I purchased an iPhone from a seller that is selling stolen iPhone's. Police now have the iPhone.

[bunypip]

I have a Police Report Number and a receipt for handing it in to the Police.

Apparently all the iPhones the seller had on eBay were stolen and part of an existing investigation and the Police were contacting other buyers of iPhones from this seller.

The only option Ebay provided was communicating with the seller!

I did this and they suprisingly responded denying that the phone was stolen and said even if it is it's not their concern.

I expected eBay to monitor the emails but it only gives me two options, close the issue or keep corresponding with the seller!

[kopenhagen5]

I would be opening a case for INAD if you haven't and call eBay if you are instructed to return the item.

Once eBay are aware it's stolen and provided with a copy of the police report, similarly with fake goods you shouldn't be required to return it for a refund.

[rbt327]

I’ve just went through the same thing opening a case against the seller after sending emails back and forth to the seller and then finally eBay got involved only to favour the seller even though the phone was listed as new and it wasn’t as it comes up it was owned by another person make me think the item was stolen but eBay still favours the seller even when I made a formal complaint they still favour the seller with no explanation on how the decision was made. What was your sellers name 

[countessalmirena]

rb327, unfortunately the seller's name can't be posted here; if it is posted, the moderators will remove it from the post.

With regard to your phone - that's decidedly an odd outcome. Did you actually open a dispute on eBay citing the phone not being new although having been listed as new? If so, how long ago was it?

If you post some of the relevant information here (I don't mean any private/personal information - just pertinent information about how long after your purchase you noticed that the phone wasn't new, any steps you took to check this, what sort of claim you opened, how long it took, what sort of thing you said in the claim, whether there was a time when eBay said to you to return the phone to the seller for a full refund, etc.), possibly the various eBay members who read and post here may have some suggestions for you in seeking a better outcome.

[countessalmirena]

@bunypip,

That's not a satisfactory result at all!

Have you opened an eBay dispute? How long ago was this purchase? You may need to contact PayPal if you've had no luck with eBay... but...

... If I were you, I'd immediately get in touch with eBay. Take notes - detailed notes - about what is said. Explain that you are taking notes. Don't phone eBay - instead use eBay's "Have us call you" option - by far the best way to get in touch with eBay. (Emails are useless, for a number of reasons, but primarily because the responses, when they are finally sent, are bot-generated.)

eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.

We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.

Have the police report handy. Make sure you're very, very polite. State your case simply - you want a full refund on the basis of the phone having been stolen. Your evidence that it was stolen is in the police report, so tell the rep that you're happy to either scan the report and send it by email to them, or you would be happy to fax a copy to them. Have the phone number and name of the investigating officer responsible to hand, and give that to the rep, saying that the police will be happy to confirm that the phone was handed in and was stolen.

You can also record the call with an external recording device (phone would be on speaker, of course), but right at the start, say to the rep, "I will be recording this phone call for clarification purposes, is that okay?" Make sure you record the consent. If the rep does not agree, then say you'll be noting that permission was denied for the call to be recorded, and instead you will be taking notes throughout the conversation instead. Then of course turn off the recording device.

Note name of rep, time and date of call, in addition to noting the substance of the call, and finish by summarising what's been covered, so that the rep agrees in response to your short points at the end.

You: "To sum up, then, I have informed you of the police report about the phone being stolen, is that correct?"

CS: "Yes" (or words to that effect).

You: "On behalf of eBay, you have agreed to reimburse me the full cost of the phone and its postage within [x amount of time]; can I get you to confirm that?"

CS: "Yes" (or words to that effect).

etc.

I wish you the very best of luck with this, bunyip.