Is PdaPhoneOnline, The eBay Seller a Scam?

Scammer Aleart

I have just had my first bad experience on eBay and would like to ask for any advice as well as let others know what happened so they can avoid the same thing happening to them. Hopefully this review of PdaPhoneOnline will help someone not make the same mistake I have.

I purchased an iPhone 4s off eBay trusted seller PdaPhoneOnline who are based in Hong Kong. (http://myworld.ebay.com.au/pdaphoneonline)

EDIT: Please note, they have now changed their ebay name to Smartphone.online (http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/smartphone.online)

Here is the phone listing, for your reference: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261141854531

Phone arrived no problems, and had a promise of extending the warranty to two years if you left 5 star feedback within (I think) 14 days.

Of course after testing the phone and making sure it worked, I left 5 star feedback and messaged the supplier to confirm the warranty extension.

The phone then had various issues about 2 months later and the supplier asked me to return it “for replacement or refund”, they seemed really genuine and continued offering refund, promising to pay shipping as well, but once I had the phone delivered to them (with POD from the courier), they refuse to answer any of my emails. I have had an occasional response to my daily update request saying that the phone didn’t make it through customs, but my courier has a signed POD, so I know it was delivered to the office address they gave me:

Pdaphoneonline
Room 2113 – 2115, 21/F., Landmark North
Sheung Shui, NT, Hong Kong
Our phone number: +852 81338781

I also tried calling, but as soon as they hear English, they put the phone down.

They now have my money and phone.

I have contacted eBay and got canned responses about how they have my back etc. and that they will be placing restrictions on the seller. The seller now continues to be a top rated seller, seems to sell a few items a day, and does not appear to be facing any issues from eBay. They still ignore me even after eBay says they have contacted them on my behalf.

Unfortunately too late for PayPal and credit card dispute…

If this was a small item I wouldn’t really care, but this was a $580 phone!

I guess I wanted to know..

1. Has anyone else had a similar experience with PdaPhoneOnline or any other eBay seller?
2. Will eBay help at all? (or is there a way to make them help)
3. Does anyone have any suggestions as to legal routes that can be taken.
4. Is there someone who would call them on my behalf and report back to me?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

What have I learned from this?
International sellers are fine for small ticket items, but for anything that you may need a warranty claim for, stick to the Aussie sellers / Brick and mortar stores.

I would also add that I am not 100% sure they haven’t just misplaced my phone and don’t realise they have it, so I would like to think that they are a genuine seller and this is just a mix up. (After months of the same thing, and hearing similar stories from this blog, I am now convinced that this is their modus operandi.)

Of course, this could also just be modus operandi for PdaPhoneOnline, getting customers to return phones once they can not dispute and then reselling them as refurbished, and not refunding the client.

I will be sending them details of this site to give them the opportunity to respond…

I also invite PdaPhoneOnine to contact me on wearenotscammers@pdaphoneonline.com

 

93 thoughts on “Is PdaPhoneOnline, The eBay Seller a Scam?

  1. I feel your frustrations because it seems the same thing has just happened to me …. bought the phone from this mob, 2 years of worthless warranty thrown in (If you gave 5 star feedback) and only 3 months of use before the phone (Samsung Galaxy S) failed to boot.
    I was just about to mail it back to them (their request after several emails to them) until I saw your post on Whirlpool and ended up here on your site.
    Yes, it sounds like they have their MO down pat. Our experiences are identical.
    Thanks to your post, I’ve now decided NOT to return the phone to them. In fact I was about to head off to the PO right now but decided to do a final web check on PdaPhoneOnline. I’m glad I did because I now know I’d probably never see my phone again.
    Maybe luckily for me I have 2 relatives who work out of HK and they both speak fluent Chinese. They might just come in handy.

    Heed our advice people: Avoid expensive purchases from Hong Kong because their warranties are worthless and there’s a good chance their products are too.

  2. Glad I could help out… This was the reason I started this site and posted on Whirlpool.

    My goal was just saving one person from the same thing, so mission accomplished ;-)

    Hope there are many more to follow.

    The site has only been live for 2 days and one positive result!

  3. I was going to buy a phone off ebay but luckily I found this website so I wont buy a phone from pdaphoneonline. thank-you for the service.

  4. I had a similar experience but luckily could still leave negative feedback and they refunded my money on order to get me to change my feedback.

  5. I read your article and it was almost my story word for word!

    I still have the phone and contacted the pda people to say what happened and they offered to replace if I sent the phone back. But we had taken it to Apple to check out the problem and they opened it up and said that it had been water damaged and that it would never work again. So I have the report and the phone – but it is useless.

    I was inside the 45 days JUST but made the mistake of following the initial suggestion of contacting the vendor first to resolve and that put me outside the 45 days – of course I should have read all the way through and I would have discovered that I had to lodge the claim within 45 days and not just make contact with the vendor, my own fault.

    I spoke to PayPal and there was nothing they could do outside that 45 days.

    But one thing you can do and I will do the same is to lodge a complaint with econsumer.gov – details from eBay as follows (you probably got this as well). Perhaps the power of the people will prevail if multiple people do this.

    Since you’ve transacted with a foreign seller, you may lodge a complaint through the econsumer.gov website. Econsumer.gov is a portal for you as a consumer to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies or individuals.

