn't want to be neither without the phone, nor the money at any stage. I would also tell them not to dispose of any of the packaging. I fear they may say they have disposed of it. But I would ask for some professional advice. There should be some seller protection for this sort of thing, and you don't know how honest any buyer is.

But I would never sell such a thing on eBay, I would have thought you could get much more for it on trademe. If you got a lot more for it than you should have, on eBay , that may have been a red flag. Did you get much more for it?
What does eBay do in these types of cases?

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1457639 27-Dec-2015 08:03

IIRC the eBay terms state it is the responsibility of the seller to get the goods to the buyer, and the goods are the sellers responsibility until the buyer receives them. So as above I would get all the evidence from the buyer that you need and lodge a complaint with the shipping company, and also contact the insurance company (you did have it insured for transit, right?) and leave it to them to sort out.

I certainly wouldn't be MIA with the buyer. That will make things worse. Just acknowledge their issue and say that you are investigating. Ask for what evidence you deem necessary to complete those investigations (i.e. photo of box, copy of delivery receipt with signature, evidence of serial number), if they can't provide sufficient evidence to prove it's the same phone I would reject any notion of a refund.

For more expensive shipping items I now take photos while boxing up to prove it is in one piece.

Next time use Trade Me perhaps, you would probably have got way more for it anyway in NZ.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

jonb

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#1457642 27-Dec-2015 08:28

Unfortunately this sounds like you're being scammed. Do you have the money already or can eBay claim it back from you?

macuser

2120 posts

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#1457643 27-Dec-2015 08:28

I think this isn't a courier issue...

OP thinks the buyer switched the new iPhone with a broken one and is now trying to return it for a refund.

He's trying to get photo evidence of the serial number without alerting the buyer that he doesnt trust him

I know this sounds elaborate, but perhaps if you asked the buyer to take a video that includes both the screen being broken and a macro shot of the serial number on back.

Don't use the eBay message tool for it though, tell him the standard procedure is before he sends it back for refund, he needs to send you this video (via Dropbox or another sharing tool) in 1080P and the damage and the serial need to be clearly visable - tell him the same video needs to include any courier package damage as the point of it is to make sure there is proof for courier.

once he has sent the video verifying the serial, you will need the phone to be sent back to NZ for verification.

When it arrives, if it ever does ...check there is no signs of tampering (perhaps they switched the LCD) so there potentially could be wear marks on screws (new exposed metal, rounded center from it being stripped by the wrong size screwdriver) or pry marks around the edge of the display where it would require a tool to lift the LCD.

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tripp

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#1457645 27-Dec-2015 08:47

Sounds to me that the broke their old phone, got a yours off ebay then just saying it turned up smashed with pictures of their old one.

If they have sent you a picture of the screen make sure you do a google image search on it, if it pops up in it then you know they just took the image off google.

Batman

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#1457653 27-Dec-2015 09:34

What a good idea. Ask them for full res of original picture. Get a metadata reader it could be that they took the pic of the iphone with YOUR iphone! Is that possible?

scuwp

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#1457663 27-Dec-2015 09:45

Wow, un-trusting lot much? Hows the buyers feedback?

It is equally possible that the buyer is being genuine is it not? Do your due diligence for sure, but I would be keeping an open mind until you have all the facts. Accusing the buyer of being a scammer will not do you any favours when asking for information. Keep in touch with the buyer and be impartial and pragmatic, and you will more likely get to the truth faster.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1457802 27-Dec-2015 16:56

joker97: What a good idea. Ask them for full res of original picture. Get a metadata reader it could be that they took the pic of the iphone with YOUR iphone! Is that possible?

Thanks for the advice, I ran a EXIF/META data check on the photos and it does show the format/manufacture as Apple Computer Inc and the photos are at 8MP which is the same as the iPhone 6.

You can also see in the reflection of the screen that he is taking the photos with an iPhone 6 or 6s shaped device.

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1457803 27-Dec-2015 16:58

scuwp: Wow, un-trusting lot much? Hows the buyers feedback?

It is equally possible that the buyer is being genuine is it not? Do your due diligence for sure, but I would be keeping an open mind until you have all the facts. Accusing the buyer of being a scammer will not do you any favours when asking for information. Keep in touch with the buyer and be impartial and pragmatic, and you will more likely get to the truth faster.

The buyer has 4 transactions against his username and are all positive.

Batman

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#1457806 27-Dec-2015 17:05

firefuze:
joker97: What a good idea. Ask them for full res of original picture. Get a metadata reader it could be that they took the pic of the iphone with YOUR iphone! Is that possible?

Thanks for the advice, I ran a EXIF/META data check on the photos and it does show the format/manufacture as Apple Computer Inc and the photos are at 8MP which is the same as the iPhone 6.
You can also see in the reflection of the screen that he is taking the photos with an iPhone 6 or 6s shaped device.

See if there are any that can read the serial number of the iPhone from the exif. If yes you have struck gold.

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1457832 27-Dec-2015 18:16

Did the buyer sign for the item undamaged and that they had inspected it prior to accepting it? Did they see that the box was damaged, and if they did, why did they accept the parcel?

I think you have to treat it as though the buyer is being honest, as part of the process. This is why the shipping company really has to manage it. The packaging will be able to tell the shipping company whether it was damaged or not. They have a lot of knowledge in damaged items, so a professional should be able to tell just from the packaging. As I said, if the packaging was damaged, then that should have been noted by the shipping company. The problem is I don't know how ebay handle these. Unless you get the item back you can't really give a refund anyway, as you will then be left with nothing at all. But you do need to keep in contact with the seller or ebay, so that you can prove that you are doing everything right from your end.

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1457833 27-Dec-2015 18:18

scuwp: Wow, un-trusting lot much? Hows the buyers feedback?

It is equally possible that the buyer is being genuine is it not? Do your due diligence for sure, but I would be keeping an open mind until you have all the facts. Accusing the buyer of being a scammer will not do you any favours when asking for information. Keep in touch with the buyer and be impartial and pragmatic, and you will more likely get to the truth faster.

Buyers feedback can be misleading. Especially when in low numbers, as they may have purchased a few cheap items to get good feedback. It is a better guide if they have done hundreds or thousands of trades.

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