UK iMac trade in with Brightstar - beware

[junkw]

that will be a free iMac to some Brightstar employee's friend

 

[Maconplasma]

Here in the US, we use Apple's trade in partner: Phobio which also does the same shady business.

Not surprised...

I always sell mine on eBay.

Just listed my 2014 Mini and 2015 15" MBP on eBay and they will sell to pay for the M1 iMac that's incoming this week:
View attachment 1775010

Oh have you had experience with Phobio here in the U.S? Because I have and what you said was opposite of the experience I had with Phobio. The quoted amount on Apple's website is the exact amount Apple sent me.

 

[digitaldave]

I had a similar problem with regards to actually getting a returns package when I traded in my MacBook Pro, although they reduced £40 off the price, not dropped it to zero.

I’m sure I read a story in the UK press within the last couple of weeks about this exact practice but with laptops where users were told they were worth nothing due to “white spots” but of course, there’s no white spots to be seen.

I read something on www.theverge.com shortly after I’d traded mine in, maybe it was that you read?

 

[MistrSynistr]

USA people, use MacMeAnOffer... never had an issue, pay higher than Apple sponsored trade-ins, and they've NEVER nitpicked my device and tried to give me lower for it. In fact, if you've added RAM or whatnot they will boost the trade in price.

 

[Phobio Support]

Hi @4sallypat,

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We try our best to offer a trade-in option that is simple and transparent for our customers. I would love to answer any questions that you may have about our trade-in program. Please do not hesitate to contact me at ArthurA@phobio.com. I look forward to assisting you.

All the best,
Arthur with Phobio Support

 

[Maconplasma]

Hi 4sallypat,

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We try our best to offer a trade-in option that is simple and transparent for our customers. I would love to answer any questions that you may have about our trade-in program. Please do not hesitate to contact me at ArthurA@phobio.com. I look forward to assisting you.

All the best,
Arthur with Phobio Support

You quoted the wrong person. I had a good experience with Phobio's trade-in program. The other member had concerns.

 

[Phobio Support]

You quoted the wrong person. I had a good experience with Phobio's trade-in program. The other member had concerns.

Hi,

We certainly appreciate you taking the time to leave a positive review. It definitely means a lot to our company. We look forward to assisting you with your future trade-ins.

All the best,
Arthur with Phobio Support

 

[Phobio Support]

You quoted the wrong person. I had a good experience with Phobio's trade-in program. The other member had concerns.

@Maconplasma Thanks for letting me know. I am obviously new to this but I am so glad that you had a great experience with us. - Arthur

 

[Moccasin]

I'm not even going to argue how ridiculous you're sounding with that line but since you think there is some value in something that is sight unseen to you then the OP could very well sell it on his own too, such as on Ebay or FB Marketplace.

When I finally managed to log into Brightstar to accept the offer, such as it was, there were photos of the screen showing white spots. Nothing I’d ever noticed but mabye I didn’t look hard enough.

yes it could have gone to a new home somewhere, but receiving the packaging to send the damn thing in the first place took 4 weeks and quite often no one is in the house during the day unless we know something is due (which is unlikely as they didn't warn us the packaging was arriving - i was just lucky that one of was in). I did contemplate asking for it to be returned and then refusing delivery though….

Given the apparent faults, I didn't want to risk selling it, nor giving a faulty machine away, so was time to move on. Neither Brightstar nor Apple cared about my constructive feedback, so not much I could do except forget about it. After the initial anger, it wasn’t worth worrying about and I have enough clutter in the house already.

 

[MarkC426]

So you have moved on with the M1 mini.... 👍

 

[Moccasin]

So you have moved on with the M1 mini.... 👍

Pretty much. Also seems like there’s a fix to the RGB issue with external monitors. Bought a set of Pebble v3 speakers. Just need to sort out a hub as I’ve run out of ports (The gift card would have more than paid for that). Would still prefer an AIO, but don’t have the room on my desk alongside the external monitor for work laptops.

