Pixel trade in..

The_stingemeister

Had an email from Google, offering a trade in for my old pixel 4a model. The estimate is £215 (depending on condition). So I could trade it in for, say, the 9a (priced at £499) and therefore pay just £284 for a new phone. However, my phone is one of those affected by the battery/software fiasco. They don't say whether that influences the trade in or not. 

Anyone done this, does seem a good deal?

matelodave

Might be worth checking that its not a scam before handing over your phone or credit card info

The_stingemeister

matelodave said:

Might be worth checking that its not a scam before handing over your phone or credit card info

Appears genuine. The beauty of it is, you don't send your old phone to them until you receive the new one. So you're not without a phone. 

flaneurs_lobster

A problem with these deals is that the trade-in valuation comes back as, say, £20 (or is there a guaranteed minimum?). You would be expected to make up the difference in purchase price between the estimate and the actual.

They would have the sanction of bricking your new phone if you default. If the new phone were still sealed in its box you might be able to unwind the deal at zero cost but you are likely to have made use of the new phone thus making it a used unit, not sure how returns then work.

Check the small print to see how it would work and make sure you're happy with the deal.

The_stingemeister

flaneurs_lobster said:

A problem with these deals is that the trade-in valuation comes back as, say, £20 (or is there a guaranteed minimum?). You would be expected to make up the difference in purchase price between the estimate and the actual.

They would have the sanction of bricking your new phone if you default. If the new phone were still sealed in its box you might be able to unwind the deal at zero cost but you are likely to have made use of the new phone thus making it a used unit, not sure how returns then work.

Check the small print to see how it would work and make sure you're happy with the deal.

Entered my model, and £215 came up (Depending on condition). Everything on phone is in good condition, apart from a poor battery life. Which is what Google did to it with their software update in January.
Can't have a "swollen" battery...how would you know, you have to take the front off to examine that! Can't have cracked screen or other damage.

After the software/battery fiasco I really don't trust them. They earlier offered me £40 to get battery fixed, omitting to tell me that the going rate for a repair like that was around £200...

flaneurs_lobster

Genuine deal, on the store.google.com/gb website.

I see now that the deal is actually that you pay full whack for the new phone and that they then inspect your trade-in and refund you. You are contractually bound to accept their valuation if it's at least 75% of the estimate (so in your case 75% of £215, £161.25) if it's less you can reject and they return the phone.

FWIW, CeX's estimate on a 4a in good nick is £70 cash, £90 voucher.

I've only used these type of trade-in deals when the discount amount is guaranteed because the trade in can be any phone in any (working) condition - typically offered by Samsung on new phones.

You'd know about a swollen battery because it would force the phone apart. Highly dangerous condition, you have to:

a) put the battery in a bucket of sand in the middle of the road and phone bomb disposal to deal with it, or

b) dump it in the dead battery box at Tesco.

The_stingemeister

Didn't want to indulge Google again really, after the software abomination earlier this year. But £284 (effectively) for a decent, new model is tempting.