Apple Refusing Refund/Replacement – Wrong (Possibly Counterfeit) iPhone Supplied – Where Do I Stand?

molerat

MyRealNameToo said:

PHK said:

Just one thing. If DPD were delivering, how did the parcel end up at the post office?

Post Offices can be a "DPD Parcel Shop", the ones round us all are, dont know if all are. 

Post Office ended its exclusivity with Royal Mail in 2021 and now has contracts with many other couriers.

molerat

MyRealNameToo said:

molerat said:

Until these suppliers and couriers admit there are organised crime syndicates working within them at all levels and actually do something about it the customer will carry on getting stiffed. 

Other than in many cases its the company that gets stiffed because the customer ultimately gets a refund

But they can minimise that loss by pushing back on customer complaints where many will just give up rather than go to court.

Jenni_D

Apologies if I missed it in the early posts, but ... how did you pay for it?

tixilixvix

visidigi said:

The common theme on these issues are where DPD (or any courier, but Apple primarily use DPD for phones) claim they could not get the delivery done first time, and this allows the driver/scammer hours to make a very convincing go of a sealed package. Which to the untrained eye will look factory sealed but has infact been very cleverly opened, or label replaced. DPD really need to get a grip of this problem as its especially rife with them it seems.

A few things to ask Apple....

Does the IMEI of the phone they shipped match the one you got?
Was the IMEI on the phone box the same as the phone inside?
Does DPD show a label was reprinted for your delivery (making it VERY easy to swap boxes) - DPD will know if a reprint was done if Apple ask them.
Does the IMEI number that apple shipped you show as connected to to iCloud and if so with what email address - e.g. does it prove its not your email.

Finally...

Tell Apple you are more than okay for them to block the IMEI they sent you as you don't have it. No sane person would ask Apple to do that if they had stolen it!

Hello, I just wanted to come back on and say a BIG THANK YOU for your reply.

I went back to Apple Barclays Finance with what you suggested and they overturned the original decision - just like that!

Offered a refund (i guess back to the Finance Company) or a new phone.

Days of stress, phone calls and emails finished in one email - thank you so much again!

tixilixvix

Thank you everyone for your swift responses and help with this.

After taking advice on here and going back to Apple (and copying Barclay Partner Finance in the emails) a very lovely lady at Barclays managed to speak to a Complaints Handler at Apple who read all the correspondance and evidence sent and overturned the decision.

They have offered a refund or a replacement phone - the claims handler at Barclays advised that unfortunately this sort of thing is happening alot, and she advised to always film yourself opening high value items (what a world we live in!)

Thank you once again for your help!

tixilixvix

Jenni_D said:

Apologies if I missed it in the early posts, but ... how did you pay for it?

Hi Jenni,

I ordered directly from Apple but entered a Finance agreement with Barclays as it was 0% for 24 months.

I was umming and arring about it and nearly bought it out right, but i am pleased now I went with the finance option as Barclays have been absolutely fantastic - as well as the forum commenters!

red_boots2

tixilixvix said:

To add important context:
I am the parent of an 8-year-old child with Type 1 Diabetes. This phone was purchased specifically so I could monitor his glucose levels, as his previous phone became incompatible with his medical monitoring software. I am currently unable to reliably monitor his levels, which is unsafe and extremely stressful.

Glad you got the desired outcome. My wife was recently diagnosed and I have found it stressful when the sensor disconnects and I cannot check anything so this must have been 100x worse for you.

Best of luck!

Ergates

MyRealNameToo said:

molerat said:

Until these suppliers and couriers admit there are organised crime syndicates working within them at all levels and actually do something about it the customer will carry on getting stiffed. 

Other than in many cases its the company that gets stiffed because the customer ultimately gets a refund

In the short term - but in the long term it's still the consumer that suffers - the cost of the losses will result in higher prices.  No way will the accept a drop in profits, that would impact the share price and those 200m yachts don't buy themselves.

Woodstok2000

screech_78 said:

It’s a weird story. 

Whilst I’m sure there are many honest people in the world, I reckon a lot of people who received an iPhone 17 Pro Max instead of a 16 would be thinking they’d won the lottery

Until they found out, as OP noted, it's a cheap knockoff which will work for a day or teo if it works at all.

Ergates

Woodstok2000 said:

screech_78 said:

It’s a weird story. 

Whilst I’m sure there are many honest people in the world, I reckon a lot of people who received an iPhone 17 Pro Max instead of a 16 would be thinking they’d won the lottery

Until they found out, as OP noted, it's a cheap knockoff which will work for a day or teo if it works at all.

If I thought a phone company accidentally sent me a phone costing twice as much as the one I paid for I'd still not be happy *even if* it was real.   Because I'd be fully expecting them to say "Oops sorry, can we have our phone back please" when they realised their mistake which would then cause me extra hassle and delay.  Not to mention the burden on my conscious if I kept it.