Bozowi reviews

Always fast and excellent customer service

I am just awaiting a reply about the status of my current order that was received on friday

16 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Aaron, thanks for your message on Twitter, and also your comments here. You've sent quite a large number of devices to us in this order (which is great) so when our engineers have worked through them I'll be sure to update this comment.

Not impressed! I am still waiting for my money!!

I sent 2 phones, one was broken and they gave me a quote of £5 for a broken phone , then downgraded it to 75p!

The second phone they quoted me £55 and ended up giving me £14, claiming a button was not working properly!

Not impressed! I am still waiting for my money!!

Damian Phoenix and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

15 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Christian - we've checked on the system and as you quite rightly said, both devices were downgraded due to damage or being beyond economical repair. In the condition they are in, we're happy to confirm we were still able to offer more than our rival recyclers - in fact in many cases, the 3 year old Blackberry Pearl 9100 isn't given a value at all at many similar sites.

easy effcient and great customer service

Fast turn around would highly recommend and definitely use again. 5 star company thumbs up very high.

15 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Nicholas, thanks for your review. We're glad you had a good experience recycling your device with us, and we hope you'll come back to us again. :)

Better than being stuck in a drawer

Broken phone quoted for, mailing bag received, phone sent, money received via PayPal - all within 2 weeks.

15 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi John, thanks for your 5 star review - you're right, if you've got old devices lying around, or are due an upgrade that you don't want, it makes sense to make some money :)

We hope you'll come back to us again.

Very good

I sent my phone of to bozowi
I got the best price out,without any problems
I bet u have a old phone lying around somewhere !!! Get it sent to bozowi today !

15 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Daniel, thanks for your message. We're glad you had a good experience using us. Be sure to come back again when you want to recycle another mobile device.

Disappointing with price reduction (surprise surprise!)

I used Bozowi as they were offering the best price for a brand new phone, which was an unwanted upgrade. The box had never been opened and was sent to Bozowi as I got it from the manufacturer.

I then got an email that my price has been downgraded from new to working which is a loss of £40. I'm at a loss as to how it can be classed as anything other than new when it was never even opened!!!

I did send 2 emails and a Facebook message which were replied to in a timely manner, so I can't fault them in that respect. But I'm waiting on an explanation regarding the downgrading as I would have been better doing a private sale.

I've used 3 other competitors in the past and I've never had a price downgrade. So I'm a little upset as I needed the extra cash hence going with them and paying for SD to get it processed next day which in fairness was yesterday but was processed today, and now payment will be held up as they don't process at the weekends and charge extra for faster payment.

So in essence I should have expected a price reduction due to the previous reviews but I did want to give them the benefit of the doubt and I've posted an honest review.

If I get a response then I will update this review.

Damian Phoenix and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

Avoid this company as they expect the customer to take the loss if price they want to pay changes before receipt!

Avoid this company as they expect the customer to take the loss if price they want to pay changes before receipt!
I sent in two Galaxy S3’s. VGC and got slightly reduced price which was reasonable as phones had been used. Price quoted was £250. One got £240 and the other £210 as it had a small crack in trim I didn’t notice. Overall quite reasonable service as used phones often only get 90% of quoted price.

I than sent in some more Galaxy S3’s I picked up. Again quoted £250, which was again a good price, and placed order. When I went to pack them noticed price on their website dropped to £160! Than next day it was £185! Both these were less than rest of market. Oh well no problem as I placed my order at £250 so I sent them off. What a fool I was! Suddenly phones in VGC have bad scratches and all are heavily marked down to £180-£210. How convenient for them. I get to take the hit because they apparently no longer wants Galaxy S3’s, and if I don’t like it I have to pay to have my phones returned!

This is disgraceful behaviour and shows the company has no ethics. There are better companies out there who may not quote as high a price but they do behave fairly if the price changes between placing order and them receiving the phones.

If Bozowi didn’t want the phones I wouldn’t have minded that much if they had emailed me and said so. I could have sold elsewhere for £227 to a company that wants them. Now I am left significantly out of pocket, or incur the expense and long delays in getting my phones back!

Giles Eadon, Bilal Naeem, Damian Phoenix and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

Did not agree with the price, but after discussions with staff have come to a compromise.

I sent my Samsung Galaxy S2 to Bozowi last week. In my opinion, the handset was in good working order with slight cosmetic damage.

The initial offer price was downgraded due to scratches.

I declined that offer price. As I was expecting not to require it returned, I was not happy having to pay to return it.

With no option on the site to discuss this and the email only had a an accept/reject option, so I emailed Bozowi and posted on TrustPilot that the phone was in my opinion unfairly downgraded.

One of the Bozowi team started a dialogue online which would probably have resolved everything to everyone’s satisfaction, but within an hour of this happening, my phone was placed in dispute until the matter was resolved. At this point there was an email exchange where we did not agree with what "in dispute" meant.

