Deliberately evading questions to avoid disclosing issues?

[pimlico*rose]

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.

[hus2385]

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@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.

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INAD: Item Not As Described 

[4green2000]

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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...

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[*tippy*toes*]

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@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...

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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.

Spoiler

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

[springyzone]

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@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.

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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.

[brerrabbit585]

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.