Seller fraud

[saledankishiy_0]

I bought an iPhone XS Max 256GB from a seller here but he sent me two pieces of stones instead. I've opened a case of return item against him but he is insisting that he sent me an iPhone. I noticed the following suspicious activities from him AFTER I have made payments:

• The item was listed to be shipped from Australia but was actually shipped from CHINA.  He didn't tell me about that. When I noticed the tracking details I complained to him  but he said that he went to China that time that's why he sent from China. Unbelievable!
• The delivery date was 24th April- 13th May but immediately I made the payment it changed to 13th May only.
• On the shipping sticker that accompanied the parcel I received, it was written that it weighed 500g. This was more than what it should weigh. When I explained to him he said that any item less than 500g is listed as 500g by the couriers. This is false as I have received other items from the same courier (China Post) with their exact and declared weights far less than 500g.
• On the sticker also the declared value of the parcel was 100 USD!!! This was an iPhone I paid 962.95 USD for (phone+ shipping+ PayPal charges).
• I have sent him photo evidence of what I received but he failed to reason with me rather calling me a scammer.
• There was a negative review about him that one of buyers called him a scammer. The buyer said he had to raise complaints with PayPal for a refund. 

He doesn't want to listen to me at all and eBay will "step in" next Tuesday.

Kindly advise me on how to approach this.

Thank you.

[orangehound · Accepted solution]

---

@saledankishiy_0 wrote:

Kindly advise me on how to approach this.

---

I see you are from Nigeria ... rarely buying stuff on eBay ... ordering a product that costs $1,000 from Australia ... and seeing it shipped from China ...

What could possibly go wrong?

As you probably know, the Money Back Guarantee will support you as you file this "Not as Described" claim ... and when the seller doesn't provide postage, then you get refunded when you escalate the case.  There isn't much additional advise I can provide to you. 

The seller, on the other hand, is about to get a hard lesson on international shipping and the Money Back Guarantee.

[saledankishiy_0]

Thank you @orangehhound for your response. I usually buy items from AliExpress restricting myself to items "handled by AliExpress". I wish eBay can do same. I've already bought two wireless chargers and assorted cases from AliExpress after ordering for the 'new iPhone' from this seller  and they got delivered long before this shipment. I wouldn't buy an iPhone from China. I only bought this because he listed it as from Australia.

This seller has another case of scam that was reported under his feedback (3 reviews; one negative one neutral and one positive). I noticed that other items he listed have disappeared from his page. I wish eBay will deactivate his account to protect future buyers.

[sfginsider]

He will do it again to another buyer. eBay doesn’t do much to prevent this. I’ve had two experiences with scam sellers and after I reported them they continued to sell and receive multiple negatives until I eventually stopped bothering bc it’s not my problem.

do you have pictures of the box or parcel you received? Document.

[saledankishiy_0]

It's disturbing that eBay will allow fraudulent sellers (and buyers) to continue using its platform. 

Here are the pics of what I received

[compscrap]

not to stir up a hornets nest but you could also be committing the fraud.   you get the phone, set up some photos and make it look like you got a rock.

I'm not saying thats what you did but i am saying there is no way anyone, including ebay, can tell the truth.  

A seller would not be able to sell anything if his feed back was peppered with negatives reading :"seller sent me a rock instead of a phone"    maybe thats whats in store for him. 

[saledankishiy_0]

I understand your point. Fraud can occur in both ways but in this case it's from the seller side. I have no reason to engage in frauds considering my profession and status (you can Google my name; I use my middle and surname as username on eBay; full name: Faisal Saleh Dankishiya). 

I've learnt some lessons out of this: if anyone lists item to be shipped from one country but uses a different country for shipment, I will just cancel the order immediately. I thought of doing that in this case but I believed him when he said he travelled to China from Australia that's why he sent from there. In addition, the shipping quote he gave from beginning was typical of Chinese quotes. He was never going to ship from Australia. It's unfortunate that it's now most of his dubious actions are becoming clear to me.

See the reviews I had from last year.

