“Initially all seemed fine. Unfortunately the product was never shipped (according to Royal Mail's tracking page, they haven't received the item from the seller).
When I contacted the customer service they asked me to fill in a form in which they wanted me to:
"duly swear that I have not received the mentioned order"
and
"I undertake on my honour, under the condition
□ of the refund of my order
□ of a new shipment of my order
to refuse the package if the carrier tried to deliver it anyway"
What? This is purely offending and unnecessary in a situation where they clearly messed up.
I duly swear I will not use them again. Requested my refund via PayPal.”
“Absolutely terrible customer service. Bought a mobile phone a couple of months back. Recently it suddenly failed whilst using so returned under their 12 month warranty promise.
4 days later out of blue same phone returned still broke but with damage added. I have not had a single reply or acknowledgement from Backmarket and they have not helped me at all. I now have a broken phone, massively out of pocket and no means to speak to them as not replying on their only avenue. Will now have to go through PayPal, bank, and citizens advice as they have not honoured their legal warranty. I would advise anyone to use Amazon pre-owend or another reputable retailer as Backmarket WILL ignore you if you have a problem. AVOID!!!”
“Bought iphone 11pro max. That was faulty . Send back to sellers. Seller broke the phone and sen back to me .they claimed I smashed the phone. Now I paid £435 for faulty phone”
“I bought a Samsung fold, and after just a year, no more sound or image on the inside screen. Expensive phone, out of warranty period. Took it to Samsung and they said they put glue inside to refurbish it, never again.”
“Got the phone and thought the insurance was a good idea. It wasn’t. If you make a claim and it’s approved, they want a £40 “excess fee” to proceed. Then they hit you up with “you should have read the terms and conditions”. No mention of this on the website.”
“I bought a phone in Nov 2022. After a few months, there were issues with the phone - system bugs.
I decided that, as it was under warrantee, I'd send it back. On 4th October, I followed the Backmarket instructions and erased all my data, packed securely the phone and dropped it at the DHL point (they picked DHL, not me).
I got a message on the Backmarket platform confirming I had dropped the phone at the DHL point and it was ready to be picked up by the seller.
After a week, no news. I contacted Backmarket and they promised a solution in 2 days. They have opened an investigation with DHL and since then, they are asking ME to prove that I delivered the phone. The tracking link says I did so there is no other conceivable proof I could give. But I'm stuck in this loop with them, one message/work day, so it's moving slow and it's a real problem daily to not have my phone!
I'm now at the point where I think this is an organised scam: they leave you stuck in a loop where you can't possibly take action and resell your phone on their platform. It can't be a simple misunderstanding on their part: it's been many messages of me trying to re-explain the situation, asking what sort of alternative proof they expect, going to the DHL point to check whether maybe the phone had slipped and was still there... They're not suggesting alternative solutions, not escalating the problem to a phone call or to another person. In a word, they're not even trying to help so this is deliberate. It seems like a lot of people are having a similar pattern too!”
“The phone I received does not work properly and I can’t get any help as it will ask me to re-log in to my account (that I’m already logged into) and then tell me I haven’t order anything!”
“I bought an 'unlocked' S22 Ultra which was actually locked. I returned the phone and they did not acknowledge receipt of the phone. Instead they put me in a perpetual loop with the courier that delivered the phone to the seller. They lied to me about the phone being locked because of some GSM issue due to my location but the reality was that the phone was locked by Verizon because the original owner of the phone had not paid for their phone bill. I verified this by providing the IMEI number to Verizon.
BackMarket promised to open an investigation but they never did. I had waited for 2 weeks to get an update but that's when I discovered that they didn't do anything and they were not going to.
My advice is to save money for a new phone or seek other alternatives because BackMarket cannot be trusted with people's hard earned money. My $454 might not be a lot to some of y'all but for a college kid working 2 jobs to pay for college and support my family it makes a huge difference.
Take care folks, be safe!”
“Back Market, I feel I'm just a number and not a real person, I've been passed around and nobody has really understood or listened to me or answered my question. Your marketing is very big on "we care" I've not felt that at all. And I will not use you again, what a mistake . I will not be recommending but making sure people really know you're just after the cash and not helping in anyway what so ever!
zero help or understanding. Unbelievable, just another company selling on lies ! I should have gone to Tesco.”
“I bought a used Macbook. It worked great for 2 months, then the screen got some vertical lines that didn't go away. It happened while I was using the laptop and I thought it was a software glitch but nothing I tried or googled fixed it. I submitted a warranty claim and sent it in. 2 weeks later I get the laptop back unfixed because they said I had put "pressure" on the screen and it is not covered under warranty. I figured it was a pre-existing defect and somehow it got triggered while using the laptop. Now I'm out about $250. You never know if you are buying a lemon when you buy a used laptop.”
“I was supplied with a locked phone which the site claimed was unlocked. In compensation I was offered a voucher for 5% of the website valid for one month. It cost me £20 a several hours of hassle to unlock. Not happy.”
“I have been using Back Market for small purchases for company computers, but when I purchase a device for myself it's when the problem began. I purchased a Galaxy Z Flip with the extended warranty coverage. In April 2023, my device began flickering and not charging properly. Per their guidelines, I submitted a ticket to have the seller fix the phone. Part of these guidelines started that you will either have the phone back within 3 days OR the will refund the money. 2 weeks later and numerous emails asking where my phone is and still I don't have my phone.
