But the buyer agreed to the 5, not an SE.

I would say the contract was first made on Craigslist, which i assume would have been advertised as the 5.

No the buyer expexted to buy an iphone 5 its not the buyers fault he/she got something different than what was advertised

You can't fault the buyer for keeping a phone that isn't theirs, was given to them by accident and is not the one they agreed to buy? You sound like a charmingly honest kind of person.

Actually, you can fault the buyer. They were expecting to buy an iPhone 5. The SE was "mistakenly purchased". Any decent person would correct that mistake.

No it's totally acceptable to be upset at the buyer they agreed to buy a 5 not an SE and just like if you would expect a buyer to give you the correct item if they gave you the wrong item, you as the customer should return the wrong item if you agreed to buy an item knowing full well there was a mistake made on the seller's part.

Yes you can. That wasn't the product that was agreed to be exchanged. What should happen is OP's mother should pay for the shipping, since it was her mistake, and get back the new phone and send the old one instead. Yes it was the seller's mistake, but keeping something that wasn't a part of the deal is stealing- that wasn't the property that was negotiated.

Hmmmmmmm What if it was iphone 4?? What would have happened???

Probably nothing, it's easy to tell the difference between a 4 and a 5.

Unfortunately being Craigslist there may not be any recourse for getting your phone back. There is no actual contract and your ma sold your phone to a certified db.

Let's say you have a kid. Someone you hired to babysit takes your kid, because they've always wanted to be a parent. Would you let them keep the kid - one that they shouldn't have taken and were only supposed to watch for you - just because having it "made them happy"? No, probably not. Because that's your kid and you would be pissed if someone took them and wouldn't give them back. It's the same basic logic. Yes, it makes them happy. But it's also not okay for them to refuse to return something that does not rightfully belong to them. They paid for an iPhone 5, and that is not what they got. They need to give it back and be "happy" with the 5 they paid for, instead of the SE they technically stole.

I'm not sure someone taking the iPhone they were accidentally given and kidnapping is a good comparison.

What crack did you smoke? Personally if I went to a store and wanted to buy an iPhone 6s 32gb and they gave me a 64gb its my fault they gave me the wrong item? It's not that I picked up the item and said I want this, it was handed to me

Well done on missing the point of the comparison to focus on the comparison itself, 76.

There's not legally wrong with keeping the phone because it was the fault of the vendor (OP). That's not speaking about ethics though because the buyer SHOULD give the phone back but again, isn't required to. The money scenario is a reason to contact the police though due to the $1000 bill no longer being legal tender and therefore not worth $1000. It would be the same as paying nothing. Also, that would be the fault of the buyer and would therefore be held accountable legally.

$1000 bills are still legal tender and able to be used (I work in a bank) we don't see them often at all and we won't order them in for people because it's kinda silly. They are no longer printed but still legal tender.

...yes. In my hypothetical story, I just wanted to make sure no one got caught up in the fact that $1000 bills "aren't real" since they haven't been printed for 70 years and you might think it was fake unless you work at a bank- like you. But after re-reading my comment, it's not 100% clear what exactly I meant with my "(no longer in circulation)." I just thought the $1000 denomination was best for my (imaginary!) story since the phone deal was for $100.

That's the thing though #14, OP wasn't the seller. OP clearly said their mother decided to sell it (and based off the working probably without OP's permission) and then gave the buyer the wrong phone. So not only is the buyer in possesion of something they shouldn't have, but also bought something from someone who had right/permission to be selling it.

But they realized and were told of it being the wrong phone and refuse to give it back

@ItnHmn My argument would be that the mom had the right to sell the phone- the 5. She listed a 5 on craigslist for $100. Buyer saw the ad for the 5 for $100. That was the agreement. The mom accidentally grabs the SE instead of the 5. The buyer should be expecting the 5 for $100, and nothing more. Shouldn't there be some good faith in there somewhere...? You're right about the Walmart computer... IF you make it out of the store. But if they catch their mistake in time... you're going to pay the correct price or leave with no computer. I'm not trying to be an asshole or anything, by the way.

Police can't do anything. It is a civil, not criminal matter. Small claims court. You are correct, though, the contract was for the 5.

#63 I don't think you know how Craigslist works. She listed that she was selling and iPhone 5, but she gave him the wrong phone. In good faith, he thought he was buying and iPhone 5. But that wasn't what he received, so he legally has to give back the phone. It's like if you buy an MacBook Air, and pay for the Air, but they give you the MacBook Pro. As you leave, they stop you to tell you they handed you the wrong box, but you refuse to give it back. That's stealing. You bought the Air, not the Pro, so the Pro isn't yours.

