Help My Droid X Nightmare

[mafernandes5983]

Buyer beware...

I bought a droid x from a seemingly reputable seller on eBay on August 6th. I tried contacting the guy several times to get the tracking number but he never responded to my messages. A few days after the sale I realized that I had never updated my address on eBay after I had moved so it was shipped to my old address. It was only until 2 days after the box had arrived at my old address that the guy finally got back to me with the shipping information and then responded pretty negatively to my other messages, basically being an a-hole saying that he's got his money but I'm out of luck. It took me 2 weeks but I was just able to locate the item that was in my old apartment and have it shipped to me. After nearly 3 weeks, I just got it today and was all excited until I tried to activate it and they told me that the person who bought it (and the one I bought it from on eBay) never agreed to their terms of service and that I could not activate it until he did. Additionally, if he didn't call them within 30 days, the phone's ESN would be locked and I would be SOL. The only saving grace is that he would be charged full price for the thing. It sucks to have waited so long and worked so hard to get the damn thing here, to have it in my hands, and then not be able to use it. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? I've already tried contacting the guy again and filed a claim on eBay.

 

[prophet of doom]

i doubt there is much you can do... dispute it with ebay and paypal and hope that it goes well.. just curious why did you buy it from a guy on ebay and not in the store?

 

[avaloncourt]

Based on what you're saying, apparently none of this was disclosed at all in the auction.

Did he actually make any statements within the auction text that the phone could be activated or the account was in good standing? I'm concerned that you can't prove what you received is 'materially different' from what you bid on. If he simply said it was a Droid X phone then that's what you got and, by ebay's terms, unless something is stated in the auction that you can grab onto to nail him with you are buying as-is.

You've burned up a lot of time with your address issue. Get a dispute complaint started with ebay even if you aren't likely to win. At least you'll have the process started since it will take a while. The process does work. I filed a non-arrival claim for an item from China and got all my money back even though the seller was trying to drag his feet and give me the runaround.

So, in the end, if he made no statement regarding the ability to activate the phone it is very unlikely you will win a dispute on the auction. I hope it works out but it is looking like the seller knew exactly what he was doing.

Please keep updating us in this thread. I'd like to know how you're coming along. I have been a seller since 2000 and have a >2500 feedback rating. So, it's sad to see someone get shafted.

 

[mafernandes5983]

Thanks for your replies. Yeah, the only thing the description said was " DROID X by motorola . VERIZON phone w/ NO CONTRACT. In box brand new never used. Hottest phone out!" It said nothing about a bad ESN. The guy had a feedback rating of 285 so I thought he was at least somewhat trustworthy. I did send him a message the day I bought it asking for the order number so that I could activate it. He said he didn't have the order number with him but that all I need to do was call *228 and I could activate it without the order number. Luckily he sent this via eBay messages so I have that to go back on. I am 1 year from my NE2 and couldn't stand my Droid Eris anymore but I didn't want to pay full price. Also, when I bought this, Verizon had the X backordered 2 weeks so I figured I'd pay less and get it sooner on eBay. If I had only bought it off Verizon, I would have gotten this damn thing last week. So for now I've sent the guy a message on eBay and by email, I've opened a claim with eBay and talked to a rep who said if he doesn't get back to me by 9/10, the dispute will go in my favor and I'll be refunded my money. Quite frankly, I'm more interested in having a phone that works.

 

[avaloncourt]

That activation message he sent is very good for you. I hope this resolves smoothly for you. If he's well versed in working the system he can make a vague response in their system which will drag things out longer. That's what the Chinese guy attempted to do with me but it didn't work since he couldn't show proof of delivery and the dispute went against him immediately.

Yours is a bit more complex but that message he stupidly sent through their system supports claims of fraud. That's a very good thing.

 

[mafernandes5983]

Yeah, and what also doesn't help is that I'm one stubborn and persistent SOB. I won't stop until I either have all of my money back or my phone is working. I managed to find his home phone number through eBay so I plan on calling him tonight. This is the last time I try to save a few bucks buying something on eBay.

 

[Deleted User]

I believe you will win the dispute....based simply on the language in the auction. The absence of information that the ESN was bad or it could not be activated will help you. I offer this based on my own experience in purchasing a phone on Ebay that lacked important information in the description (listing did not have false info....just left out infortmation that should have been disclosed).

 

[mafernandes5983]

Well it turns out the guy didn't steal the phone. He got back to me first thing this morning, probably because he found out how much extra it would cost him if he didn't. I was able to get the phone activated and I've had it glued to my hands for the last few hours (and I'm sure it'll be that way for several hours more). Thanks to everyone who replied!