The Worst Refurbishing Job I've Ever Seen...

[@PhoneRepairGuru]

Hi Guys, I wanted to share an update. BackMarket has reached out and is actively investigating the situation. They appear to be taking this matter very seriously and are working toward a resolution. I’ll keep you all informed as things progress.

[@XtergoBlue]

Big no, backmarket has always been poor, their parts are nowhere near stock quality. The guys at refox know what they are doing, backmarket is clueless

[@OrangeCamper]

It’s good to have influential people like you expose big companies. If a normal person experienced this I bet back market wouldn’t care less

[@nin9532]

A cousin wanted to get an iPhone for cheap and found back market... I told her not to trust them but she bought it anyway. It broke within like a week and then they tried to charge her to fix it. After seeing this they seem even more shady

[@techyboyiphonesamsungmoto]

That’s what my dad always says

[@ServeraServera0]

It happened the same with a friend that bought an iPhone 12, then the haptics broke off and they made a really weird sound and then it lasted almost until the end of this summer where I really don't know what happened but I guess it suddenly stopped working

[@Batcave4956]

Get eBay refurbished it is much better

[@Matyas_Ceo_Of_Matyas]

Your cousin is multiple people?

[@Matyas_Ceo_Of_Matyas]

Did you mean "her"?

[@tahaak]

That "excellent" phone is literally a scam. You should contact back market so that reseller gets banned. Using a low quality screen is one thing but replacing the IC to trick the consumer is pretty shady.

[@kez1619]

all that effort to just put crappy parts,

[@EximiusNovo]

Not a scam, it's a legitimate repair process to get True Tone. It's just a shit quality screen

[@heppgat]

@@EximiusNovo them writing "OEM parts" on the plastic bag the phone was in implies that they'd only use original parts. Swapping the IC with that context seems like a scam to me.

[@rockstar-tg2mu]

​@@EximiusNovo How is that 'legitimate' to you when this seller is advertising the item as 'excellent,' replacing the screen with an LCD, and claiming they used OEM parts?

[@redcatjack]

@@EximiusNovo Nah fam. It's a total scam.

[@XTendingYT]

You have to remember, that it comes down to the individual seller on Back Market, which type of repair you get

[@sodapone]

Thing is, while it's up to the seller, that means Back Market takes little to no responsibility for the quality of what you get. Not sure if I'd trust them personally, though they aren't in Canada so I guess it's a moot point for me.

[@himynameisryan]

At the end of the day Back market is still responsible for allowing false advertising on their platform If it says OEM parts, it’s gotta be oem

[@XTendingYT]

@ 👍

[@sharpsteel6272]

And that’s the real problem. The platform doesn’t take responsibility for what the seller is sending out. Much better to buy from a direct store or even on eBay because you have always the platform on the buyer’s side because is the one actually putting money into the platform and paying them… Also you will pay a lot less on eBay, and sometimes you can even make an offer lower than the actual price.

[@sharonsmith2550]

That doesn’t matter. Point blank, if the company cares about their reputation, at all… and they know they are selling to consumers, meaning they are the last people to see the inside of the phone, etc., just before customer then on their clock and dime its supposed to be the best they can do with the phones. Period. Ball was dropped and they passed the buck to the customer. Just terrible and sad but many thanks to repair guru for bringing this to light and calling them out. Backmarket do better.

[@DodgerX]

No way we got LTT sponsor

[@breadmymeatofficial]

LTT has always been a business not a youtuber

[@Some_Random_Teen]

⁠@@breadmymeatofficial LTT has always been a KZbinr, but LMG has been the business group behind it in recent years.

[@snjert8406]

Yeah, surprised me too hahahaha

[@halfblood_drag0n]

@@breadmymeatofficial technically the bussiness is lmg, linus media group, ltt is just the main channel

[@Snorlaxiian]

@@breadmymeatofficial Last I checked LTT was worth about 80 mil, they got a team of people working there and they have sponsorships for their own videos, I guess now they are sponsoring other people. 😮

[@zhengxia5]

My phone is from BackMarcket and it is all original, I think the most importantpart of buying one of this phones is reading the reviews of the refurbishing center

[@Idkiwjenmw]

I think its the sellers that matters the most

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

@Idkiwjenmw Fair enough like amazon/ebay and a ton of smart phone warranties it's all about who did the repair and how strict the platform/service is on keeping a quilty that is worth the price you paid.

