I've bought a fake phone...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That means you'll never buy anything mail order. Most of us are very happy with Screwfix, etc.

FWIW, there are reports of these fakes being sold on the high street.

[Bob Eager]

And she has a limited choice in shops such as Screwfix and Argos.

[Doki]

Distance selling regs are very handy. And FWIW, a lot of the time in the high street you're buying sight unseen - I remember when my mum bought a telly from Dixons - it took 7-8 weeks to arrive! The same thing mailorder would have arrived the same week. Generally on the high street with anything high value, there's one you can look at and another one in a sealed box that you buy.

[Dave Liquorice]

If you buy from a "trader". ie some one who is buying goods with the intention to sell. Doesn't matter if they have a business name, registered as a business on eBay, registered for VAT or any of the umpteen wriggles that some try to make out they are not "trading". From what Dave has said he has bought from a trader so the DSR's do apply but check the sellers T&C's which can modify (to some extent) the DSR's.

Even if you take a way a "factory sealed" box from the shop there is no guarantee that the goods inside are new. I've bought stuff from, strangely (NOT), other DSG Retail Ltd companies to find the contents used *and* faulty. No indication in the shop or at POS of these facts.

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Dave Plowman (News) writes

of the UK tech sites (Register or Inquirer) recently posted an article about the large number of fake phones produced in China causing problems for the suppliers of application software. They return false information about OS capability, screen resolution, etc. so many applications, once downloaded for that "model", won't work correctly. I've had a hunt but cannot find the link.

(some searching later) Ah, found it:

[Mary Fisher]

It doesn't. I buy most things from mail order (not that I buy much). I only buy from companies I know and have confidence that I can return goods.

Buying on e-bay is often buying from individuals and things can get very tricky if there's a problem. One of my friends buys and sells lots of things using e-bay (she helped me with my purchase) and loves it - but she can be bothered to re-sell dud stuff on e-bay, I couldn't. I'm inherently idle.

We have been too, although we buy small hardware from the local hardware shop.

That doesn't surprise me either. If I bought a mob from Carphonewarehouse I know that if it were a dud I could return it. Having worked for Citizens Advice for long enough I Know My Rights :-)

Mary

Not me, guv.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

has non of the physical irregularities listed there. The only external giveaway is the flash unit is smaller than the real thing.

[dennis]

Some of that is down to people returning "unopened" goods that they have stolen the contents from. Some is employees hiding mistakes by rewrapping stuff they shouldn't have taken back in the first place. There are other reasons.

[Mike P]

Nothing, you're answering a post by Rob, who seems to do nothing but give holier-than-though, condescending advice on various newsgroups...

I've read Dave's posts for years, it doesn't look like he's complaining at all. I think he's old enough to look after himself!

He's probably not old enough to have a credit card.

I've had 1problem in 9 years on ebay. You just need to be aware and check out who/what you are buying. Just like any other shop/catalogue/website. It's not hard.

Mike P

[Dave Liquorice]

I don't care what reasons are used to try an justify the selling of used and/or returned and/or faulty goods "as new, factory sealed". It is dishonest selling.

No returns, for what ever reason from the customer, should ever be put back on sale "as new". Mark 10% or 20% of the new price and sell them, honestly, as customer returns. If profit margins take too large a hit then the stores returns policy has some flaws.

[Colin Wilson]

I'm curious what the feedback was like for the vendor - wondering if it was a hijacked account that was used to sell it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No - he's replied to my email. So not a hijacked account. Which I'd guess would be near impossible when paying with Paypal anyway.

There were dozens of these phones on sale so I deliberately chose a vendor with a good feedback rating over many sales and a long ebay membership.

Looking at his feedback someone has added a complaint about a fake phone same as mine since I bought it.

[Dave]

Last year, I bought a 2 D control toy helicopter from Maplin. By twisting the tail rotor, I got it to fly forwards. After a few days, I realized that it was a customer return, as the spare tail rotor was damaged and the packaging had been tampered with before I had opened it. I took it back and demanded a replacement, which I got. The only problem was that I could not tweak the tail rotor to make it fly forwards :-(

Dave

[damduck-egg]

It was staff playing with the Item in my case. Must be getting on for 8 to 10 years ago that I purchased my first GPS unit from Maplin. While familiarising myself with it I found a saved track which was local. Visited the store next day and inquired how an apparently new unit had such a track on it. One of the staff admitted he had taken it home to see how it worked and did not realise his journey had been stored. ISTR I got some free Nicads out of them to reflect it was really a demonstration sample they had sold me ,even if it was only themselves it had bee demonstrated to.

G.Harman

[Andrew Gabriel]

A few years ago, I was trying to buy some cable in Maplin, but they'd run out. I asked when they'd get some more in. They couldn't order any more because the computer claimed they still had most of the drum left as it hadn't been sold... I gave up.