A 19-year old teen from Nottingham named Peter Clatworthy was happy that he was able to order a limited edition Xbox One for £450 on eBay. When his order was shipped however, he was in for a big surprise - the package was thinner than what he was expecting and after opening it, what he got was a printed, low-quality photo of Microsoft's latest console.
Clatworthy was hoping to get the limited edition console for his son Mckenzie for Christmas. While the console was indeed listed as a "photo" on eBay, Clatworthy went ahead with the purchase since it was also listed under the site's Video games and Consoles category. "I always buy stuff on eBay and this had never happened before," Clatworthy said, adding that he "looked at the seller's feedback and there was nothing negative."
"I bought it there and then because I thought it was a good deal," he said.
Clatworthy admitted that he was surprised when the package arrived because it was so thin. " I was expecting the Xbox to a (sic) bit more bulky than it was" Clatworthy said. At first he found it funny and in an email to the seller, Clatworthy said, "Ah ha, very funny." But the joke quickly turned into a nightmare when the seller replied that Clatworthy got exactly what he bought. eBay, however, was less than amused about the whole affair and immediately gave Clatworthy a refund while banning the seller of the item in question. Luckily, eBay was able to intercept the payment before it could be credited to the seller's account. An eBay representative stated, "Customers can shop with confidence on eBay as we guarantee you will get your item or your money back."
The incident clearly illustrates that consumers should be very careful about their purchases regardless of where they are buying. In fact, a lady named Monica Hall learned this the hard way. After purchasing an iPad Air from an official AT&T store, she later found out the she had accidentally bought a demo unit instead of a brand new unit.