[@mynameisnobody5944]

Same for me. A spotless iPhone 11 pro all original and demonstrated by an apple store

[@arctrix765]

that one i bought came with a sceen protector and a case, while i was not able to find any scratches even though being worst quality

[@SmOgER10]

just buy the used phone from an average person who bought a newer model. The chances of getting scammed with shit parts and being mislead are WAY lower. Your typical phone user usually doesn't have enough knowledge and/or skills to scam you as effectively as these 'professional' fraudsters pretending to be refurbishing iPhones. The more they mess with it the worse it is. Sadly but usually "refurbished" = molested shitty frankenstein phone, unless the phone is being sold by a truly reputable service center.

[@robinthegoat_vgw]

The thing with backmarket is that they are not the ones selling them. They are just a plattform for repairers that sell their devices. So depending on your luck you either get a device from a good repairer or from a bad repairer.

[@titustech337]

It’s still their responsibility though

[@robinthegoat_vgw]

@titustech337 Of course. If backmarket want their company to survive, they should test the repairshops more strictly.

[@trxycodm9036]

Bought 2 iPhone 11,s over 3 years and they both worked like new aside from a few scratches

[@sodapone]

If you let people sell crappy products on your platform, your platform's gonna take the reputational hit no matter how much you say "we're not the ones doing the repairs."

[@Littlebrownchicken]

It’s like eBay but you can’t see the actual phone

[@CaptainRex332]

My dumb ahh read black market in the title

[@includespecialcharachters]

So did I!

[@shaneilellis9832]

😂😂😂😂​@@includespecialcharachters

[@ceneblock]

I think we all did. 🤭

[@YourLocalCaptainEthan]

Same

[@aayush8595]

Fr

[@dawgatemybrain]

A huge amount of "refurbished" (i)phones aren’t really refurbished. They’re just being checked for major defects, cleaned up and resold. Source? I used to work for a popular European company that does that.

[@PilsCureMyDepression]

Yea.. I can kinda tell when I bought a laptop from them that they probs didn’t really open it besides to replace thermal paste but that was about it

[@dansmith163]

Do you know where I can get good republished iphones in the eu preferably uk

[@dawgatemybrain]

@@dansmith163 Go on your local marketplace, find someone who treats their phone better than their wife (an elderly person, preferably). You’ll see it in person, so you’ll know what you’re getting before the purchase, and given the fact that it’ll be cheaper, any savings can go towards a battery replacement if need be.

[@dawgatemybrain]

Go on your local marketplace, find someone who treats their phone better than their own health (an elderly person, preferably). You’ll see it in person, so you’ll know what you’re getting before the purchase, and given the fact that it’ll be cheaper, any savings can go towards a battery replacement if need be.

[@dawgatemybrain]

Something’s wrong with the comments, sorry if you see two or three similar replies. YT doesn’t like certain phrases. XD

[@hannes6114]

Refurbished really is a hit or miss. Sometimes you get lightly used stuff for a good price, sometimes a trashed phone for more than new price.

[@3asyWays]

yh true I got my current S21 from there and I definitely got lucky with mine and my sister too. unlike my mom who had to keep returning her phone bc of overheating issues

[@Puppet60e]

The quality really depends on who actually sold it as back market doesn't sell them, they have 2 tiers of sellers 1. Verified seller which are trusted sellers 2. Unverified seller who could be anything.

[@llllllllllllllllllllllllll4313]

the thing is the seller for the 2 first phones is verified and the last one isn't, (i also have phone from breed, all original parts iphone xs) 99% of people who buy is parents for their kids, they won't open the phone and notice anything weird like prg said

[@SmOgER10]

Why fucking bother at all though? They swap OEM parts to counterfeit ones for a living. Just buy a phone from an average Joe having no clue how to take it apart on craiglist or facebook marketplace like a normal person lol

[@acoustic_cat0]

Backmarket is sometimes so bad, i bought an ipad air 3rd gen and it came bent, scuffed up so bad, the cameras didn't work, and there was an engraving on the back saying, DO NOT TOUCH IPAD, i didn't choose this

[@cheap25]

Did you get it from MC Hammer?

