i just bought a black-listed kindle

[crich70]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

We see things differently. This is an expensive device. I would turn the device into lost and found or the police or call the company that made the device and see if they have a method for returning it to the person who lost it. That is the ethical thing to do. If someone will not do the right thing, then I will deprive them of the full use of the item that I paid for.

There is also the settings page to consider. Page 3 of the settings has a spot where you can put your personal info. such as your name and email contact so it seems clear that Amazon is hoping people will do the right thing and return it to the rightful owner if one is lost by the proper owner and then found by someone else. And how does the OP know that the seller told them the truth about finding it? It could just as easily be a case of the seller having stolen the Kindle from an inattentive owner and then after a few weeks to a month or so when the heat is likely to be off they decide to fence their stolen booty to whomever is gullible enough to pay for it.

[Harry_Y]

I think when the get called in Amazon should lock the device
and have the screen display the return info on the screen

[Ron.]

bricked ? as far as I know and I may be mistaken amazon only blacklists kindles they can not brick them.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Ron.

bricked ? as far as I know and I may be mistaken amazon only blacklists kindles they can not brick them.

right, I think in expediency we are using the term bricked. The Kindle is still perfectly usable as long as you limit it to side loading.

BOb

[FourOhFour]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Finders keepers losers weepers.

I'm not talking about a THEFT here. I am saying, if you LOST your device, having amazon blacklist it so someone else can't enjoy seems a bit of sour grapes to me.

If you find something, and don't try to return it, you're a thief.

No, I don't apply this to the people digging up quarters and rings on the beach. For one thing, it'd be near impossible to identify the owner for those. But for something like the Kindle? Yeah, sorry, I grew out of "finder's keepers" in grade school.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by crich70

There is also the settings page to consider. Page 3 of the settings has a spot where you can put your personal info. such as your name and email contact so it seems clear that Amazon is hoping people will do the right thing and return it to the rightful owner if one is lost by the proper owner and then found by someone else. And how does the OP know that the seller told them the truth about finding it? It could just as easily be a case of the seller having stolen the Kindle from an inattentive owner and then after a few weeks to a month or so when the heat is likely to be off they decide to fence their stolen booty to whomever is gullible enough to pay for it.

My Kindles are named with my telephone number and name so someone can call me if they find it.

[FourOhFour]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

right, I think in expediency we are using the term bricked. The Kindle is still perfectly usable as long as you limit it to side loading.

BOb

Something I think Amazon should fix. It should lock up and show a "This device has been reported lost. Please contact Kindle Support at <number> or ship to <address>. Return postage guaranteed.". (and yes, I'd have Amazon pass the return postage cost on to the owner who lost it. Or maybe make it another Prime perk. But if you make it cheap and easy for someone to return it, it's more likely that they will.)

It'd also make it harder for people to sell them on ebay, as any photos that show the screen would have to be photoshopped to hide the message.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

We see things differently. This is an expensive device. I would turn the device into lost and found or the police or call the company that made the device and see if they have a method for returning it to the person who lost it. That is the ethical thing to do. If someone will not do the right thing, then I will deprive them of the full use of the item that I paid for.

I think there are different contexts involved.

I don't think I have any obligation to take care of other people's property.

One context is when I find something. Suppose I see a K3 lying on the sidewalk. I can just leave it lying on the sidewalk if I want. I have no responsibility to deal with it.

But if I pick it up, I have assumed the duty to return it to its owner. That duty is normally to turn it over to the the lost & found, or the merchant in whose shop I found it. Maybe giving it to the police. That's not as easy as one might think. The nearest cop may not take it.

Or I can return it to Amazon.

But if I don't want to assume the duty, I don't pick it up.

But buying things presents a different context. The rules we have about buying property evolved in a time when it was easy to know or find out if the person selling something actually owned it. So it was reasonable to put the burden of determining ownership on the buyer.

But these days, it's not so easy. The question is, in these days of eBay, what do we think is reasonable? And you have to take into account that we own much more stuff than people used to own. Ten times, a hundred times, maybe even a thousand times more stuff.

The question is, who should bear the burden of the loss? In the context of eBay or Craigslist, I think eBay or Craigslist should bear that burden as part of the cost of doing business. But in the context of a face to face sale, it makes sense to me that the buyer should continue to bear the burden.

In the context of the OP, she knew the seller, namely, her sister. It seems obvious that she should go back to the sister, return the device, get her money back, & tell her sister to contact Amazon.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by JoeD

Do the right thing, tell amazon you've been scammed into buying a stolen kindle and would like them to put the original owner in contact with you so you can return it.

Then contact the seller, tell them you'd like to know when/where they found it as you're passing the device onto the police to allow it to be returned to the original owner, then mention you'd also like your money back

The RIGHT thing to do!

[Noughty]

I think in this situation two people are victims - the one who lost kindle and the one who bought it. It's not hers/his fault that kindle seller wasn't an owner of the kindle.

I myself had found a few things in my life and I always returned them to their owner if possible, but if I actually BOUGHT something, paid for it not knowing it was stolen/lost etc... Maybe you can afford to buy things twice, I can't. For me kindle is expensive (because of the exchange rate). If I returned it to the owner, I doubt I would by kindle again. And my eyes would suffer.
SO I guess, it's good that I don't trust buying used stuff and will buy a new kindle so no need to worry for such things.

The best would be if the one who sold kind;e returned money (money transfer etc). Then it all be fair

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

When my Mom lost her DX I called Amazon and reported it as Lost. They went ahead and bricked it.

They did the same for me when I lost my first DX.

[pilotbob]

I like the idea someone mentioned that there should be a "is this kindle stolen/lost" place on the web site where you can type in the serial number and it would tell you.

Who will start a campaign for this on the Kindle forums?

BOb

[Noughty]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I like the idea someone mentioned that there should be a "is this kindle stolen/lost" place on the web site where you can type in the serial number and it would tell you.

Who will start a campaign for this on the Kindle forums?

BOb

Great idea or as someone said it could be written somewhere on kindle that it was listed as stolen. Something like if it is a mistake contact amazon etc. There should be an easy way to check if it is ok.

There's always a risk that it might get blacklisted later. If owner doesn't blacklist it immediately. Also if it isn't deregistered - you cannot register it? Or can you?

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Noughty

Great idea or as someone said it could be written somewhere on kindle that it was listed as stolen. Something like if it is a mistake contact amazon etc. There should be an easy way to check if it is ok.

There's always a risk that it might get blacklisted later. If owner doesn't blacklist it immediately. Also if it isn't deregistered - you cannot register it? Or can you?

I expect that if you call to report your kindle is lost/stolen they would not black list it unless it was actually registred to your account at the time you made the call.

I guess that it is possible someone could register it to their own account (or at least deregister it) before you call amazon... but that is probably going to be a small number of cases.

BOb

[ProfCrash]

When you call to report a lost/stolen Kindle they ask pretty specific questions about when you bought it, with what credit card, and account info. I found out my Mom's Kindle was lost when I checked my Kindle Page and noticed that her Kindle was not registered. I called to ask her if she had decided to open her own account and she told me that it was lost.

She had no way of deregistering it, she does not have access to my Amazon account, so someone had to be using it because they deregistered it.

Once I reported it missing, they deregistred it and removed the ability for it to use the 3G. The only way to get it turned back on would be able to provide specific information from my account.