    To file your complaint with econsumer.gov, follow these steps:

    1. Click on this link http://www.econsumer.gov/english/ or copy this URL
    to the address bar of your web browser.
    2. Click on Report Your Complaint tab.
    3. Click on the Report Your Complaint button.
    4. Fill out the Complaint Form.
    5. Click submit.

    I have asked eBay for the email address of the pda people as I am now outside 90 days – and I am going to keep hounding them. I had the same issue with I rang. The address they gave me to post to was:
    To: PDAPHONEONLINE
    P.O. Box 40,
    Shek Wu Hui Post Office,
    Hong Kong

    • Hi Sue

      Thanks for the Comment and helpful suggestions.

      I hope you manage to get something back, although I doubt it unfortunately.

      I also got the canned response from eBay, but other than that they have been no help at all. What really gets me is they could help if they wanted but really dont give a damn!

      Have you tried contacting your credit card company as you sometimes have 90 days to dispute. They will cancel the payment to Paypal and then suddenly Paypal will find a way to cancel the payment to PdaPhoneOnline.

  6. thank you so much for this. i was going to buy a Samsung galaxy s3 from them when I sort of realized it would be too good to be true. googled them and this was the first thing to come up. saved me lots of money!!!

  7. Have had a very similar experience, I also attempted to resolve problems with the vendor which put me outside the 45 day period for paypal, I now suspect that this mob just play along until the time has elapsed then cut off all communication, I have talked to my bank who are going to follow up for me so have all things crossed, I’m 70+ so it just goes to prove that your never to old to learn!!
    Having said that I must say that I have purchased a number of items on the net and have been completely satisfied. They are not all crooked but there are some sleazy operators out there!

    • Hi Alan

      Hope you can resolve it with the bank. i think you have a little bit longer to do a chargeback with them.

      Pity there are frauds like this out there who make the internet an unsafe place to shop!

  8. Hi seems like pdaphoneonline is a scam. I also purchased a phone in sept (took ages to arrive) seemed ok when it arrived then the sound went. When i contacyed them they seemed helpful asked me to mail it back, then claimed hong kong customs was delaying then refused to reply. I contacted ebay as the 45 day paypal time frame passed. Ebay sent him an email to contact me which he did yesterday still claiming he didnt receive it…………. i don’t really know where to go from here any advice please

    • Hi Paul

      Sorry to hear that. Do you have tracking or proof of delivery?

      You can try the 2 links posted by another user to report them to various internet fraud organisations but other than that there doesn’t seem to be much that we can do.

      eBay will not help, and based on the response I have received on this site, this is a very common occurrence yet eBay continue to allow them to trade and rip off unsuspecting eBayers!

      Good luck and let us know how things go.

  9. Hi admin
    Australia post has confirmed delivery and he is still saying he didnt receive it and that Hong Kong customs must be holding it up. I have reported him on econsumer. I spoke to both ebay and paypal and although they have been polite other than sending him courtesy emails they seem to not have much power after 45 days although ebay have said they take it seriously but were unable to tell me what actions due to privacy……. He is still selling please if anyone sees this before buying just don’t save your money and but it elsewhere within your own country……….

    • Hi Paul.

      I took exactly the same steps. eBay could help if they wanted to… The issue would be resolved quickly if they suspended his account and didnt allow him to sell until he sorted out the complaints.

      I also see he continues to sell many phones daily and somehow still has trusted seller status from eBay!

      I hope this site will warn away enough customers to make him think twice before scamming someone else.

  10. I ordered a phone from these on 31/12 because they had excellent feedback. Out of curiosity I googled them afterwards and found this site and now I’m really worried. The item wasn’t dispatched by 02/01 so I told them not to dispatch it and that I wanted to cancel the order immediately.
    Of course they responded straight away saying that the item has already been dispatched.
    What I want to know is, can I return the item immediately after I get it? I’d imagine I’m protected since I’ll be well within all of the ebay/paypal resolution deadlines.
    But I’m afraid I’ll get the same feedback as you guys got ie they’ll pretend the item was never received. Are there any extra protections I can use to prove the item gets returned to them so that ebay will ensure I get refunded? I’m new to ebay and not familiar with their procedures. Should’ve done more research before I ordered. Thanks

    • Hi Shane

      I would suggest keeping the phone and hope it is ok. If there are any issues within 45 days do a paypal dispute immediately.

      After that if there are issues don’t send it back, just try get it repaired locally orherwise you will lose the phone and your money.

      good luck.

  11. I have the same issue. Purchased phone on 11/12/2013 and still have not received it despite it supposedly being shipped on the 14/12/2013. I have been getting emails from them stating that HK do not allow batteries through the post so HK post office have sent it to fed ex for delivery. I sent an email informing them that I have lodged a dispute with paypal already and will not remove it until I am completely satisfied. Then I thought i would look up their web site and came across this.
    The guns are loaded and ready for firing !!!!! Got a response to this stating its coming priority and will be here tomorrow. have also been offered extra year warranty head phones and a $15 usd voucher if I leave positive feed back within 7 days. I am holding the trump card at this stage so will dictating how long I have to leave a comment and will certainly not be closing the paypal dispute.