I've had to purchase a basic phone for emergency purposes which is an additional expense. Also, they keep stating back market is there to support it's customers, however, I've filed numerous complaints to retrieve my device since they are unable to fix it and the response I get is a generic "sorry for the delay". Back Market used to have extremely great customer service but had greatly downgraded and is not supporting our backing their customers from fraudulent sellers. I have since opened a claim with the Better Business Bureau and will continue to move forward with any legal action due to violation of their contracts.”
“BACK MARKET SCAM - PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Back Market Steals Money: I purchased a $700 item, it was never shipped and Back Market refuses to refund.
See VIC's review below, this is the same scam they pulled on me. Please Do Not Purchase from BackMarket, they will rip you off.
Backmarket sales tax scam. If you purchased an item from them in 2023, verify the sales tax amount paid is accurate. They also tried charging me 10% sales tax in a state with 6% rate.
One month later, no refund, no item and no help from BackMarket. I opened a claim with shipper and reported the fraudulent activity.
They also give the impression you are purchasing from them, in fact you are buying from an unknown third party.”
“Do not buy from ring ring distribution through back market .
Sold me an iPhone that was not checked properly the screen was not stuck in properly. Ring ring would not fix this phone and wanted a huge sum to fix it although it was still under warranty as for back market they did nothing to help .complete SCAMMERS.
AVOID BUYING FROM THERE.!!”
“AVOID BackMarket. They sent me a phone that’s not even inspected, much less refurbished. I got a phone with a camera that doesn’t work at all. Zero focus, no matter what. When I FINALLY got a reply via email from their “team”, they wanted me to take pics of the return box to send send it back. Um. . .with what? Then they offered me a 10% off promo code to buy another phone from them to use while they “process” my return. No thanks. Stay away. Far, far away from Backmarket.”
“Horrible non responsive customer service. The seller miscommunicated their delivery -- i paid extra for 2 day but they meant it was 5 day. i was no longer going to be at that address. I contacted the seller and 30+ hours later no response for an urgent issue. they could have updated the address before it shipped but they didnt respond and they could have recalled it but they refused so its going to sit on a doorstep indefinitely for an address I am no longer at. Really disappointed that the seller has no customer service at all. its like paying money to a big black hole”
“If I had to write a book detailing my experience with this company in buying a refurbished iPhone 11 128gb it would be on the shelf titled NON-FICTION under the genre of HORROR.
I paid a three figure sum for a refurbished iPhone that has not been delivered by the company DHL who are just as bad.
The price charged to my credit card being more than the price advertised for the refurbished iPhone 11 which is another rip off.
The item was to be delivered on 19 September then it was the 20th followed by 21st September 2022.
Then it was the 22nd September 2022. Now it’s the 28th September 2022 and still no iPhone 11 or a FULL refund without deductions.
Irritated at having to wait at home for over a week so far and cancelling appointments too into the bargain to wait for the non delivery, I cancelled the purchase but was informed that it had been dispatched and this is where the horror starts.
I am being given no approximate time slot just that delivery would be on these days from 8am to 6pm which is appallingly poor service from both Back Market and DHL.
I forgot to mention the seller is not Back Market they just punt on the sale to a third party BEST4TECH.
The last straw is that should the item arrive and I’m not there, I will be sent a return address label which I print off myself PLUS I PAY an extra £10 for the privilege of printing off this return label!
Furthermore I MUST PAY the entire cost of returning the phone IF it turns up should I refuse delivery or it’s faulty.
I have to take a photo of the package from ALL angles plus photo of the delivery driver if I’m there to refuse delivery.
To compound the dreadful service and be eligible to claim my partial refund (NOT a full refund once all the extra deductions are factored in) I have to send Back Market a copy of my photo ID such as my passport or driving licence.
I am refusing to send them a copy of my passport or driving licence as that facilitates identity theft or identity fraud despite being pestered daily to provide this photo ID to get my refund.
Along with the photo ID I have to print off yet another form and fill it with various other information within 5 days to help with their investigation.
Not an easy process at all and open to fraudulent abuse.
Despite being called from France and from several locations within in the U.K. I have refused to provide this intrusive photo ID of my driving license or passport as I do not want to be the victim of identity theft further down the line.
Here is todays response from BEST4TECH
“Thank you for your message! I definitely understand your concern. However, for rapid thorough support, I would like you to kindly file the certificate of non-reception as proof of not receiving the order. This document will also help you to receive a reshipment in 24 working hours or a refund. Unable to do the following and also provide your ID, we can not do much on this. I wish you a pleasant day, Williams from BEST4TECH quality team”
Having had enough of this nonsense I ordered a refurbished iPhone directly from the online Apple store which arrived the next day.
It has a new Apple battery , new Apple case, new Apple screen. It is like a new iPhone at a fraction of the original price with ALL GENUINE Apple parts unlike those from Back Market and BEST4TECH.
The refurbished iPhone is absolutely pristine in an apple box and surprisingly cheaper than from Back Market for a phone in its excellent category.
The service from the online Apple store has been second to none and I was given a one hour time slot for delivery which was accurate too, unlike the dreadful service from DHL who think customers have nothing better to do but wait at home all day waiting for a non existent delivery.
Tired of all the excuses from Back Market I have since opened up a credit card dispute by calling the bank that provided my credit card.
The dispute has been opened to get ALL my money returned to me without deductions and all the other nonsense from Back Market.
AVOID…..go to a more professional company like Apple who know what they are doing.”
