Argos sold me a used phone as new

dubdev

Hi there


I bought a smartphone from Argos in Dublin today, and as I was walking out of the store, I noticed the bottom of the box had a sticker on it saying "opened and examined".

I went back to the collection desk and asked what this meant, and was told the box was opened to show the device to a customer in store, but the phone wasn't used.

I was a bit unsure as to whether to believe them but I took them at their word and went on home. When I turned on the phone and went through the setup, I see a menu saying "Your phone was reset to factory settings. To use this phone, please enter your previous pin". This means (a) I can't use the phone because I don't know the previous PIN and (b) that somebody else went through this process and got at least as far as setting a PIN code for the device, which obviously you wouldn't do unless you'd bought the device.


I'm going to return it today to a different store, but this is so dodgy, and I can't see how it isn't illegal. Makes me wonder how often Argos do this with other products?

Samuel T. Cogley

Rarely I'd imagine. How many sealed products have been out and back in again though, probably a not negligible amount. Things sometimes slip through the net. Just take it back would be my advice.

dubdev

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Rarely I'd imagine. How many sealed products have been out and back in again though, probably a not negligible amount. Things sometimes slip through the net. Just take it back would be my advice.

I brought it back to store near where I work and they said they will swap it out for a new one tomorrow when new stock comes in. Alternatively, I have to bring it back to the store where I bought it if I want a refund as they have to "verify" the purchase, whatever that means.


A quick google shows this isn't that uncommon, and Argos have a track record of pulling this kind of stunt.

dudara

dubdev wrote: »

A quick google shows this isn't that uncommon, and Argos have a track record of pulling this kind of stunt.

Don't believe all that you read on the internet. A quick search of this forum will show that Argos consistently receive great feedback for their customer service.

A company like Argos isn't going to be interested in "pulling stunts". Their reputation is more important to them. In this case, it's probably most likely that a genuine error occurred and the main thing is that they sort it out quickly and easily.

Let us know how you get on.

tjhook

dudara wrote: »

Don't believe all that you read on the internet. A quick search of this forum will show that Argos consistently receive great feedback for their customer service.

Yes, and you do hear of individuals buying stuff to "try it out", knowing they are likely to return it later. This situation may be the flip side of that.

Cordell

Never ever happened to me and I bought quite a few things from them, including smartphones.
But you should never accept an open package without a discount. A lot of devices even have this on the box, "don't accept if seal broken" or something similar.

Vic_08

dudara wrote: »

Don't believe all that you read on the internet.

This sage advice also applies to your posts, yea?

dudara wrote: »

A quick search of this forum will show that Argos consistently receive great feedback for their customer service.

I wouldn't disagree but much of that is down to their general laissez-faire attitude to returns, as long as you don't act up with the staff they generally take back anything with minimum fuss. IMO the frequency of previously opened products being sold is likely to be connected to that returns policy.

dudara wrote: »

A company like Argos isn't going to be interested in "pulling stunts". Their reputation is more important to them. In this case, it's probably most likely that a genuine error occurred and the main thing is that they sort it out quickly and easily.

Argos, like every other retailer are in the business of making money. With their generous returns policy it is highly unlikely they will be able to swallow all of these without re-selling returned items.

It may be that it is individual staff/store management that aren't properly checking items before returning them to stock but in my experience getting re-boxed goods is not that unusual.

I have had it happen a number of times and 2 of these were in particularly poor condition, one a large electrical item with serious physical damage an e-reader that had clearly been used and stank of cigarette smoke, this even still had the registration details of the dirty skank who had returned it on the device despite electronic devices with data storage being excluded from their returns guarantee.

Since that last one I always check the seals on boxes before leaving the store and have refused 2 more items at the counter because they were previously opened.

Is it company policy or is it staff members lumping returns back to stock without checking that they are actually in as new condition? At this point I don't care, I am not going to waste my time doing Argos' returns QC for them so any unsealed items are a no-no as far as I am concerned.

dubdev

I returned the phone and got it exchanged for a new one. Now that I think back, I bought a phone from them about 2-3 years ago, and when I collected it, the member of staff explained that the box had been opened for viewing but re-boxed. In this instance, the screen protector that the phone shipped with had been removed and then very badly re-applied. I asked for a refund on the spot and bought it from Amazon instead.

In the latest instance, they would have gotten away for it only for the fact that the previous owner had set a device PIN on the phone which needed to be re-entered after it was factory reset.

It strikes me as very unlikely that these are unrelated incidents, given the fact that Argos have gone to the effort of making stickers with the words "Opened and examined" on them. It seems more likely to me that they're trying to flip returned stock. As regards their viewing policy, that's what display models are for.

Argos have very clear obligations under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, and if they are re-selling returned stock or opened as new, they are falling afoul of the clause requiring the goods to be "as described", particularly as you don't get the opportunity to select the item of stock yourself, and you don't know has been opened until after you've paid and waited for them to bring it out. Other stores like DID or Power City clearly mark their ex-display stock as such with a lower price. It's the same reason goods on secondary markets like Adverts.ie command a lower price. The onus should not be on the buyer to check that the goods a high street store is selling as new are in fact new.

I would definitely think twice about going back to Argos in future. They're not competitive on price, and they often stock old tech at full price, but I used them because they've a local presence and are convenient. I might stick to Amazon in future.