iPhone 5s screen issues

[sand_man]

Vodacom or any other Authorised Apple dealers do not sell second hand iPhones.

Yeah, one would think so.

My business partner got a "new" iPhone 5 from Nashua Mobile a couple of years back. He's had issues with it from day one and I've always mocked him that he got a dud!!

Then Apple announced their battery replacement plan for phones manufactured in a certain period and I told him to check online if he qualifies for the battery replacement. He had been experiencing SHOCKING battery life on his 'dud' basically from day one.

The online check stated that his battery had already been replaced!!!!

He hasn't taken it further cause he's apathetic that way but I find it some what shocking that he had potentially been sold a refurb and/or repaired 2nd hand handset...

 

[dudesweet]

Was in the apathetic corner till a few minutes ago...haha.
Vodacom might be able to help/fix this if it's their issue - but it's unwise for me to make it mine.
So gonna send it back.
Postman Pot - you should have just given me the Cliff's Notes version of your explanation

 

[PostmanPot]

Was in the apathetic corner till a few minutes ago...haha.
Vodacom might be able to help/fix this if it's their issue - but it's unwise for me to make it mine.
So gonna send it back.
Postman Pot - you should have just given me the Cliff's Notes version of your explanation

Indeed.

Don't even waste your time. Return the phone and get your money back. Buy another one.

 

[ahoudet]

Let us know how the seller reacts...

 

[dudesweet]

Will do. He hasn't responded on my mail. Will call him tonight if he doesn't get back to me.

 

[dudesweet]

Called - he said he hadn't seen my mail and that he's away on vacation at the moment.
Think I'll be able to gauge things by tomorrow morning.
From a risk perspective - do you guys rate it's a gamble sending this phone back to him before getting my cash back (I know naturally someone has to take the risk on since we're not in the same city). Would suck to have paid him for the phone and then sent it back all for naught.

 

[weelzSA]

Called - he said he hadn't seen my mail and that he's away on vacation at the moment.
Think I'll be able to gauge things by tomorrow morning.
From a risk perspective - do you guys rate it's a gamble sending this phone back to him before getting my cash back (I know naturally someone has to take the risk on since we're not in the same city). Would suck to have paid him for the phone and then sent it back all for naught.

Do you have a link to the buyer on BoB or a link the the actual item? Maybe someone here has dealt with the user before?

 

[dudesweet]

I'm a bit hesitant to - you see I'm trying to be as diplomatic as possible with this coz if I do start explicitly calling him a liar I'm pretty sure that will be the end of actually getting his cooperation in cancelling the whole thing.
Added to the fact that his user name sorta gives his name too - concerned it might turn into a libel issue as well.

He's not rated poorly (89.25% "positive") - not stellar, but not terrible.
Only one actual "negative" rating back in 2012, and the claim there is that the buyer didn't receive the phone after 2 months.
All his "positive" ratings have been glowing, though.
2 "neutrals", one of them mine after I realised the screen had issues

Mailed him this morning and CC'ed BoB with a summary of what's gone down along with all our email correspondence. If I don't hear back from him in 3 days then I'll let BoB handle the matter.

Edit: And asked BoB to act as an intermediary for bank transfers so that I don't need to go out on a limb and send the phone without any guarantee of a refund.

 

[Spizz]

I'm a bit hesitant to - you see I'm trying to be as diplomatic as possible with this coz if I do start explicitly calling him a liar I'm pretty sure that will be the end of actually getting his cooperation in cancelling the whole thing.
Added to the fact that his user name sorta gives his name too - concerned it might turn into a libel issue as well.

He's not rated poorly (89.25% "positive") - not stellar, but not terrible.
Only one actual "negative" rating back in 2012, and the claim there is that the buyer didn't receive the phone after 2 months.
All his "positive" ratings have been glowing, though.
2 "neutrals", one of them mine after I realised the screen had issues

Mailed him this morning and CC'ed BoB with a summary of what's gone down along with all our email correspondence. If I don't hear back from him in 3 days then I'll let BoB handle the matter.

Edit: And asked BoB to act as an intermediary for bank transfers so that I don't need to go out on a limb and send the phone without any guarantee of a refund.

Good luck

 

[dudesweet]

And BoB refused to be an intermediary. They said the seller needs to send the money directly into my account after I've sent the phone back to him. Mailed them back to ask for them to make an exception or at least provide a more reasonable suggestion. (It would be such a basic process on their side and yet it would add so much security to their platform (and thus business value for them) if they just made this possible).
Called this afternoon again and he didn't pick up.
(He technically didn't pick up yesterday...a female answered his phone and then handed it to him...)
My creeping suspicions are creeping...

