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WEBUYANYPHONE.COM -- a warning

Tell them that you intend to take them to the small claims court to retrieve your belongings and you have the evidence that what you sent actually arrived but you did not receive payment. I had a company who was consistently ignoring my emails but as soon as I threatened them with court action they suddenly responded within 30mins.

As a side note, I sell my older Apple kit often to pay for newer kit but I always use eBay and have never had a problem (as long as you don't post overseas to a dodgy account). These companies take high value goods and offer well below what their worth because they are selling them on for their own profit. Use eBay instead, then its under more of your control.
 
profmatt said:
THIS IS A WARNING TO PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING TO SELL THEIR PHONE OR TABLET ON WEBUYANYPHONE.COM IN THE UK

I sent these people an iPhone and an iPad. They received both on Thursday 23rd March. Despite the iPhone being in flawless condition, they claimed it was "good" rather than "excellent" and dropped the offer price. To avoid the stress of getting my phone back and having to find another way of selling it I accepted the lower price.

They confirmed payment would be received on Friday 24th. It was not. Nor on Monday 27th. On Tuesday 28th I tried calling. The line was engaged. I had to redial 40 times before I got through, then waited 10 minutes on hold. The person I spoke to said he would sort it out and I would get paid that day.

I was not paid. So I called on Wednesday 29th. This time it took 80 redials to get through. I spoke to the same person, who again assured me I would be paid that day.

I was again not paid. So I called today, Friday 31st. Got through first time and was met with the same "I'll sort it out, I promise" spiel. I have zero confidence I'll ever see the money. I'm filing a report with Trading Standards and looking at what other options I can take.

As to my iPad -- they've confirmed receipt but haven't even tested it yet and can't give me any time-frame for when this might happen.

I was taken in by the content of their website which promised top-prices and speedy payment. I now see that I was naive -- it was all too good to be true.

Don't make my mistake. Find a trustworthy, reliable company to do business with (I've used O2 recycle in the past with no problems) or sell it yourself on eBay.

I've noticed there has been a slew of negative reviews of this company on TrustPilot in the last few days and the company has taken down its reviews page. You have to wonder what's going on.

Don't take the risk. I wish I hadn't done so.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this report. I've never sold my prior iPhones. I usually hand them down to family members. I was at Apple last week and saw they had a trade-in program. Are Apple's prices fair compared to where you sent your Apple items? They told me, I could get about $130-$180 on my Gold 5S 16GB iPhone. Is this fair?
 
ET iPhone Home said:
Thank you for this report. I've never sold my prior iPhones. I usually hand them down to family members. I was at Apple last week and saw they had a trade-in program. Are Apple's prices fair compared to where you sent your Apple items? They told me, I could get about $130-$180 on my Gold 5S 16GB iPhone. Is this fair?
Click to expand...

As long as you intend to buy something from Apple as I believe you receive an Apple gift card for the value, you would have a very hard time getting that amount anywhere else. Then when you add in the ease of the trade in, no fees (depending where else you would sell), knowing you will not be scammed, etc. its really a no brainer.
 
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I'm going to add another +1 for Mazuma Mobile.

Have traded in two devices with them now (iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro) and have received the amount they quoted on the same day as they've received and tested the devices.
 
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Still nothing my end
They have had my mobile for 12 days now with nothing from them
I have just left a review on TrustPilot so hopefully that might kick them into gear
Will give it until they have had my phone for 14 days then be taking the matter further, if anyone would be able to advise how best to proceed with that it would be much appreciated
 
As I said, I've got my money now, but I've been following them on TrustPilot anyway as I'm rather interested in what they're up to.

The percentage of one-star reviews has steadily increased day after day from under one quarter to nearly a third. Mixed among these are a slew of five-star reviews that are either made up or have been paid for -- there is certainly evidence that they are paying people £5 each to post reviews.

They've removed reference to TrustPilot and the link from their website.

As to what wba1990 can do -- I did a variety of things so it's not clear which was the step that pushed them to actually paying. Leaving a detailed, scathing review on TrustPilot does seem to result in rapid response. They may be giving up on TrustPilot, though they're still very active in censoring negative reviews.

The other thing I did was threaten them with legal action. In my case they owed me over £750 which would have potentially entitled me to bankrupt the company and I told them so. That may have speeded things up a bit.
 
UPDATE

Their TrustPilot page has now disappeared altogether ...
 
Bit of an update my end
Gave them calls yesterday and constantly got an engaged tone
Called today, got cut off without speaking to anyone after nearly 7 minutes, called back 4 times and kept getting an engaged tone
Called back and on the 5th attempt finally got through to them and spoke to a guy named Michael, he explained there had been an issue with payments, I explained my device was still showing awaiting receipt as if they hadn't got it. He said yeah i'll call the engineers once I come off the phone to you, get them to test it and get it through to you today or tomorrow
Within minutes of coming off the phone to him I had an email and text confirming they have now received my device. 1 minute later I had a text to say it had passed inspection and will now be sent for payment processing

Fingers crossed I get this sorted end of play today/tomorrow worst case!
 
chriscl said:
Probably a bit "after the horse has bolted", but in the UK, I have had excellent service from Mazuma Mobile (https://www.mazumamobile.com) with recycling my old iOS devices.

I've sent them four iPhones and an iPad, service has been nothing short of excellent, and the promised monies, without issue, have been sent straight to my bank within a couple of days.

Very fair prices too.
Click to expand...
Another positive vote for Mazuma here: I've used them loads and never had a single issue.

They only quote 2 prices (working and not working) and pay very fair prices (generally as good as or slightly higher than O2 recycle) . Every time I've sent a phone to them they've paid exactly what they quoted and I've had the money in my account the same day they got the phone
 
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I recently sold my mums iPhone 6 on Swappa. Couldn't recommend them more. Don't give up hope with your company yet, it's possible they're just backlogged though the condition debacle is slightly worrying I admit. If they offered more than music magpie it's probably too good to be true.
 
I see a number of people recommending Mazuma. I used them in 2013 and was subject to the old bait and switch trick i.e. quote me a higher price for my phone and offer me a lower amount once I had sent it in. I wouldn't use them again.
 
I'd still complete the complaint with Trading Standards.
It will at least flag that company with the Ombudsman - there are probably similar existing complaints against that company and they might eventually receive a fine or trading restrictions.
Also, having your complaint officially investigated will protect you in the future (libel proceedings/credit rating/your reputation).
 
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You can't call Trading Standards direct. You have to call Citizens Advice and they pass it on. Trading Standards don't necessarily investigate. According to Trust Pilot and Facebook quite a few people say they've made reports -- I did. But I heard nothing about it afterwards.

I notice that WBAP's TrustPilot rating plunged to about 6.4, with over 30% giving the minimum of 1-star. It's since been slowly crawling back up with a slew of reviews that sound really fake -- perhaps they're real: it seems WBAP is now paying people to give them 5-star reviews. They read as if WBAP is dictating the review over the phone while they do it.

I would never deal with them again.
 
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wow, that sounds like a frustrating system
I hate that fake reviews get through
At least your drama with them is over
 
I am having the same problem with this company and at the end of my tether and not sure what to do to get my money back, looking into the company they do look a bit dodgy, when you look at the company check and they have only £1 equity, must be the case waiting to sell your device before the pay out completely ridiculous!
 
I always stick with Mazuma Mobile, Envirofone or Carphone Warehouse. I literally just go with whoever is offering the most when I need to sell a device. I've heard good things about Music Magpie too.
 
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