Mobile Phone Xchange Thieves

nickyg26

I recently arranged to sell my phone to mobile phone xchange for £119 it was an iphone 4S 16gb. They sent me out the packaging I sent it away and assumed everything would be fine, To my confusion I noticed a payment into my account of £24 from them and I had no idea why so had a look through my emails couldn't find anything checked my junk and there was an email from over a week ago saying my phone had water damage and they could not pay me the full value. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the phone it was in mint condition the email stated I had 3 days to reply and if a did not respond they would pay me the new valuation I am deeply upset by this and really want my phone back I am going to contact them tomorrow but I read in there T's + C's that the phone cannot be returned under any circumstances. I am determined to get my phone back as I feel a have been robbed and after looking on the internet I found loads of reviews from people saying the same things about them offering them a silly valuation for water damage anyone have any advice that would help?.

mobilejunkie

Yes. Do the minimal amount of research beforehand.

nickyg26

Thanks for that captain hindsight the site I used to compare prices had good reviews for them but its irrelevant now but thanks for the great advice.

gjchester

nickyg26 wrote: »

there was an email from over a week ago saying my phone had water damage and they could not pay me the full value. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the phone it was in mint condition

Did you check them before sending? Probably not, most of us would not think of it, but its possible it was water damaged even through it looked in great condition.
Water is a bad thing in electronics, if water has got inside it can cause corrosion and faults, all of which can happen months after the water got it, the water indicators are an early warning there may be problems ahead.


That said they may have been tripped by moisture rather than lots of water, but it can look in mint condition and have triggered water damage indicators

bod1467

In most cases these companies are simply using it as an excuse to slash their offer price, knowing that they have people over a barrel. (They have your phone).

Smithers37

I used them a little while ago. They charged me £10 for sending it in late! It was probably in the T&Cs, but I won't use them ever again.

Nicklt

We sent a iPhone 4s to them about 6 months ago. Nothing wrong with it and told we would get £90 for it. They came back with a new offer of £9....£9!!!! The reason they gave; water damage, vibration not working and scratch on screen.

We got the phone back and checked it, vibration worked fine, no water damage and certainly no scratch.

When they sent to new offer they send pics of the phone, but i'm 99% sure it was of a different phone as there was indeed a scratch on the picture but not on the actual phone.

Handsome90

gjchester wrote: »

Did you check them before sending? Probably not, most of us would not think of it, but its possible it was water damaged even through it looked in great condition.
Water is a bad thing in electronics, if water has got inside it can cause corrosion and faults, all of which can happen months after the water got it, the water indicators are an early warning there may be problems ahead.


That said they may have been tripped by moisture rather than lots of water, but it can look in mint condition and have triggered water damage indicators

Even when the phone has no damage, these companies make up lies in order to lower the prices. This is BBC Watchdog's findings http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/cash-4-phones

Also water indicators are not necessarily a good indicators for water damage if they are not strategically placed. I forgot the exact model of the iPhone but there were cases where just moisture present in the exhaled air from the users' mouth would trigger the water indicators.

mobilejunkie

nickyg26 wrote: »

Thanks for that captain hindsight the site I used to compare prices had good reviews for them but its irrelevant now but thanks for the great advice.

Not hindsight. I ALWAYS research before I do anything on the internet. I'm very puzzled as to where YOU say you saw "good reviews"; there's a very long thread on them on here and I've never seen ONE.

photome

Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Research research and reseach again when using the internet, there are many crooks at the other end.

CEX are offering £103 cash in poor condition and if you had taken it there you could have said yes or no over the counter

nickyg26

Called them today explained I was unhappy with the quote wasnt willing to accept it they said my phone would not be returned as it has been sent on elsewhere. They offered me £30 as a good will gesture which says to me they know there in the wrong.