Trades under name beautifullife*11 on eBay. Sells (amongst other things) mobile phones listed "as new".
We bought 3 apparently new Samsung S5 android phones from this company. They arrived in new boxes, with all the correct protective stickers, and new accessories.
However, it quickly became apparent that all was not what it was supposed to be. Each of the 3 phones had at least one technical fault. We had issues with no GPS fix, not being able to screen-cast, one had been 'rooted' meaning it would not update the firmware, light up keys not working, etc.
Upon further inspection by our local registered Samsung engineer, it transpired that all 3 phones were in fact refurbished. The worst problem was one of the phones had been reported lost/stolen more than 2 years prior, meaning it was blocked from all UK mobile networks.
The issue was raised with the seller, who was FULL of excuses. Multiple times they wanted us to return the phones to a Chinese address at our own expense, calculated at around £80.
Nothing seemed right about this transaction, and we were not prepared to lose even more money on the deal, so we eventually asked eBay to step-in and mediate a reasonable resolution.
Thankfully, eBay saw it from our perspective, and awarded a full refund. The seller didn't even bother in the end to have the faulty phones collected.
Since then, I've kept track of the negative feedback against this seller, and 80% of it seems to suggest that this attempt to defraud us was not a one-off case. Many buyers complain about being sent used/faulty phones, when they are being sold "as new".
I've written to eBay more than once to raise this issue with them, in the hope they will take action against this unscrupulous trader. To date however, they continue to trade apparently unhindered in their dubious activities.
So, hopefully you are reading this BEFORE you embark on any transaction with this trader, and NOT after you have been swindled.
I really hope reviews.co.uk don't pull this review for breach of their policies, as more people need to be pre-warned about this trader. I have evidence to support every word of this review, so in legal parlance, I mean what I say and say what I mean... and that's all the proof anyone really ever needs.
In the very many years I've been buying on eBay, this has to be one of the very worst examples of underhanded selling techniques I've come across. The fact that eBay themselves don't do more about this sort of activity beggars belief. For the relatively small amount of money they make from seller fees, I would have thought that the integrity of the eBay brand would have been more important than earning a few more quid from dodgy partners.
Perhaps it's just a matter of finding the right person to deal with, so I'll continue my efforts to have eBay deal with this trader.