I thought I had done well. Set up my ebay plus, and got the phone before the 30 second mark.
Phone advertised as new, unopened.
Box was dinged. Had a fake secondary black multilingual antitamper sticker over the official white one concealing the damage they did originally entering the box.
The attempted deception was unmistakable though when it went straight into boot looping in the recovery mode menu.
Horrible.
I see now they have done bait and switch type things before, with like new stuff. But many good reports on new things.
Now it seems they have upped their scam games and given me a big hassle and time waste.
Wondering if anyone else went for the deal and has maybe been caught unaware by the scam (maybe allphones actually finished their reset before sending to you to make it more convincing?) hoping this makes those that haven't openned theirs yet take a closer look and evidence before going further.
In response to Mod: Allphones has enganged in dishonest practise by selling something as brand new unopened that knowingly or not wasn't such. They have followed up and clarified that it is factory resealed and updated and was OPENED to do this. If they want to be honest going forward they should have updated the ebay listing. However they have not and maintain this dishonest listing as still stating new and unopened sealed as one would find in a store/ This makes any other assertion here criminal in my opinion. I think this dishonest scheme should be labelled a scam. If they want another label for it I feel they should change their practice and not threaten ozbargain for censure.
Update: link to ebay https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-A70-6-7-32MP-4500…
Clearly still tryin to pull off this deception on customers. They have even gone through the trouble to update the listing once, without fixing this. I can't help but feel this is them still attempting to perpetrate a fraud.
Mod: Removed libellous title.
*Self Edit: title and update. Please note mod I have used the caged legalese language you desire to assert opinions on this despicable display of behaviour.
Hi all,
Sorry to see all your concerns, I want to assure you that we only stock official stock from Samsung Australia distributor. I have inspected the rest of the stock, I can also see the black sealed stickers, I can confirm that the stickers are officially done by an Samsung authorised agent. Through my investigation, I can confirm that this batch has been reflashed with the latest manufacturer firmware to optimize the performance, and that the phones have never been used or sold to any 3rd parties before it is shipped to you. If you are not satisfied with the condition, you are eligible to request an return under the eBay return policy. I hope this information will clear your concerns, if you have any other doubt or questions please feel free to contact me directly, including if you experience any warranty issues in the next 2 years.
Makes sense since it came with the latest security patch available for the model.
Sorry lyl but I don't think that's OK. You should make it clear in the listing.
You need to specifically state on eBay, before people decide to buy, that the boxes have been opened and the phones re-flashed or else people will assume they are refurbished.
For example, many people may choose NOT to buy an opened box phone with a tampered seal. It would look pretty bad as a gift.
Personally I would not accept a phone sold as 'brand new' with an opened seal. People need to be able to decide for themselves with all the information.
At what point does a product stop being "new"?
Some manufacturers ship all their EU/AU products with UK style plugs, and when they arrive in Australia, the official distributor will open them up, and swap them out with AU plugs.
Thats a good point Cronium but I think its important to say so before the sale is made.
So many refurb phones passed off as new on eBay.
A broken seal needs to be explained before, not after the sale
I beg to differ that King Tightarse! Lyl is saying that if customers are not satisfied with the above explanation then they are eligible to return the item and get their money back.
Thanks Lyl for confirming, I will keep the phone.
Customers can always do that on eBay.
Lyl's explanation is OK but personally I would like to know a phone has been opened before I bought it. A phone is factory sealed, or it is not.
If its not, then that point needs explaining before its sold, not after.
@King Tightarse:
I can understand where you are coming from, I have discussed this with AllPhone store and the impression I got from them is that they did this investigation after receiving multiple messages asking if the stock is genuine. Only then they were able to verify and confirm with the authorised dealer that why there are two stickers on the box of A70 and many other models that they have existing stock of.
Unlike iphone, the original factory seal on android phones is the one thing that can prove the phone is indeed brand new. So I agree with King Tightarse, seller needs to specify if the box have been opened before for whatever reason.
I thought this kind of problem only exist on grey import phone.
Seems dodgy because people can easily update the firmware OTA as with any future updates
Hi who's better Mobileciti or allphones?
They are both equally dodgy, and are well known for selling decoupled phones (i.e. phone decoupled from its SIM plan by them) as brand new, without so much as informing the customer of the consequences.
decoupled?
Issue here: I checked with Samsung via IMEI. The one I got was manufactured in April 2020. It makes no sense that it was opened to put on a january/feb software update.
I bet they were intended for another market or had some Telco branding.
Something dodgy has happened. There is no rational reason for Samsung to break open and re-flash near new phones just to do a simple software update
Hi all,
Thank you for your feedback and discussion in this thread, we have been monitoring it. The listing has been amended to add in a disclaimer regarding the condition.