In addition, it was now I noticed the negative review on his account wrote last month, a few days before I made my order. If I had seen this earlier I wouldn't have ordered a penny worth of item from him. See attached image.

[orangehound]

---

@saledankishiy_0 wrote:

I understand your point. Fraud can occur in both ways but in this case it's from the seller side.

---

One other possibility is that it is neither you nor the seller that was fraudulent ... theft can happen in the delivery chain within Nigeria (customs, courier, etc.) where someone opened up your package, removed the iPhone and replaced it with rocks.

Many sellers will not sell to some countries because they do not trust the integrity of the in-country delivery system.

[saledankishiy_0]

I quite agree with you. In fact when I noticed what was in the box, I immediately returned in to my local post office. I opened the box outside the post office where I parked. When I complained to them they said that was how they received it. There was no sign that the packaging was tempered with. However I noticed that the side of the box opposite to where I opened was deliberately cellotaped in such a way that one can empty the content of the box from that side. No sign of tempering whatsoever. I explained this to the seller so that he may also follow up with China Post but he refused to listen to me.

See the image below.

I just hope that eBay can check the complaints of the other buyer who ordered for 512GB version of the same iPhone XS Max from the same seller. The buyer called the seller a scammer and got a refund through PayPal. If eBay checks the other case there might be a pattern. Unfortunately eBay is not even showing details of the other buyer I would have contacted him/ her.

[glyph01]

Maaannnnnnn, I'm reading this and I would lose it so bad that I'd probably vomit blood or something if I ordered a iPhone and got a package like that. Oh no! No, no, no! These iPhones should only be sold if you are authorized dealer just like the haute couture brand names that Vero your behind. FTDS.

[sfginsider]

Very possible when the customs form clearly says “phone” but the value of $100 is interesting

[sfginsider]

One of my first eBay sales was a computer. It was my freshman year of college. I sold it to get money to pay rent over summer and take my final few classes.
Turns out the buyer used a stolen credit card and a charge back was issued 60 days after the purchase. I lost the money and the computer and ended up living in my car for about 3 months after loosing my apartment. I was evicted for non payment. It was horrible but I learned never to trust anything on eBay. They don’t protect you. The seller and buyer protection is a ruse and don’t buy anything you can’t afford to be stolen or taken or manipulated out of.

[orangehound]

---

@sfginsider wrote:
The seller and buyer protection is a ruse and don’t buy anything you can’t afford to be stolen or taken or manipulated out of.

---

Ummm ... the buyer protection on eBay is unbelievably generous. 

There is negligible seller protection (financial).

[jeannicho22]

---

@saledankishiy_0 wrote:

I bought an iPhone XS Max 256GB from a seller here but he sent me two pieces of stones instead. I've opened a case of return item against him but he is insisting that he sent me an iPhone. I noticed the following suspicious activities from him AFTER I have made payments:

• The item was listed to be shipped from Australia but was actually shipped from CHINA.  He didn't tell me about that. When I noticed the tracking details I complained to him  but he said that he went to China that time that's why he sent from China. Unbelievable!
• The delivery date was 24th April- 13th May but immediately I made the payment it changed to 13th May only.
• On the shipping sticker that accompanied the parcel I received, it was written that it weighed 500g. This was more than what it should weigh. When I explained to him he said that any item less than 500g is listed as 500g by the couriers. This is false as I have received other items from the same courier (China Post) with their exact and declared weights far less than 500g.
• On the sticker also the declared value of the parcel was 100 USD!!! This was an iPhone I paid 962.95 USD for (phone+ shipping+ PayPal charges).
• I have sent him photo evidence of what I received but he failed to reason with me rather calling me a scammer.
• There was a negative review about him that one of buyers called him a scammer. The buyer said he had to raise complaints with PayPal for a refund. 

He doesn't want to listen to me at all and eBay will "step in" next Tuesday.

Kindly advise me on how to approach this.

Thank you.

---

The problem is that eBay doesn't know who the scammer is, you or the seller, and I mean absolutely no disrespect to you.  According to eBay's blues, an item reported to be in one country that ships from another is INAD.  So regardless of whether you got rocks or a phone or anything else... it is INAD