How to deal with htis ebay seller

mad muffin

Hi all, I need some advice.

I bought a Samsung Ativ S on ebay through Price-Guard. advertised as new never opened:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/190835571603?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Bought it on the 22/6/2013, They sent me an invoice on the 24/6 and the money went through on the 26/6

Phone arrive on the 1/7

I opened it up and immediately alarm bells went off in my head.

Phone box was absolutely filthy (I thought maybe some old stock lying around for a while)

It looked like the original Samsung void stickers on the box where removed and later replaced with generic one (that didn't leave void behind when I removed them)

Then as I took the phone out I noticed the protective film on the back battery cover had been removed at some stage (it was in the box but it had dust on the adhesive side and had long lost its adhesiveness)

There was protective film around the bezel of the phone but that too looked like it was removed once and then reapplied.

Finally the charger wasn't a genuine Samsung charger but a cheap generic one that weighed even less than the paper thin Samsung battery cover.

At this stage i should have just packed it all up and asked for a RMA.

I didn't I turned on the phone and then tried to insert my sim in it. The sim card (it was the correct one) would only go in half way.

Now I did pack everything back and asked for a RMA.

I got a RMA the next day and sent the phone back to Price-Guard, they have it since the 5/7 three weeks.

Five days later they asked me to sign a form stating that i did not do any damage to cause the sim tray to malfunction:





Eidesstattliche Erklärung
zur Vorlage vor Versicherungen und vor Gericht




Price-Guard AG, Im Ebenfeld 3, 94513 Schönberg Datum: 10.07.2013






Paketnummer: Versanddatum: 26.06.2013
IMEI:
Kundennummer.:




Verbindliche Erklärung



1.) Ich bin mir bewusst, dass hier getätigte, falsche Angaben strafbar sein können.

2.) Ich bin selbst der adressierte Empfänger oder – z.B. im Falle von Firmen – autorisiert, diese Erklärung für den Empfänger abzugeben.

3.) Ich versichere mit meiner Unterschrift ausdrücklich, dass bei dem Gerät
Samsung I8750 Ativ S mit der Imei-Nr. , bereits bei Anlieferung die mechanische Beschädigung an den Simkontakten (1 Simkontakt abgebrochen) bestand.



Bitte vollständig ausgefüllt zurücksenden an Price-Guard AG, Im Ebenfeld 3, 94513 Schönberg



_______ ______________________ , _________________

Ort, Datum (Firmenstempel)



_________________________________________ __________________________________
(Unterschrift) (Name in Klarschrift)






More time passes I hear nothing back so I emailed them again asking what is going on.

They tell me that they have to/have sent the phone for inspection or that they have to/have sent the phone for repair.

I told them that in no uncertain terms will I wait for them to send the phone off for repair as it was faulty out of the box and I would only accept either a full refund or a new phone.

I also asked them if indeed the phone was new and why didn't it have a genuine charger and the rest.

I think I asked them three or four times about that but never got an answer back.

Three days ago I opened a paypal dispute for a refund and Price-Guard declined.

Today I finally get a reply to my questions regarding the condition of the phone etc., etc.





Unfortunately, I have read about this issue. Please excuse my error.
You have a new product ordered from us and also receive. With no new equipment film must be attached to the back. Since there are no more cell phone manufacturers in Germany, the devices are imported from the EU. Since there are other outlets in other Längern, we had to attach the proper cable.







It's a bit gibberish but I think what they are saying is that they indeed sent me a new phone and the reason for the charger well that looks like BS to me.

Now. The Question after all that.

Should I escalate the dispute to a claim? I think I have been more than generous with the time I have given them to do the right thing.

I just fear that it would take even more time and if I loose I will be out of pocket and they already have the phone back.

Also I fear, how would I be able to prove any of it?

I did send the phone back International Express Delivery via An Post, so I do have delivery confirmation(just no one signed for it)

They state in emails that they have it and that indeed the sim tray is broken. And that last email about the rest of it.

I also fear that Price-Guard are blaming me for the damage, yet their explanation for the rest of it is pure gibberish.

Any insight would be more than grateful.



