Beware, Galaxy Trade In offer has misleading Ts&cs

[shelfwobbler]

I've just upgraded to a fold 3 using the current trade in offer. Carried out due diligence beforehand combing through the following terms https://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/public/documents/webcontent/evo-trade-in.pdf

My phone to be traded in easily passed the 4 stipulations. It came time to use the trade in tool so I could send off my old phone but it wouldn't work and customer service advised I took it in store. The in store advisor was confused as the diagnostic they carry out is more thorough and different to the one detailed in the offers terms but did it anyway. My phone failed as 8 out of the 3.4 million pixels were dead (screen registered as 100% responsive). He agreed it should be accepted as per the offer but unfortunately my IMEI is now on the system as having failed! I've wasted 4 hours on this today with nothing to show for it.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @shelfwobbler 

This is the first time I've come across this situation with a phone being able to pass an online trade in tool,  but failed the in house checks.

I would have cleared my browser cache and cookies and history and tried again or tried another device / browser to complete the order. 

On balance even though the phone would have probably passed your online assessment it's worth noting that once the phone had been recieved it would then have been re assessed by an engineer to see if it passed all the criteria which at that point could have shown up the pixels situation you've mentioned.

As you say the phone's imei is now registered the option of Trade Is not an option have you perhaps considered selling the phone to accrue some funds that way to offset against the costs ? I wouldn't sell it to anyone on ebay or similar due to potential issues.

I wish you all the best with this. 

[shelfwobbler]

Hi, thanks for the reply but I think this is the misunderstanding I've been running into all day. The issue is the condition of the phone in the aforementioned terms is quite specific. The in store check is more thorough than those in the terms, I've run the pdf past my partner who's adept at legalese and the phone exceeds the bar set in the terms.

[BandOfBrothers]

I do appreciate what your saying here @shelfwobbler 

Did the Vodafone Employee say not to try the Trade In Tool again or doing so would be 100% fruitless  ?

I had similar tests performed on my Samsung phone when I traded in my phone in a Samsung Experience Store to help offset against my next purchase. Among other tests they performed tests on the display and screen too so I understand what happens.

You could raise a complaint via Complaints/Code-of-Practice to see what they say or speak with the Vodafone Social Media Team's via Twitter DM or Facebook Messenger. Link back to your thread here including your forum username so your not having to repeat yourself.

Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries. 

[shelfwobbler]

Thanks for the advice, I've someone contacting me Monday regarding the issue.

[shelfwobbler]

Quick update: Just got off the phone to the trade in team, he's confirmed that the trade in tool is a different check to the in store device used to test phones and my phone is guaranteed as part of the eco trade in offer. They said I'll be contacted once the trade in tool is up and running again but when I mentioned the possibility of my IMEI being blacklisted from the in store test he didn't quite know what to suggest. Currently not holding my breath for the time being and expecting huge bills to be added to my account while they fix the trade in tool.

I expect once the trade in tool is up and running again I'll be another few hours onto customer service.

I'm still of the opinion the trade in offer was an attempt to hoodwink customers into hefty contracts.