Bought a stolen laptop? Need help please

Hi all... 1st of all i do apologize if my thread is in wrong place but i am really desperate what to do ..

short story:

bought laptop, SVS1513C5E in amazing condition, boxed with all the handbook from private person here in UK. Came to home, rang to Sony asked about waranty info and the advisor has told me, the laptop hasnt been registered so we can do it now and basically ill be the 1st and only owner of the laptop! GREAT WHAT A PERFECT NEWS!! That everything happened just now, 13/4 when i was registered the laptop on my name...everything seems fine, spoke to customer service few times regarding the win 8 and sata3 issues... yesterday 23/4 when i rang up to sony CS the advisor has told me that he got a note that the laptop has been reported as a stolen laptop but after few second he admire that was his fault, everythings ok.. today, 24/03 spoke to sony again and another advisor has told me that the laptop si reported as stole since 16/4 ( 3 days after i have registered the laptop on my name ) from the original owner?!?!?. They asked me to provide proof of purchase but i dont have any. Spoke to the guy who i bought the laptop from and he told he bought it from another guy... Sony dont want to provide any warranty at all because of this issue and allegedly the case has been reported to police..

so the questions are:am i loosing laptop and money too? has anybody similar experiences? what should i expect?

Thank you all for support

 

Oh this might be a harsh lesson. I'm afraid that asking legal advice on a public forum probably won't yield the best answers but I'm guessing you'll be at the losing end of the deal. My recommendation is to get in touch with local police, inform them of the situation and attempt to make contact with the person you purchased the laptop from.

Lesson to be learned: Anytime you purchase objects of large monetary value in an informal manner, be sure to make it as official as possible with paperwork and a copy of government issued documentation about the person (such as a photo of his drivers license, military ID, passport, etc). That way you are prepared for legal issues should any arise surrounding your new purchase. Good luck!

 

AFAIK, Sony VAIO S got some anti-theft technologies, Intel AT for example. If it was stolen a few days ago, I would prepare for a visit from police.

That's why I never buy second hands, especially here where I live, in the Netherlands.

 

yep, they got the Intel AT but also it needs to have subscription for that to activate... it is a bit complicated... yesterday i have spoken to Sony CS service with one girl, she was really good and really helpful trying to find out more information... but she didnt find anything at all... she didn't find the name of the person who reported the laptop has been stolen,no contact number, no location, she even didnt find a name and contact number of the police officer who dealing with the case... weird, isn't? it seems like there is no record in the file at all apart the laptop is flaged in their system as a stolen laptop... i think that must be a mistake from sony site, but she told me, that i am still the owner and i am still covered by sony warranty and if that the police should already contact me, but they didn't... the previous owner had that laptop for about 2 weeks and we don't know how long the 3 owner had that laptop.. ok, so lets say the laptop was about one month out from the store, and after one month someone has noticed that he missing his own laptop ???? really weird and i really starting to thinking that the mistake is from sony side... fortunately i can prove that i have bought the laptop from private person and also how much for, because all the text message conversation is recorded and i have made a back up of the text communication include address, cash price, etc, etc... but i still cant provide oficial receipt or confirmation email about the purchase...

 

Your laptop should have MFG Date at the bottom showing xx/2013.
If you don't have official receipt, that label will be the proof of warranty however, you may have less than 12 months period.