[@ir0nmanx]

Can you provide the refurbisher? Backmarket is just a hub for refurbishing companies to sell their items in one place

[@oEpic1]

BREED

[@alternistronx]

@@oEpic1 Breed is the good one. Curious to know which the 2 bad ones were

[@yotoprules9361]

@@alternistronx Electronic Deals Inc

[@imcroni7346]

​@@alternistronx Electronic Deals Inc is the shady one

[@PhoneRepairGuru]

@@alternistronx Electronic Deals Inc 0:48

[@elliottwright8564]

The problem with Samsung phones with BackMarket is they're often Korean models so you'll have issues getting any wallet app to work, using RCS, getting the correct updates and some radio frequencies

[@d4n93r]

Yeah, I got an Korean Samsung early this year which still had the film on its sides and basically looked like brand new. I found out by accident and told them so I got 30€ off. Everything works fine so far.

[@elliottwright8564]

@@d4n93r the annoying thing is shutter sound in the famera app but you can turn that off

[@imcroni7346]

Oh yeah, those are the worst things you can encounter. You could flash your country's firmware but it's not an easy task for everyone to do.

[@tarkitarker0815]

@@imcroni7346 you cant get a non existing nfc chip to work, and you are sool if your 4g network is working on the not included frequency.

[@samtherat6]

Nice to see LTT sponsoring others!

[@Pearloryx]

Sort of looks like ifixit for me

[@theferbd2]

@@Pearloryxthe driver was actually designed so it could fit in the existing ifixit kits. But over all it is a better driver, quality and feature wise. Love mine.

[@ej_tech]

@@theferbd2 I have coworkers who bought the LTT precision with one of them using it with an iFixit Moray Driver Kit. But I still prefer the metal iFixit screwdriver.

[@happyclash8360]

I bought 2 refurbished phones, one from refurbed and one from backmarket. Both had completely original parts and where never opened. The only negative was the high amount of burn in on the backmarket phone.

[@pentagrahm3756]

FYI even selling to back market is sketchy. They don't tell you this upfront but once you have already shipped them your item, you are informed that to actually get your money, you need to give them your ID and last 4 of your SSN. Yikes... I'd rather be down 100 bucks than risk identity theft.

[@OrbObserver]

Providing personal information is standard in every website in order to collect funds. It's the same on YT and twitch, you don't just get to receive money without proving who you are that would be scam central. Literally any workplace where you receive pay would want even more information. I don't think you really thought about this.

[@pentagrahm3756]

@@OrbObserver for twitch that's just for tax purposes, same with youtube. trading in a used phone or gaming console is completely different. its not a workplace

[@pentagrahm3756]

@@OrbObserver in a quote from back market "Long answer - our payment provider Adyen requires your full driver's license number or the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number (SSN) to confirm your identity and transfer money into your bank account. Your personal information is completely secure and is only used to verify your identity and prevent fraud. "

[@pentagrahm3756]

@@OrbObserver I know what I'm talking about, the reason they want it is cause their payment provider per FINRA rule 2090 requires it. however I still think that giving out your SSN like candy to a bunch of different sites is just asking for identity theft. even if they are completely legit what if they get a data breach 🤔. yeah I'd rather not. either way it's still pretty shitty of them not to disclose that they need that upfront

[@Kayceepeece]

​@@pentagrahm3756Think about this for a sec. What if it's a stolen phone?

[@mothbirdinouterspace]

back market themselves should verify their sellers better but they are not directly responsible for this horrible service

[@Chuckrys]

I've seen a video a long ago about that, with the excellent quality phone generally mean that more parts of the phone have been replaced to make them look brand new, therefore those in good or fair condition did not have lots of parts replaced or have been untouched on the in/outside. So its recommended to buy the phone in fair or good condition

[@ahmedkambal7322]

The way I actually got a black market ad having just watched the camera just fall out on the “excellent phone” 😂😂

[@DavidQuevedo_]

I worked for BM (Customer Service) and I can truly tell you that sellers do whatever they want and they sell “Excellent” phones that look like 💩

[@whizzard]

Hey 👋 I'm featured at 0:14 😊 Cool video man! Appreciate your expertise on the topic!

