CEX Sold me a Fake iPhone and will likely refuse a refund.

jasonwatkins

MattMattMattUK said:

Emmia said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

Sorry, I'm still stuck on the "I spent £1.8k on a phone" bit.

I'm stuck on the spending that amount of money on a phone from CEX - I buy brand new handsets but my limit is £800 ISH for a phone I'll keep forgetting at least 5 years.

I am confused about buying if from CEX, second hand, for £1,800, with no manufacturer's wattanty, when it can be bought brand new from reputable retailers for £1,600-1,999 with full manufacturer's warranty.

I also question spending that amount on a phone when pretty much no one needs the 2TB version which is the part that significantly ramps up the price. I even more question someone buying a phone that costs that much on finance. However the OP has decided that they want to waste that much money on an iPhone then that is their perogative, but to buy it second hand from CEX for the same or even more than it can be bought new is frankly insane. If I was spending that much I would have even considered paying £200 more than the CEX price to buy it direct from Apple.

Your cookie is in the post.  Well done you.

jasonwatkins

flaneurs_lobster said:

jasonwatkins said:

Yes I’m equally as bemused as to what this CCTV is meant to show as I can’t imagine it’s any kind of specific close up of the screen.

They may well have such CCTV footage showing the testing (& IMEI nos) of a perfectly genuine iPhone.

Don't see how this then proves that the phone supplied to the OP is the same phone.

Might even be a genuine iPhone box that the hooky phone was sold in.

What does the Apple checker say about the serial number on the box?

I’ll double check when I get home but I’m pretty sure it comes back as a valid iPhone 17 Pro Max.

I spoke to the manager of the shop and she told me that the CCTV apparently showed the tester scanning the IMEI number of the phone and that the phone was clearly switched on.

She once again said that the phone I was trying to return wasn’t the phone I was sold and that she wasn’t allowed to give me a refund.

In an interesting quirk, the kid who served me was actually there and confirmed that he sold me the phone and that it didn’t have a charge on it.

I told her that the shop basically has me over a barrel because there’s no way I can prove that I didn’t do what I’m being accused of.  Said I’m being accused of being a criminal by a company that I’ve been a customer of for over ten years so why did I suddenly decide to scam them now ?

She said they weren’t accusing me of being a criminal and I said “Well by virtue of the fact you’re refusing me a refund you basically are”.

She said she’ll contact their loss prevention team to see what, if anything, they can do but told me it could be quite a while before I hear anything.

When I get home I’ll contact Monzo and ask for advice about a chargeback first before actually putting one in.

I’ve got the phone and original receipt with me at least so at least that’s .. something 🙄

jasonwatkins

flaneurs_lobster said:

jasonwatkins said:

Yes I’m equally as bemused as to what this CCTV is meant to show as I can’t imagine it’s any kind of specific close up of the screen.

They may well have such CCTV footage showing the testing (& IMEI nos) of a perfectly genuine iPhone.

Don't see how this then proves that the phone supplied to the OP is the same phone.

Might even be a genuine iPhone box that the hooky phone was sold in.

What does the Apple checker say about the serial number on the box?

Just got back home and ran the IMEI number on the box and it literally does come back as a 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max in Deep Blue, which is exactly what this handset is, and it was purchased in the UK.

I've just run the IMEI number from the actual phone itself through the same site and it comes back as a 1TB iPhone 17 Pro Max in Deep Blue which was purchased in China.

Keep_pedalling

Is the photo you linked to the same photo that they used to advertise the item? If it is then you have the evidence that they sold a fake item. The back of genuine iPhone 17 is moulded in one piece, on that phone you have a join between the back and the raised section round the lenses. 

jasonwatkins

Keep_pedalling said:

Is the photo you linked to the same photo that they used to advertise the item? If it is then you have the evidence that they sold a fake item. The back of genuine iPhone 17 is moulded in one piece, on that phone you have a join between the back and the raised section round the lenses. 

CEX only ever use "official" images on their website.

Grumpy_chap

I am a bit confused by this thread from the outset.  The OP wanted a specific iPhone which is the best version of the latest model, only launched September 2025.  Retail "list" price £2k.  Trade-in offers and zero-percent finance are available via AppleStore but no-one else seems to really have any discounts for the time being.

Somehow, CEX have a used phone available.  For such a later version of such a premium phone, this phone being in the second hand market really indicates an owner in financial distress, or a phone that had been obtained through illegitimate channels, or a faulty phone, or a phone that is somehow not as it seems.

CEX sold the used phone to the OP at £1.8k.
The receipt and the box state the phone is IMEI "xxx".
The OP purchased in a hurry so did not see the phone switched on, verify the IMEI number, but simply paid and left the store.
It now transpires that the actual phone in the box has a different IMEI number than the receipt / box and the phone itself is not an iPhone but an Android phone in iPhone clothing.
CEX are doubling down on the phone the OP has tried to return as being a different phone to that in the box when the second hand phone was sold by CEX.
No-one knows where the actual phone with the same IMEI "xxx" is - can this be located using the "find my" tools?

I struggle to see how the OP can take this forward with the retailer and provide sufficient evidence that the "not as it seems" phone is the actual phone the CEX store provided to the OP rather than the CEX counter-position that the OP did the swap to the "not as it seems" phone.

The possible options for S75 claim via the finance will also seemingly fail for the same reason.

The only hope is that the OP can use the "find my" tools within the Apple ecosystem to locate the actual phone with the IMEI number as per the box and receipt.
Even if that is successful, the phone would presumably need to be located in the back office of the CEX store, or the home of one of the CEX staff to prove that the swap was by that side of the process.

jasonwatkins

You can't track a phone purely by IMEI number.

Aylesbury_Duck

Seems it has to be a S75 claim which will presumably fail because the finance provider isn't going to fork out £1800 without good evidence, and then small claims action against the retailer in the hope they back down or the court believes OP's version of events is more likely than the alternative.

Grumpy_chap

jasonwatkins said:

You can't track a phone purely by IMEI number.

Thanks.

Can the phone be blocked by just the IMEI number?  It would seem to be in the interest of the OP and CEX to activate that if at all possible.

I wonder whether there might reach a point where someone should report this to the Police as a crime.  I suppose that would depend on who the victim of the crime was as to who would be able to make such a report.

MattMattMattUK

Grumpy_chap said:

jasonwatkins said:

You can't track a phone purely by IMEI number.

Thanks.

Can the phone be blocked by just the IMEI number?  It would seem to be in the interest of the OP and CEX to activate that if at all possible.

I wonder whether there might reach a point where someone should report this to the Police as a crime.  I suppose that would depend on who the victim of the crime was as to who would be able to make such a report.

It can, but only by the network operators when requested by the police, there is no way for a consumer to do it.