Brand New handset or a potential refurb/returned handset

ConsumerGuy0016

Ordered a smartphone from The SmartPhone Company (subsidiary of MobilePhonesDirect). Couple days later received a package containing an unsealed box (slight damage to it) which had the phone inside (which was subsequently missing a screen protector)

Emailed company to ask if I had been sent a refurb model or a handset that had previously been returned by another buyer - they answered saying that their warehouse breaks the seal on boxes to perform 'quality control on the phone and it's contents" - this struck me as odd.

My question is has anyone else had experience of this - is this an industry practice? Really don't want to have to go through the hassle of returning the phone, but will do if it becomes apparent that I've been sent a non-new handset.

paddyrg

Sounds like !!!!!!!! to me, why would a warehouseman be technically qualified to assess if a phone is of quality, and need to remove the protective screen cover?

Check the imei on the phone matches the box, keep a note of any serial's, and start escalating the complaint.

LilElvis

I'm on my 5th smartphone and every one of them has been received factory sealed. Even if they ran tests there would be no need to remove the screen protector. Sounds very dubious.

LilElvis

Have a look on review centre - lots of unhappy customers, though the most recent ones all seem to be about problems with cash back deals.

FireWyrm

If the goods were advertised and sold 'as new' then you have a right to expect and receive the goods factory sealed as new. If the seals are broken, then it isnt new. I would return the phone and box and demand that they replace it with the handset you have bought and paid for. Remind them that Trading Standards are well aware of this sort of wheeze and if you bought 'new' goods you will not accept 'refurbs' except where it is clearly stated as being the case.

ConsumerGuy0016

Thanks for the responses. Have just received an update from company saying "The Sony handsets we receive from our supplier are unsealed upon arrival to ourselves" - yet in the email I received from customer services yesterday I was told "the warehouse break the seal to preform a quality control on the handset and its contents"

If they were going to lie I would have appreciated some consistency.

Raises the question - if the retailer is purchasing the handsets unsealed from their suppliers they can't be purchasing them on the pretence that the phones being supplied are 'brand new' - and therefore they shouldn't be advertised as so.

LilElvis

Eh?????

The name of the company in the opening post has changed. Originally it said Affordable Mobiles.

I do like a bit of consistency!

ConsumerGuy0016

LilElvis wrote: »

Eh?????

The name of the company in the opening post has changed. Originally it said Affordable Mobiles.

I do like a bit of consistency!

Corrected the mistake. Phone was purchased from The SmartPhone Company.

Incidentally, I just called Sony who confirmed that they sell all their phones to retailers and third-party sellers in sealed condition (with official Sony tape).

Seems to explain how these third-party sellers can sell the phones on at such good prices if they're purchasing second-hand knock offs at much lower prices.

LilElvis

ConsumerGuy0016 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. Have just received an update from company saying "The Sony handsets we receive from our supplier are unsealed upon arrival to ourselves" - yet in the email I received from customer services yesterday I was told "the warehouse break the seal to preform a quality control on the handset and its contents"

If they were going to lie I would have appreciated some consistency.

Raises the question - if the retailer is purchasing the handsets unsealed from their suppliers they can't be purchasing them on the pretence that the phones being supplied are 'brand new' - and therefore they shouldn't be advertised as so.

The Smartphone Company do sell refurbished Sony models. I would go into a bricks and mortar shop and ask to see a Sony boxed up so you can check whether they are sealed. If it's sealed I would be thinking that the company you purchased from are liars and that they have sent you a refurbished one.

FireWyrm

ConsumerGuy0016 wrote: »

Seems to explain how these third-party sellers can sell the phones on at such good prices if they're purchasing second-hand knock offs at much lower prices.

Then what they are doing is illegal and you can report them to Trading Standards. If goods are clearly advertised as new, then they must be so, complete with seals in tact. Anything less is not new and they cannot sell it at the 'new' price.

LilElvis

Cross-posted!

I would be sending it straight back and requesting a refund.