CEX "don't have the cash" to pay me for my iPhone

mode80

First of all, apologies if I am posting this in the wrong place. I read Martin's emails, but have yet to get familiar with the lay-of-the-land on the Forums.

I took my 1st gen iPhone 8GB into the Rathbone Place store (London, near TCR) yesterday at around half four to trade in for cash. I've traded electronics for cash before with CEX, so I knew that I would have to wait for them to test it, etc. I told the clerk that I would be wanting cash, not vouchers. He did state that there might be a problem getting the money before close - "that's alright," I said, "I'll come back same time tomorrow", thinking they would have plenty of time to get the cash together before this evening.

Well, I was wrong. I went in today, only to be told by the manager on duty that a) they didn't have cash at hand and b) I was welcome to wait around 3 hours until 8pm to see if the £176 I was to get for my iPhone would turn up.

I had a (reasonable) argument with the manager, No, he couldn't go to the bank during the day, No, he couldn't get the funds from the shop on TCR. Again, I was welcome to wait until the end of the evening, or come back tomorrow morning, as whatever they take in tonight will be tomorrow's till float.

So, here's the question I pose to you savvy consumers. Am I being totally given the runaround by these guys? Do I have *any* consumer rights in this case? Normally, I would wait it out, but I've overspent on XMas presents and need the cash-in-hand ASAP (obviously, I need to hang out here more to pick up on some tips...)

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this!

- mode80 -

omen666

Thought they had money issues and were going into liquidation?

Kavanne

Why don't you just sell it on eBay?

illuminate

I'm a little confused as to what rights you think you should have.

You are selling not buying.

If I were to try and sell you something and you said ..

"I'll give you £100, but I don't have the money".... would you expect me to have any sort of recourse under the law to force you to come up with the dosh ?

All you can do is walk away with your phone and try and sell elsewhere.

Pink_fluff

What is CEX?

Blacksheep1979

Pink_fluff wrote: »

What is CEX?

What is google?

Pink_fluff

Thank you d.edna

Lisey_Loo

omen666 wrote: »

Thought they had money issues and were going into liquidation?

I think they`re in a really bad way.

I was in Argos today and the girl behind the counter serving me suddenly starting telling me that they hadn`t paid her boyfriend his wages! Poor thing seemed to need to get it off her chest...

I think you`ll be lucky to get any money for your phone from that branch.

illuminate

I find it hard to understand why, what equates to a modern day pawn shop, might struggle, under the current economic circumstances.

These sort of firms, who I believe exploit those suffering real financial hardship usually thrive when the going gets tough.

rosysparkle

CEX are mostly franchised stores, so one or more being in trouble doesn't necessarily mean the company is in trouble.

anewman

Kavanne wrote: »

Why don't you just sell it on eBay?

Because if CEX stump up cash, then the OP can't be caught for selling or handling stolen goods later. CEX is only full of stolen goods anyway. It's the only reason someone would complain about not being given cash for an iphone.