Post by RyRy on Apr 9, 2015 4:03:32 GMT
I'll start of by explaining. I currently own a Nexus 4 (8GB) which I purchased from Google two years ago and it doesn't really have enough phone space for me but the phone is plenty good enough and I don't need to upgrade to a better spec phone, just one with more space.
So I decided to go onto ebay and found a 16GB version from a Hong Kong seller claiming they were brand new working phones, I wouldn't even have cared if they were Google/LG refurbished units.
About 30 days pass and the phone arrives, I open the first bit of packaging and then I see the "Google Nexus" type box which to my surprise was in a manufacturer type cling film seal which my first thought was awesome a brand new Nexus 4 16GB for just £108, perfect.
I open up the box and notice all of the accessories are non-OEM and the bags were all pre-opened as you can see here: (I've commended it) Which is an obvious sign it's not new... so why was it in a manufacter style sealed film & why did the seller say it was brand new....
I decide to checkout the phone and initial thoughts of the phone were pretty good, your average buyer wouldn't notice that it wasn't brand new..
I notice that the phone had a dark spot around the notification LED, which is pointed out in the picture: yet on my legitimate phone it doesn't have this black dot so the screen must be a cheap chinese/hong kong knockoff.
Again, the screen I loaded to in the picture above is the bootloader which your average user will never see, it's what you use to unlock your operating system, root your device, install custom ROMs... etc, now why the hell does a "brand new" phone have an unlocked bootloader: "LOCK STATE: unlocked" this can ONLY mean it was refurbished poorly and they forgot to relock the bootloader OR the operating system been tampered with, obviously I decide to format the device to a fresh operating system to make sure nothing bad happens to me.
There was some separation on all four corners and some obvious color/material difference around the whole plastic bodywork as you can see in the picture: it also had a significant gap between the chrome edging and the plastic bodywork.
As you can see in the next picture below the screen has completely wrong dimensions and DPI values:
It had a filthy what seemed to be rusty headphone jack but whatever it was it came off with a bit of tissue and a hoover
I called up LG and Google to get an IMEI check (a phones unique identifying network number) and they both said the device had been used before, went through some steps over the phone (the things I have already mentioned and done myself before hand) to see if the phone was pre-used or not and they both agreed it was. They also mentioned checking the torx screws at the bottom which if they didn't have a chrome brushed metal appearance to them was a sign the phone had been tampered with because the Chinese and Hong Kong poorly refurbished units replace these screws with some of their own to make them appear new, not scratched and fresh.
The screen was incredibly insensitive and even boosting it with a sensitivity patch did nothing, the screen was beyond crap, the colors were different and eventually the screen died after a single days use.
I decided to open it up at this point to check what was inside and I found that there was actually a missing screw and obvious signs it had been refurbished because the blue battery/wifi antenna tape had been cut, they had put their own "void" type sticker inside and it had a bit of damage to the battery where they had removed the battery before (Nexus 4 batteries are pretty hard to remove because they are glued with tons of adhesive)
I contacted the seller and after giving him lots of proof, including comments from both LG and Google agreeing that it was a poor refurbished unit instead of being new the seller continued to claim it was brand new just "old stock" which was pure lies.
The seller kept trying to push me into a corner saying that I will only get a partial refund if I give him positive feedback or a full refund if I give him positive feedback and return the item.
I had already created a paypal dispute and Paypal had agreed that it was significantly different than it was described so they have put the £108 on hold and as soon as I provide them with a tracking number to send the product back they will release the payment back to me, plus they've covered the shipping because the seller refused to cover it.
I've just wrote a note to go inside the package:
And put the phone in it's originally box, and then put the original bubble wrap and bag back on it as you see: i.imgur.com/hacFMZm.jpg and just to be a little bit annoying to the seller for wasting my time, trying to scam and continiously telling lies I've decided to duct tape it all up into a beautiful little nugget:
So, simply put... FUCK YOU angel-market
Basically, be careful on ebay when buying stuff that is supposed to be "new" and make sure you know your product, pay by paypal and don't give up the sellers, ebay and paypal don't want you to get refunds really because all three parties lose money.