  12. Finally phone arrived today……..took it straight to iphone technician………..he opened up the back and found water damage, also found someone had been into it. Said the battery condition was poor and it has discolouration around battery housing which is either leaky battery or from the water damage. The plastic tab thing in the back was not clear plastic but yellowed. Other than that the phone looked reasonable. Ok so we put sim card in and rang my other mobile phone……. it rang. Now starting to think that it is ok. Phone rang a little while later and it was my sister. I answered the phone and can hear nothing. Used my other phone and rang her she said that she couldn’t hear me either Grrrrrrrrr. On the upside I have shipping docs, reports and photos demonstrating the lies and deception of this company. I have sent an email stating this and that paypal will be advised of the same and how was he going to fix the problem. I pointed out that I have found your site and that phones which have been returned for refund have miraculously gone missing !!!!!! I also informed him that I will not be leaving a comment till I have had this matter resolved and nor will I be cancelling the paypal dispute. I have till the 27th of this month to escalate the matter so glad I got this started early.

    • That is a real bummer. I have seen other comments that these phones were water damaged. Whatever you do, don’t stop the dispute. Maybe change it to an item not as described dispute. Offer to send it back by courier but ask them for payment for shipping up front. I used interparcel. Who were about $18 with tnt.

      Please let us know what happens.

  13. I purchased an iPhone 4 from them in September via ebay and it failed after 3 months. The Apple store in Sydney wouldn’t touch it because it was “non genuine”
    PDA said it was guaranteed by Apple Hong Kong and to send it back for repair.
    After reading the other comments I think I would be wasting my time.
    Not sure what to do next!

    • Hi Alan

      Sorry to hear of your problems with the phone.

      I think you would be best advised to have the phone repaired locally. Sure, you will have to pay but at least you will still have a phone.

      Let us know if you send it back to Pdaphoneonline for repair.

  14. Hello, I live in Russia. And I want to tell you that I had a bad experience with them as well.
    I ordered as new iPhone 4s 32Gb iOS 6. http://www.ebay.com/itm/251284580430?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
    And the history of the problems started after ordering.

    I do not like iOS 7 and they said that they have iOS 6. Once the phone has been sent, I asked again what version they sent. And got the answer – iOS 7!! I contacted with PdaPhoneOnline for their mistake and they sent me iPhone 64Gb iOS 6.

    Once the phone came, I was using it one week and it broke Wi fi. I started to check the phone well. It was not new, it was an old/refurbished. Old phone in the new skin. The phone case is not the original glass without oleophobic coating. It is clearly seen that the phone is dismantled and changed parts. I compared the phone with 5 original phone their friends.

    I contacted with PdaPhoneOnline and asked for a complete replacement of the phone for a new or money back. They proposed to solve the problem without having to replace the phone. Just asked for a more detailed description of the problem. I described everything in detail and gave the photo. Then they stopped to answer me.

    Now they are silent. As proof I can provide all correspondence with them.

    They are scams. The office is located in Australia, and the phones are sent from China. Phones are not new as it is written in the description. They sell old phones refurbished.

    I gave them the link to this site and they said that this site fake established competitors. But I am 100% convinced that this is not true. Very sorry I did not find this website immediately and bought the phone from these bastards.

    • Hi Dmitry

      Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to shut them down. Have you reported your issues to eBay?

      Hopefully if they get enough complaints they will take action.

      have you left feedback on eBay yet?

      • When I started to deal with them on the problems with the phone, they said that their office is in Australia, and the phones in China. I bought the black phone, but when you connect your phone to the computer it is defined as white. After that all the problems. Of course, I had already left positive feedback, and only then detail checked phone. =(
        I opened a dispute on Ebay. But then it was closed. They said that the phone is good, but then broke Wi fi.
        I wrote a letter to Ebay and waiting for a response.

  15. this is one of their posts:

    We are so sorry about the problem but our phone was keeping in a forwarder warehouse in Hong Kong but our office is located in Australia. We shipped 100 iphones to our forwarder in Hong Kong and they helped us to send the phone to our buyer one by one. We are so sorry that we couldn’t check the phone due to this reason, sorry.

    • Thanks Dmitry

      I would really love to know what their Australian office address is! At least then we could use the Australian law and processes to our advantage.

      I would guess though that their suggestion of an Australian office is false.

      Have you tried the following links as suggested to me by eBay to report them:

      Since you’ve transacted with a foreign seller, you may lodge a complaint through the econsumer.gov website. Econsumer.gov is a portal for you as a consumer to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies or individuals.

      To file your complaint with econsumer.gov, follow these steps:

      1. Click on this link http://www.econsumer.gov/english/ or copy this URL
      to the address bar of your web browser.
      2. Click on Report Your Complaint tab.
      3. Click on the Report Your Complaint button.
      4. Fill out the Complaint Form.
      5. Click submit.

      I would also advise you to file a complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Just click the link below to do so.
      http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

      The IC3 reviews and evaluates complaints, and then refers information to the appropriate local, state, or federal agency. Every complaint that is referred by the IC3 is sent to one or more law enforcement or regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over the matter.

    • Hey Dmitry

      Sorry eBay wouldn’t help… of course they could if they really wanted to.

      Hopefully one of the other organisations will take action.

      Please let us know if you have any progress.

