Advice after Swappa purchase

[red_dog007]

Ok, so I bought a V20 off Swappa. 

 

I get the device, go online and the HEX is bad.  I call, wait a little and get told the device is still activated.  The phone still has a sim in it, so I see if it works. Well, it works.  I head to the Sprint Zone app to see if I can get account details.  This guy leases the phone, owes $700 on it still and current payment is past due.  The owner IS the seller so I know it isn't stolen. 

 

So...  I reached out to see what is up.  Going to try to send the phone back because he'll owe several hundred more on it compared to what I paid him.  BUT, I kinda think this guy is dumping and running while taking me money.

 

If this guy ignores me and his bill lapses, goes to claims or whatever, Im out what I bought it for? It is through PayPal so I should be able to get my money back if this guy doesn't respond.

[Arysyn]

Ok, so I bought a V20 off Swappa.

 

I get the device, go online and the HEX is bad. I call, wait a little and get told the device is still activated. The phone still has a sim in it, so I see if it works. Well, it works. I head to the Sprint Zone app to see if I can get account details. This guy leases the phone, owes $700 on it still and current payment is past due. The owner IS the seller so I know it isn't stolen.

 

So... I reached out to see what is up. Going to try to send the phone back because he'll owe several hundred more on it compared to what I paid him. BUT, I kinda think this guy is dumping and running while taking me money.

 

If this guy ignores me and his bill lapses, goes to claims or whatever, Im out what I bought it for? It is through PayPal so I should be able to get my money back if this guy doesn't respond.

My condolences, red_dog007

 

I'm going through a difficult purchasing situation myself, where I bought an in-ear audio earphone, the Ortofon E-Q8 from a merchant in Japan. It was the only online store I could find what was listed as a new item of this particular product, likely since this was the last earphone Ortofon made, and was discontinued a few years ago.

 

I ordered it back in early December and received it rather quuckly, thinking this was a pretty good merchant, who seems to get good reviews on the few audio forums I visit. I open the product, and the instruction manual is missing. Now, normally with most things I buy, an instruction manual isn't really important to me, but with this type of item, it is, since I need to know the proper procedures to cleaning it without damaging it, which is made more of a challenge, due to my disability.

 

I immediately emailed to the merchant upon discovering the instruction manual was missing. He responded by apologizing, saying his assistant had opened the packaging to "inspect" the item, and somehow lost the instruction manual. He said they'd try to find it, then ship it to me when they located it.

 

A few weeks went by I hadn't heard from him, and I emailed to him for an update he didn't respond to. So, I decided to open a dispute on PayPal, which got him to respond, saying he didn't respond to me earlier, due to him having "personal problems". He gave me a tracking number andvtold me to wait a few days to check on it for an accurate report. I decided to wait a few days longer than what he told me, as I figured tracking updates can take longer than that, but even then when I did check on it, nothing official appeared on the tracking site, except to say that the tracking number was invalid.

 

I emailed to him about this and got no response for a few days. It was then I decided sonething wasn't right about this entire situation, and why open up a supposedly new package for item inspection and losing the instruction manual in the process. It began to appear very suspicious to me, and so I decided to escalate the dispute to a claim.

 

After I did this, suddenly he responds angry at me, and somewhat threatening-like in nature told me to drop the claim. I waited a bit and rechecked the tracking number, thinking perhaps if there was just an unordinarily long delay in getting the tracking number listed, I'd go ahead and drop the claim and apologize to the merchant. Well, I checked the tracking number and information finally did appear. However, something was very odd about it. The tracking information read as though something was shipped from one location in Japan to another, as if this guy was trying to trick PayPal into thinking he sent it by giving them tracking information that couldn't be verified but yet show there was something shipped.

 

Anyways, this was a few weeks ago, and I still have not received the instruction manual. It has been much longer waiting for this than it took me to get the earphones from this merchant. In the meantime, PayPal has voted in my favor for a full refund, but since the merchant is unwilling to pay for the return shipping, I have to pay around $30 to the p.o. to have it shipped with tracking. Plus, the merchant is threatening only to give me a partial refund on the item when it ships.

 

The good news, is I've talked with PayPal, which has assured me my purchase is protected for a full refund so long as it ships back to the merchant, which they also assured me they will check with the tracking information. They also have said I could apply for a refund on the shipping up to $30 with their third party arrangement service, but I've got mixed messages from a few of the PayPal representatives if this purchase would qualify.

 

Also, PayPal has put this back into claims for an extension of sorts on my behalf, while they try to negotiate with the seller again. I'm not sure if this might produce a better outcome for me or not, just that its been quite stressful dealing with this very awkward situation.

 

Hopefully red_dog007, you're able to have a good resolution for your case. PayPal generally is good dealing with these cases, so hopefully they'll resolve it well enough for you.

