Swap Phone - "Additional Damage" found

[MonkeyBoy007]

I pre ordered the new Galaxy S25+ which duly arrived on 31st January. As part of the upgrade, I returned my S22, the contract of which ends in September 2025. Sky's initial valuation of the phone based on my description of it matched the exact amount owed on the contract, effectively ending it with nothing further owed.

I returned my S22 on Tuesday 4th February and Sky received it on 6th February. On Friday 7th February, at 7.17am, I received an email arriving me that there was "additional damage" found on my phone and that the valuation of £150 was now halved to just £75. Despite contacting Sky Customer Services 5 times over the past 36 hours, I have still not received any explanation as to what this "additional damage" refers to. The response given is that they outsource inspections to a third party company and it's them who need to reply to me. My response to this was, I don't have a contract with any third party company and quite frankly don't give a hoot if they outsource, their responsibility is to me, the customer. Even still I can't seem to get any suitable update.

The S22 was in immaculate condition when I returned it in its original box with cable, instructions etc. and when I say immaculate I mean as such. Not a scratch, scuff, mark on it at all. I even gave it a thorough wipe to clear any fingerprints off it and charged the battery to full.

I have already cancelled the swap, asked my S22 to be returned and I have cancelled the new contract for the S25+ and will return that once my old phone has been returned. 

I should have taken photos of the phone before I posted it but it only actually occurred to me afterwards.

Now it could be the "additional damage" means a fault with the battery or a speaker or some other non visible fault but without any explanation, it's difficult to know for sure.

If my phone is returned to me with a damaged screen scratch, dent, you name it, there's going to be hell to repay.

Sorry for the long rant but I'm very annoyed and even more so when reading how many other customers have faced the exact same situation.

[caesarome]

@MonkeyBoy007 

This issue does crop up on here from time to time and the advice we always give is to ask for photos of this "additional damage" and if none are sent then you will consider that matter as closed and the original valuation of £150 to be restored.

[MonkeyBoy007]

Thanks you for replying.

think that ship has sailed now that I've cancelled the new phone. I'll wait till my contract is paid up and ends in September and then think about a new phone. I may even wait a few more months afterwards for the S25 series.

My main concern now is when I receive my old phone back, will there now be damage that wasn't there when I posted it?

[MonkeyBoy007]

Apologies for the spelling/grammar errors in my previous post. I'm unable to edit posts at present.

I did also mean the S26 series next year.

[caesarome · Accepted solution]

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@MonkeyBoy007 wrote:

My main concern now is when I receive my old phone back, will there now be damage that wasn't there when I posted it?

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Unless it has somehow been damaged in transit you might find it was in the same condition as to when you sent it off.

[MonkeyBoy007]

I made sure it had plenty of protection when it was repackaged so unless couriers have been using it as a football, Id like to think it's been damaged in transit

Until Sky, and they may never do so, provide me with a detail description and photos of the damage I'll probably never know.

I am going to be fascinated though once my contract ends and I'm able to sell this phone on to a company like Cex etc, if they find any fault with the phone.

I shall come back later on in the year or in 12 months time to let you know what happened.

[spacecowboy3891]

Never trusted CEX myself they  have graded bands A - C depending on the condition of the products they will always offer Grade C  price regardless of the condition. 

Yesterday I took a series 9 apple watch into them  should have been Grade A as there was no issues with it at all but still still gave grade C I bet they sell it at grade A though.

I could give other examples.

The only reason I sell to CEX Is because I cant be bothered with the hassle off eBay or Facebook marketplace or similar.

[MonkeyBoy007]

@spacecowboy3891 I have t personally had a bad experience with Cex. They've always been pretty fair when it comes to trade in. My last 2 devices (Galaxy Tab A8 and Dualsense controller) both passed inspection. and graded A so I got the full cash offer.

I guess it's everybody's own personal experience which is going to sway whether they like to deal with a particular company or not.

[spacecowboy3891]

I just think they are out to make as much profit as possible but I suppose thats the same for any retailer.

I do think my local store are bad for it I can't say the same for other CEX stores as I have only ever sold in 2. 

All i know is I very really get a grade A price from them. Even though my products are on a good condition I never challenge it because its easier than selling else where.

[katb76]

This happened with my daughter, they offered a price and then contacted her to say there was screen burn or something on it.

We queried this and they offered a higher price but we rejected it and cancelled the order.

When we got it back we took it to a shop to be checked over and they said it was excellent condition (had been in a case front and back cover) and they didn't know what the screen burn was referring to as there was no problems with the display.

She ended up settling her contract with the money she got for her phone on eBay (£150 more than she was offered).

[MonkeyBoy007]

I finally received confirmation that the damage found was also Screenburn. Funny how this has only occurred once they received the phone and powered it up because I never saw any fault on the display, even after I wiped the phone back to factory settings. And 17 days later I still haven't received my phone back nor has any one contacted me. Whenever I contact customer services, I'm told the same thing over and over:

"A message has been passed to the swap team as only they can help and they'll contact you within 48hrs" Next time it was 72hrs and then 5 days. 

[MonkeyBoy007]

I've already posted about the reasons for cancelling my new contract for an S25+ due to my not accepting the value for old phone as part of the upgrade, due to the "additional damage" found to my S22, which I have now found out is Screenburn and yet that fault wasn't there even after I had reset the phone to factory settings and powered it down before posting it to Sky.