    • Hi Dmitry

      Thanks for letting us know about the name change. I have checked and can confirm the change. I will make the addition to the site.

  16. Same thing happened to me. I had my faulty phone couriered to Pdaphoneonline. They kept the phone, kept my money and do not respond to emails. Pdaphoneonline cannot be trusted … and their 24 month warranty is worthless. I am so disappointed.

    • Hi Kerry.

      Have you reported to eBay and the other organisations recommended on this site?

      I know it takes a while but the more complaints they get the better the chances Of these guys being Prosecuted.

  17. I will do the reporting this week. Moreover, I am lodging a complaint with the Consumer Council in Hong Kong. Please check it out.

  18. Hello All

    I purchased two phones from these con artists as Xmas presents on the 16th November, i hadn’t received them by the 30th of nov so contacted them they said the phones had been held up at customs in Hong Kong because they had batteries in them, some sort of regulations? ok, they resent them by fed ex and I finally received them by 11th dec, clock was ticking on the ebay resolution time limit, coincidence with these con artists or have they done it numerous times before, i was told not to worry I’get an extra years warranty and earphones if i gave a good review straight away, I held off with the review until I checked the phones. They looked great my girlfriend used hers firs but after a week no mobile reception only wifi so I got in contact with the con artists and returned the first phone costing £15 quid, in the meantime I gave my girlfriend my phone to use while hers go replaced as I was told it would be. A few days the second phone kept shutting down after 10 seconds and rebooting. I checked both Samsung S4 phones with Samsung UK and both IMEI’s were confirmed as fake. I had no warranty in the UK or could insure them because the IMEI wasn’t registered. I returned the second phone another £15 to get a refund of the con artists. Online tracking stated the phones had been derived I got in touch with the con artists through Ebay and no reply to my mail I was two days over the deadline to file a claim so I put a bad review on ebay and that night i got an email from con artist May. May said if i change the review to a good review staraight away she would refund both phones straight away, no refund…. i waited still no refund. contacted Ebay they couldn’t do anything because it was over the deadline to file a claim. Is it a coincidence the delay in deliver, how many times have these con artists done this, and what unsuspecting person has been sent my phones paying their hard earned cash little knowing they will have to send them back in two weeks to lose their phone and their money. I have their po box 40 at shek wu hui post office hong knong were the first phone went, Con artist May gave me a second address for the second phone: PDAPHONEONLINE, Room 2113-2115, 21/F, Landmark North, Sheeung Shui, NT, Hong Kong. They seem to be part of the Eagle Harvest Telecoms Company Ltd, which was on their receipt if its true their address is Rm. 1-5, 11/F, Prosperty Place, 6 Shing Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, (852) 9284-8484.

    Why is Ebay still allowing this con-artist seller to change their name and sell fake phones stealing the hard earned cash of people. A good idea for this website would to allow attachments to be post to show the correspondence with these con artists then Ebay might listen

    I know where I’m going for my spring break this year Con artist May and her merry con men you May put down the phone excuse the pun but It wont be as hard to avoid me face to face!

    DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR MONEY!!!! get this message out there and put these con artists out of business.

  19. I wish I had have seen this website in November! My story is very similar to those above. Long story very short…. purchased “Brand New Unlocked Iphone 4 16GB” – paid over $400 Aus – all looked fine when I received it and checked it out so of course I left the positive feedback to take advantage of the extended warranty. Gave phone to daughter for Christmas, couple of days later we found a problem with the sound. Emailed seller – no problem, you return phone and we send you replacement. Phone returned via their FEDEX courier on 8 January – now getting stupid responses to emails, if any. I’ve made various threats in seeking a refund but nothing. Of course it’s outside the 45 day Paypal period – surprise surprise – I have lodged complaints with ACCC, Econsumer.gov, Hong Kong Consumer Council, Ebay, Paypal. Hong Kong Consumer Council want to know if the seller is a “registered trader” in Hong Kong. Now trying to get money back by lodging a dispute with my bank. EBAY MUST STOP ALLOWING THEM TO SELL PHONES ONLINE – IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE AND FRAUDULENT. Ebay tell me that they are taking “appropriate action”? Here’s hoping that the power of the almighty Australian banking institution will get my money back… Fingers crossed!

    • Hi Sam

      Sorry to hear of your issues.

      Please check the post on this site regarding Eagle Harvest Telecom as they seem to be the registered business. Hopefully HKCC will be able to take action.

  20. After purchasing an Iphone 4s from pda phone online off ebay sold as brand new, it arrived damaged and once being repaired by local technicians was found to have been a used and refurbished phone containing old parts which it had also been water damaged. After explaining this to pdaphoneonline they agreed to refund my money once the phone has been returned as well as refunding the postage cost to send it back. It was bought with a years warranty which the seller had agreed to upkeep, yet once the phone was signed for after reaching them they have failed to respond to several emails with no word or actions concerning this ongoing matter.

    • Hi Paul.

      Sounds the same as everyone’s experience.

      Please submit complaints to all the organisations listed on this site. You may want to include reference to their parent company: Eagle Harvest Telecom.

      From feedback I have received from others, the Consumer Council of Hong Kong may be your best bet, but still submit to the others.

