Notts teen buys photo of xbox one for £450

A dad-of-one who forked out £450 on a new XBox One for his son’s first Christmas has been left devastated after he fell victim of an eBay scam – and received a PHOTO of the console instead.

Gutted Peter Clatworthy, 19, thought he had landed a bargain when he purchased the much sought-after games console from the popular auction site on November 28.

The student, from Billborough, Notts, had spent a year saving up the cash in order to buy a limited edition version of the games system for his four-year-old son McKenzie.

But he was stunned when a grainy photograph of an XBox printed on A4 paper landed through his letterbox on Monday.

To add insult to injury, on the back of the picture the callous seller wrote ‘thank you for your purchase’. After checking the listing on the eBay website Peter soon realised he had fallen victim to a cruel con.

The misleading ad listed under the “video games and consoles” category stated the item as “XBox One Fifa Day One Edition, Photo Brand New UK 2012” next to an image of the console.

Although eBay have since offered a refund, little McKenzie is likely to be left disappointed this Christmas as the Xbox One has since sold out in the UK.

Yesterday Peter fumed: “I’m absolutely gutted.

“I was so happy at first when I got the Xbox One, especially because my son had been asking about it and I knew I had got it for him.

“I had saved up for months, just cutting back on things and putting money in a pot, £20 here and £10 there.

“It came in a brown envelope, when the postman gave it to me I kept asking him if he was sure this package was for me and he kept saying it was.

“It has potentially ruined Christmas.”

“As soon as I knew it was for me I realised it was a con, I pulled out a crumbled piece of A4 paper with a pretty bad picture of an Xbox One probably taken from Google.

“I was shocked but then I thought, I only have myself to blame because it does say the word ‘photo’ on the ad.

“I spoke to eBay straight away and asked for a refund, I e-mailed the seller and he told me it was a console – so he did lie to me.”

The teenager said his since received a lot of stick from his friends and family for his error. He added: “I told my brother and he was crying with laughter, so were all of my mates, it is quite embarrassing.

“Even my mum said I was a bit stupid considering it said it was a photo on the listing. I’m still just hoping that I get my refund though and I can finally get a genuine Xbox One for my son, I only want to make him happy at Christmas time.

“But I don’t know if that will happen now because I’ve heard they have sold out and nobody can get them in time for December 25 anymore. This has definitely turned me off eBay and I don’t think I will be using it again because of this.

“It has potentially ruined Christmas.”

The XBox One was released in the UK on November 22, with a special Day One edition reserved for those who picked the machine up on its first day of sale priced at £600.

A spokesman for eBay said: “We don’t allow listings which mislead, and will take action against this seller.

“Customers can shop with confidence on eBay as we guarantee you will get your item or your money back.

“Mr Clatworthy is covered by the eBay money-back guarantee and we will be contacting him to put things right.”

Tessa Coates, Trading Standards Officer at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We are not aware of an eBay scam of this nature. However, we would encourage all eBay buyers to pay for their goods using PayPal to give them extra protection.

“PayPal states that if the item doesn’t match the seller’s description or gets lost in the post then it will give the buyer their money back. Our main tips for buying online generally this Christmas is make sure you’re getting a good deal, know who you’re dealing with and protect your personal and financial information.”