Recent ebay laptop experience

You got a ssd drive for free? Those aren't cheap. I don't even go by COA stickers anymore. 9 out of 10 times the number never works for me anyhow.

I wouldn't bother with trying to sort it out with ebay. You got a customer that's an idiot. Never argue with an idiot .... it's a sin. Best thing is to is to not waste any more time with him and move on to something profitable to do.

You didn't mention which operating system it was using. If it's Vista or earlier it's not worth bothering with. If it's win 8 the COA is more likely stored in BIOS so all you have to do is install a fresh ISO of the OS and it will automatically activate. easy peasy.

If it's a version of win 7 you probably got screwed over. The more likely reason the COA was scratched out is because he transferred it to another machine.

How to salvage the situation: ( assuming win 7 )

1: The SSD isn't worth much because of it's 20 gb size. The operating system needs about 12 - 15 gb to install. It will get up and running but with a little bit of use quickly run out of disc space.

2: If the operating system is working download & install Magic Jellybean key finder. The COA should be stored in an encrypted file somewhere on the SSD if he tried to activate it. The key finder will locate & decrypt it for you in a couple of easy steps. (Write it down. )

3: Next .... wipe the drive and do a clean install of the version of the correct operating system for the COA. Activate it through Microsoft and that should force the COA back to the original machine. If it gives you any grief about activating give Microsoft a call and explain the situation.

He might get a surprise the next time he logs on with the machine that he pirated the COA to.

Edited to add:

Okay, the first three steps were how to even the score. Next, take a look at the machine. If it's got a core i 3 processor or higher and at least 4 gb DDR 3 ram proceed forward. (Otherwise, don't waste any more time with it.)

If you pull the CD / DVD unit and install a traditional hard drive in it's place you would actually have an okay machine there. It would give you the speed of a solid state drive coupled with the storage of a traditional drive. Additionally, by putting the pagefile on the HDD you would get around the virtual memory problems you run into with SSD's.

Even if he can find the key through software, if the COA isn't valid, it can't be refurbished with Windows (Legally). A 20GB SSD is worth around $20-30. I'd sell it, and get what you can. Now, takinig revenge with the COA issue is another story.

Was this a laptop with a COA on a door or removable panel? If so, I'd check to make sure the panel wasn't swapped. If it was, you may have a case there. If not, you're probably out of luck with eBay.

The good news is that if it's a slightly older model, selling it again with an SSD (Or selling the SSD separately) may yield you not too much of a loss.

I was actually advocating revenge

If it's a common model, people may still buy it with a bad COA (For a little less). My assumption is that they illegally switch COAs, but it may live on as a Linux machine. I figure once it's sold, they can do whatever they want with it....

Originally Posted by 4barrel

after getting the laptop he requests a return a few days later as 'not as described' - stating that the screen was showing pink and green instead of the correct colors.

You didn't mention whether or not the screen was actually bad. Was it?

If i could offer a suggestion:

I think you can log on as an administrator with the help of a win 7 boot disc. You could retrieve the the product key that way ?

It would be a good idea to do do a clean install on a drive that's been wiped w/ a three pass overwrite. There's just no way of knowing what he might have used the machine for before shipping it back to you. There could be some personal stuff or criminal activity on the drive. If it's not done by the numbers it could violate client confidentiality or make you an accomplice.

The win 7 ISO's are still freely available. Personally i've found that the software that comes directly from Microsoft is a lot easier to work with than the Mfgr's bloatware version.

It's super easy to upgrade to win 10 that way too.

Kinda does Microsoft a favor because they really need to get a lot of machines changed over to continue with their business model. It would be a shame to see it not work out and have them go under.

Afterthought:

Just remembered ... i believe there's a new way of doing things coming up in the next month or so. Was reading about it in a Forbes article the other day.

In order to smooth out the upgrade process Microsoft is going to begin allowing fresh Win 10 ISO installations with any valid win 7 or win 8 product key. ( No more wasting time with upgrades. )

That should help make things easier on everybody and help them reach their goal of having win 10 installed on a billion machines by the end of their free upgrade offer.

I will say this...I have fought Ebay (ie appealed their decision) and won. I also have an EXTENSIVE TOS on my listings. I have had to fight with 3 people on EBAY and won every time because of my complete description, pics and TOS.

I would load Win7 or 10 on it and sell as a laptop...i5's are certainly good enough for just about anyone.