topic Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues? in Buying

Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

pimlico*rose — Mon, 08 May 2017 07:26:17 GMT

I am looking for an iphone. I have emailed some that I'm interested in, asking questions such as:

- has it ever had water damage

- has it ever been repaired or had a screen replaced?

I ask because I want to be informed. I have noticed that some sellers do not respond to such questions. I am talking 3 days later. Is it because they can't then be held accountable for what information they give? Is it to avoid disclosing the truth?

Either way, I won't buy from them, but further, it puts me off buying from ebay full stop. I feel as if it is creating a safe harbour for some sellers to deliberately mislead people about their item. But of course they can't be called on it, because they are 'not answering'.

Is there a way to report such sellers, who seem to do this? I am starting to think I need to email a basic question first, such as "what is the IMEI", which will garner a response, to know they are getting emails. Then, I can go to the real questions.

It saddens me that I have to go this effort, and that ebay does allow sellers to avoid answering questions, in order to not honestly disclose the condition of the phone they are selling.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 May 2017 07:47:59 GMT

As far as I am aware, no, there is no 'rule' that states sellers must answer messages

Not all sellers log on to ebay every day, and recently there have been a number of people not getting email notifications via ebay that they have messages (there are a few threads about this on the boards)

In any case, iPhones and the like are not the sort of thing I would buy off an ebay seller anyway, no matter how many questions they answer. The 'warrenty' (if any) is not worth the paper it is written on unless buying through an authorised sller of the brand, there is no way to be 100% sure it is genuine and they seem to be a big 'dropshop' item so may not even comply to Australian standards etc

Far better to buy this sort of thing from a b&m store where you have far more protection if there is something wrong/goes wrong

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 08 May 2017 07:57:23 GMT

eBay is great but NOT for phones and electronic goods.

eBay cannot force sellers to obey rules even if there were such.

eBay is only an advertising medium similar to a newspaper marrying up sellers and buyers.

We don't expect The Age to disallow advertisers if they don't take your call on a classified listing.

Many people think eBay is the company you buy off, but is more like an automated electronic classified newspaper.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

hus2385 — Mon, 08 May 2017 14:22:19 GMT

I agree in general, enigma, 'however I have bought a couple of secondhand phones (not iphones lol) and new mp3 players on eay, but always from local sellers (online storefronts for the new items) and always from sellers with either 100% feedback, or very close to it.

Agreed it was still a risk, but a calculated one - and not for the sort of prices new iphones go for. If you are going to risk it, try locally and from a store which also has a b&m presence, for preference.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

davidc4430 — Mon, 08 May 2017 23:13:07 GMT

IF you must buy an iphone on ebay, only do it from a seller that allows you to go see the phone in person.

otherwise we will most likely see you back here saying 'ive been ripped off'

iphones are one of the biggest problem items sold on ebay.

a high proportion of old phones sold on ebay are being listed to get rid of faulty phones. no matter how great the description.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

letscleanupmycupboards — Tue, 09 May 2017 01:53:05 GMT

And furthermore I think it's a bit unfair to basically expect a seller to offer what equates to a 6 month warranty (that's essentially what it is when buyers can call INAD and get a refund) for a used phone. I won't sell anything like that on eBay for that reason. Used electronics can fail. For no apparent reason. However the way things seem to be these days it's not hard to spin a "it's used and it just died" into a "a seller sold me a stuffed phone".

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

springyzone — Tue, 09 May 2017 01:58:13 GMT

@pimlico*rose wrote:
I am looking for an iphone. I have emailed some that I'm interested in, asking questions such as:

- has it ever had water damage
- has it ever been repaired or had a screen replaced?

I ask because I want to be informed. I have noticed that some sellers do not respond to such questions. I am talking 3 days later. Is it because they can't then be held accountable for what information they give? Is it to avoid disclosing the truth?

Either way, I won't buy from them, but further, it puts me off buying from ebay full stop. I feel as if it is creating a safe harbour for some sellers to deliberately mislead people about their item. But of course they can't be called on it, because they are 'not answering'.

Is there a way to report such sellers, who seem to do this? I am starting to think I need to email a basic question first, such as "what is the IMEI", which will garner a response, to know they are getting emails. Then, I can go to the real questions.

