Urgent Complaint – MacBook Sold with Government Lock (Order 13-04102-18180)

[thebestdeals201616]

Assunto:

 Urgent Complaint – MacBook Sold with Government Lock (Order 13-04102-18180)

Dear eBay Support

My name is Josiane, and I am writing to report a serious issue with a MacBook I purchased on your platform

On 6th November 2019, I bought a MacBook Air 13” (Core i5 1.8GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Mid 2017) for £570.

Order number: 13-04102-18180

At the time of purchase, the device appeared to work normally. I used it for a while but eventually forgot the password I had been using. Recently, I decided to reset it via Apple’s recovery system.

To my surprise, after the reset, the MacBook displayed a Remote Management lock screen showing it is enrolled in the system of “H M GOVERNMENT CABINET OFFICE”, which is a UK government department. The screen requests login credentials that only someone employed by that institution would have. I have attached a photo of the screen as proof.

This means the MacBook is still under Mobile Device Management (MDM), and the original organization never removed it from their management system — making it completely unusable to any buyer outside of that organization.

This is a hidden defect that I only discovered after the reset. As the rightful owner who purchased this laptop legally through eBay, I never had any access to this information and was never warned that the device was locked to a government system.

I am kindly requesting the following:

1. That the seller be contacted to remove this device from the government MDM system,
   OR
2. That I receive a full refund and assistance in returning the device, as it is locked and unusable.

This is a violation of both eBay’s selling policies and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (UK). I appreciate your urgent attention to this matter.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

eBay Buyer

[61stephenuk]

You have left it far too long for any claim with eBay or your payment provider,eBay time limit is 30 days from estimated delivery and payment providers generally 120 days

[jckl1957]

This is a member to member forum.

You are not contacting Ebay by leaving a message in here.

Your only redress is with the seller, as advised, it is far too late for Ebay to do anything.

[plpmr]

adding to the advice already given -

Unfortunately as the purchase was during 2019 there's nothing you can do.

You could try asking citizens advice but doubtful they could help,

[red_magpie]

I've never reset a MacBook, but I'm sure they don't normally display a Remote Management lock screen on being reset. I imagine this is a security program added to the Mac before use in HM Cabinet Office, where the highest levels of security will be applied. If has a remote management program the whole contents could probably be wiped remotely if it was lost or stolen. Real James Bond stuff!

Any refund claim you may have will be against your seller, but as you've had six years use from what was already a used MacBook I doubt it would be worth very much money. And you did contribute by losing your own password!

As a wild card, why not write to or email the Cabinet Office and ask their security department for help? You can point out that any Remote Management security program added for government use should surely have been uninstalled before the item was cleared for resale? If you give them the serial number it may still be on their records - they might even be able to unlock it remotely. Or offer to uninstall it if returned to them. I should add that this depends entirely on some keen IT taking this on for the fun of it - otherwise, you're likely to get a standard unable to help reply.

It might even turn out to have been stolen, in which case you could have half of MI5 on your doorstep!