Edit: Mods I hope this is in the right place or should it be in the consumer issues? Also I have a typo in the title it should read this, not htis. Thanks.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

martinsvi

by EU law, if you purchase stuff online you are allowed to change your mind and get a refund within 7 days without any reason whatsoever.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/returning-unwanted-goods/index_en.htm

mad muffin

I have just escalated it to a claim.

Wish me luck...

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mad muffin

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

From the seller? I thought this was out of their hands now and in the lap of the paypal gods?

I just hope it doesn't turn out like the last dispute i had over a phone.

Some 6 years ago I bought a then new Motorola Razr V3XX for €400 from an Italian seller and the box arrived empty.

Seller had a tracking number,even though it was next to useless and it took a month for the empty box to arrive, therefore I lost the claim.

chopsey

the seller will have 20 days to respond to the claim before paypal take over and make the decision.

if they respond and dispute your claim than you will be requested to send more info in which case you can load thm up with all your mails and stuff.

Paypal are usually very fair, make sure and explain everything from the start as you have done here and as much official looking e-mails and reciepts as you can get your hands on.

did you by any chance take pictures of the phone?

mad muffin

chopsey wrote: »

the seller will have 20 days to respond to the claim before paypal take over and make the decision.

if they respond and dispute your claim than you will be requested to send more info in which case you can load thm up with all your mails and stuff.

Paypal are usually very fair, make sure and explain everything from the start as you have done here and as much official looking e-mails and reciepts as you can get your hands on.

did you by any chance take pictures of the phone?

No,no photos.

Who's to say I didn't substitute stuff after I opened the box?

You almost need to do a unboxing video every time you get something from ebay these days

mad muffin

Seller hasn't responded yet :rolleyes:

Is there anyway to accelerate this since they already have the phone back for over three weeks.

They have till the 5th of August to respond. By then it will be a month since they took delivery of my returned phone. :mad:

And then of course you need to factor in paypal taking time to make a decision.

Probably September before I see this money again if at all...

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mad muffin

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I bet the SOB's will wait to respond at the last possible moment :mad:

mad muffin

Got an email from Price-Guard today

Now we have cleared the circumstances.
We will immediately refund the purchase price for you.

Then 35 minutes later I got an email from PayPal


We decided the claim for the following transaction in your favor:

Before we can issue you a refund, we need you to return the item to your
seller.


Note:
- We need your shipping information within 10 days of receiving this email.
If you can't provide the shipping information within this timeframe, you
will not receive a refund.
- If your transaction was $250.00 or more, we require online proof of
delivery from the shipping service in the form of a signature from the
recipient.
- You are responsible for the shipping costs to return the item to the
seller.


After we can confirm your shipping information, we'll issue you a refund by
crediting your PayPal account. Please note that your refund is based on the
PayPal Purchase Protection coverage amount listed on the auction and could
be less than the original transaction amount.




I sent it back via An Post express international delivery. I did it that way because I thought the less time it spent being delivered the better but you don't get a signature at the end just tracking.

I was going to send it registered post but there is no tracking after it leaves Ireland.

I emailed Price-Guard back asking them to let PayPal know I have already returned the phone.

The claim went from awaiting others party's response straight to item return.

I don't know what to do now. Do I wait for Price-Guard to get back to me or give PayPal the tracking number?


Also to make things worse after getting the email from Price-Guard I check my credit card to see if I had indeed been refunded and what did I find but some fraudulent activity to the tune of almost €1000 :mad:

mad muffin

I got the refund, yay!

got an email from paypal saying that I will get back the full amount by 5 working days.

Checked transaction history and the amount has been reversed back to my credit card but when I checked the claim history it said:

Status

After careful consideration, we're unable to decide this claim in your favor at this time.

Somewhat confusing that one?

flutered

paypal are doing the same to me regarding two sale, in the first the seller required £60 or negitave feedback would be left, it was, paypal decided in my favour, they said that the funds would be released, two week and a bit later no dosh, also paypal and ebay are not answering any more email, so two items sold, not returned to me, so i will not recieve the the goods back, ot the money either.