[@justino.07]

where could i buy the best refurbished iphones?

[@DANIELCHUKWUKERE]

This is why I rather buy a fairly used phone than a refurbished one.. if I want to change the parts, I can go to an authorized store to change any parts I want

[@PCJesus0]

I had a nightmare a few years ago with back market, they gave me an "excellent" condition iphone xs max, paid like 300$, and the screen was scratched to bits, like it was genuinely hard to see the screen. I returned it and got my money back luckily, but I have never bought another phone from them just because of that incident

[@olawale_o.t.d]

I got served an ad before I had an idea what the video is about 😂😅

[@rad_nor5861]

I don't know where the back market hate comes from. I bought a s21 plus from there and bought it worst quality for £180 and it has never had any issues, the phone only had a few scratches on the side and non on the screen. The phone has lasted me a good 8 mouths.

[@aritzgaraneda3782]

8 mouths?? Hahahah

[@m.yr.o.n]

​@aritzgaraneda3782I'm shocked to

[@Cainny]

That first iphones screen brightness is an immediate red flag. Its so so awful. It looks nearly off in most of these shots.

[@KUBAMODS]

That fair condition iphone still had ios 14 which was extremely rare, sad that you updated it for the diagnostic mode 😭

[@guyknightley3499]

Why does it matter? Im guessing for jailbreaking it?

[@KUBAMODS]

@guyknightley3499 not really, you can jailbreak upto ios 16, but its just the rarity of it as 99% of phones get updated, so getting one on the same ios version it released with is near impossible

[@Druid_Plow]

​@@guyknightley3499 because iOS updates slow down your CPU. When exposed Apple said they reduce core clock speeds to "extend the life of the device"

[@LennonsRetroTech]

He updated it?!? 😭

[@KUBAMODS]

@LennonsRetroTech yeah, u can see it because he used diagnostic mode which is ios 18+ and you could also see the ios 18 wallpaper for a split second

[@jkoneill]

Thank You PRG! I made a couple of deals with back market last year with similar results. Good in theory but the phone I got had a cheap replacement screen that cracked the 2nd day I had it. Also the buyer of my trade in lied and said the phone I sent them was damaged. They did find in my favor and got my money tho. You have great content

[@LookedSpy637]

I got my iPhone 13 pro a year ago from back market not knowing that they’re bad. It had no microscratches, all oem parts and 100% battery health and it’s working perfectly. Have they only recently become scummy or what?

[@jamesdriver0317]

They’re only a storefront for third party refurbishers so it’s very hit or miss on what you get

[@LookedSpy637]

@@jamesdriver0317 guess I was lucky then huh

[@Sashazur]

@LookedSpy637 I guess I’ve been lucky 3 times. Two iPads and an Apple Watch over a year ago with no problems.

[@johnm7882]

Thanks for taking the hit for us. I'll definitely not buy anything from Back Market.

[@Joha-bib]

A friend of mine bought a 11 pro max (good) last year and there haven’t been any issues since. The screen was original too

[@imcroni7346]

It varies from seller to seller

[@Earthquake_D]

I bought an iPad 10.2 (2018) there recently, on the website it said it may have some scratches. It came in full original packaging, all things included, no scratches, everything works as intended

[@Steve78392]

8:43 it has more scratches at a level 6 with deeper grooves at a level 7

[@abdouellahbouzid4283]

Jerry says

[@Erdie5]

"LTT." Yeah, I actually watched the video! Just wanted to add that I know someone who just bought an iPhone 13 128GB with 85% battery for $450 off swappa because it was rated "mint". A brand new one is $100 more. Yikes.

[@AtomicDig]

I know a person who bought an iPhone 13 pro 128gb for about 750€ two whole months after the iPhone 15 came out... somehow still insists that she wasn't scammed

[@m.yr.o.n]

​@@AtomicDiglmao

[@Luigi_bros4321]

Dont we all love bots who comment random stuff?

[@americanboy48]

Um, excuse me, I'm not a bot. If you go on my KZbin channel, I do actually go live on KZbin, and I have KZbin videos, okay? But... PlugTech is the best choice to buy phones from.

[@rad_nor5861]

Back market sells phone from different refurbishers, so some worst then others, you can check whos selling what item if you scroll down on the website.

