Possible Scam from buyer

lordt78 · #1 02-14-2011

I sold my iPhone to this Nigerian name for $310. he sent me a note right away saying he wanted a refund if the phone wasn't how I described it in the auction. I knew he could be trouble after I saw that message about possibly wanting a refund. I normally give my buyers a positive review right after they pay but I had a bad feeling this one. Seriously, if he emailed me before I would have told me to stay away from my auction.
He subsequently emailed me to say he wanted a refund because the item was slow booting up and there was an App store login he was not familiar with. Well two things:
1) iPhones and iPod users know that these device do take a bit of time to bootup and shutdown, that's why people don't power down their devices. I send him a link to a forum where people had discussions about that.

2) App Store login = iTune login! I told him that but he wouldn't listen.

He sent me an email back saying he has an iphone and it's not like that an dI'm not being reasonable. Well, if he really has an iphone, he would know to put his own itune login in!

I gave him free shipping that cost me almost $10 including signature confirmation to make sure it got to you safely. Check out other iPhone auctions and see how many people give free shipping! He mentioned he was a "reputable buyer". Well... I did not get 35 100% positive reviews here for ripping people off!!

I'm so angry right now that I'm sure what to do. He already paid thru paypal and payment is still pending. I think he's trying to report me to paypal and get his money returned to him. This buyer has 62 postive feedback as a buyer but he's trying me out

stevesokol21 · #2 02-14-2011

tell him to send the phone back in its original condition and the refund will follow immediately. thats what i would do.

Melissa1971 · #3 02-14-2011

Remember to add him to your blocked list.
I am sorry this is happening to you

dibley69 · #4 02-14-2011

I had a few buyers like this in Germany, all i would do is get him to return the phone and refund upon your receipt after making sure the phone is in the same condition as you sent it.

GreenBean · #5 02-14-2011

@dibley69, so the buyers returned the goodies to Monaco or Thailand ( where you really are). Wondering, like

Flag is to be for country of registration, not where you might go to the casinos

lordt78 · #6 02-14-2011

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. I going to ask him to sent back the phone in its original state too and issue him the refund right afterward. What a pain. My auction clearly state "no refund accepted" but I guess I should get just go thru with it. I'll keep you posted.

rsot · #7 02-14-2011

For future reference, even if your auction says No Refund Accepted that will not hold water with eb ay or pa yp al =(

bork_bork · #8 02-14-2011

Last time I heard from a Nigerian he was a prince offering me $ all I had to do was give him my banking info!

veggiegymrat · #9 02-15-2011

Payment is still pending yet you sent him the phone already??? So the payment never cleared and you mailed it anyway?

lordt78 · #10 02-15-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by veggiegymrat

Payment is still pending yet you sent him the phone already??? So the payment never cleared and you mailed it anyway?

Aren't you familiar with the rule? YOu have to mail the item as soon as payment is made, whether cleared or not.

**SaiJin** · #11 02-15-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordt78

Aren't you familiar with the rule? YOu have to mail the item as soon as payment is made, whether cleared or not.

Aren't YOU familiar with the rule? PP advises people NOT to send the item when payment is NOT yet cleared.

veggiegymrat · #12 02-15-2011

Okay you need to clarify on if you are on the 21 day hold with Paypal. If that is the case, then yes you send the product. If it's not and the buyer sent an uncleared echeck, then you're screwed.

DreamerInTheClouds · #13 02-15-2011

Well hello don't sell to nigeria

motorfinger · #14 02-15-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamerInTheClouds

Well hello don't sell to nigeria

Agree, too much trouble selling to Nigeria
Just be careful, almost all scam from there

lordt78: please keep update the progress and do you mind sharing this buyer ebay id for my block list?

lordt78 · #15 02-15-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by veggiegymrat

Okay you need to clarify on if you are on the 21 day hold with Paypal. If that is the case, then yes you send the product. If it's not and the buyer sent an uncleared echeck, then you're screwed.

It seems like I'm on a 14 day rule. Paypal advised me to ship it. I'm not an idiot. lol

Quote:

The money for this payment is being temporarily held in your pending balance. It will be held for up to 14 days. While it's being held, it won't be available for withdrawal.

We'll move the money to your available balance after 14 days as long as your buyer hasn't reported a problem. It may be available sooner if we can confirm that the item was delivered or, if this is an eBay item, your buyer leaves positive feedback.

To get access to this money more quickly, please process this order right away and openly communicate with your customer.

lordt78 · #16 02-15-2011

Correction: This guy is from the U.S. He has an African name so I assumed it was Nigerian because of all the Nigerian scammers online. The truth is I don't know what he is.

Well, he hasn't replied to my last email asking him to mail back the device. It's been 2 days. I wonder what he's up to.

vigilantex69 · #17 02-15-2011

Who cares what hes up to, wait it out. I just had a guy mail back an item of mine DESTROYED missing a ridiculous amount of parts! He fished through it and took what he needed and sent back the broken rest of it. Problem is he didn't get a tracking number for the return he sent. I am not going to issue him a refund and I could care less if he leaves me negative feedback. I'm going to try my best to stick it to him.

lordt78 · #18 02-15-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by vigilantex69

Who cares what hes up to, wait it out. I just had a guy mail back an item of mine DESTROYED missing a ridiculous amount of parts! He fished through it and took what he needed and sent back the broken rest of it. Problem is he didn't get a tracking number for the return he sent. I am not going to issue him a refund and I could care less if he leaves me negative feedback. I'm going to try my best to stick it to him.

SOrry that happened to you. That sucks. SOme people are just a pain to deal with. Question, was his payment cleared after he sent back the item? That is if you were using paypal.

cardfelon · #19 02-17-2011

Why would you ever sell to somebody from Nigeria?

cherrqell · #20 02-17-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevesokol21

tell him to send the phone back in its original condition and the refund will follow immediately. thats what i would do.

I hope you copied the S/N of the phone. Some of these scammers will take your phone, and pull a switcharoo, and send back another, perhaps phoney item in its place.

When I sold ipods/itouch, I always wrote on the packing slip the serial number so they knew I had a record of it, I also sent the serial number in the tracking email i sent, plus I would take a picture of the item with the serial number clearly showing, and send that along too. They would then think twice about pulling something. Never had a problem.

lostsub · #21 02-17-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordt78

I sold my iPhone to this Nigerian

The words "iPhone" and "Nigerian" in the same sentence regarding an Ebay sale means trouble. Almost never a happy ending.

GreenBean · #22 02-17-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardfelon

Why would you ever sell to somebody from Nigeria?

No, the OP said a Nigerian name.... not that the user was there or in fact Nigerian. The nationality of the buyer may well have been an assumption.
Bottom line is it's a buyer sounding strange....