Financial lock on phone after 30 days of buying. Return rejected.

[jhusen]

Hi there,

I have been an eBay Australia user for over 5 years. I bought a used Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra on Nov 21 (for about $500). I have had it as a back up phone. I used the phone 2 weeks ago and upgraded it to One UI6. After a restart the phone is showing a blocking message from a financial institution. Nothing in the phone is usable. I contacted the seller immediately and they didn't even respond back to me. I raised a return request and it was rejected with a note that I did something to the phone after buying it. They were able to use the phone just fine since Apr 2023 after it was gifted to them by their relative.

To get more detailed evidence, I emailed the financial company based in Australia on the contact as displayed in the message. They responded back informing me that the phone was rented out and they own the phone and at the time of the sales (Nov 21), the phone was sold to me illegally. They asked me to contact the seller for a return and refund and that they cannot unlock the phone. I contacted the seller again with all of this information and was completely ignored.

I contacted eBay support who initially said they cannot force a return or refund as this is beyond the 30 days money back guarantee but they will check with seller if they can reconsider to issue a refund. I recently followed up and provided the financial institution email evidence (along with screenshot of the IMEI number from order description photo and the same IMEI displayed on the blocking message on the phone). This time eBay support told me that the seller have not responded to them either and have asked me to submit a proof of police complaint even though this was not the recommendation from the financial institution. 

If anyone has prior experience in a similar situation, is it to contact the police the next right step. Would the email from financial institution claiming their right to ownership not sufficient (and eBay is free to contact them directly to confirm this)?

What sort of document or letter is expected to be provided by police in this case?

Should I try contacting fair trade for advice before contacting police?

Thanks in advance for any advice which could guide me in this issue.

[davewil1964]

Simple comments seem to be yours.

You asked a question, you were given the answer that the OP provided in their initial post. Wherein lies the confusion?

[springyzone]

Your problem is you paid over $500 and have a phone that doesn't work.

(Advice for future: Never buy things such as phones on ebay)

Back to your problem: It is beyond the normal 30 day period in which to make an ebay claim & you didn't pay via paypal.

However, ebay support has looked at your documentation so far and they can see you have a valid case, by the sound of it.

Just go to the police station, make a report-take your documentation, ebay details etc.

The police will give you a copy of the report, I would think.

Once you have that report, get back to ebay.

The reason they are asking for this report, I suspect, is just to make double sure this is all genuine. Once they have a copy of the police report, I think ebay may issue you a refund out of their own coffers, even though it is past the usual 30 day period.

Go for it, it sounds like the quickest way to get your money back.

[jhusen]

Make it Mine Finance Pty Ltd

[brickworksmarket]

A financial company does not ' rent ' you a phone - they supply it as a part of being able to do your job.

This is the comment I am referring to. Just curious as to why they think it is a work phone. Copy and pasting a comment is so easy luckily for you.

[brickworksmarket]

They are a product rental company. 

[brickworksmarket]

No mention of the phone being a work phone the seller would have received as an employee of the financial company mentioned by the OP unless as I asked someone could point it out. 

[domino-710]

And one would assume as such - they would own the products they rent out.

[brickworksmarket]

You can't be serious. Really.

You said 

One does not ' rent ' a company phone.

Who is this ' Financial Institution '. ??

It appears it is a rental company and you rent things like phones from them for $11/week.

[domino-710]

Given - this has now been identified not as a financial institution as first thought - but a company who rents products.

It was only explained - after  being asked ' which financial institution '.

The fact remains - one would assume the phone rented from this company was owned by the company - therefore - if not purchased at the end of the rental agreement - but retained - it still belongs to the company - but has been knowingly sold on.

[jhusen]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. After lodging an incident on NSW Police Community portal (as per suggestion from Police Helpline) and a number of back and forth with eBay customer service providing evidence of police incident report, I was finally provided refund for this purchase in full by eBay. There are definitely some lessons for me in this experience which I will follow in future. Cheers!