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Deal Thread URL: [Wanted] Samsung S10e
Seller: @Giovanni de Carvalho
Buyer: @AndyPants
Description of Bad Deal:
On 30 December Giovanni PM'd me and told me he had a phone for me - he sent me videos of the phone working.
At that time he had no itrader scores so I was cautious - however I saw @huzidada vouched for him in another thread which set me at ease.
I noticed in the photos Giovanni sent me that the box was not that of the phone he was selling - the colours did not match.
I enquired about that and he explained the phone was his brother's and the box got lost so he used another phone's box - he also offered to lower the price because of this.
Giovanni offered to courier the phone to me and then let me pay for it, he lives in Swaziland so face to face was a bit of a hassle - on this condition I had very low risk and was happy to go ahead with the deal.
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His friend brought the phone to my house on 3 December
I checked it - it was in really good condition and I checked that it turned on - all good.
I had to make payment before the courier would leave.
I paid Giovanni by EFT.
--------------
That evening I gave the phone to my wife as a gift and she excitedly proceeded with the setup.
That's when the issues started - the phone would not connect to a cellphone network - we tried both her and my sim cards.
I reached out to @DROID to hear if he might know what the issue is, he checked the IMEI and confirmed the phone is not blacklisted and said he suspects the phone is network locked.
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The next morning I informed Giovanni that the phone is not accepting my sim cards and that Droid recons it's network locked.
Giovanni assured me he did not know that it was network locked.
Droid said he could unlock the phone for R950.
I asked Giovanni if he would refund me R950 so I could send the phone to Droid or if we could undo the deal completely.
He agreed to refund me R950.
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Droid worked with the phone for 3 days - he got it to connect to our networks but through a hell of a workaround - if the phone ever ran out of battery and shut down I would need to connect it to my PC to boot it up correctly again.
Since this phone is for my wife that would not work - what if she ran out of battery because she was in an emergency situation, then she finds an opportunity to charge and boot it but it won't connect to network. This could not work.
Droid reset the phone to stock standard.
-------------
I told Giovanni of the situation and that I would like to send the phone back to get a refund.
He said he is hesitant because Droid might have damaged the phone in some way - this I can understand, but I explained Droid did reset it and he is an absolute expert, if he says the phone is stock - then it's stock.
On 13 December Giovanni said the courier will be collecting the phone from me - he was not sure what day though.
------------
On 15 December I asked about when the courier would come - he said the courier left that same day - he'll find out about ETA
And that is the last I ever heard from Giovanni.
Since then it's been radio silence - he's been ignoring my whatsapps.
*Giovanni had been very good with communication at the start of the deal and was very easy to deal with - I'm really sorry that it had to come to this but with the breakdown in communication I'm left with no other option.
**Droid is not convinced that Giovanni is being honest about not knowing about the phone being network locked - he also pointed out that all the videos and photos Giovanni sent me was with no sim in the phone.
I (perhaps naively) still believe Giovanni did not do this intentionally.
***Even if Giovanni refunds me - I'll still be taking a R950 loss (fees paid to Droid)
Refunding me leaves Giovanni at exactly square 1 where he started - no loss on his part except time.
I feel I did my best to salvage the deal - but in the end the phone is inoperable in SA which makes it useless to me.
TLDR -
Deal went smoothly, good comms, good condition of phone.
Phone ended up not working in SA (phone was sold from Swaziland, network locked)
Seller agreed to take phone back but then ghosted me
Seller: @Giovanni de Carvalho
Buyer: @AndyPants
Description of Bad Deal:
On 30 December Giovanni PM'd me and told me he had a phone for me - he sent me videos of the phone working.
At that time he had no itrader scores so I was cautious - however I saw @huzidada vouched for him in another thread which set me at ease.
I noticed in the photos Giovanni sent me that the box was not that of the phone he was selling - the colours did not match.
I enquired about that and he explained the phone was his brother's and the box got lost so he used another phone's box - he also offered to lower the price because of this.
Giovanni offered to courier the phone to me and then let me pay for it, he lives in Swaziland so face to face was a bit of a hassle - on this condition I had very low risk and was happy to go ahead with the deal.
---------------
His friend brought the phone to my house on 3 December
I checked it - it was in really good condition and I checked that it turned on - all good.
I had to make payment before the courier would leave.
I paid Giovanni by EFT.
--------------
That evening I gave the phone to my wife as a gift and she excitedly proceeded with the setup.
That's when the issues started - the phone would not connect to a cellphone network - we tried both her and my sim cards.
I reached out to @DROID to hear if he might know what the issue is, he checked the IMEI and confirmed the phone is not blacklisted and said he suspects the phone is network locked.
-------------
The next morning I informed Giovanni that the phone is not accepting my sim cards and that Droid recons it's network locked.
Giovanni assured me he did not know that it was network locked.
Droid said he could unlock the phone for R950.
I asked Giovanni if he would refund me R950 so I could send the phone to Droid or if we could undo the deal completely.
He agreed to refund me R950.
-----------
Droid worked with the phone for 3 days - he got it to connect to our networks but through a hell of a workaround - if the phone ever ran out of battery and shut down I would need to connect it to my PC to boot it up correctly again.
Since this phone is for my wife that would not work - what if she ran out of battery because she was in an emergency situation, then she finds an opportunity to charge and boot it but it won't connect to network. This could not work.
Droid reset the phone to stock standard.
-------------
I told Giovanni of the situation and that I would like to send the phone back to get a refund.
He said he is hesitant because Droid might have damaged the phone in some way - this I can understand, but I explained Droid did reset it and he is an absolute expert, if he says the phone is stock - then it's stock.
On 13 December Giovanni said the courier will be collecting the phone from me - he was not sure what day though.
------------
On 15 December I asked about when the courier would come - he said the courier left that same day - he'll find out about ETA
And that is the last I ever heard from Giovanni.
Since then it's been radio silence - he's been ignoring my whatsapps.
*Giovanni had been very good with communication at the start of the deal and was very easy to deal with - I'm really sorry that it had to come to this but with the breakdown in communication I'm left with no other option.
**Droid is not convinced that Giovanni is being honest about not knowing about the phone being network locked - he also pointed out that all the videos and photos Giovanni sent me was with no sim in the phone.
I (perhaps naively) still believe Giovanni did not do this intentionally.
***Even if Giovanni refunds me - I'll still be taking a R950 loss (fees paid to Droid)
Refunding me leaves Giovanni at exactly square 1 where he started - no loss on his part except time.
I feel I did my best to salvage the deal - but in the end the phone is inoperable in SA which makes it useless to me.
TLDR -
Deal went smoothly, good comms, good condition of phone.
Phone ended up not working in SA (phone was sold from Swaziland, network locked)
Seller agreed to take phone back but then ghosted me