I have since had an in depth discussion with a member of staff at Bozowi and we have agreed a compromise that I feel puts this matter to rest. I have given 3 stars as under Trust Pilot's definition of "Acceptable experience but with some friction". I was annoyed at first but they have now resolved the issue to my satisfaction.

Hasan McMaze, Giles Eadon and Damian Phoenix found this review useful

12 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi David, thanks for your comments. Unfortunately we did find scratches on the handset, which impacts on the value of such devices. This meant that the current market value of Galaxy was £80.00. If you have a look at some of our competitors, you'll find they're averaging out at around £35.00 to £50.00, so we're glad we're still able to offer you a better price. Let us know what you'd like to do.

We noticed on Tesco's terms and conditions page that they do charge for returning devices - it's surprising that they didn't in this instance. Obviously each recycler's business model is going to be a little different. The definition of average wear and tear can be quite subjective, so we work within quite strict guidelines to differentiate between wear and damage.

Again, thanks for your comments - feedback from our customers is very important to us. You can contact us on 08456 890 815, via email, or through our Twitter of Facebook pages.

***UPDATE - with regards to your additional comment, David, we'd be happy to photograph the device to illustrate what we've found?***

Not so impressed

not bad, but next time i will go with another company for sure

Chowdary Cy found this review useful

12 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Hasan, thanks for your comments. We'd like to respond.

With regards to your issues phoning us, would you please email us the number you were calling from? All incoming calls, successful or not, are logged. Management take these allegations very seriously and would like to investigate this issue as a matter of urgency.

With regards to your concerns about price reduction, your price was reduced for the following reasons, as per our terms and conditions.

1. Your device showed signs of liquid damage, which greatly effects the market value of any handset. In many instances, liquid damaged phones will appear to work fine, but upon engineer inspection are damaged.

2. You sent your device in on the day that your offer price expired (your original offer price expired on the 8th, and we received your device on the 9th). Many mobile phone recycling companies only allow 5 days for customers to send in their devices. Indeed Bozowi originally followed that model - but after customer feedback we extended that period to 14 days. Due to the constantly changing nature of the technology market, prices do fluctuate, which is why we cannot guarantee a price beyond our 14 day window.

To confirm, if your phone A: had no liquid damage and B: was received within the agreed period, you would have received the stated value for your device.

***UPDATE***
Hasan, further to your update, we have placed the account in dispute because your review is factually inaccurate. We received the device on the 9th, AFTER your offer price expired on the 8th. The damage we have found reduces the value of your device. To quote from the offer email we sent you: "We have found that the handsets liquid indicator tab was red (it should be white) meaning the phone has had contact with some sort of liquid, the sim tray you have provided with the handset is a wrong tray with an incorrect IMEI number and your phone has scratches on the unit and screen."

We are confident that we have been transparent and clear in our dealings with you, and are not at fault as you've suggested in your review.

Rip off merchants

sent 2 x Blackberry phones to this company on the 28th march same day their envelope arrived and kept posting receipt.
after one month they confirm they received the cheaper phone which they've downgraded for late arrival to £0 and they say they did not get my more expensive phone what a surprise! If Royal mail staff took it, why did'nt they just keep both and why would I go to all that trouble and just keep an old phone when i have my new phone? Take note of their warning on all their emails that "abusive language will not be tolerated" now why would you say that if you were going to look after your customers?I have blocked my 2 stolen phones now but understand they send these to India where they can be used. If they think they are going to get rich this way they have no grasp of the business world where companies spend thousands on advertising, but these cheapskates for the the sake of a few quid are getting so much bad press that soon they will change trading name. Just inform as many people as you can and on as many forums. I am sending the proof to my solicitor and Trading standards. Its not the money i've lost, but i can not tolerate being taken advantage of . All those ripped off should stick together against this cheap bullying company! Also bear in mind most of the positive comments could be this company setting up bogus accounts.

Chowdary Cy found this review useful

11 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Ramin, thanks for your review. We've checked on the system for you, and we don't as of yet have your Blackberry devices. It's possible that your package has been slightly delayed because of the long Bank Holiday weekend, but we obviously have no control of devices en-route to us.

The phones are very much staffed by real living people (as is this review page - it's quite odd being labelled as a fancy bit of software), but as I mentioned to a previous customer below, at peak times our phonelines are very busy indeed. We do of course try to get to each call as quickly as possible.

I'll update this comment when your device is here, and hopefully you'll reconsider your two star review then.