 

[brumar500]

I’ve tried not to be too ranty in this post, nor too entitled… here goes:

I recently upgraded to an M1 Mac Mini, keeping my keyboard from my Late 2013 21” iMac which I decided to trade in with Apple through their website. They offered me £270 (not dissimilar to what I’d get if I’d sold with with keyboard etc on eBay or to Cex). I wish I hadn’t bothered.

It started off well enough. I truthfully answered questions about condition (no noticeable problems, booted up fine). I was promised trade in packaging within 3-5 days and the £270 offer would stay open for 14 days.

10 days later, no packaging had arrived but an email did reminding me to send off. Thinking the packaging had got lost, I tried again (also to make sure value hadn’t dropped). Still nothing, so sent an email chasing it up. Finally, 4 weeks after ordering, TWO trade in boxes arrived on the same day without warning.

With some sadness, I followed instructions to decommission my trusty iMac and then tried to use the polystyrene packing (poor fit & ended up using the packing from the second box to help protect it for its final journey).

On Monday, I got confirmation it arrived and then on Wednesday I received an email:

While inspecting your Apple iMac14 3 Core i5 2.9 21.5 inch A1418 9
2013, we noted the following:

Display problem

This changes your trade-in value from £270 to £0 .

If you accept this value:

Great. Just access the self-service portal within 14 days to accept it and your Apple Store Gift Card will be sent to xxxx within 3-5 working days.

As might be imagined, I was “a little cross”. No decent explanation as to what the problem was, no apology/regret & to rub it in they seem to be planning to send a gift card with a value of £0!

I emailed Brightstar and they told me that:
I can see from the inspection notes the value has been reduced due to the of the overall quality of the LCD screen.

Our engineers have identified pixels of the screen that have burst/faded, or otherwise distorted over time, which creates something called "White Spots"

This is a very common issue, and is the result of individual liquid crystals distorting over time.

It is not easily noticeable and does not affect the performance of the device.

It is not damaged in terms of being cracked etc, but it does mean that we would need to replace the entire screen in order to recycle the device, hence the reduction in value

I’m in some ways less bothered by the problem and more by the way that Apple’s website words the questions and trade in process to imply that as long as you answer their questions truthfully, the money will be sent.

However, if my display problem was not easily noticeable and is a very common issue, there seems something wrong with the whole process & the initial valuation - they must know that it’s rare to be able to offer the amount quoted….

I’m trying not to be too cynical in thinking that they delayed the trade in packaging on purpose with the new iMac due and then have an excuse why they didn’t want to honour the original offer.

Now I have a dilemma - do I take the iMac back and give it away, or do I just give up as a lost cause and vow never to use Apple trade in again? I clearly can’t sell it if it’s faulty.

if anyone is thinking of trading in an old iMac when the new ones arrive, I’d seriously reconsider. Really can’t recommend.

I’ve just had the exact same experience, first the email saying it hadn’t arrived, and another email the same day with the same wording as yours, except that the initial quote was £295, reduced to £0 because of a ‘display problem’. I immediately asked them to return it and it’s taken them nearly 3 weeks. It was so sloppily packaged I’m surprised it wasn’t smashed. I’ve just tried to turn it back on, to be confronted with a ‘test page’ requiring a password. No idea what this is, not my password anyway, it doesn’t work. Presumably a Brightstar engineer’s? I’m so cross, my iMac worked fine and now I can’t get into it.

 

[Behemothtek]

That's rather cheeky at best but totally not on at the worst. That should have come back to you in the condition you handed it over to them in. Have you been able to clean install the operating system?

 

[brumar500]

I contacted them, they apologised and gave me the password, so I got in, eventually got rid of the test page, but my user name is still ‘test’ which I haven’t yet worked out how to change. The so-called display problem isn’t obvious to me, the reset I performed in order to return it to them has improved overall performance, so I’m hanging on to my current iMac instead of upgrading. Their loss.

 

[MarkC426]

I contacted them, they apologised and gave me the password

Wow, that's really good of them.....LOL
These morons shouldn't be trading.

You could just wipe it and start fresh, which will let you reset your own details.
Personally I wouldn't trust how they have it set up.