[MacinJosh]

Ok, so I bought a V20 off Swappa.

 

I get the device, go online and the HEX is bad. I call, wait a little and get told the device is still activated. The phone still has a sim in it, so I see if it works. Well, it works. I head to the Sprint Zone app to see if I can get account details. This guy leases the phone, owes $700 on it still and current payment is past due. The owner IS the seller so I know it isn't stolen.

 

So... I reached out to see what is up. Going to try to send the phone back because he'll owe several hundred more on it compared to what I paid him. BUT, I kinda think this guy is dumping and running while taking me money.

 

If this guy ignores me and his bill lapses, goes to claims or whatever, Im out what I bought it for? It is through PayPal so I should be able to get my money back if this guy doesn't respond.

That scares me that Swappa prides themselves on protecting the buyer from things like this and clearly they aren't. I would let them know and both they and PayPal should help you get a full refund.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[red_dog007]

Yeah, in the private seller chat I ticked the box to notify a swappa agent.  So swappa agent said seller must reply.  I don't want to wait too long to perform a paypal refund so I am going to do it probably late tonight after Sprint stores close.   I highly doubt this dude is going to pay the $700+ buyout price on the lease.

 

It's a slick phone though and the B25/26 performance is really blowing the socks off my old 5X.  Hopefully get that back from LG soon.  Otherwise I think I am just going to settle for a Moto G4 Plus. 

 

I have sold on swappa a few times before, first time buying.  Don't think I'll ever do that again.  To know for sure that a device isn't leased anymore, you have to buy something that is like 3 years old.  This might be part of the reason why carriers pushed contracts.  Im sure third party sales have taken a beating with everyone being leased now.

[Arysyn]

Yeah, in the private seller chat I ticked the box to notify a swappa agent. So swappa agent said seller must reply. I don't want to wait too long to perform a paypal refund so I am going to do it probably late tonight after Sprint stores close. I highly doubt this dude is going to pay the $700+ buyout price on the lease.

 

It's a slick phone though and the B25/26 performance is really blowing the socks off my old 5X. Hopefully get that back from LG soon. Otherwise I think I am just going to settle for a Moto G4 Plus.

 

I have sold on swappa a few times before, first time buying. Don't think I'll ever do that again. To know for sure that a device isn't leased anymore, you have to buy something that is like 3 years old. This might be part of the reason why carriers pushed contracts. Im sure third party sales have taken a beating with everyone being leased now.

I'm definitely staying away from sites like that. After what I've gone through and heard from others, such as your situation, I think its better to deal business with a well established company, rather than through an individual.

[red_dog007]

Looking up terms of sale, the ESN is supposed to be clean and it was "verified" clean by Swappa.  That means from Swappa's site

 

"Ready for Activation

Devices listed for sale must be ready for activation on the advertised carrier by a new buyer. Devices cannot be blacklisted, nor reported lost and or stolen. Device cannot be activated on another account at the time of listing."

 

Swappa either didn't actually truely verify this device as ready to go, or the seller gave a different ESN.

[swintec]

you have 180 days with paypal..no reason to rush to do the case escalation.

[Arysyn]

Looking up terms of sale, the ESN is supposed to be clean and it was "verified" clean by Swappa. That means from Swappa's site

 

"Ready for Activation

Devices listed for sale must be ready for activation on the advertised carrier by a new buyer. Devices cannot be blacklisted, nor reported lost and or stolen. Device cannot be activated on another account at the time of listing."

 

Swappa either didn't actually truely verify this device as ready to go, or the seller gave a different ESN.

Are devices on Swappa directly handled from seller to buyer, or are the devices handled by Swappa on behalf of the seller to buyer, similar to Amazon's fulfillment purchasing?

 

I think these online websites that act as an online shopping mall for individual buyers would be better acting more as a department store instead. Take Amazon, forexample. Instead of having massive, non-showroom warehouses, have one giant megastore in each of the major cities, or one each within 200 miles from another, which would contain a showroom with a back area supply warehouse, serving that particular store and service area.

 

Each location would supply the same items, split up by location, which would better serve that area with quicker delivery. Then for individuals selling/swapping their own products, if the seller and the buyer were located near the same store, they could arrange to meet there in the presence of a store's fulfillment representative. If they are not located nearby to each other, they could go to their nearest store to have a "virtual" meetijng, where the stores have an A/V setup for live streaming in the presence of a store's fulfillment representative. Either way, it gives the buyer peace of mind with the added security of the store's staff to help.

 

If neither party wants to go to the store, they could communicate via webcamera conference with a store's fulfillment representative involved in the conference. The payment and shipping will be handled by the store, or the buyer could arrange for store pickup. All items would be inspected to the buyer's request, prior to shipping or handover. No opening boxes/containers of a product without the permission of the buyer.

[red_dog007]

The guy apparently talked to Sprint and got an unlock code.

