Cannot get a refund for faulty refurbished phone

HuggyHermit

Hi,

I'm writing on behalf of my father, who recently bought a refurbished Pixel Pro 7 online from The iOutlet, who are based in Plymouth. When it arrived, it looked pristine, but had not been properly factory reset. However, once we reset it and set everything up, it seemed fine. For about four days!

The phone arrived on Tuesday 19th March, but on Saturday 23rd, the screen went black, it made a screeching noise, and then it became completely unresponsive. Needless to say, he sent it back for a refund.

Since they received the phone back, we have received two emails from them, both explaining that until they have (a) repaired the phone and (b) logged in as my father to clear his data from it, they will not issue a refund. In particular, they require his passcode and Google credentials in order to give him his money back. We have no intention of providing these, and they should not need them to do a factory reset. Given the initial state of the phone, it looks like they're asking because they simply don't know how to do a factory reset!

Given the privacy implications of working that way, isn't such a request illegal? And can they really hold up a refund for a defective device until they can repair it? What if (as I suspect) they are never able to repair it?

What's the best way to proceed from here? Assuming they continue to refuse to pay up, should we take it up with his credit card company, or take it to small claims court? And is there any way to report them for their behaviour so that others do not have to deal with their antics?

Thanks in advance,

Peter

DullGreyGuy

if iCloud Find My Phone is active you cannot do a factory reset until the user logs in.  You can do a partial reset but it will immediately require the log in of the iCloud user that its locked to. You can however remove a device from Find My Phone remotely which gets around the problem. 

There request isn't illegal but isn't prudent to follow and inevitably would breach T&Cs of various other services. 

They are reasonable timescale to inspect the phone to determine the cause of the defect and ensure it's not caused by user error. 

Mark_d

To reset the phone you need to boot in to recovery mode.  This is before Android starts so passcode/password is not required.

Do not share passcode or google credentials. It is not illegal for them to ask but you are taking a number of risks if you share this.

The phone failed so soon after you received it - therefore you are eligible for a refund.  I would give the retailer 14 days and then escalate the issue with your credit card company.

Jono111

If you log into your Google account on another device you can see a list of devices you are signed into and you are able to select one and sign out remotely