Bozowi = Exellent Service

Order: #20077
I decided to sell my Blackberry 8520 to Bozowi for £50.30.
Their price was the highest out of all the competitors! I used onbay.com to compare prices.
I sent the phone via First Class Delivery but the delivery was delayed by Royal Mail. I was very unhappy because I needed the cash asap. I contacted Bozowi via Facebook message and they kept reassuring me that the package will come and gave me daily updates in whether it came or not. I began to lose hope but they motivated me on and finally it came. Their service is 5 Star because they realised my needs in needing the money ASAP and the fact that the delivery was delayed so much; they made sure the phone was reviewed by the engineer as quickly as possible. The phone was offered at full price quoted. It didn't stop there, standard BACS payment which I opted for as I would be offered full price, normally takes 3-5 days. They sent it via FAST payment out of kindness (Normally I would be offered a lower price) at the fill price of £50.30 and made sure that I received it the same day!
Their service is EXELLENT and the fact that they had Facebook and Twitter gave me great reassurance. They weren't one of those companies who hides away from their customers.
I recommend this company to anyone and everyone because they're the best!
Also, if your not sure if your phone will get full quoted price, contact them and send them pictures of the phone to gain a opinion if the phone is worthy of full quoted price or not. Its as easy as that!
Thank you Bozowi for your wonderful service and I will definitely be using you again!

11 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Syed, thanks very much for your detailed review and kind words - we're glad you're happy with the service you received from Bozowi. You're right, we use social media and pages like this to keep in touch with our customers, and we're glad you were able to make the most of those services to keep on top of your order.

We're glad you keep coming back to us to use Bozowi, and we look forward to seeing you again!

great value but pretty slow turnover with the whole process compared to other companies

Very happy with costs I received only down point would be the length off time the whole process took

11 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Scott, thanks for your kind words and feedback. Your order fell over the Bank Holiday weekend, so added a bit of a delay to getting your order processed and through, but we're glad you're generally happy with the service we've provided.

Thanks again for using Bozowi.

Insulted and ripped off!

We sent two identical Samsung phones, boxed and protected by recorded delivery. We received an email to say that the first phone had been received on Saturday at 15:45 wethen got a 2nd email to say the price was reduced at15:48. The other phone (In the same box) was received at 15:48 and surprise surprise the email to say it the price was reduced came at 15:54.
What really angers us is both phones were in excellent condition and kept in Samsung cases from the day we bought them yet apparently their is damage to the face and casings!!
We now loose £30 by accepting the revised offer or £20 getting our property back.
Avoid this company at all costs.

Chowdary Cy found this review useful

08 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Julie, thanks for your comments. I've asked our engineers to take some photographs of your devices to illustrate the points we've made. I'll update this review when they're done.

With regards to emails, they're part of an automated system which responds to updates on your devices posted by our engineers. The process of assessing phones is quite a detailed one, and not something that's wrapped up in 3 minutes. From looking on the system I can see that your devices were logged a little after 10am, and the engineers decision was made between then and 15.48 / 15.54, which triggered the email responses.

As previously mentioned, I'll update the review shortly.

Hmmmm... good service, but mixed feelings

I used Bozowi last year when my BB curve was worse for wear. I was sooo happy with the service because even though it was considered not to be in working order (had problems switching on) I still got paid more than I was expecting and the payment was super quick. So this year having just had an upgrade I did the same. However, I've just been advised that I can get £17 less than offered because the phone is network locked.. My fault because I never read that on the terms and conditions, my only issue is that £17 is a bit steep for it being locked... I'll still recommend but I'll just make sure to tell people to read the terms and conditions well.

08 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Nicolle, thanks for your comments and review.

It's an interesting situation we find ourselves in. Networks are fine with providing free unlocking codes for individual handsets to consumers, but sadly charge us a significant sum of money due to the large number of devices we need to unlock on a weekly basis. This often impacts on the price reduction we unfortunately put in place should a device be network locked.

We would like to thank you for your custom, and hope you'll come back to us again in the future.

RIP OFF COMPANY ..DO NOT USE...

i dont usually write reviews but i sent 2 iphones off to them and they downgraded both of them saying they had water damage, WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH..
i requested them back for which i had to pay them to return them.
i sold them to another company who offered £5 each less but they took them no hassle.
DO NOT USE THIS JOKE OF A COMPANY !!! i should have read the reviews first, so many people cant be wrong!!

Chowdary Cy found this review useful

03 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Richard, thanks for your comments. This video may be of use to you, as it shows you how to check if devices are water damaged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wlk-Zvnj9A

You'll note the red moisture indicators on your device, indicating the damage. It's a common misconception that phones can only get water damaged after being immersed in water - it's easier than you think to damage current smartphones. Moisture can build up if you go from a cold to warm environment or vice versa, or have the phone in a particularly steamy room, like a kitchen or bathroom. Similarly, water damage indicators decrease the value of devices, which was reflected in the offer we made.

We regret you didn't want to accept our revised offer, but hope you'll consider us again in the future.

DO NOT USE.......

Sent Galaxy S2 in perfect condition no marks or scratches (the phone has been in a zagg case since new) but like other customers my phone was down graded by £15 for scratches, they put you in a position where I had paid out £7 to send the phone and wanted £10 to return your phone so I would have been £17 out of pocket.
DO NOT USE I WOULD RECOMMEND MAZUMA.....I WILL NOT USE AGAIN AND WILL TELL FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE.