 

Anyone know what that means?  Told me to tell Customer Service and that it might take 3 days for me to activate the phone. 

 

Im on the phone right now trying to say I have an unlock code, but Im talking to a wall. 

 

edit:

I called Sprint yesterday and today.  Damn, I will say wherever this call center is, the women sound very attractive.  Almost like they are Korean or something.

[Arysyn]

you have 180 days with paypal..no reason to rush to do the case escalation.

Normally, I agree with what you've said here, swintec. However in my case, things were pretty badly messed up trying to communicate with the seller, and was time-sensitive with the earphones I have, which are now having trouble, due to my inability to properly maintain them without the information from the instruction manual I still don't have.

 

I think its important for buyers to notify sellers of whatever needs there are and see if the seller can accommodate those needs, prior to the buyer making the purchase. I also think its a good way for the buyer to test out to see if the buyer is helpful and responsive well enough, before making a decision. I'm going to do this from now on, if I ever need to buy from a merchant that isn't a major business entity.

[Mr.Nuke]

Ok, so I bought a V20 off Swappa. 

 

I get the device, go online and the HEX is bad.

 

If this guy ignores me and his bill lapses, goes to claims or whatever, Im out what I bought it for? It is through PayPal so I should be able to get my money back if this guy doesn't respond.

What does swappa's esn checker show? And no you'll be fine through paypal.

 

Swappa either didn't actually truely verify this device as ready to go, or the seller gave a different ESN.

As part of listing the device for sell there you have to provide an ESN that is clear and comes back to the device model you are trying to sell. That is why I'm a little curious as to what their internal ESN checker shows.

[Mr.Nuke]

Are devices on Swappa directly handled from seller to buyer, or are the devices handled by Swappa on behalf of the seller to buyer, similar to Amazon's fulfillment purchasing?

 

I think these online websites that act as an online shopping mall for individual buyers would be better acting more as a department store instead. Take Amazon, forexample. Instead of having massive, non-showroom warehouses, have one giant megastore in each of the major cities, or one each within 200 miles from another, which would contain a showroom with a back area supply warehouse, serving that particular store and service area.

This is a thread for a member seeking help about rectifying a bad purchase. Lets avoid turning it into a thread about a hypothetical business model. That said Swappa is a market that facilitates peer to peer transactions. Your suggestion requires having a huge amount of inventory, staffing, and other overhead. Something Swappa's business model is set up to deliberately avoid.

[red_dog007]

So the unlock code finally got through.  They said as soon as it comes off the owners account I can activate it.  Sounds sketchy, but hope it works! Don't understand how that works.

 

How do you get an unlock code?  The guy pay the device off in full?

[Arysyn]

This is a thread for a member seeking help about rectifying a bad purchase. Lets avoid turning it into a thread about a hypothetical business model. That said Swappa is a market that facilitates peer to peer transactions. Your suggestion requires having a huge amount of inventory, staffing, and other overhead. Something Swappa's business model is set up to deliberately avoid.

Well, my response was to give an idea that might have helped red_dog007 if my idea were to have been in place, at least in some degree. Not that my idea has to be reality in its entirety, but I believe it could help lean in a better direction for these type of purchases, even small merchant purchases larger than individual transactions.

 

Anyways, while I've heard about Swappa, I wasn't aware exactly what kind of business arrangement it was, prior to this thread. I was just giving my opinion about it and of course, sharing a bit about my experiences with a somewhat similar online shopping transaction. Although, I apologize for being a bit lengthy in detail about it.

 

Anyways, its a good thread, and I hope red_dog007 gets this situation resolved satisfactorily.

[burnout8488]

I've had great luck with Swappa. I always buy from sellers with great pictures, a few past sales (with good reviews), and well-written ads. Hasn't burned me once. It's the sketchy ones with 1-2 photos and terrible descriptions that you need to stay away from.

 

It's a good platform for peer-to-peer sales if you're vigilant, and an awesome place to sell if you can write up a nice ad.

[Joey SR]

With swappa you are always covered with PayPal. No worries. I have an open claim now for a s7 edge which was supposed to be a domestic unlocked. What I received was the international model. He was a first time seller and admitted mistake. Right after I repurchased 2 more s7e mint with box etc which went smoothly.

 

Sent from my SM-G935U using Tapatalk

[Arysyn]

With swappa you are always covered with PayPal. No worries. I have an open claim now for a s7 edge which was supposed to be a domestic unlocked. What I received was the international model. He was a first time seller and admitted mistake. Right after I repurchased 2 more s7e in mine with box etc which went smoothly.

 

Sent from my SM-G935U using Tapatalk

 

Hopefully PayPal keeps supporting the Swappa platform, which they probably will, so long as there are not too many disputes and claims from it, such as what they decided to do regarding Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc.

[red_dog007]

Just got it activated