Bought Phone from *ahem*. Turns out to be Lost/Stolen!

Shakakan

Back in February, I bought a phone from a company that buys/sells/exchanges 2nd hand items, like phones, dvds etc.

Over the weekend, I tried to exchange the phone, with the same company, but their pre-exchange tests revealed the phone is (as of now) lost/stolen. At the time I didn't have the original receipt from Feb (I do now) and understandably, they couldn't take it back.

With a receipt, there would be no problem in taking the phone in as part of an exchange. I would prefer, however, not ever have anything to do with this people again, and get a full refund.

Can/should they give me a full refund in return for the phone?

godtabh

it might not be down to them. People get new phones on contract. Pass them on for a quick euro and then report them lost/stolen and claim on insurance.

dudara

I'm trying to assemble the timeline in my head. Am I correct with the following?

(1) You bought a phone in February - all was OK at that point
(2) You tried to return the phone in Febuary - only to find out that the phone was lost/stolen. Plus you had no receipt
(3) You have the receipt now and want to get a refund

I think the key thing here is if the store knew the phone was stolen/lost, or when exactly they found that out. They obviously should not have sold it if they knew that information.

keithclancy

From a legal standpoint I believe once its been stolen it cannot be sold or bought.

It's still the property of the person it was stolen from.

You should really go to the Gardai with it.

Sparko

dudara wrote: »

I'm trying to assemble the timeline in my head. Am I correct with the following?

(1) You bought a phone in February - all was OK at that point
(2) You tried to return the phone in Febuary - only to find out that the phone was lost/stolen. Plus you had no receipt
(3) You have the receipt now and want to get a refund

I think the key thing here is if the store knew the phone was stolen/lost, or when exactly they found that out. They obviously should not have sold it if they knew that information.

In relation to your second point in the timeline, he tried to exchange it over the weekend.

delahuntv

The exchange tests says it is LOST or stolen. So to say a place is dodgy because someone sold them something they found and did not need is a bit rich.

There is also no database of mobile phone ownership and data protection would prevent the shop from checking ownership details with the phone company.

Unless you can prove the item is STOLEN (not just reported lost because the original owner was careless) then you possibly don;t have rights and would have to depend on the goodwill of the outlet.

Basically, don't go in shouting it was stolen phone - be polite and explain your concerns and see if they can accommodate you. But to suddenly think that everything from a store like this is dodgy just because of one issue that can easily arise through absolutely no fault of theirs is a bit ridiculous.

Cabaal

keithclancy wrote: »

From a legal standpoint I believe once its been stolen it cannot be sold or bought.

It's still the property of the person it was stolen from.

You should really go to the Gardai with it.

That of course would be the correct course of action, I'd say the OP knows that if they do this the phone will be taken from them by the Gardai