Feels like being scammed by my buyer

[bf2463]

Hi Ladies and Gents

I would like to share an un-pleasant selling experience, and please let me know what you think.

I sold my 2014 MacbookAir back in 11-2-18 to a guy in a small town in northern GA. The buyer paid on Saturday morning. I packed it very carefully to ensure it is well protected and drove 20 minutes to our Post office to drop it before noon to ensure the buyer can get it as fast as possible.

11-5-18 : Computer delivered

11-6-18: Buyer contacted me saying the computer has blue screen problem and requested for return. He provided me a picture showing the blue screen. I asked him to reset the computer. He said that he tried for hours but still the same, he also said that he called Apple support but no help. I replied back and ask him to send it back for full refund. Buy did not reply back that day.

11-9-18 Three days after, buyer replied back my request. He said he took it to Apple Store, and Apple told him this problem is due to bad SSD. It will cost too much to repair. I reply back and ask him to send it back for full refund.

11-10-18 He send me a picture showing the USPS tracking receipt

11-13-18 My computer was back. I checked and it is “blue screen” as he stated. However, I can clearly see tool marks on all the fastener heads on the computer cover and one of the fasteners is falling off. It is obvious that someone tried very hard to break the fastener adhesive.

I asked which Apple Store inspected my computer.

He did not answer my question; instead, he sent me a new message thread and wanted me to issue full refund.

I replied back again and ask which Apple Inspected my computer.

He then replied said that an Apple Authorized Repair Station in his small town did the inspection.

I checked with Apple, and Apple does not have Authorized Repair station at this small town. However; at this moment, there is nothing I can do. I asked him to request refund through e-bay. (I want E-Bay have visibility with this transaction)

11-14-18 He sent a refund request through ebay and full refund issued.

As a responsible ebay occasional seller, I always try my best to ensure the buyer get things they expected, and this experience is very frustrated.

Can you please share your thought on this? Am I being scammed?

[jason_incognito]

you really don't have any real option.

you gave them a refund and have a broken computer that likely has had parts shifted out of it,

[ittybitnot]

 Am I being scammed?

Unless I missed something in your post, it soulds like you already were scammed.  Not as bad as your could have been because at least you got a computer back instead of a phone book. 

[bf2463]

Thanks for your opinion.

I am blessed to have a good job with stable income, and I don’t rely on selling this computer to put food on the table to feed my kids.

I have been using ebay for more than 15 years and do not have  major issues.

However, within 6 months this year, I have lost a brand new sealed Google router (buyer claimed its broken. I issue full return and let him keep it) and this 2014 Macbook Air. 

Those losts are too much for me and I am not going to sell my stuff here anytime soon.

Amazon tracks customer’s return history, and I hope eBay can at least let seller see buyer's return history.

[bf2463]

Indeed!

At least I have my computer back.

Cheers

[lewisburggold]

Its hard to tell.  There is a chance they needed some part to fix one that they have and used you to fix for free.  At least you did get it back , there are a lot of sellers that dont.  Best regards

[banana*shoe*boutique]

Yes, you were definitely scammed and I am sorry that happened to you. 

Please be sure to report the buyer.

[no_zero369]

The "problem" may be linked to the fact that you were selling in the electronics category where scamming is more prevalent.  No need to quit, just stay out of the high risk areas. fwiw

[Anonymous]

The way your buyer went about this was certainly dubious, anyways based on the few apples I've repaired with that symptom always turned out to be a loose memory module.

The last one was several years ago after packing a working laptop and moving a few hundred miles in a car, it blue screened me which is also common in PC's too. Had to search youtube for module location and then just re-seated it - took about 2 minutes.

[bf2463]

Thanks for the suggestion. I google it and found out the 2014 MacBook Air’memory is integrated with motherboard and it is not upgradable/removable.
I will buy the special screw driver and see if anything wrong under the computer cover.

[trustedbasset]

I would stick to other local selling platforms when selling my used laptops and such. I don't trust the ebay buyers in that and similar catagories. I'm sure most buyers are legit but how can you tell? You can't, so you are taking a risk whenever you sell electronics, designer anything and expensive coins or jewelry.