Can you call up your (father's?) provider and report the phone stolen? Aren't those IMEI's blacklisted? If so, that might make it difficult for the buyer to unload. I guess you could also threaten to do that to said buyer, first, to see if that provokes anything.
Either way, a bummer of a story. I've had my own issues with eBay and rarely check there except for infrequently needed (cheap) odds and ends. I hope it works out.
He went straight to his credit card and they took his side.
Took his side as far as the chargeback, OK, I can see that. It's not very encouraging, but I can see it.
But took his side as far as keeping the item and getting his money back? That I don't see at all. How is that possible? And how would PayPal, and eBay for that matter, not expect a return?
What's to stop buyer from claiming the box contained a pair of old headphones ('significantly not as described')? The problem is the buyer is being taken at their word; forcing a return of bogus items won't help.
Yes, I can see that being an issue, and as a seller, you would want to somehow document what was actually shipped, otherwise the buyer could indeed ship back a bogus item.
But to not even raise the question of a return at all? That doesn't make sense to me.
I had no chance of appealing because Paypal would not disclose the Credit Card issuer contact info to me so that I could contact them directly