      Good luck

  21. Thanks for the site and all the comments, it does help to know that I am not the only one. I have made complaints to all those mentioned by others, However I feel that ebay must shoulder at least some of the responsibility for this shady character still being able to trade. Ebay has been in possession of the knowledge of this criminal activity for several weeks and still they have done nothing to remove him from trading status. I have complained bitterly to ebay with no result. I guess they are not as trust worthy as I had first thought.

    • Hi Paul

      I agree totally. eBay should take some action and the fact that they won’t, despite the overwhelming evidence that these guys will rip their customers off, proves that their system is flawed and eBay is not as safe as most people think.

  22. I had problems as well. My 1st purchase went fine for an iPhone 3GS.
    My second purchase was an iPhone 4. I did get the phone and all was well but a few days after I got the unit it started to behave crazy. Freezes, crashed, screen going blurred with white or black blobs.
    Complained, sent screenshots and all the info they required.
    They asked me to return the phone for a new unit, which I did. I told them that I would better post a dispute on Paypal.
    They replied asking me not to do it, because they are a honored company. Stupidly and because of a previous positive experience I did not open a dispute.
    I sent the phone, and after much pushing from me they sent me the tracking number. But I never got the new phone.
    The put the wrong address and it got returned. It is sitting at a Hong Kong deposit and they do not understand or do not want to understand that they need to talk to Hong Kong post to get it back.
    So I have no phone and no refund. About USD 400,00.

  23. It happened to me as well. I purchased the galaxy s4 mobile on 06.01.2014 then I have got the mobile on 28.01.2014.
    It had problem on the mobile (Especially automatic Software updates are not working ) so I asked to them for replacement or refund, but they told me that the software is alredy updated.
    I asked to my friend (He is working at samsung service centre-mobile department) and he told the mobile is not genuine. And after that, the mobile couldnt read the simcard.

    I asked to the seller for refund, they said I need to send it back to their office first.
    I sent the mobile on 06.02.2014 via australian post with signature comfirmation and tracking number.
    When I checked the tracking number, they already got the mobile.

    I tried to contact to them by mail, message, even call.
    But they dont reply and still going on.

    The mobile was $600. They have my money and my phone.

    I dont know what to do…..

  24. FINALLY!! I have got my money back from this awful seller.

    I claimed to paypal unauthorized payment on 4.Mar.2014. and
    They decided to refund all my money back.

    I bought mobile from this seller for leave negative feedback, and when I get a refund, Seller contacted me. (WTF?)

    I will leave negative feedback when I get my money back (2nd payment), I will link this page as well.

    • Glad to hear you managed to get your money back.

      Please don’t remove your negative feedback! People need to know that this seller can not be trusted.

  25. just to add insult to injury on my comment above.
    I received a bill from FedEx for unpaid duty on the phones that I sent back which the seller kindly left the burden on me to pay, so I have no phones and a Vat Bill to remind me of this scam! Anyway the address on the letter is as below, but is ‘Zhang Zhen’, this persons name, its definitely someone working within the parent company Eagle Harvest, any ideas?
    From: 362855859,
    Zhang Zhen –
    PdaPhoneOnline, EagleHarvest Telecom Company Ltd. Room 2113-2115, 21/F, Landmark North, Sheng Shui, New Territories, NI, Hong Kong

    • Hi Mark.

      That is a real kick in the guts!

      Have you reported to the various organisations listed on the site? Now that you have a name and can link Eagle Harvest Telecom you should have more chance of action.

  26. Finally….. got my money back. I tried every avenue possible, then lodged a dispute with my bank as the PayPal transaction came off my linked credit card. I was well outside the 45 day period but due to the circumstances and the dates involved, my bank has refunded the money to my credit card and PayPal is now involved in the dispute with the seller. Win for me!!! :) I get my $430 back, now pdaphoneonline can explain to my bank/credit card company what happened!!!

  27. Same thing happened to me. Bought Iphone4 for my sons xmas present. He said the phone was going dead all the time. Just got back from the Apple store where we received the bad news. All internal parts were modified with third party components, back plate was third party. Battery recorded 650 charges and was swelling. Now got a very disappointed son.
    They will not be getting the phone back as they will just send it to someone else. Only option is the rubbish tip or buy a new battery and hope for the best. I will NEVER buy off Ebay again as they are rogues for not listening to our complaints and in my book are encouraging this sort of crime. I am going back to Bricks and Morter stores and will pay more but will get what I buy!!.
    A friend of mine tried to buy a cheap Iphone from a mob in Cabramatta via Ebay. They used there Credit card as the seller had no Paypal account, although the Paypal logo was used. Result was their credit card was chalked up to the max. Luckily the bank looked after them and they lost nothing. I see these guys are still selling phones under a different name and URGENTLY need to be shut down. We have very little too no protection when buying from Ebay and I am afraid I have learnt my lession. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

  28. My Iphone4s is not working today, it’s screen repeats showing Apple Logo. I turned it off, and try to restore to factory setting using itune 11.2, but it has error 4005. Please let me know if you can replace me another one.
    Shop Date : Dec 10, 2013

    • Hi. I would suggest fixing the phone locally. You are very likely to end up with nothing if you send the phone back to smartphone.online as PayPal dispute time is over. Can you still leave negative feedback on ebay?