So I decided to go onto ebay and found a 16GB version from a Hong Kong seller claiming they were brand new working phones, I wouldn't even have cared if they were Google/LG refurbished units.
About 30 days pass and the phone arrives, I open the first bit of packaging and then I see the "Google Nexus" type box which to my surprise was in a manufacturer type cling film seal which my first thought was awesome a brand new Nexus 4 16GB for just £108, perfect.
I open up the box and notice all of the accessories are non-OEM and the bags were all pre-opened as you can see here: (I've commended it) Which is an obvious sign it's not new... so why was it in a manufacter style sealed film & why did the seller say it was brand new....
I decide to checkout the phone and initial thoughts of the phone were pretty good, your average buyer wouldn't notice that it wasn't brand new..
I notice that the phone had a dark spot around the notification LED, which is pointed out in the picture: yet on my legitimate phone it doesn't have this black dot so the screen must be a cheap chinese/hong kong knockoff.
Again, the screen I loaded to in the picture above is the bootloader which your average user will never see, it's what you use to unlock your operating system, root your device, install custom ROMs... etc, now why the hell does a "brand new" phone have an unlocked bootloader: "LOCK STATE: unlocked" this can ONLY mean it was refurbished poorly and they forgot to relock the bootloader OR the operating system been tampered with, obviously I decide to format the device to a fresh operating system to make sure nothing bad happens to me.
There was some separation on all four corners and some obvious color/material difference around the whole plastic bodywork as you can see in the picture: it also had a significant gap between the chrome edging and the plastic bodywork.
As you can see in the next picture below the screen has completely wrong dimensions and DPI values:
It had a filthy what seemed to be rusty headphone jack but whatever it was it came off with a bit of tissue and a hoover
I called up LG and Google to get an IMEI check (a phones unique identifying network number) and they both said the device had been used before, went through some steps over the phone (the things I have already mentioned and done myself before hand) to see if the phone was pre-used or not and they both agreed it was. They also mentioned checking the torx screws at the bottom which if they didn't have a chrome brushed metal appearance to them was a sign the phone had been tampered with because the Chinese and Hong Kong poorly refurbished units replace these screws with some of their own to make them appear new, not scratched and fresh.
The screen was incredibly insensitive and even boosting it with a sensitivity patch did nothing, the screen was beyond crap, the colors were different and eventually the screen died after a single days use.
I decided to open it up at this point to check what was inside and I found that there was actually a missing screw and obvious signs it had been refurbished because the blue battery/wifi antenna tape had been cut, they had put their own "void" type sticker inside and it had a bit of damage to the battery where they had removed the battery before (Nexus 4 batteries are pretty hard to remove because they are glued with tons of adhesive)
I contacted the seller and after giving him lots of proof, including comments from both LG and Google agreeing that it was a poor refurbished unit instead of being new the seller continued to claim it was brand new just "old stock" which was pure lies.
The seller kept trying to push me into a corner saying that I will only get a partial refund if I give him positive feedback or a full refund if I give him positive feedback and return the item.
I had already created a paypal dispute and Paypal had agreed that it was significantly different than it was described so they have put the £108 on hold and as soon as I provide them with a tracking number to send the product back they will release the payment back to me, plus they've covered the shipping because the seller refused to cover it.
I've just wrote a note to go inside the package:
And put the phone in it's originally box, and then put the original bubble wrap and bag back on it as you see: i.imgur.com/hacFMZm.jpg and just to be a little bit annoying to the seller for wasting my time, trying to scam and continiously telling lies I've decided to duct tape it all up into a beautiful little nugget:
So, simply put... FUCK YOU angel-market
Basically, be careful on ebay when buying stuff that is supposed to be "new" and make sure you know your product, pay by paypal and don't give up the sellers, ebay and paypal don't want you to get refunds really because all three parties lose money.