[@sidben-Yehoshuwa]

We have purchased several ipads in the excellent condition category and they were scratched up pretty bad. We called them about it and they gave us $100 off.

[@retr0yt98]

I bought the Airpods from backmarket, and I had no problem. I still use them. Then, I told my friend and he bought an iPhone 11 from the same page. Crapy screen, 76% battery, horrible performance... That page is a lottery instead of a reliable seller.

[@SrApathy33]

LTT now sponsoring you is awesome and I'm here for it. Also: I feel like refurbished devices are always a gamble.

[@PedroBorgesNH]

well, if you think about it, the "fair" condition is most likely to be as when the previous owner sent them and the "excellent" condition is almost guaranteed that someone had their paws inside the device to replace at least the back frame to a new (and probably low quality) one

[@benscott7871]

I bought a MacBook Pro from them in “fair” condition and it was like brand new with 30-40 cycles😭

[@amandabarnes2617]

I bought a 128gb black iphone xr from a company called plug tech. My battery health is 97%... And still works ... You just have to be really careful where you buy it from

[@SterlingSilverTech]

No way! He got sponsored by LTT!

[@damarimedlock2613]

BackMarket is not just one company pushing out refurbished phones it’s for other people or companies to sell their refurbished products so it is smart to check the ratings of the seller before buying ANYTHING.

[@mangna]

I bought a s20 ultra off back market over a year ago and it came with a micro USB cable, the backglass was coming off, and there were small shards of glass in some of the camera lenses. Worst of all it took almost a month to return the device due to long response times from their customer support team.

[@maliquehodge1744]

What condition was the phone in?

[@mangna]

@maliquehodge1744 it was supposed to be good condition

[@avdhootharal3905]

s20 ultra with a micro usb? lmfao😂

[@Circuit_Breaker120V]

Thank you for covering this website, I wish I had saw this video at the beginning of November when I decided to buy a S10+ refurbished in "excellent" condition. It's covered in scuffs and one of the back cameras has a infuriating defect where I have to tap it to get it to focus. Also the OLED has a intrusive green tint over everything.

[@notloki3140]

It makes perfect sense, in order to make an Apple phone look nice and therefore grade it higher, they replace the display (since most Apple users do not use a screen protector) and the housing. Since they already did this, they end up replacing the battery as well. Lesser grades are basically in their original, albeit, well used form. You should almost never buy used but suspiciously good looking tech. Always go for well used. Save some money and you know that hardware was most likely never touched inside and more importantly perhaps, it lasted someone a good stretch of time, it will last you at least that. Then you sell it and some poor bastard will end up with a "pristine" device.

[@iLife64]

I’ve gotten a phone off of back market that was labeled as unlocked… turns out the previous owner never paid off the phone so it was carrier locked so I returned it

[@Rory_Macdonald]

5:00 future me needs this

[@miked5444]

Would assume "TP" is third party. Also looking at, it's almost like phones that are OK get marked as "fair".Phones that are destroyed get "refurbished" and marked as better condition.

[@horseydestroyer9466]

I think it is definitely a gamble, but you can get a great phone. I got a Iphone 13 mini 512 gb that was listed as "fair" condition for less than a "excellent" condition 128 gb. It had 96% battery life when I got it, had a year of AppleCare+, no damage on the frame or back. Just some almost invisible scratches on the screen, no cracks. The scratches aren't even visible with a screen protector on. So it seems like the "fair" phones might be better because potentially they wouldn't have actually tried refurbishing anything, just be selling a used phone.

[@shiftctrlhack]

Time for me to get a LTT screw driver kit for my bench. I have the full size and it works great. I didn’t know they sold a mini one like this !!

[@includespecialcharachters]

Once, I bought a back market a flip3, and it broke literally not one month after I got it, with normal use. Never buying from them again. Yes, I know it’s individual sellers, but it was supposed to be excellent, but it had burn in, and it was heavily scratched. They need to get their quality control up.

[@escapade1924]

Is it similar to like eBay but just for technology or is is it them selling it from the actual brand

[@includespecialcharachters]

@ exactly. They claim that it is verified, but it’s obviously not.