It has now been 17 days since I cancelled the new contract, which was 7 days after I received the new phone so well within the cooling off period, and I not only have I still not received my old phone back but constant chasing up and speaking to customer services department 5 or 6 times so far, I am always told the same excuse "only the swap team xxx an assist. We've sent a message for them to contact you which will be within 48hrs". Then the next time I was told within 72hrs and the last time I spoke to someone it was within 5 days, which expired on Sunday 24th Feb.

They were quick enough to send out the return packaging to me so I can send the S25+ and Buds3 Pro back to them but it seems putting my S22 back in it's original box and then into a parcel or envelope and posting it to me seems to be a task too complicated for them to muster.

I know exactly what will happen, the time limit of 14 days to return the S25+ will expire and they will reinstate the contract. I'd told customer services when I last spoke to them 5 days ago, that they would only receive their phone back after I've received mine and for two reasons:

• Whilst Ice backed up my accounts, apps, private data, settings etc I have 200gb worth of music, movies, games etc stored on the phone which I'll lose if I don't have my old device to transfer the files to
• Most importantly though I am simply not going to accept being put in a position if not having a phone.

If I don't receive my phone back either before the cooling off period ends or the expiry date for returning the cancelled items and they reinstate the contract I will be cancelling my direct debit, I will still make the payments by debit card for the S22,  the phone plan and the Galaxy Tab S10+ but I will not pay the £38 for the S25+. I will inform Sky of my intentions and I will apso tell them that as they already took the first payment of £38 on 10th February and as is should have received my old phone by now then I am entitled to a refund of that £38 as is my legal right under the cooling off period, so I shall deduct that from the payment I make to them on 10th March meaning instead of the £90.86 they currently have on my next bill (S22, S25+ and Tab S10) they will receive £14.

I will be making a very long and detailed complaint in 5 days if the situation remains unchanged. Although I have already submitted a complaint on the 8th February regarding the lack of any information on what damage was found upon inspection and other than the automated reply email I received, I haven't heard anything from the Complaint Dept either and that's now 16 days. Sky's can't adhere to their own complaints procedure, which is to resolve complaints within 10 days and if this can't be met then they must inform the customer with an update and an estimated time to resolve it.

[PandJ2020]

It's your decision but i'd advise against withholding payment.

Whilst I get your anger it will not assist you - potentially leading to blocked services and reports on credit agencies.  (And possibly a void credit agreement making balances immediately payable)

Of course any amounts 'overpaid' will be returned but perhaps the timing not to your liking.

[MonkeyBoy007]

@PandJ2020 

I had just written a very very king update ib what's happened since my last postz but the page crashed before I could post it and I've lost it.m so I'll just keep it brief and give the cliftnotes.

• Sky agreed that I shouldn't have to pay anymore towards the S25+ as I cancelled well within the time limit of the cooling off period
• The S22 has finally been delivered and received by me approximately one hour ago - minus the original box I packed it in along with manual and charge cable still wrapped and tied. I originally requested it returned pretty much one month ago exactly 
• .Original notification following inspection was "additional damage" which meant Sky reduced their valuation by half (£150 to £75)
• It took me two weeks if constant phone calls and web chats with their Customer Service before I was finally given further clarification. The "additional damage" to the phone was intact a fault with the daiokay, common amongst older models of Samsung Galaxy phones called "screenburn"
• Battery was understandably completely flat so I gave it 2o mins to charge to get enough juice back into it to allow me power it up and see this screen fault for myself
• .I cannot find a single thing wrong with the display. Even as a layman and with my untrained eye, there doesn't seem to be any such fault as described by Sky's inspection team ( a third company I have since discovered called Ingram who have a contract with Sky)
• I have actually been waiting for a phone call from Sky's Complaints Team or Specialists Team or whatever they're called, as I was told they would be phoning me at midday. 
• It is now 4.02pm!!

So whilst I have my phone back and it's in the same condition as it was when I posted it a month ago, I am still angry that this whole saga remains unresolved.

I will allow my phone to fully charge before powering up again and transferring all my apps, data, files and storage from the S25+ to the S22.. Then after breakfast in the morning I shall complete a factory reset on the phone and then I shall take photos of every square cm of the device along with screenshots of a full diagnostic check and keep these as proof of perfect working order or the phone they are receiving. After it has been received back by them, probably in Monday 10th March, they will have 14 days to issue me a refund for the £38 they took for the first installment on 10th February.

When someone from Sky does in fact contact me I am going to request either a facetime call, WhatsApp, Skype etc or i will take dozens of photos and videos of the display for pretty much every app and website I use and I will ask whoever reviews these images and videos to show me exact proof of where on the display this fault lies 

Now I'm not saying that Ingram may have  possibly exaggerated the extent of the fault nor am I  even suggesting they may have told a bit fat whoppe, but as somebody who has worked in the insurance sector for 30 years, specifically in the Claims Department, I am fully aware of how business relationships with third party suppliers, inspectors and the like  man and indeed do work,particularly if the contract between companies can include incentives for reducing costs and meeting strict targets and deadlines set out by the company employing the services of the third party, thus potentially putting a strain on the employees and Line Managers preventing them from carrying out their work in a competent and error free manner.

So the plot as they say could well be thickening further and I shall return in due course with  hopefully some  further developments in this never ending saga.