 

[PostmanPot]

And BoB refused to be an intermediary. They said the seller needs to send the money directly into my account after I've sent the phone back to him. Mailed them back to ask for them to make an exception or at least provide a more reasonable suggestion. (It would be such a basic process on their side and yet it would add so much security to their platform (and thus business value for them) if they just made this possible).
Called this afternoon again and he didn't pick up.
(He technically didn't pick up yesterday...a female answered his phone and then handed it to him...)
My creeping suspicions are creeping...

Unless the R5,000 means life or death, I would bite the bullet and send it back. You have a paper trail of everything if things get worse.

Also, if the seller was a con, he could have not even shipped to you in the beginning.

 

[dudesweet]

Thanks for the advice everyone.
I'm going to wait for him to respond - I've chased up with him enough, so I think he needs to show some initiative. Definitely not going to send the phone back as long as he remains unreachable.
Will post back as things develop.

Also, if the seller was a con, he could have not even shipped to you in the beginning.

He lost the benefit of the doubt when he shipped a phone with a bad replacement screen...
Either way though, I do agree with your view in the main.

 

[weelzSA]

Thanks for the advice everyone.
I'm going to wait for him to respond - I've chased up with him enough, so I think he needs to show some initiative. Definitely not going to send the phone back as long as he remains unreachable.
Will post back as things develop.


He lost the benefit of the doubt when he shipped a phone with a bad replacement screen...
Either way though, I do agree with your view in the main.

So maybe give us the link to the BoB sale now? Someone here might be able to help out!

 

[dudesweet]

Took the phone in to Vodacom this afternoon.
They say it's still under warranty and have agreed to look at it to see what's up.
Should have feedback from them in 7-14 working days, as it needs to be sent up to Jozi for assessment.
My hope is that either
1) They show the screen was replaced and thus that leaves the seller with no foot to stand on to argue to the contrary
2) They do find it to be a manufacturing fault and replace it as appropriate

I'll sit tight on sharing the auction details for now until I've got an actual technical report from them.
I'll consider it free game once it's out if it points to seller misconduct.

 

[fxit_man]

Good luck. Unfortunate situation :/

 

[dudesweet]

Vodacom has exchanged the unit.
Should have the phone and the damage report by the weekend.
Will post back once I've got them back!

 

[dudesweet]

Picked up phone this afternoon.
Damage report is fairly non-descript to be honest. It just states the issue as per the initial job card when I took it in and then says it is replaced under warranty.

So basically - it's unlikely the seller did have the screen replaced. However given the fact that the phone was replaced, it's certain that there was something wrong with it. Just what exactly remains a mystery.

So while I won't reveal the seller's name, I do feel comfortable posting our email exchange.
[Decided to take it down]
Tried to be very polite but feel there was a little bit of negativity around the whole thing.

And a question for sellers and buyers on BoB. What would you do in a situation like this?

 

[sand_man]

Fantastic that you got a replacement!!! That's pretty awesome!!

Seller being a bit of a douche! If he's had every iPhone since the 3 then he would recognize a dud 5s? Surely? There was clearly something very wrong with that phone for Vodacom to replace it! What it was remains a mystery!

I think you may have mentioned it earlier in this thread but how many deals has this seller done on BoB and what is his rating?

That sort of attitude from him would get him at best a neutral rating from me. Problem is he will probably give you a neutral or negative rating in return. Called a revenge rating and the BoB admins can actually over turn a revenge rating if they deem it to be so.

 

[Spizz]

Picked up phone this afternoon.
Damage report is fairly non-descript to be honest. It just states the issue as per the initial job card when I took it in and then says it is replaced under warranty.

So basically - it's unlikely the seller did have the screen replaced. However given the fact that the phone was replaced, it's certain that there was something wrong with it. Just what exactly is remains a mystery.

So while I won't reveal the seller's name, i do feel comfortable posting our email exchange.
Tried to be very polite but feel there was a little bit of negativity around the whole thing.

And a question for sellers and buyers on BoB. What would you do in a situation like this?


View attachment 166431

edit: K, just checked and the attachment is virtually unreadable. So added Dropbox link to higher res version.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltofi172ufy9w4u/Email%20exchange.png?dl=0

Awesome that you got it changed. Well done to VC, credit where it is due.

Did they give you a new unit or a refurb

 

[dudesweet]

Hey dudes,

@Spizz - can't tell. No scratches or damage on the frame, so I would say it's probably a new one. (How would I be able to tell?)

@sand_man
He has a rating of 89.58% - he's sold 54 items so far.
Was livid this afternoon when he responded.
And I also feel the exact same way regarding the strangeness of not noticing that the screen wasn't ok...
Honestly, I do think he could have been a bit more mature about things, but I guess if he really didn't know it was messed up, then getting a bad rating from a buyer would have shocked him. So trying to put myself in his shoes.

I changed the rating in the end to "positive". Partly because I don't want a revenge rating from him - when I sell, I am pretty meticulous with descriptions and accuracy. Also because in the end, the issue was resolved (perhaps not with much help from him).
Kinda getting a water under the bridge vibe...