  29. Hello bougth 2 note 2 GT-N7100 but one of theam where SVH-E250L a corean version, I ask for a change, and today was serching postal code to send the phone and found this, I open a dispute on ebay to full refound, the other phone works fine. Now I will not send the phone. maybe I’ll change the mother of the phone a new one will cost me 200 dollars. but I pay 400 for it. and shipping will cost me 120u$s so…

    • Hi. If you paid with PayPal please open a diapute there as well. don’t close the dispute until you have your money or a new phone. Also remember the negative feedback on ebay which will help warn others.

  30. These cxxxx fxxxxx me over and im going to fxxx them over !!

    Im one of those guys that will spend $$$$ flying to the address I have for these cxxxx and kick the door in and bash the fxxx out of them, one one day ill be in Hong Kong and I will find these cxxxx and fxxx them up !!!! (Xxx’s moderated by admin )

  31. Heily / THIS IS THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME 100% You can contact me 04xxxxxxx (number removed by admin ).Jason

    It happened to me as well. I purchased the galaxy s4 mobile on 06.01.2014 then I have got the mobile on 28.01.2014.
    It had problem on the mobile (Especially automatic Software updates are not working ) so I asked to them for replacement or refund, but they told me that the software is alredy updated.
    I asked to my friend (He is working at samsung service centre-mobile department) and he told the mobile is not genuine. And after that, the mobile couldnt read the simcard.

    I asked to the seller for refund, they said I need to send it back to their office first.
    I sent the mobile on 06.02.2014 via australian post with signature comfirmation and tracking number.
    When I checked the tracking number, they already got the mobile.

    I tried to contact to them by mail, message, even call.
    But they dont reply and still going on.

    The mobile was $600. They have my money and my phone.

    I dont know what to do…..

    • Hey. Sorry to hear they got you as well. Follow all the links on this site to report them. It will take some time but the more people that do it the more chance of someone getting off their ass and doing something about it.

      Please also notify eBay.

      Good luck.

  32. I have had a similar story – this was my first experience of fraud on eBay too.

    Bought an iPhone 4S listed as ‘new, undamaged, unopened’ from smartphone.online
    - First phone they sent the screen was broken and wouldn’t switch on
    - They replaced this with a phone which continually switched itself off, and broke completely after 1 month or so
    - They now require that I pay for the postage back to the company, and after reading your comments above, believe I will then be without my phone and without my money.
    - Have today raised this with eBay, and also with my credit card company (Natwest) to see if they can get my money returned.

    • Hi Doug

      Good luck, I hope you manage to get some joy out of your credit card company. If you paid with PayPal and are still able to dispute, please do.

      If you haven’t left feedback on ebay, please dont forget to leave negative feedback.

      Let us know how it goes.

  33. Thanks to this site for the heads up I have just managed to cancel my order after waiting 3 weeks for delivery chased and was told it was down to new battery regulations, asked for a refund and was told it would be another week for delivery! Said no I will have my money back which they have done.
    So a big Thank you for this site giving me the heads up about these shady bunch.

  34. Hi,

    Thank you for opening this website. I recently purchased a “new” iPhone 5c from this company. Received the item about a month after purchasing it, was told that because of “new battery regulations” the shipment was delayed, had to email them many times and then finally received the item. When I received it, the Apple box looked suspicious — the printing seemed “off”. I then Googled the eBay seller (should have done that from the start) and found this website.

    Though the phone worked, I immediately visited the Apple store to see if it was genuine. I noticed the battery life was very poor. The apple technician opened the phone and found that the device had suffered water damage and undergone repairs with many non-Apple parts, likely affecting the battery.

    Thankfully I am still in my PayPal dispute window and have just opened a dispute, so I expect I should be able to receive a refund. I will also post a bad review in hope of steering away future customers.

    Also, some good news: PayPay has *extended* their dispute resolution window to *180 days* for UK buyers. This means, hopefully, that future people who suffer the same scam will have enough time to receive their refund, and also that the company may not be able to continue if they are inundated with dispute resolutions.

    • Thanks for letting us know of your issues with Smartphone.online from ebay.

      I am glad you are still able to open a dispute. Good luck, and let us know what happens ;-)

  35. I bought galaxy s4 and had trouble (I think it was fake phone) with it. They asked me to send it back. And it is gone. They have a number in china and nobody picks it up. I dont know why the f**k is ebay still keeping such a bas**rd on their site.

  36. there is no listing from smartphone online on ebay now. Visited thier shop and all and there is nothing listed to sell. Did ebay finally did something with them?

  37. After reading this lot, i also had the self same experience cost me £ 400, i got no help from ebay or paypal or barclaycard, i said it then and i say it again now they are all crooks. I will never use ebay or paypal again and i encourage everyone else to do the same, all ebay would say ” but you gave him positive feedback” they were not interested

    • Hi Keith

      As you can see from this site, there are a lot of people who have been scammed by this bunch, yet ebay allows them to trade and paypal allows them to have an account.

      Maybe there is enough proof here to start a class action against ebay and paypal? Anyone interested?