It saddens me that I have to go this effort, and that ebay does allow sellers to avoid answering questions, in order to not honestly disclose the condition of the phone they are selling.

Don't do it to yourself, buy elsewhere.

Bad, bad idea to buy phones and such on ebay (on the whole-although obviously some people will have good experiences)

And no answers to messages? red alarm bells should ring.

Just buy elsewhere.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

pimlico*rose — Wed, 17 May 2017 01:46:54 GMT

Thank you, apologies for my delayed response. Until I got an email from ebay 'is your question answered', I thought there were no responses! I had not, until now, been able to find where to select to get emails when responses were made.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

pimlico*rose — Wed, 17 May 2017 01:49:14 GMT

I agree with that sentiment, buyers do exploit returns. Not sure what INAD is, but I get the gist of what you are saying.

I think, unless it is someone who I can see history of, and 100% feedback, I'd be less inclined to buy an iphone from ebay. Yep, things do go wrong, I get that, but it's more the deliberate evasion of 'has it ever been water-damaged' that concerns me.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

pimlico*rose — Wed, 17 May 2017 01:50:28 GMT

Thanks everyone for responses. When I posted, I could not find where to subscribe to email alerts for responses. It did my head in!

Anyhoo, I won't be buying an iphone from ebay from anyone who doesn't respond, or doesn't have 100% feedback, and possibly still not then...

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

hus2385 — Wed, 17 May 2017 02:10:48 GMT

@pimlico*rose wrote:
I agree with that sentiment, buyers do exploit returns. Not sure what INAD is, but I get the gist of what you are saying.

I think, unless it is someone who I can see history of, and 100% feedback, I'd be less inclined to buy an iphone from ebay. Yep, things do go wrong, I get that, but it's more the deliberate evasion of 'has it ever been water-damaged' that concerns me.

INAD: Item Not As Described

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

4green2000 — Wed, 17 May 2017 17:18:08 GMT

pimlico*rose wrote:

Is there a way to report such sellers, who seem to do this?
gee thats harsh to say about a seller just because they didnt answer your question dont you think ?
wow, what an attitude..
BBL...

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

*tippy*toes* — Sat, 20 May 2017 02:10:31 GMT

@pimlico*rose wrote:
Thanks everyone for responses. When I posted, I could not find where to subscribe to email alerts for responses. It did my head in!

Anyhoo, I won't be buying an iphone from ebay from anyone who doesn't respond, or doesn't have 100% feedback, and possibly still not then...

Did you not take the advice of any of the members here when they said NOT to buy a phone from anyone on eBay? I'll count the days until you are back saying you were ripped off. All you will get from members then is "I told you so".

As for getting email messages about replies, it's right there in bold writing when you compose or reply to a message.

Subsctiptions

email me when someone replies.

Tick that box. You can't miss it.

DON'T BUY A PHONE OFF EBAY, REGARDLESS OF THE FEEDBACK. Yes, I meant to yell at you.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

springyzone — Sat, 20 May 2017 09:41:33 GMT

@pimlico*rose wrote:
I agree with that sentiment, buyers do exploit returns. Not sure what INAD is, but I get the gist of what you are saying.

I think, unless it is someone who I can see history of, and 100% feedback, I'd be less inclined to buy an iphone from ebay. Yep, things do go wrong, I get that, but it's more the deliberate evasion of 'has it ever been water-damaged' that concerns me.

Personally, I wouldn't buy an iphone on ebay, full stop.

But in regards to evasion or deliberately ignoring part of a question-if you are worried about aspects of a deal for ANY item on ebay and a seller doesn't answer a direct query-don't buy.

Re: Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

brerrabbit585 — Sat, 20 May 2017 13:35:20 GMT

I'm sure the scammers will be most helpful in their replies, even if they tell a pack of lies.

I used to feel obliged to answer all questions but these days I'm starting to ignore the people that ask particular types of questions and in a particular way. Maybe you ask your questions in such a way that gets the sellers' backs up so they ignore you, or they think there's not much chance of you buying anyway so they don't waste their time answering.