Angela and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

03 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi Tracey, thanks for your comments and feedback. We'd like to respond.

We only downgrade any device that we receive when there's a valid reason to do so that would impact on the market value of the handset. I'll upload some pictures of your device shortly and update this review with links so you can see what we've found. We like being 100% transparent with our customers, so are happy to show you the issues on your device.

With the reduced price for the scratches, we still pay £17.50 more than our leading competitor for this particular device, so have been able to give you the best price in the market at the time we received your phone.

We hope this puts your mind at rest and encourages you to come back to us again.

Best wishes

Bozowi

straight forward service

Quick painless process no problems or isssues

09 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Mohammed, thanks for your kind words - we're glad you had a good experience recycling your device with Bozowi. We hope you'll come back to us again soon.

received a good price, but payment a little slow

Think the ownus shouldnt be on the seller to pay postage and its also misleading on the envelope when it says £5 to send special delivery, cost me nearly £7. Also, why is it £10 to returm?

Didnt recieve payment until a week later due to paypal issues, but this was not communicated to me until I contacted the company. Found it difficult to speak with someone, often phone not answered.

When I did finally speak to someone she was helpful and pleasant.

Happu with the price I recieved.

04 April 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Sara, we're glad you're happy with the price you received from us for your device. We'd like to respond to the important issues you've raised in your review.

We have to charge £10 to return any devices because we want to ensure your device gets back to you safely, and must cover postage, packaging and handling fee charges placed upon us by credit card companies and so on.

We mass-produced a large number of information sheets and leaflets shortly before the Royal Mail introduced a price rise across the board for postage - your order fell between these two events.

Sadly we can't control the PayPal issue as they're a separate entity, but we're glad one of our staff was able to flag up the problem for you.

Also, we try very hard to answer our phones as quickly as possible, but we take a very large number of calls - especially at peak times - so do ask where possible that callers are patient. We will get to you as soon as we can. We do also offer email as an alternative way of getting in touch.

Thanks for your comments and thoughts, and we hope you come back to Bozowi again in the future.

Great Experience!

It was a good experience with clear explanation of the process and a great value of the product!

27 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hi V, thanks for your kind words - we're glad you enjoyed using Bozowi. As I mentioned to the previous reviewer, why not follow us on Twitter or Facebook - that way we can keep you up-to-date with our industry beating offers.

Thanks for using Bozowi.co.uk.

well worth it

Was very hapoy with this company got a quote for my phone and received the cheque within a few days .

27 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Diane, thanks for your review and rating - we appreciate all the feedback we get. Don't forget, we're on Twitter (@bozowi) and also on Facebook too, so you can keep up to date with what we're up too on social media now too.

Utter lying theives

I sent my perfect condition no scratches on the screen Galaxy s2 to them, wrapped a piece of soft kitchen roll then bubble wrap round the phone and the liars have rejected it for scratches on the screen and offered 20 odd quid less, now i sent it Royal Mail recorded for £6.20 yet have had to pay £10 to get it back, they offered an extra £15 if i get it unlocked, i have used other phone recyclers before, never a problem

Angela , Hasan McMaze and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

27 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Wayne, thank you for your comments. We'd like to respond.

We did indeed downgrade our initial offer of the device after examining it (we'll upload some photographs shortly to illustrate our point). We'd like to reassure you that we assess every phone very carefully and give you the best possible market price for your device.

With regards to the phone unlocking issue you flagged up, it is referenced in the terms and conditions, which you can find here:

http://www.bozowi.co.uk/terms.html

and also three times (once under the "new", "used" and "non-working" categories to ensure whichever one applies to your device you'll check out the T&Cs) on the page where you select the device you want to recycle with us.

We thank you for trying Bozowi, and hope you'll consider us in the future.

Very efficient and good response

Would reccomend to anyone, give the best quotes on the market (In the previous couple of times I've looked) Very good response time, very much in contact with them at all times and overall an optimum level of efficiency and customer service.

BRILLIANT

25 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Hugo, thanks for your feedback. It's always great to hear from our customers. We're very happy that you're pleased with the service you've received using Bozowi.co.uk, and hope you'll come back to us again the next time you're thinking about recycling a mobile device.

Phone sent before christmas took 4 months to get payment

the shame is this could have been a postal issue or other probs but ive had payment so thats all that matters. would i use bozowi again yep if they are the best trade in price.

22 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Mark, thanks for your review and the point you've raised - to explain, we identified during an audit as we approach the end of the financial year that the initial cheque we sent out to you before Christmas hadn't been cashed. This obviously concerned us, so we immediately cancelled it, raised another one for you and sent it out straight away. We can see now that the new cheque has been deposited into your account, and are glad this has been resolved for you. Thanks again for using Bozowi.co.uk, and we hope we can look forward to your custom again in the future.

perfect

fast transaction thx

22 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Flo, you're very welcome. Thank you for using Bozowi.co.uk.