  38. Why oh why didn’t I do a little more research about smartphone (pdaphoneonline). If I had seen your blog about them, I would definitely not have bought anything. I relied on their ebay multiple star rating as a guide to their authenticity and good standing, when making the decision to buy from them. Definitely false advertising! Why can’t ebay wave a big stick at them? My iphone 4 arrived in packaging that had been tampered with (SIM card removal tool paper envelope was torn) and the ‘tongs’ on the wall charger had been mechanically bent using pliers. I should have sent it back to them then, but the phone initially worked OK. After about 2 months the phone failed. I posted it back to them as per their instructions. They then eluded that the phone was lost in their own mail department. The Hong Kong Postal Service has confirmed that it was delivered (signature required on delivery). Despite repeated emails they have not/will not reply to me. Ebay and PayPal can’t help me because it’s beyond the magic 45 days. Advice to anyone reading this post, whatever you do, don’t use this company!

    • Hey Bronwyn

      Sorry to hear about this. Please report them to all the organisations listed on this site. Hopefully you will get some joy from one of them

  39. ihave had the same problem, bought a iphone 5c from smartphone online, for my daughter dec 2014 a xmas present, from the first charge it was only lasting 4 or 5 hours, 5 weeks into use and it shut itself down and now will not charge or anything,smart phone have said send it back and a free repair on warranty would be done. with what they are saying seems a bit suspicious and after reading from this forum my suspicions are well founded. i think i will have to take a £300 loss.

    • Hi Billy

      You now have 180 days protection from PayPal… Use it ;-)

      Here is their update:

      Dispute Filing Window
      We’re increasing the time for buyers to file a merchandise dispute (Item Not Received and Significantly Not as Described) from 45 days to 180 days. All references in the User Agreement to “Opening a Dispute within 45 days” have been updated to reflect “Opening a Dispute within 180 days.”

  40. Hi there, the company has now been changed to smartphone.online, i bought a Samsung galaxy note 3 for £345.99 on the 5th of September. when i received the phone there was a dead purple pixel on the corner of the phone, i sent them images and they agreed to replace it. i followed eBay guidelines to send the phone, and before 30 days of the eBay money back they received the phone and they said they have sent it. I was still in the 30 day money back. I waited 4 weeks for the phone to arrive and messaged them, they said it should have been sent. and if it was lost in transit then they will send another, since sending the replacement in october, november came by with no phone, i raised a case with ebay and they said because 30 day money back guarantee went, they said to resolve it with the seller, so they replied back with the same message “not to worry we will send you another one” waited till 25th december and still no phone. i raised more cases with ebay and they sent emails to the seller and they did not reply to them, they said to call the police which is stupid because met police doesnt deal with international sellers, therefore i contacte my back and because i payed by debit i has 120 days to put a case, because of all the waiting and false hopes, the back (barclays) said i was unable to raise a claim. last option was to contact ebay and to express my frustration which i havent yet done so. i spoke to a lady and she was saying how i processed it wrong and how i didnt follow ebays guidelines, and it clearly says before contacting ebay, we should contact the seller, which in my case was exactly what i did. i really hate their customer service. she then tells me that paypal might be able to help, but because i put a claim via ebay they might not let me make another one. and so i contacted paypal and told them about a “not recieved” claim. suprisingly it went to the sellers favour as the phone was sent and they provided me the tracking number, this annoyed me, i then called paypal again and they changed it to a not as described case, alhamdulillah i got my refund 2 weeks ago after 6 months off frustration, paypal offers 160 days to claim and i was 140 days in

  41. Hi all,

    Firstly, thanks to this website, I was saved…..! I found this site, BEFORE I’d left my feedback. But it would have saved me lots of time (thankfully not money) if I’d only researched before buying!!!!

    Basically, if you’re looking at this site, like I was, because you’ve purchased from smartphonesonline, and you’re wondering what’s going on: You’re being ripped off; that’s what’s going on!

    What do they do?
    Well for sure, what you’ve bought is NOT what it’s supposed to be, and you’ve made a mistake; you need to get your money back! You can try returning the item, but I wouldn’t advise it; it’ll just play into their hands and help them do what they’re already doing, for a little longer. What are they doing? WASTING TIME! They’re stalling you at every opportunity, so as your feedback window will close, before you really realise what’s going on.

    What should you do?
    They’ll just ignore, stall and/or lie to you, whether you’ve (proven) returned the item, or not. The only thing that’ll get a response (in my exp.) is your feedback; the more damning, the better. Even if you’ve already (foolishly) left some feedback, all is not lost; you can add some follow-up feedback, in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS. (Or you could buy some of their cheap items, and leave your ‘feedback’ for them).

    What did I do?
    Luckily, I could still leave so negative feedback, So I wrote, in capitals, about “SCAMMERS, aka PDAPHONEONLINE and look it up”.

    What happened next?
    This got an instant offer of full reimbursement (including return postage). In the end, even that didn’t happen; they just refunded my money and cancelled the transaction. They threatened me with reversing the reimbursement, if I didn’t return the phone. But, like most of their words, it was just nonsense; I’ve still got the phone now (3 months later (and 4.5 months after purchase!)). I don’t use it, I’m afraid the battery might blow up, or something!

    One thing’s for sure: the feedback system is seriously flawed and ebay don’t give a damn. And even ‘super secure’ paypal, doesn’t help.