[@Ver-cx2uc]

Idk ive never had any issues with back market, the problems usually come from the specific seller, so just check the reviews always peeps Ive had my iphone 13 pro max which was bought in "fair condition" come to me looking brand new and ive had it for a year now. 🤷

[@lasunika]

1:45 huhhh😂that was unexpected

[@Ssz_202]

How typical, I received a back market advert on a video that is showing me not to buy from them.💀💀💀

[@tpgYT2024_official]

Back market more like black mark-

[@kidnextdxxr]

13:02 I love how the quality got better as it got “worse” that fair phone seems like the way to go over excellent 😂😂😂

[@flamewave64]

there's literally not a second in this video where the camera is not moving adjusting or zooming in some way it's nauseating it's genuinely sickening to watch. makes me feel spastic or schizophrenic but it's like what the heck is going on. i cant even focus on the info being presented

[@kafaer]

then dont watch its not that hard

[@whatevergirl19]

Maybe you’re just a schizo, get that checked.

[@timod1999]

Could you please test the other refurbished seller like swappie… Great video, love your content!

[@radasfck]

Swappie next

[@Clickworker101]

Swappie is way more interesting because they actually repair it themselves

[@leeviathan2009]

I actually bought 12 pro from the back market almost 3 years ago in good condition and it has been great. They are a platform company meaning they are just a middleman between the refurbishers and customers. Therefore it will be a matter of luck if you get a phone refurbished with any decency. Companies that do their own repairs such as Swappie don't have this issue so they might be worth the small price premium and I'll consider them in the future. Back market on the other hand should really figure out how to quality control their partners and make buying safe for their customers

[@techyboyiphonesamsungmoto]

This is why you never buy refurbished devices no matter if they look and might be perfect buy new!

[@JoJoBaB.y]

False not all refurbished are terrible. Amazon has good ones tbvh

[@Nissan_poof]

Not everyone has money to buy brand new phone,never mind a iphone

[@NewbNym]

I once bought a "brand new" phone and it turned out to be refurbished. Atleast when you're told it's refurbished you know it's refurbished.

[@R8V10]

My gf’s refurbished IPhone 13 performs much better than my iPhone 14 I bought new.

[@LIA-ichigo]

Thanks for the video, i was just looking at the website the other day for a good deal on a phone... well i wont trust em after this honestly

[@gelato007]

That’s not from back market lol I’ve purchased from there several times with no issues and never once received a fake iPhone

[@nicholasbremer9857]

As someone who works for one of the UK’s refurbished tech companies, unfortunately this is quite common. The parts used on the 1st phone are awful I must say, our company wouldn’t ever go that low, but the bottom line is that these companies are out there to make money possible, if that means cutting corners then the boss’s will not hesitate. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions as to why certain things are done in the certain ways, but only from my point of view. I don’t speak for the entire industry

[@superboss3758]

no way we got PRG sponsored by LTT before GTAVI

[@simonhusseyofficial]

Thank you so much for helping us who need a refurbished phone. This is just criminal and deceptive, theses should be laws in place to punish these scammers! Great job👏

[@TheUltimateGod_100]

If you’re not subscribed to PRG with the bell turned on, then your iPhone will be stuck on boot loop forever

[@DodgerX]

Thank God I don't use an iPhone

[@Leo-Tech-r1z]

I use an iPhone 11 as a main phone. Bought it for 180€ from a sketchy local phone shop. All scratched, camera glass cracked, dust in camera resulting in weird vibrations, battery pregnant and not original, screen kinda falling apart and when i tried to call the guy Who sold and refurbished this phone, he blocked me😢

[@Emmma1234]

Don't trust a guy with sponsored videos...just saying...Backmarket is a market place, just like amazon, you cant blame then but the sellers there which I am sure dont last long if they sell bad quality...lets make another video with Amazon, ebay etc...

[@niels5471]

You should have done it with a brand new iphone the comparison would have been even better

[@richmond411]

I've had TWO iPads, one from Backmarket, one from Refurbed in "as new" condition. Both had a hidden defect, where the iPad would suddenly reboot. Not much more frequent than 1-2 times a day, but with a good chance that the average user would not realize what's happening before the free-return period ends. Never again!

