CeX sent us a fake phone UPDATE

southcoaster67

Hello this is my first post and I’m hoping someone can help confirm I’m taking the appropriate steps to sort this out. Also my nightmare with CeX may help others not get into the same situation!
My husband bought a £600 second hand iPhone on CeX website for my Christmas present, on Christmas Day I opened the box to discover that the phone inside was a useless plastic display model.
We contacted CeX by email on Christmas Day and they said to return the “phone” for a refund or take it into a shop. We went to a CeX shop on the 26th but they would not give us a refund and requested the cctv from the shop that sent it. We have since emailed CeX three times but have had no reply, we have reported the incidence to the police action fraud and also contacted our credit card company requesting a charge back.
Are there any others steps I should be taking? I don’t want to return the “phone” as I’m worried it will just get lost in the system as I’m presuming CeX position is they sent us the correct phone and not that an employee somehow switched it out for the fake phone.
Thank you in advance for any help.

MattMattMattUK

southcoaster67 said:

Hello this is my first post and I’m hoping someone can help confirm I’m taking the appropriate steps to sort this out. Also my nightmare with CeX may help others not get into the same situation!
My husband bought a £600 second hand iPhone on CeX website for my Christmas present, on Christmas Day I opened the box to discover that the phone inside was a useless plastic display model.
We contacted CeX by email on Christmas Day and they said to return the “phone” for a refund or take it into a shop. We went to a CeX shop on the 26th but they would not give us a refund and requested the cctv from the shop that sent it. We have since emailed CeX three times but have had no reply, we have reported the incidence to the police action fraud and also contacted our credit card company requesting a charge back.
Are there any others steps I should be taking? I don’t want to return the “phone” as I’m worried it will just get lost in the system as I’m presuming CeX position is they sent us the correct phone and not that an employee somehow switched it out for the fake phone.
Thank you in advance for any help.

You need to be patient, today is the first working day since you raised the issue, it will likely take a while to resolve, emailing multiple times on bank holidays and weekends is not going to elicit a faster response.

See also:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6647116/cex-sold-me-a-fake-iphone-and-will-likely-refuse-a-refund/

flaneurs_lobster

That branch that the phone was dispatched from - wasn't Romford by any chance?

southcoaster67

Thank you, yes I’ve tried telling my husband to be more patient! I think as CeX responded on Christmas Day we thought they were there 24/7 but maybe escalating up the chain of command may take longer!

Vitor

You are right to be cautious about returning the dummy phone informally. At this stage I would:

Write to CeX formally (email is fine) stating that the item supplied was not as described and you are exercising your right to a full refund. Give them a clear deadline, for example 14 days.

Keep the dummy phone safe and do not return it unless CeX confirms in writing how it will be handled and tracked.

Continue with the credit card chargeback. This is often the quickest resolution where a retailer is unresponsive.

If CeX fail to respond or refuse, you can escalate with a letter before action. In most cases it will not get that far once a chargeback is in progress.

Action Fraud is fine for record-keeping, but this is primarily a civil consumer rights issue rather than something you need to pursue through the police.

flaneurs_lobster

Out of interest, was the "phone" supplied in a genuine iPhone box (of the model you were expecting & serial/IMEI numbers) or just generic packaging?

visidigi

Going to be interesting if its Romford...

When you say its a plastic phone, do you mean its just a plastic moulded model with no power etc?

But that aside, as your husband had it delivered, that makes it more complicated, as if CeX say they shipped the device and they have proof it was the correct device, then its possible this was switched during transportation.

Be patience for a bit, its only just return to work for some folk.

southcoaster67

flaneurs_lobster said:

That branch that the phone was dispatched from - wasn't Romford by any chance?

The branch we went into didnt tell us the name of the branch that sent the phone.

southcoaster67

I didn’t think about it being switched during transport as it was sent next day delivery by DHL, I guess we could have opened the box while the DHL guy was at the door but unfortunately its just not something we do. 

southcoaster67

Yes it was a plastic lump of plastic with a sticker of apps on the front! Thank you all for your help.
  CeX have just responded to say it has been escalated. I will try to be patient and let you know any outcome.

elsien

If the OP is wondering why people are asking about Romford, then try reading this.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6647116/cex-sold-me-a-fake-iphone-and-will-likely-refuse-a-refund/p1