  42. So i ordered a samsung s5 with this seller, after two weeks of waiting it did not come, i asked him and he said it was due to lithium ion battery regulations and that he will send it with DHL. After another week of waiting i opened a ebay dispute case, here is where it gets nasty.

    So the seller knew i opened a case up and bearing in mind he did not have any tracking on the parcel before and did not provide a tracking number. When i opened a dispute he put a false tracking number up which says the parcel was dilivere to an a address in a different area of Birmingham. So next ebay said they have reviewed the case and it shows that the item was delivered to my address. However that is not correct. Firstly i would like to point out that the seller has given a false tracking number. The parcel says it has been delivered to smetwick Birmingham. However that is not my address. Next the tracking says the parcel was sent out on the 29th if you track it. I ordered the item on the 14th. This shows that the tracking number is for a different item. Also the seller was replying to my emails after the 1st saying that it will be delivered soon. However on the tracking it says it was delivered on the 1st. If he had tracking and it was genuine he would have said it was delivered. Lastly he only updated the tracking number with a fake one when i started the complaint.

    Ebay sided with him saying they wont give a refund and that it has been deliverer to my address. They did not even look at the details properly and if they look properly they will see that the dates,name and location of the parcel do not add up. It seems they took 10 seconds to decide. So the seller has not given me a refund. I left bad feedback which ebay removed once they decided not to give me a refund.

    Anyone know how i can get my money back. ?

    DO NOT buy from this seller he wont even respond to your emails and if you leave negative feedback or complain, he will put a fake dhl tracking number up which was probably for another customer. And ebay will side with him due to his reputation on ebay and the amount of items he has sold.

  43. Weirdly thought about the last phone I had and Googled the company name and came across this – wish I had done this two years ago!

    I’d bought a Samsung from pda which was affectionately known as Spamsung amongst my friends because it was clearly fake. I was so trusting and excited to get a decent phone – the first time I’ve ever splashed out on a phone and not just received a hand-me-down – that I didn’t question why the ‘sealed’ box wasn’t actually sealed. A big part of this was that I saw so many positive reviews on Ebay that I thought, they wouldn’t sell just one fake phone, would they?
    I paid the price for my naivete by putting up with the biggest pile of crap phone on the planet. It never worked, batteries got so hot they expanded… in the end my boyfriend went and got me a new phone because he feared that the battery might explode on the Spamsung and kill me!

    A huge thank you and well done to the person that went to the effort of setting up this website and highlighting the issue. The world is a better place when people take action like this.

  44. i ordered s4 from him. delivery date had mentioned within 10 days. i thought it was so speed. but 20 days passed. no item. i contacted him.he said item still in china custom and asked to send another phone in high speed post to be delivered in 4 days.i was surprised about sending 2 packages to my address and i agreed to his option. but felt suspicious and after 3 days i asked to cancel the order. because i didn’t trust his attitudes. surprisingly he gave my money back. i am sure that he didn’t post any phone to me and he didn’t have s4 stock at the moment. he was afraid about my bad feedback and gave back my money. i saved 261 dollars. now he has 100% best feedback records in eBay.

  45. I just bought the Samsung S6, and the screen is unresponsive. It’s meant to be new.
    Long story short, after emails to smartphone.online. And reading up on various blogs, I can confirm I’ve been scammed!!!!!!

    As said earlier, DO NOT PURCHASE from this seller.

    You will get a faulty phone, and have WASTED your money.
    I hope no one else will buy from them.

  46. Shit. I bought a note 4 from them just a few days ago. I look at their ratings and everything and they seemed to have good ratings and even had a positive official status from ebay.
    I feel like i messed up real bad. I should have searched for their store name before hand.
    From the comments i read here, i feel like the phone i recieve will be broken or damaged.
    i hope i didnt burn away my money.

  47. I purchased iPhone 5s last year, now the screen is not responding and faulty
    contacted eBay support didn’t do anything
    contacted the company did not answer my email
    warning don’t purchase anything online they will take your money and couldn’t get them

  48. I was just scammed by three same method just few months ago. Bought a Samsung note 5 new phone from this guys and I was posted a damaged phone.
    I called them and they made an arrangement for a replacement. I send the phone back to them and they confirmed it . Now I have been waiting for the replacement since then which didn’t arrive. They gave me some excuses like holidays over there or thyphoon etc and now the don’t respond to my mails anymore.
    EBay too does not seem to be helpful .

  49. I too bought a note 4 from smartphonesonline. Phone arrived ok and everything seemed in order, so a gave a 5 star rating as they would then give me an additional 1 years warranty. The phone was fine expect that it did not allow roaming. I contacted them and they were very helpful, asked me to return the phone and that they would update the OS software. I had already taken it to a specialist who told me that the the actual phone was not as described and the the true version of this phone had been ‘masked’. They could attempt to fix it but offered no guarantees, so I returned the phone using registered post as had been requested. The phone arrived ok and by email I was told it would be 6 weeks. Soon after they stopped replying to my emails. I have not had the phone returned and they have my money. I tried to get a resolution via paypal and ebay but did not meet the criteria as time had past.

    Yes, they are a scam, I was sold a phone that was not as describe, they asked me to return the phone, have not returned it and will not communicate with me. They know that I have to recourse via ebay or paypal and this is just the way they operate their business. Yes, I should have been more careful.

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