Fast and efficient, does what it sez on the tin!

Got a new fangled upgrade from my contract but wanted to stick with my trusty old brick, so had a look online and Bozowi paid the best price by a mile, followed the simple instructions and the money was BACS transferred before their own specified time...simples!

20 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Shaun, thanks for the review and kind words. We're glad you turned an unwanted item into something more usable with Bozowi. It's good to hear you had such a positive experience with us - why not follow us on Twitter @bozowi for our latest news. Oh, we also promise not to tell those meerkats about you using their closing line!

ok but would try a different company next time

Sold a Galaxy S3 to Bozowi for the sum of £250 but then had an Email stating they had downgraded my handset due to scratches?
The hanset was in very good condition and had a few very minor marks to the rear from pockets etc.
And the working category states minor wear and tear?
They only knocked £10 off the price but if id been given a price of £240 on the comparison site id have most likely chosen a different company as others were also paying around the £250.
In the Email it gave me the option to accept the new price or decline and have the handset returned to me at my expense? - i was sure on their site it said they would return the handset free of charge? - i may be wrong?
So for the sake of £10 i accepted the new price as they left me little choice!
It took just over a week for the money to reach my account which i wouldn t call especially fast or slow.
To sum it up i wouldnt say i wont use them again but would definately try a different company in future.

21 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Chris, thanks for your feedback - it's important to us to hear what our customers feel about using Bozowi.co.uk. We're sorry you were a little disappointed with the price when using Bozowi. We assess every handset on an individual basis and offer the best price we can for the devices we receive. In response to your review, we will however look again at the device and update our response when we've done so. Hopefully you'll give us a try again in the future.

***UPDATE***

Hi again, Chris - we've looked again at your phone, and taken some photographs to illustrate the damage (there are several dents to the outer casing of the telephone) we found that meant we had to slightly reduce our original offer price. You'll find them linked below. Hopefully this will illustrate why we made the change we did. We very much want to be 100% transparent and open in what we do for all of our customers, so we'd welcome your feedback on this.

http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/bozowi/library/Order%2018022

Thanks again for using Bozowi.

East and Fast

It was an easy process to follow on-line, and the cheque arrived within a week of the original valuation. At the same time I felt that by re-cycling my phone I was doing my bit for the environment. I would certainly recommend Bozowi, and would usse it again myself.

19 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

David, thanks for your feedback. You're right, you are indeed doing your bit for the environment. You're helping to ensure that phones, rather than being dumped in landfill sites, are safely and responsibly recycled. We're also happy you chose to do so with us, and had such a positive experience with Bozowi too. Our little green (naturally) alien recycling mascots would be proud!

Money in same day when they received phone

Good would use it again

19 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Emma, thanks for your feedback. We're glad that you enjoyed using Bozowi.co.uk. We hope you'll come back to us the next time you're thinking about recycling a mobile device. Also, we're now tweeting away on Twitter, so to keep up to date with what we're up to and as another way of getting in touch, give us a follow @bozowi.

wouldnt deal again

when scrolling down to find their testing criteria it doesn't mention anything about if the phones locked to a certain network they will offer you less money,i rang them and was told theres another area that explains the testing criteria and its on there . why not put it in the first bit on testing criteria and it would save hassle? I have lost £25 on this deal and will never deal with you again

Angela found this review useful

18 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Steve,

thanks for your review. All customer feedback is very important to us. We’re confused as to how you may have missed the terms and conditions that state we may offer a revised price if your device is locked to a particular network, as they are available to view three times on the page where you tell us which device you want to recycle. We ensure the testing criteria are listed under both New, Working and Non-Working Phone headings, so whichever one applies you’ll be able to see and read the criteria when you tell us which device you want to send to us.

In addition, The same information is also available here:

http://www.bozowi.co.uk/terms.html

and also here

http://www.bozowi.co.uk/testing_criteria.html

We’re sorry that you missed this information, but we try to ensure the criteria are clear for all our customers, but unfortunately as you can appreciate we have no way of ensuring our customers have read all the criteria in their entirety.

We hope you consider coming back to Bozowi in the future.

Simple.fast and great value for money; you can't afford not to use them!

Site was easy to navigate
Prices were best around
Process was quick and painless
Funds in my account exactly as promised!

18 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Ian, we're really glad you had a good experience using Bozowi.co.uk. Be sure to check back with us the next time you're recycling a device - you can follow us on Twitter now too @bozowi

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!

Like the last reviewer I have never written an online review of a company before so goes to show how angry I am at the service I have received, I only wish I'd seen all the bad reviews before I chose to use them and saved myself from being completely ripped off

I have recycled two iphones in the past with a different company and received perfect service, received exactly the same amount I was quoted and received my money quickly. I chose to use Bozowi this time because it offers the highest amount and claims the same level of service I have received before - DO NOT BE FOOLED YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THIS AMOUNT FOR YOUR PHONE!

