Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘I paid £465 for an iphone but all they sent me was a toy mouse’
‘Both ebay and Paypal say they have investigated and now closed the case’
An angry pensioner who bought an iphone on ebay says he has been the victim of a scam after a toy mouse in a box arrived instead.
Retired bus driver Ronald De Wynton, of Honey Hill, Blean, has been left fuming by the hoax and is demanding his money back.
However, the 70-year-old claims his attempts to get compensation from the online auction site have been rejected.
“I’m now £465 out of pocket, which is a lot of money for a pensioner,” he said, “but no one seems to care and even the police and the MP can’t help.”
Ronald, who is recovering from cancer treatment, says he had been advised to get a mobile phone by a family member in case of emergencies.
“I was told the best deals were online so checked out ebay and found an iphone 6s which was being sold by an outfit which appeared to have good feedback,” he said.
Ronald paid for the phone, which the seller said would take up to 16 days to arrive but the parcel was actually delivered two or three days later to another address in Honey Hill.
The recipient opened the parcel and was surprised to find a toy mouse inside.
However, Ronald remained unaware it had been delivered and only found out almost three weeks later when he began making inquiries.
He only discovered where the parcel had been delivered through the police after they spoke with Royal Mail several weeks later.
When he eventually spoke to the householder who received the package, she told him she had thought it was a joke and had thrown the packaging away and taken the mouse to work to show colleagues.
Mr De Wynton says his efforts to get the matter resolved with ebay and Paypal have fallen flat.
He said: “The police say they can’t help because it’s too big to investigate ebay and now I have found that the outfit which sold me the phone is back on the site.
“I’ve obviously been scammed but both ebay and Paypal say they have investigated and now closed the case. All I know is that I paid £465 and haven’t got a my phone. It’s a scandal.”
The seller of the phone – who we have chosen not to name while an investigation is carried out by ebay – has a positive feedback rating of 99.6%.
Police have confirmed the complaint has been passed to Action Fraud and Mr De Wynton has been advised to seek a refund from Paypal.