"Buyer Beware"
I didn't know this before this experience, but be warned that - in their own words - "Back Market is a global marketplace including more than 1,500 sellers of refurbished devices"
I've bought two Samsung tablets from Back Market and in both cases the tablets themselves have been great and they were received
extremely quickly.
However the advert for my most recent purchase turned out to be grossly misleading as it contained various photographs showing the tablet
- complete with the Samsung S-Pen - attached to a keyboard and the "Seller Comment" actually included the text "Complete with Samsung S-Pen".
I'd been looking at three identical tablets but the other two adverts featured neither the keyboard nor the S-Pen.
Unfortunately my new tablet arrived without these accessories and having contacted customer support I was disappointed and annoyed to be told
that the seller had neither item available.
I could have returned the tablet for a full refund but did not wish to do this as the tablet itself was OK.
I was however offered either a refund of £12 or an S-Pen to be sent to me
- there was no mention of recompense for the missing keyboard.
After a further enquiry I was then offered a refund of £20 to cover both items: the seller was apparently valuing a keyboard at just £8.
I remarked that £20 was insufficient to purchase both items, reminded Back Market of the misleading nature of the advert and received the following message from their customer support:
"In addition to the partial refund of £20 that the seller will provide, I will assist you with a credit of £25 for the S-Pen" .
The wording suggested to me that the seller would be refunding £20 and that Back Market would themselves refund an additional £25,
which I assumed was to protect their good name?
That would have been acceptable but then I received another message informing me that the £20 refund had now been declined.
Given that Back Market are just an intermediary between sellers and purchasers I appreciate that it would be impossible for them to guarantee
the accuracy of what sellers purport to have for sale.
The lesson here can only be: don't rely on the photographs and don't rely on the text - and if you can't rely on the photographs or the text, what on earth is the advert doing?
I've had enough of this now but if I ever use Back Market again (doubtful at the moment) I will be making a separate enquiry to ascertain precisely
what's included and indeed what the full specification of the product really is.