Refurbished Mobile Phone Battery Life

samwardill

I bought a refurbished iPhone 15 from an eBay seller. It was advertised as in "Excellent" condition which was derscribed as having at least 85% battery life. The phone supplied had only 80% battery life. I would like to exchange it but the supplier no longer has any stock.I asked for a partial rebate but they offered me £15. This doesn't seem adequate given the battery costs £95.

Do I have the right to expect more than £15? If I were to replace the battery myself, could i recover part (or all) of the cost from the seller as they are technically in breach of contract for supplying goods that do not meet the advertised specification?

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667322/refurbished-mobile-phone-battery-life

if the 85% + was guaranteed in the listing and you are still in time, just open a SNAD claim and get phone sent back for a full refund. You can ask for a partial refund, but have no absolute right to one on eBay, seller can insist on a return and a full refund rather than a partial refund.

QrizB

Do I have the right to expect more than £15?

If replacing the battery costs £95 and you're 5% short, I'd say you're only due a £4.75 refund.

A quick web search suggests that you can have the battery replaced for about £60.

If I were to replace the battery myself, could i recover part (or all) of the cost from the seller as they are technically in breach of contract for supplying goods that do not meet the advertised specification?

No more than the £15 they've already offered, IMO.

If you don't like the seller's offer, report it as SNAD and return the phone.

oldernonethewiser

Don't mess about just report it SNAD, get your money back and move on.

Albermarle

I had a similar experience, my ‘excellent condition’ iPhone dropped below 80% within a few weeks.

The seller wasn’t over cooperative, and it was advised I would have to factory reset the phone if I sent it back for security-losing all contacts/ apps etc. as they would need my passcode.

In the end I didn’t bother and a year later it was still at 78% and working ok.

Another 3 years later it is at 75% and still ok, although needs charging more often than a new one would

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990477#Comment_81990477

No need to lose anything, given its an iPhone use a free iCloud account and it will back up al the contacts, apps etc so when you get a new phone you can simply restore it all from the cloud

oldernonethewiser

Can also back it all up to a PC or MAC and restore/set up a new phone from there.

Nothing would be lost.

stripling

I had the same thing happen (plus the battery was not Apple's) and I was offered the same £15 discount. I accepted it and took the phone to Apple, had a new battery installed for £85 which includes a full phone check & service. Four years later my battery is still on 85%, my phone is pristine despite serious use (I tether my iPad to it when travelling for serious work) and it was all very worth the cost/effort - my iPhone still has a good future.

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6667322/refurbished-mobile-phone-battery-life

I don't think you have a right to more than £15, no.

The battery has 5% less life than claimed and they've offered you about 17% of the cost of a new battery.

85% would be pushing it anyway. Bite their hand off and get it sent to Apple for a battery replacement.