[@HNMusic13]

I'm 2/2 with issues from them. First one needed a new ear speaker out of the box. Second one had non working selfie cam, replacing it disabled the face unlock.

[@MiningBlock]

8:20 if anyone's wondering, my best guess as to what TP stands for is simply "Third-Party"

[@AMZtechofficial]

Dude, this was such a wild ride. How is Back Market calling that first phone 'excellent'? The screen's trash, there’s water damage, and missing screws-like, seriously? And then the cheapest, ‘fair’ condition phone is actually the best one? That’s backwards as hell. It’s like they’re rolling dice on quality and hoping nobody notices. This definitely makes me rethink buying anything 'refurbished' from them. Back Market, you gotta step it up! 😬📱

[@jaredrogers1483]

BUYERS BEWARE My best friend got a (Fair) iPhone 14 from Backmarket, it was shipped covered in fingerprints, it was greasy, and there was a completely random screw in the packaging. None of the screen sensors worked, not even Face ID or front facing speaker. I opened it up to ALSO find red moisture warning stickers, lost count of missing screws and I immediately noticed a missing shield behind the screen which holds the sensors and their contacts in the correct spot. I used the shield and several missing screws from her old phone which happened to be a 14 too, thank god. Turned out the screen sensors and speaker had already been fried, probably because the screen was installed with no shield. I INSISTED she returned this and got a refund asap, they turned her down because I had attempted to fix their monstrosity of a $400 “fair” condition phone so that she had a working device in the meantime, which voided their “30 day warranty”. What’s the purpose of a warranty if the device didn’t fully function in the first place? They would’ve gotten the phone back in a BETTER condition than they sent it.

[@haroldflower8008]

I work in a warehouse that backmarket sends customer phones to for grading and testing. Let me tell you, it is INSANE how little people know about the technology they are being paid to grade. They had us cleaning phones with WINDEX until enough of us said "hey we are going to destroy a phone if we keep using windex get us 91% alcohol". Of course, they got us 70%. AND to comment on the "OEM Parts" note. That literally means that the phone DOESN'T have all OEM parts and that one needs to be paired o replaced. I'm amazed (not really) they don't even bother to fix it as long as the glass looks okay. BackMarket constantly emails us saying we aren't doing things right yet provide no clear details on how they want things done. Safe to say when my time ends with them (I'm a temp) I will not be continuing to work there.

[@yashsaxena9535]

The reason why I don’t prefer buying refurbished iPhones is that their parts are much more expensive to repair. You could even buy a new phone for the same price. Another reason is the practice of swapping ICs from original parts to make them look as good as new, which makes it difficult for the average person to identify the scam.

[@xpose2k744]

In Romania we have a brand that’s doing something similar, its called Flip and it s basically the same principle. I bought a few years ago an iPhone 11pro Max from them in excellent condition and i can tell you their means for “excellent” are way different then those from these guys. I mean the phone had a few barely visible scratches but the battery was on 98%, and the rest of the phone was pretty much brand new. The phones from them aren’t as cheap as those but if you’re not willing to pay the full price for a phone and you still want it in good condition, if you can, i would honestly recommend them. Great video though!

[@Masterplan15]

Non refurbished is better. I usually buy used phones from eBay and no better than good. Less likely to have lousy replacement parts. As long as the screen has no burn in or scratches and works im happy

[@Ssz_202]

The crazy part is I remember searching for an iPhone 12 Pro Max Excellent condition with 128GB and it came at an astonishing 864£. We are talking 2024. That is just crazy.

[@HDRescueCarnaxide]

Our company sells on Backmarket for a couple of years. For iPhones we mostly sell apple refurbished, all original components. But it's almost impossible to compete in their marketplace because there is no quality control.. There are big companies that do this cheap refurbishment, and most of the customers unfortunately don't don't know what they are buying.

[@Mochalikes]

Keep in Mind "BLack Market" is not the one refurbishing the products. They're like Amazon. A distributer of products. The actual "refurbing" part is done by various sellers/companies.

