burned (well, lightly toasted) buying off ebay

[ajohnson]

I thought I knew all the things to check before buying off ebay, but I apparently missed something and I haven't seen it explicitly posted so I thought I'd share:

I came across an auction for two "like new" 311 receivers, guaranteed not to be DOA or to have a balance, with a "buy it now" for $45. The seller did state that he did not know the history, but would answer any questions.

So I emailed him and asked for the receiver and smartcard id's. A day or so later he sends them to me, I phone dish, give them the id's and they say both receivers seem fine. (The CSR then talked me into a dish it up deal, but that's a different story). I buy the receivers and they arrive promptly.

A few days later I get around to setting them up, call dish, and find out one of them is from a SBC lease. The other one activated fine, but I'm SOL on the first one.

Apparently Dish doesn't have normal access to SBC account info, and receivers won't show up in their normal history check, however they will show up if an activation is attempted.

Just thought I'd share this as a warning to others. I'm still semi-ahead I think as I have a working 311 that cost me $45 + shipping.

 

[Mark_AR]

I would contact the seller. Explain that it is still an SBC leased unit and he legally can't sell it to you.

Since the seller maintains a 100% feedback so far and I see you haven't left feedback for him yet, you have some leverage. (He hasn't left feedback for you either)

Maybe you can get a partial refund if you send the unit back to the seller. Its worth a shot.

If that doesn't work, you can take it up with eBay or PayPal.

 

[ajohnson]

I like the partial refund idea. He was pretty up front with me from the beginning about not knowing the history of the units. I'd prefer not to leave negative feedback or dispute it if at all possible.

 

[charper1]

I would surely be nice, yet VERY explicit regarding the illegal nature of the posting and selling of that unit.

 

[minnow]

Going through EBAY or paypal for resolution will be a total waste of time. Both talk a good game but won't lift a finger to resolve the situation.

 

[ajohnson]

All is good now. A user on the other board suggested I email dish complaining about the misinformation the first time I called, so I did. Jason Utz replied to my email to CEO@echostar.com saying that the unit HAD been paid for and he released it onto my account.

Of course, then none of my other receivers worked...but we got that worked out too.

Oh, and the guy that sold them to me was willing to take one back and give a refund. We didn't get far enough to work out the exact amount since Dish came through.

 

[Neutron]

Glad to hear that things worked out!