My phone was sent off in good condition, followed all of the critieria for a fully working phone iphone 4s in good condition and I was quoted £239.50 - I have received (although its not actually in my account yet) £159 because it was locked to O2 - this was not made clear to me when I entered the contract and I can see from reviews on here that they have only just changed their website this week to say that. I spoke to a guy in customer services who also said their terms and conditions had been changed on the website this Tuesday 12th March - my contract was formed on the 26th February

The thing that has made me even more angry is that I was supposed to receive an email from them with the revised offer of £150 which I never received so I did not have the opportunity to decline their offer and get my phone back. They claim to have emailed me although my IT department have traced all emails and would be notified if anything was blocked for whatever reason and nothing has tried to come through from them - I received my confirmation email from them no problem but conveniently this one never arrived in my inbox or even made it to the server. Bozowi customer services response to this was that it is my responsibilty to make sure my email is working and I had 7 days to accept or decline to the email I never received so it is my problem. I agree that my email is my responsibility which is why I had emailed them to tell them I hadn't heard anything from them and asked what was going on with my account - this email was sent to them within the 7 days they were supposed to wait for me to accept or decline the offer so they basically knew I hadn't received the email but continued to process it anyway? One of the three people I spoke to at customer services confirmed that they had received my email so I know this is not another suposed problem with email

So in summary, I have received a ridiculously cheap price for my phone nowhere near the quote I agreed to and through no fault of my own have no option to get my phone back and have to just accept this. I made them aware I hadn't received any emails from them and they did nothing, a decent company would see my email, re send the offer email and possibly extend the 7 day rule knowing there had been problems. My phone has now been sent somewhere else apparently and they can't get it back.

Don't even get me started on the people they have representing their customer services - I wasted 1 hour 45 minutes on the phone to them to get nothing resolved, no apology just them implying that I am lying and it's not their problem. At times they spoke with attitude, when I commented that I had been on the phone for 20 minutes the girl replied "no 7 minutes actually" in a rude manner to which I pointed out she wasn't the first person I had been put through to so infact it was 20 minutes. I consider myself a very honest person so this whole situation has left me infuriated ans the money hasn't even reached my account!

Angela and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

20 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Joanne,

Thank you for your feedback. You order was placed on the 26th February and at the time the terms and conditions were clear that we may downgrade for a locked handset, the terms have always been consistent to this effect. There was a site upgrade which took place on the 12th March where the web development team did not copy this term across to the testing criteria, however the terms still stated this. This term has always been part of our procedure.

More importantly however, the reason for you dissatisfaction is your claim not to have received our emails. Unfortunately this is totally beyond our control and I would like you to refer you to our terms on this matter.

http://www.bozowi.co.uk/terms.html

“Please check emails on a regular basis for updates on the sale of your Goods. We do not accept responsibility for any emails which are not received successfully, where the email address is incorrectly spelt or that are redirected or deleted by spam filters. It is your responsibility to ensure that you contact us should you not receive any emails within 7 days of sending your phone in. For the avoidance of doubt should your handset be automatically downgraded as a failure on your behalf to respond to our emails, we will be unable to return and device or increase any price that may be offered.”

Our records clearly show we did send several emails in an attempt to contact you, as email is the most efficient way of contacting the high number of customers we deal with on a daily basis.

When you called and complained you had not received any emails, we sent you a few more emails from different servers to see what the problem was. These email bounced back and the reason given for non-delivery can be see below. (Please note I’ve removed your email address from the bodytext to protect your contact details):

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

(EMAIL REMOVED TO PROTECT PRIVACY)
SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data:
host mail.lloydshoe.co.uk [109.204.89.106]: 550 Message refused by
MailMarshal SpamProfiler

It can clearly been seen that the reason you did not receive our emails is because of the spamprofiler on YOUR server which rejected our emails.

As you did not respond to our emails your order, as per our terms, was automatically processed and the revised amount paid. Again our terms are clear and when payment has been sent we are unable to retrieve or return any handsets under any circumstances.

Ultimately this is an example of how circumstances out of our control has impacted on your experience with Bozowi, hence the reason our terms are clear that the customers is responsible for ensuring their mail systems accept our messages. It is impossible for any company to have control over a customer server/email settings.

The above explains the issues you’ve identified in your feedback.

We’d like to reassure you that your comments are taken very seriously and customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us.

MISLEADING, INNACURATE AND INCONSITENT SERVICE - BUT GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

I recently sent my iPhone 5 16GB Black in for recycle at the 'working' price of £310.50.

The criteria for this price stated...

Working:
•Powers on and off
(Must meet our full testing critieria)
•Fully operational
•Have a working LCD/touch screen
•Include the battery
•No liquid or physical damage
•No significant damage
•Not be reported as lost or stolen

The 'full testing criteria' mentioned states...