[@simplicityd8703]

They should still check things before selling them

[@MewoCatto]

I remember ordering a few refurbished phones from a company called Music Magpie. They're like Back Market but better. One of the phones had a crap battery and was turning off at 30% charge. They immediately replaced it with another phone which worked like new and was in much better condition as well. I also had a battery problem with a phone from CeX (a British store) and they refunded it the same day because there wasn't another one in stock. Those phones I just saw here with the cheap low quality parts are shocking from a big company and should never have been allowed to leave the warehouse. Strange how the cheap C grade phone was better than an A grade.

[@M.KH4N5]

The fact I got a Back market ad right before this video is wild timing

[@arengadavid]

honestly i bought 2 ipads and an iphone in both good condition, they were totally fine! you need to investigate the company that refurbishes that phone before buying it, because back market is just a market and a lot of refurbished companies sell things there. i had a good experience but sometimes it doesn’t happen

[@CodyKloepfer]

I buy and sell a lot of phones, I mostly do all of my buying and selling on eBay, but I've started branching out to other websites like BackMarket. Over the years I've learned that we're at the complete mercy of the seller and most of the time they'll do lazy repairs and turn around and completely lie about the condition, as you've perfectly highlighted in this video. The people reselling smartphones and electronics need to be held to way higher standards, but, I don't see a great way of actually enforcing it. It's disheartening and annoying. If you buy a device from someone on eBay or a website like BackMarket, and it's not in as described condition, DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE THAT RETURN POLICY.

[@Pentref]

I bought an iPhone XS in fair condition from Back Market, and the first day, I noticed that the screen was randomly touching on its own. I thought it was just random, but the screen turned out to be faulty LOL. I did, however, use that phone for 2 years and and the screen did get a lot worse. The middle of the screen didn't work, but I learned to live with it and I was fine with it

[@Fortebx497]

Bought an iphone 13 pro max from the site. Listing says excellent condition but i got one with the cameras scratched, one of the two screws that are next to the charging port is not screwed all the way in and more scratches on the side and back. I return it back immediately after inspecting it.

[@deans-rewind2882]

I bought my LG G8 from them 4 years ago and it was a great deal. I still use it as my phone currently. Have had no issues with it so far. Also last year i got a 128gb iphone 6s for under 100 dollars in good condition and after getting a new battery put in it its been a great replacement for my 6th gen iPod touch, still doing great! One thing people have to remember is that back market is a site where refurbished companies can sell their devices. So make your decisions based on the refurbishment companies. Not really back market.

[@chrisdib9269]

I think those screens are LCDs. You can see what looks like backlight bleed at the bottom of the screen at 9:03 on the "Good" condition phone. I will say, water indicators can also trip from using isopropyl alcohol to remove adhesive (and that indicator was very close to where the display adhesive typically goes), and humidity. Everything else is inexcusable.

[@mihalis1010]

8:22 I’m gonna guess TP stands for third-party.

[@mynechan]

I got two phones from them. Luckily, both of them are in perfect condition. I bought the lowest tier, "good", but the condition was better than just good. Both phones have been running for a years now.

[@lvaItix]

I already mentioned this in a community post, but it’s important to emphasize the role of the seller when discussing Back Market. This platform doesn’t refurbish the phones themselves-it’s essentially a marketplace, like eBay, but specifically for phones. About a week ago, I had my own experience with Back Market. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in "Excellent" condition. I live in Germany, and the phone was shipped from France. While it looks great on the outside, it turned out to be a Korean model without a CE mark, which is actually illegal here. To make matters worse, they don’t provide a direct support email you can contact. Instead, they only offer predefined solutions you can click through. Fortunately, my phone works (although Samsung Pay doesn’t, and some terms of service are in Korean), but I still find this extremely cheeky. I'm planning to replace the battery myself to save money-I'm curious to see what the device looks like inside.

[@hannes6114]

I bought an Ipad there for a very good price and it is in very good condition. I hope they didn't even open it. There are different sellers on that website though.

[@Benni_aka_Yoshi]

Got a BackMarket ad on this video… Kinda ironic

[@Rmsy2150]

Same experience. "Excellent" condition came with a cheap LCD to replace an OLED screen. Returned. 2nd phone had glue sticking out the edges of the screen. Never ordering from them again. Live and learn.

[@JamesR624]

3:07 Wow... that screen is so bad that.... I can see shadows behind the app icon names. Actually, I miss that from iOS 6. IS that the screen or is there some way to do that on iOS I am unaware of?