Anyone work near SOHO ?
 

I am about to buy a mobile phone form a guy who lives or works in Bateman Street ( Near Tottenham court road apparently ) but he wants me to send a cheque for £200 then he will send the phone out. There are loads of scams about so I am a bit wary but he says that it can be picked up either in Bateman Street or from his home in Brighton. He also says that he will send it out as soon as he receives the cheque so I could cancel the cheque if things were not ok.

I was just enquiring if anyone on here lived or worked nearby and could pick the phone up if needed or check out if the guy seemed genuine.

Any ideas, or do you think sending the cheque will be ok if I can stop it if neccessary ?

Saying when he will send it and when he really does post it are 2 different things.

He could take your cheque to one of those instant cheque cashing places (don't know how they work, as I've never used one) before he posts it to stop you cancelling it and then not post it at all.

£200 is a lot to pay for a phone mate.

Don't do do it. Doesn't sound quite right to me. Obviously the guy could be genuine, but do you want to risk it. He'll have your address and bank account details; how much more could he need to do some dodgy deals.
Oh I don't know, maybe I'm just too cynical, wait for some more replies before making your mind up. Good luck

Oi I can do it for you one night afterwork or collect it off him saturday morning in Brighton.

Cheers guys and thanks Katana, I am waiting to hear from him but might not bother there are loads more on ebay that are being sold by people with excellent feedback, this guy has none and blames nigerian scammers for his zero feedback.

I think the only safe way is for someone to be handed the phone then give him the cash. I have told him to trust me and send the phone then I will send the cash to him, it is exactly the same.

Just doing this because my wife wants the white version of the sony ericsson w850i and most for sale are black or not on O2.

Well if she wants it, let her buy it, get ripped off, then you can say I told you so! :lol: :lol:

Buy one elsewhere, all salesmen will give you honest reasons why you should trust them, conmen do the same too!

I can do it Ian if need be. 5 mins up the road.

Nick

Look at it the other way round ... would you send out a £200 phone and wait for the cash to arrive? I'd tell you to fark right off!

There has to be some trust somewhere along the line. You're the buyer and you knew the terms when you entered the deal on ebay, so don't be surprised if you get "negged" over this.

If it was me I'd use PayPal to pay. This gives you better protection than paying cash/cheque/po and if you use your credit card you get two layers of protection - one from PayPal and one from the card.

This works fine for me. I'm now about to send out a pair of jeans that I just sold via ebay for just shy of £200, and the buyer paid with PayPal.

Blimey - jeans have gotten very expensive since I last bought a pair!

Last pair I bought the missus were nearly twice that.
At least she doesn't complain when I go racing... :D