warning about i phone imitation on ebay

A question about : warning about i phone imitation on ebay

Just want to warn people

personally I hate mobiles and won't use them, mostly because I am very frugal and don't like wasting money but also as I am concerned about the health implications
BUT my 20 year old daughter decided she wanted to buy herself a phone as her pals all have one, so fair enough. just wish she'd asked me first, as she went and bought a goophone from ebay from a firm in China.
When I heard I told her she was foolish as being from China if it went wrong she'd be in trouble.
She said it had a 12 month guarantee so she wasn't worried.
The phone itself had all the features of the iphone but sold at Ј109.
She then had to pay an import tax of Ј15 which she'd not been told about.
3 months later and the phone will not switch on. She contacted them, they deleted their original listing and said they can do nothing.

It so annoys me that firms rip people off like this so please, anyone thinking of buying one of these phones, be very careful. My daughter was naive and I feel very sorry for her, but please don't anyone else be taken in.

Much as I don't like mobiles, I realise that my children will want them at some point, and fortunately she isn't one of these sad people who is glued to it all day, just carries it for occasional use, so am looking for a cheap smartphone for her

I have found the nokia lumia 360 with talk talk for Ј3.75 a mth for first 12 months then Ј7.50 a month afterwards. I would get Ј40 cashback for going through Quidco. It is a 24 mths contract with 500 texts 600 minutes, unlimited calls to our landline and 600Mb data which is way way over what she would ever use, so would be Ј80 to pay over the 2 years and she would then own the phone and could revert to a PAYG.

Are there any better deals about than that?

Best answers:

• Did she pay via Paypal? If so, your daughter is covered by the buyer protection programme for up to 180 days after the date of the transaction.
  Open an item not as described claim and go from there.
• That is a good deal on the Lumia however it may not have all the apps she would be interested in. For example there is no official or unofficial snap chat app.
  If she starts to use it while out and about she may well user up her 600mb of data.
  For a light user though that is nice and cheap
• Hi She will only use free wifi so isnt worried about the data and she said she isn't bothered about snapchat. Put it this way with that iphone she only used Ј10 credit in 3 months!
  Thanks consumerguy. i didn't know that. I bought a ps3 controller a few yrs back which went faulty after 3 mths and they refused to do anything. i didn't realise that. That was only Ј15 tho, this is a lot more. many thanks!! I shall let you know how I get on.
• I don't think you can have used 700mb in a day unless u have been on YouTube watching videos.
  600mb is fine for a light user. Get it connected to home wifi though.
• There is free wifi everywhere these days and she doesn't use the phone much anyway I have also contacted talktalk just before ordering and asked if they could warn her when she is approaching her limit and they said they will send a text when she has used almost all of it. She did say she wouldn't use much anyway, just free wifi. Also, i don't agree with mobiles,as I said. Apart from the fact they destroy social interaction and social skills, they are dangerous, so I really don't want her using it a lot. She won't do, she has a landline and a PC if she needs them lol. I think it is a fairly good deal. I am so pleased I came on here to warn people too, as i have been told about the paypal guarantee. Am getting onto that as soon as she comes back later on.
• Moto E on Tesco Mobile for Ј7.50pm, 24m minimum term contract. Or buy same phone SIM free and use on PAYG?
• Not as good a deal, financially, as the original deal posted by the OP
• Amazing service. Ordered the phone yesterday. the Ј40 cashback has already tracked, and the phone is being delivered by Lee between 11 am and 12 noon. Excellent service!
  It is Ј44.50 for the first year, so with Ј40 cashback that's Ј4.50 for the first year!! happy days! then Ј7.50 a mth after for another 12 mths.