My iPhone eBay/PayPal saga
Back in mid-January, I sold my 1st gen 4GB iPhone and three cases on eBay. I advertised it as Jailbreaked (able to install third-party apps) and Unlocked (able to use off AT&T network). I had owned the iPhone since Oct ‘07 and had it Jailbreaked pretty much the whole time, but always on the AT&T network.
Before shipping it off to the winning bidder, I applied the Jailbreak/Unlock program again (after wiping all my personal info off the phone) and removed my AT&T SIM.
A couple days later, I got a voicemail from the buyer saying he couldn’t get it to work on the T-Mobile network. By the time I had called him back, he had reapplied the Jailbreak/Unlock program and had it on the T-Mobile network. Positive feedbacks were left by both of us and I thought I was done.
Last week I got an email from PayPal (through which the transaction was handled) stating the buyer of the iPhone was disputing the item. The buyer stated the iPhone “wasn’t as described” and that the bottom part of the screen wasn’t working. He said he had taken the iPhone to an Apple store and they wanted $200 to fix/replace the iPhone.
PayPal investigated and asked for any supporting evidence from me. I thought it was an open and shut case and clearly told them that the iPhone worked 100% for me before I sent it, and the eBay auction was clearly listed as “used” and I sold the iPhone “as-is”.
PayPal didn’t see it that way and found in the buyer’s favor. So I called and complained to PayPal and they told me there was nothing I could do but wait for the buyer to send back the iPhone and entire contents of the auction. They offered some hope by stating that many times buyers won’t bother sending the item back. He had until Feb 28 to send PayPal a tracking number.
I just received an email from PayPal with a tracking number. Now my only course of action is to hope that the contents of the box aren’t exactly what I sent and/or that the iPhone works fine. If either of those are the case, I can dispute the claim through PayPal and maybe get the decision overturned.
Whatever the outcome of the case, I’m through with PayPal. I’ve never been treated so poorly by a company and given so few options. I’m upset that they violated their own terms of service agreement (by stating the item was not as claimed, but I clearly claimed it used and “as-is”). I will never do business with PayPal/eBay again and urge people not to use them either. They’ve grown too big to care or properly research cases, and eBay has turned into a giant flea market of “stores” rather than individual sellers.
So in my book, eBay, PayPal, and the douchebag from Philly can piss off.