Working (Full List Price)

Power on and off
Fully functional/operational
All features must be in good working order
Have a working LCD/touch screen that is in tact
Include the battery enclosed within the phone casing
No liquid or physical damage
No significant damage (although may have some mild cosmetic damage i.e. general minor wear and tear). By way of example only, damage classed as significant includes (but is not limited to) broken or cracked LCD screens; camera function not working or camera damage; buttons missing from the phone or other keypad damage; deep scratches or dents; snapped hinges; charger port not working; microphone damage; earpiece damage; or software which is faulty or defective.
Not be reported as lost or stolen
Not be barred/PIN locked
Must appear in our online guide
Must Be of UK or GSM European specification

My iPhone 5 met ALL of these criteria, (i.e. the criteria that I signed up to when I added the item to my basket.)

I posted the phone via special delivery as reccomened which cost me over £7. (Not £5 as specified on the welcome letter you receive).

When they recieved the phone I got an email stating...

Reason/s for Testing Criteria Failure:
Your phone has now been tested and your phone is network locked to 3. Due to it being network locked the phone will have to be downgraded slightly as per our terms http://www.bozowi.co.uk/terms.html. If however you are able to provide the unlocking code then we will pay you the full price as initially offered please speak to your network regarding this. We prefer handsets to be unlocked and there hope you can get the code, after all this is beneficial for us both you get the unlocked price and we get an unlocked handset. Please speak to your network before rejecting or accepting our revised offer, please note you have 7 days to respond or your handset will be processed at the revised price.

New Price Offered:
£160.00

Of course I am furious at this offer, so I rejected. Upon receiving this appauling revised offer I looked at Bozowi's T&C's. These T&C's state that the 'Working' criteria is something quite different than stated when you add your phone to your basket, or take a look at their 'full testing criteria' as above. It states...

Working (Full List Price)

•Power on and off
•Fully functional/operational
•All features must be in good working order
•Have a working LCD/touch screen that is in tact
•Include the battery enclosed within the phone casing
•No liquid or physical damage
•No significant damage (although may have some mild cosmetic damage i.e. general minor wear and tear). By way of example only, damage classed as significant includes (but is not limited to) broken or cracked LCD screens; camera function not working or camera damage; buttons missing from the phone or other keypad damage; deep scratches or dents; snapped hinges; charger port not working; microphone damage; earpiece damage; or software which is faulty or defective.
•Not be reported as lost or stolen
•Not be barred/PIN locked
•Must appear in our online guide
•Must Be of UK or GSM European specification
•We may offer a revised price if your device is locked to a particular operator/network.

How interesting. Just a slight inconsistency here no?

Looks like they have updated their website to read in the terms and conditions that they will downgrade your payment if the phone is locked to a network. This is misleading for all their customers and breaking the terms on their part of the price I was quoted, £310.

EE/ Orange is offering the same £310 for the phone regardless of what network the phone is locked to. I refuse to pay over £7 to send the phone to you via special delivery and then be charged to return the phone to me over a matter not made clear in any way shape or form on their website.

Oh yeah, did I mention... they want me to pay them £10 to send the iPhone back to me?! Give Bozowi their due though, at least this is plastered over their website enough and is consistent.

A misleading, inaccurate and inconsistent website/service.

UPDATE -
ONE OF THE MANAGERS WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO CALL ME UP AND RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITH ME OVER THE PHONE. I CAN SAY THAT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE RECEIVED FROM SAID MANAGER WAS EXCELLENT.

ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS THE ISSUE I HAVE HAD - BE AWARE THAT UPDATES HAVE BEEN TAKING PLACE ON THE NEW WEBSITE AND NOT ALL INFORMATION FROM THE UPDATED TERMS AND CONDITIONS HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER TO THE NEW WEBPAGE. BE AWARE OF THIS WHEN YOU PLACE YOUR RECYCLING ORDER.

THE COMPANY IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AND DOING WHAT THE CAN TO GET IT RECTIFIED.

Charlotte, Max Corderoy and Angela found this review useful

18 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Josh, thanks for taking the time to leave us some feedback and highlight areas of our service that you were dissatisfied with when looking to recycle your iPhone.

I'm happy to let you know that one of the management team will be contacting you shortly to bring this matter to a close and hopefully to your satisfaction.

We would like to assure you that all feedback is taken very seriously and will be considered in future updates of our site and operating procedures. We deal with a very high number of devices and customers every day and are always looking at ways to improve their Bozowi experience.

UPDATE -

Josh, thanks for updating your feedback to reflect this change. We appreciate the time you've taken out to do so, and we're glad this has been resolved to your satisfaction.

did everything it said it would no fuss.

After comparing several sites this was the one offering most money. It is an extremely easy site to navigate. once I had completed the on line page every step after that was simple and I was fully informed each step of the way. The money arrived in my account as promised.
A satisfied customer.

