Where is the iPhone I ordered from Ebay?

I won an Ebay auction for a white 32GB iPhone 3GS. It was described as new with box, wall charger and earphones.

I paid for special delivery but when the package arrived it looked like it had been opened. When I opened the box there was no phone.

Also the box, which was clearly not new, was for a 16GB iPhone.

Royal Mail told me the seller had to make the claim for the missing phone but although I have emailed him, I have had no reply.

Carol Greengrow

We understand Mrs Greengrow's concern because from her point of view it is a case of her word against the seller's.

However, she had paid for Special Delivery so the cost of the phone if it had gone missing in transit would have been covered by the insurance.

Ebay sellers are responsible for items in transit and Royal Mail is correct in saying only the sender of the goods can make a claim.

But it is strange that the seller has not replied if the phone was included in the box. We contacted Ebay and it told us Mrs Greengrow needed to file her dispute through the resolution centre citing ‘item not as described'.

Ebay said that providing she has attempted to contact the seller, who is allowed 10 days to respond and try to resolve the complaint, she could escalate the claim to customer support.

We told Ebay she had done this but was concerned her claim would be dismissed. Ebay told us that: "The seller will be asked to provide proof of the item sent. If he cannot prove the item he sent is exactly as described in the listing, customer support will find in the buyer's favour and issue a full refund."

It seems the seller didn't contact Ebay or prove that he had sent out the phone so Mrs Greengrow has been given a full refund.

We would have liked to give this seller the right of reply, because Mrs Greengrow has also filed a police report. She gave us the seller's Ebay ID and we are still trying to contact him.