Fraud, Scammers - No help from e-bay!!!!
I purchased a cell phone from a seller. It was supposed to be a no carrier unlocked phone. When I tried to activate it I was told it was an AT & T locked phone and it had been reported lost or stolen. Seller won't respond (of course) and e-Bay won't help because its past 30 days. So I'm out $250.00 and with no phone. e-Bay is on the side of the seller.
First, my service on my old phone hadn't expired yet, I was waiting for that. Then when I thought I was able to transfer my information to my new phone is when I ran into problems. I was on the phone with Samsung five different times trying to figure out what the problem was. Not to mention the three times I was disconnected or no one called me back. I was consistently on hold and not getting any resolutions. Then i came to the conclusion that I was not able to keep my original phone number so I purchased a new sim card (which took more time to receive) and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to get a new phone number. This all took a great deal amount of time! That is why it went past the 30 day period e-bay keeps mentioning. Which by the way shouldn't matter when a product is fraudulent and sold on their website. Second, I can not believe because of some 30 day policy that e-bay would not refund me my money and that they are on the side of the seller who I might mention is a fraud! Now, why in the world would the seller refund my money when this was a scam. Do they usually let scammers sell on their website? Do they really think a scammer is going to refund me?
I have been a good customer of e-bays over the years. Is this how they treat their customers? The $250.00 is nothing for e-bay, they can write it off. But for me it is everything. It's either having a phone or not! Why doesn't e-bay get ahold of the seller and try to get my money back? Thats the way it should be. They should be held responsible for getting my money!!!!! They should stand behind their customers not your frauds and scammers. They are e-bays seller!! I attached the documents they requested as proof that the Samsung Galaxy S21+Plus (5G) SM-G996U 128GB+8GB Factory Unlocked US that was purchased from their website is fraud. I also sent another document which is the IMEI number taken from the back of that phone. The order # is 04-12854-00654, date of purchase - 3/18/25 @ 10:22 pm for $252.25.
I have received information from e-bays customer service department where they advised me to sell the phone on their website since I can't get a refund! Can you believe that? Does their customer service actually read the emails or are they all automated responses?
I have asked for a Customer Service Manager to get ahold of me. Of course I haven't heard from anyone. Obviously all the people I have heard from can't help me. I will be filing a police report against e-bay and the seller. This needs to be made right!! Then I will close my account and never order from e-bay again!!!!
6 comments
mudshark61369
·11 months ago@dean.bryi ,
"First, my service on my old phone hadn't expired yet, I was waiting for that".
Even though you were not going to use the phone right away you could have checked with AT&T or Samsung to make sure the phone was not locked or listed as lost or stolen. I'm pretty sure AT&T does not require you to wait until your current plan has ended before you can switch the phone you use. I just bought a new phone a month or so ago because the old one was all beat up. The old one was removed from the account and the new one added without much hassle at all, all of my numbers and the phone number were transferred to the new one as well.
"Why doesn't e-bay get ahold of the seller and try to get my money back?"
eBay is not going to extend their 30 day return/refund policy because a buyer buys something in advance of its anticipated need, even if the item turns out to have issues. Doing that could open up the possibilty of scammers taking advantage of sellers and ebay. Beyond that, there is the fact that the details of an order are removed after 90 days, so they could not investigate to see how it was listed. If you open your feedback profile and look at it you will see above the feedback and reply;
"Detailed item information is not available for the following items because the feedback is over 90 days old".
As for filing a police report, or trying to get legal recourse none of that will help. The police cannot go after the seller, without absolute proof that they intended to defraud you and they have no jurisdiction in Hong Kong, where the seller is located nor does any U.S. court. Your credit card provider probably not be able to help because of the amount of time that has passed, but you can try calling the number on the back of your card to find out if you can do a charge back.
dean.bryi
OP11 months agoThe phone was supposed to be Unlocked and NO carrier.
jonathanbrightlight
·11 months agoeBay is not taking the side of the seller. They simply do not make exceptions for anyone to the 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. It’s not a matter of who’s right. You have had this phone for 6 months and have only recently discovered a problem. I know of no online marketplace that could or would do anything at this point.
Your only possible recourse after this long would likely be through the legal system. Even if you bought it using a credit card, they will not be likely to allow you to dispute it after this long.
dean.bryi
OP11 months agoIt was a stolen or lost phone techinsights were selling on e-bay! Who should be held responsible? Me?
kensgiftshop
·11 months agoIt's up to the buyer to check the item out while it's covered by the MBG.
jonathanbrightlight
·11 months agoEven many serious crimes have a statute of limitations, so even the police and courts cannot help you if wait too long to report it.
For eBay purchases, the equivalent is the 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, which covers you for problems reported within 30 days of receiving an item.
If you paid with PayPal or a credit card, they often give you anywhere from 60 days to possibly 6 months to report the problem to them for their consumer protections to be available.
To take this to an internationally absurd degree to highlight the reason, let’s say someone stole $50 from you in 1995. 30 years later, you try to report the theft for the first time. Does anyone have the right to take that $50 from that person and give it back to you now?