Beware Sainsbury's Mobile Phone Recycling

bettygrub2709

Please, please can somebody give me some help or advice. I went through this site to get the best price for recycling my Daughter's Blackberry Storm mobile phone. Sainsbury's Recycling offered £53.00 online and they even sent a freepost envelope for me to send it away. They have now sent an email saying they are in the process of paying £23.50 into my bank account for it as there was a 50% reduction on the price offered due to their terms and conditions. I emailed and phoned them immediately to request the phone be returned as I felt they were trying to rip me off. I spoke to Donna who explained that they found the phone to have a problem with the LCD screen and that I was to take her word for it that they classed it as faulty. I explained that the phone was being used right up until we sent it away and she said that it wouldn't be noticeable to me but her technical team spotted it and that was why they were only going to give me £23. When I requested the phone be returned, as I felt they were trying to rip off customers, her reply was that if I wanted the phone back it would cost me £14.95 to have it returned. I was so upset and told her she should be ashamed of scamming people and I only sent it to them as I felt Sainsbury's was a reputable company and, after checking it on the Martin Lewis site, I felt confident it would be processed without any hiccups. They basically have me over a barrel, accept £23.50 or pay them £14.95 to get my "faulty" phone back. Surely this is illegal. Please can you help me as I bet there are other customers out there who have gone through the same as this and are taking their word for it that the phone they are sending for a good price suddenly goes faulty when they receive it. They are now also saying I only have 2 days to decide what to do as after that the phone is sent away and I have no choice but to accept the £23.00. Has anybody else experienced this kind of highway robbery and what can I do about it? Thanks

pearsoneys

sorry i can't help but didnt want to ignore you. i think thats disgraceful. I can understand £5 to send back but not £15!!
Hope you get it sorted and hopefully someone more savvy than me can help you
claire x

tazdevil01985

Email Sainsburys CEO [EMAIL="justin.king@sainsburys.co.uk"]justin.king@sainsburys.co.u[/EMAIL]k advising that this kind of blackmail is not appropiate ! I am sure that this is not the first person they have ripped off. I doubt that there was anything wrong with your phone ask for a full techncal report on the phone, sounds very dodgy the screen either works or it doesnt I wouldnt stand for this BS ! I had a simular thing with phoneexchange

gjchester

bettygrub2709 wrote: »

Has anybody else experienced this kind of highway robbery and what can I do about it? Thanks

Sainsburys Web site states their terms which as you have to accept it's assume you read and agreed to. Specifically they take 75% off if the LCD is damaged and that if you want it returning you have to pay a returns charge. Remeber they've had to pay to have the phone sent to them and look at it.

At least you have that option, most of the recycle companies do not give you the option to return phones, you can in this case at least pay for the return and try Ebay

ispartacus75

gjchester wrote: »

Sainsburys Web site states their terms which as you have to accept it's assume you read and agreed to. Specifically they take 75% off if the LCD is damaged and that if you want it returning you have to pay a returns charge. Remeber they've had to pay to have the phone sent to them and look at it.

At least you have that option, most of the recycle companies do not give you the option to return phones, you can in this case at least pay for the return and try Ebay

Who is to say that the LCD is in fact damaged and this isnt a company trying to pull a fast money making scam?

gjchester

ispartacus75 wrote: »

Who is to say that the LCD is in fact damaged and this isnt a company trying to pull a fast money making scam?

True and thats a different point, but my point is if you sent it to FoneBank you would get the lesser amount and thats it, no right to get it returned.

Was the LCD damaged we don't know, it could have had defects the OP either didn't notice or had got used to, but all too often people scream scam when they fall foul of the T&C's of a deal having blindly cliked the "I agree" button and not read the T&Cs .

Sainsburys is a big company they are unlikely to try and rip people off they have too big a public profile to think of.

bettygrub2709

Thanks very much to Tazdevil for the advice. I copied my email, adjusted it slightly and sent it off to Sainsburys. Received a lovely reply from his assistant who said they are looking into it and will get back to me as soon as possible. I agree that it is hard to believe a company like Sainsbury would try to rip anyone off, I sent the perfectly working phone away in good faith. I had read the T & C's but had absolutely no reason to think that they would offer me less than agreed because the phone was in perfect working order and less than a year old. The only reason my 11 year old Daughter was wanting to upgrade is because all her friends are into those Qwerty keyboard phones and she had Christmas money and was going to use what she got from Sainsbury to pay the difference. £30 is a lot of money for her to lose. Thanks x

tazdevil01985

bettygrub2709 wrote: »

Thanks very much to Tazdevil for the advice. I copied my email, adjusted it slightly and sent it off to Sainsburys. Received a lovely reply from his assistant who said they are looking into it and will get back to me as soon as possible. I agree that it is hard to believe a company like Sainsbury would try to rip anyone off, I sent the perfectly working phone away in good faith. I had read the T & C's but had absolutely no reason to think that they would offer me less than agreed because the phone was in perfect working order and less than a year old. The only reason my 11 year old Daughter was wanting to upgrade is because all her friends are into those Qwerty keyboard phones and she had Christmas money and was going to use what she got from Sainsbury to pay the difference. £30 is a lot of money for her to lose. Thanks x

No worries I hope everything gets resolved. Always go to the top, bit of shock and awwwwwww usually gets things sorted.
I always use Mazuma they may not offer the highest money but have sent hundreds of phones to them and always paid same day for the quote. I always take detailed pictures of the phone proving its working. Lets us all know how they reply as far as I am aware this is a new recycling site and bad press is never good