This is a new one for me. Here's the play by play:
-I recently sold an iPod Touch on Ebay that I had previously purchased from Ebay several months back. It had been thoroughly tested prior to listing.
-The buyer messages me claiming that the iPod has an iCloud account attached to it. Considering that I always make sure to wipe such information prior to performing a factory reset, I was doubtful of this claim. That being said, I am only human, so perhaps this was the one time I forgot to remove my own account. I take them at their word.
-I provide the email address and password of my own iCloud account to the buyer (before anyone freaks out about this, this account is only used for testing purposes and does not contain information used in any other business or personal accounts), hoping they would be able to complete the initial setup, remove my iCloud account and login with their own.
-The buyer asks to continue with the return regardless. I attempt to confirm whether the email address and password combination provided was unsuccessful but receive no reply. I do not press them further, as at this point I am simply hoping to get the iPod back and move on with my life.
-Instead of receiving an iPod with my own iCloud account attached to it (or none at all), I receive an iPod with an attached iCloud account starting with the letter "b". I do not have any email accounts starting with a "b", nor have I ever had one. It is indeed my iPod, however, as the serial number on the back of the device matches my records and there are no signs of tampering.
-I have not reached out to the buyer just yet, considering my original suspicions and the fact that this is a buyer with zero feedback and a brand new account. The last thing I want to do is antagonize a seemingly high-risk buyer without knowing my next move, and as someone who has sold on Ebay for awhile now I'm generally pretty good at foreshadowing.
My initial thought was that the buyer was able to log in using the information I had provided, attached their own iCloud account to the device and then decided to continue with the return anyway; this is still my current theory. However, I have heard of strange occurrences in the past where, after the reset of an Apple device, the device would request credentials for an iCloud account that was no longer associated with the device. I wonder if I may be experiencing something similar?
It goes without saying I would like to avoid having to have Ebay step in with such a return, as a loss would hit my account with a defect and this sort of he-said-she-said situation isn't likely to end in my favor. As it is, I'm more-or-less resigned with having to bite the bullet here, in which case this would be more about finding ways to prevent or reduce the risk of this happening again.
Anyone have similar experiences to share?
PS- For the record, I called Ebay CS regarding this situation and set a new personal record for most incompetent CS representative spoken to. This person claimed that as a business seller on Ebay, I was NOT entitled to Seller Protection as this was only reserved for "casual" Ebay sellers, and that all types of returns, legitimate or not, are part of the territory. It goes without saying I let the conversation die there and hung up as quickly as possible.