My comment was mostly directed at #14 because they claimed they were not legal tender and that's false. The $1000 bill part of your story was not the issue. But it is like others said and not stealing. It's the sellers mistake. If at work I gave out a $100 not a $20 the customer does not have to give it back it'd come back on me giving out the wrong amount.

We can't lock the phones remotely for our customers. It really depends on if they were signed into iCloud before selling it (which most people sign out before erasing their phones). :-)

Even if Apple can't help her because her apple id wasn't logged in the phone provider can lock the phone I'm assuming that the phone either is logged in Apple id or its registered with a phone company. I hope that's the case

You can't remotely lock a phone through a provider, either. They can only lock accounts. If they're logged in with their Apple ID then the user can actually remote lock their own phone.

My apologies. I meant getting the iPhone SE back and plan on selling the iPhone 5 again. Silly mistake, so I guess I can relate now!

amen to that

Wow I'm guessing your only reason for hating iPhone users is that you can't afford an iPhone yourself right ?

While I agree that 15 is a moron that needs to learn how to spell, they did list several reasons in addition to the price on why another phone would be better than an SE.

And YDI on you #15 for not comprehending the FML. It clearly says that OP's MOTHER not OP, decided to sell the phone and made the mistake. Meaning she probably did it without telling OP.

I think the only reason you're blaming the OP is because of your ridiculous, over the top loyalty to Android. This is not the OP's fault, it was the mother's, which was a mistake on her part. She probably did all this without checking in and asking the OP which iPhone was which. She probably just took the first iPhone she saw, assumed it was the 5 and gave it to the buyer. Some parents just sell their kid's stuff without asking, happens quite a bit. So no YDI there. As for your criticism of his phone choices, get off your high horse. People are allowed to like different things than you and have different brand loyalties, and what they do with their money is their choice and none of your business. I prefer androids to iPhones too, but at the end of the day, they're ******* phones, that's it, as long as they do everything you want, really, why does it matter?

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Not to mention iphones aren't that expensive if you don but them immediately after they came out. I know that because i really don't make a lot of money and i still have a 5S. It's really just a phone and like every phone, the price drops when an updated version is released. So yes OP kinda deserved it for buying it at such a price but it's not the brand's fault. I like the design and i don't understand how you can just start yelling there are phones with better designs and that people suck if they like this. That would be like telling me i deserve to starve because you and i don't like the same pizza, As others have said, they're really just phones.

Well, Apple fans where sure fast to try and vote anyone down who says something bad about their phones. But even that was just a little at the end, the top part is imho still valid. But now to answer to reactions. First off, if I mix up sentences it is actually because I think 10 times faster than I can type. English is not my first language, but it is one of the 6 I know. Many people who have English as their first language make much greater mistakes. Also I have the habbit of thinking 10 sentences ahead of what I write, which results in me going back and correcting things a lot. And occasionally I miss a thing here or there. I guess even a Mensa member can be called a moron on the internet :p For the rest I have bought phones from Windows, Apple, Blackberry and Android. I am not even a Android fanboy but the lack of App support on other operating systems makes it very hard to keep using other options. I am a programmer myself, I make enough money to buy whatever phone I would like for me and my wife. I bought my wife a Iphone 6 plus cause she wanted it. But if I compare it to my own phone, my phone is litterally better on all features of the phone, and has costed me much less. It is faster, has better battery life, better camera front and rear, weighs less, I even drop it a lot and still the screen is fine (which is much better than my own Iphone 5 which cracked every time it was dropped). My wife phone freezes up a lot more. On topic, when I buy a new phone I switch my contacts and after that I would keep my new phone with me 24/7 and remove all stuff from the old phone. Unless the OP mom took it in her sleep or shower than basically it is a YDI. So was this a rant from a Android fanboy as many believe? Hell No. I am not even a big fan of Android but from the options out there it is the least bad overall and gives access to some great phones. But please be my guess stay a sheep and follow the Apple herd.

these IPhone users are triggered by what you said about their aluminum can

Careful they have a ridiculous over the top loyalty towards it. And anyone who oppose them must have a ridiculous over the top loyalty towards Android.. despite only owning 1 android phone in their life so far. Ignoring the fact that I have bought and uses Windows, BlackBerry and other brands phones while most of the loyal iphone guard have rarely used anything else than a Iphone.. but no the person who switches phones to what ever system seems best has a over the top ridiculous loyalty towards Android...