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Google LLC suddenly "owns" my eBay Macbook Pro purchase from 2 yrs ago
Where do I begin? I bought a 2nd-hand, seemingly perfect Macbook Pro laptop computer on April 30, 2023 for almost $1500 from an eBay vendor. I paid through Paypal, so my receipts are with them. Been happily using this laptop ever since. Trouble started this past week, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 when I finally followed the frequent prompts from Apple to update my OS to "Sequoia" from "Ventura," which was the earlier OS it came with and that I'd been using w/o any issue since buying it. The Sequoia wallpaper is a lovely photograph of Sequoia trees and looks slick and FANTASTIC. BUT the minute I enter my password, a white box appears with a blue gear icon, stating: "Remote Management, This computer is owned by: Google LLC." A person can either "Enroll" (which I certainly know enough NOT to do) or click a link to get further information. Another box opens and when that link is clicked. It has Google's address and a phone and tells how Google will from now on be running this computer, free to erase anything, etc. I spent 3 hours with Apple's "Apple Business Manager" Dept, who very kindly said there was obviously a mistake made by the eBay vendor back in April 2023, who hadn't properly followed the "release" protocol when they received this computer from the person who had brought it in to sell. That person had evidently worked for Google, or some other scenario. You are the victim of all this, Apple said, after long online diagnostic tests. You need to speak with the vendor. Since Paypal is who I paid and they paid eBay Commerce, there doesn't seem to be a way for me to ever know who the vendor was. I could also speak to Google but Apple tells me they will want to know the vendor, too. AND every scam warning I read tells me that "Google will never send out a phone number to call." So here I sit with a now suddenly worthless laptop! If anyone out there in the community has ever had this happen to them, I would appreciate hearing their tale. I will soon attempt to contact Google. I mean what in the world would they even want with this laptop, now 3-4 years old? Any advice would be super helpful, as I embark on this pain-in-the-neck journey to get the use of my computer back.
monotypemaker
OP1 year agoThanks so much for helping me locate the vendor. I just sent a message to them explaining the problem. I hope they will work with GoogleLLC to release my computer back to me. OOOF. But I really appreciate you answering me!
eastlaneave
Mentor1 year ago@monotypemaker
I am sorry to hear about this. What a mess.
You can find your original seller on ebay here
https://www.ebay.com/mye/myebay/purchase
I have purchases back to 2022 listed there