15 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Sheila, thanks very much for leaving us feedback and sharing your experience of using Bozowi.co.uk. We're glad you had a positive experience recycling your device with us, and we hope you'll come back to us in the future for another great deal.

AVOID Bozowi like the plague.. USE ANOTHER COMPANY!

Sent iPhone worth £240 on 4th March via Freepost & 1 week later they claim to have not received the phone. What a coincidence that so many others are having the same problem. It has never taken this long for an item to be received.

It's all too easy just to say that it's Royal Mail's fault but the fact that this is happening to SO MANY other people shows that there is definitely something not right here.

I notice down in another review, Bozowi say:
''We have had some issues with royal mail recently, where they have stated that they can no longer deliver our freepost due to the contents of them. They have stated that mobile devices are classed under the dangerous goods act and therefore cannot be delivered.

This has delayed some orders by a few days as Royal Mail only notified us after we rang them to state we have not received them. We now collect all the freepost from their depot and process them as quickly as possible.''

WHY ISN'T THIS CLEARLY STATED ON THEIR WEBSITE?

WHY WASN'T I TOLD THIS WHEN I SPOKE TO SOMEONE FROM BOZOWI YESTERDAY?

I've never had a problem with sending phones to other recycle companies before. If i had known that or come across these reviews first, i would NEVER have considered using them.

I will make it my mission in life to get to the bottom of this. They definitely haven't heard the last of me. I will be contacting Trading Standards, BBC Watchdog, Which Magazine, the papers, every review site on the net, blogs etc etc

Charlotte, Max Corderoy, Mike Ginman and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

15 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Max, thanks for your feedback and comments.

As you'll see on the letter we send out to all new and returning customers in their welcome pack, we highlight that, where appropriate, our recommended method of postage is by using a recorded delivery service which gives you a suitable level of insurance to cover the value of your device and is trackable. I've just checked on our system and we're currently still awaiting the arrival of your phone, and will update this feedback when we receive it.

We deal with a very high number of devices and customers every day and are always looking at ways to improve their Bozowi experience, so would like to assure you that all feedback is taken very seriously and will be considered in future updates of our site and operating procedures.

Abysmal company, not worth the risk

Finding myself short of money recently, I decided to sell a pair of old HTC Desire HDs that I had lying about. As they were both in full working condition, complete, and devoid of any scratches, I was confident that I'd receive the full amount offered - £58.20 each. I wrapped them both thoroughly in bubble wrap and stuck them in the envelope provided, before sending them via recorded delivery.

A couple of days later, I was very surprised to receive a message saying that they'd tested the phones and discovered that the back cover of one of them was missing, and that I'd have to accept a £10 deduction for this. I chose not to accept nor decline the offer at this point, as I'd already paid £6 for delivery and would have been charged a further £5-10 for the phones to be returned to me, one of which would now be missing its back cover. Instead, I sent an email querying the missing cover, explaining that they must have mislaid it whilst unpacking or testing the phone.

After several days with no response, I sent the same email again, to which they replied claiming to have "placed an investigation" into what I'd said, and that they were "getting together" the results of this. Two days later they debited £106.40 to my bank account - £10 less than the amount I was supposed to receive. I've sent another email asking about this but it's been a week and I've still received nothing.

===UPDATE===

Thanks for the response. There is absolutely no way that I mislaid the cover prior to sending. Before packaging the phones, I removed the back covers of both in order to remove the SIM and memory cards and replaced the covers immediately afterwards. I definitely would have noticed if either cover had been missing it when I was wrapping the phones in bubble wrap.

What I suspect must have occurred is that the cover came loose as you removed the phone from its bubble wrap, and that the cover was then discarded along with the bubble wrap. My method of wrapping - which I suspect is quite common - was to encase each phone in several layers of bubble wrap by passing a strip of it laterally around the phone, taping it up tight, and finally taping the top and bottom ends to form a parcel. Given that the back cover of the HTC Desire HD is removed by sliding it downwards, it would be quite easy for it to be pulled off the phone if the top of the bubble wrap parcel was cut open and the phone pulled out - rather than removing all of the tape and unravelling the packaging.

I appreciate that data protection and privacy is an issue when checking CCTV footage, but would it be possible for you to confirm that the cover was not discarded along with the bubble wrap as in the above scenario?

Furthermore, your response does not address why the payment went ahead without my permission. Your email states: "If no response is received within 7 days, Bozowi will automatically process payment for the specified downgraded amount." Given that I responded via email twice within the 7 day period to raise my objection to the downgraded offer, the payment should not have been automatically processed.

Charlotte, Mike Ginman, Max Corderoy and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

21 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Steffan, thanks for your comments. I'm chasing this issue up with our operations manager now, and will update this comment to reflect what I find out.

***UPDATE***

Hello again Steffan and thanks for your patience. All of the devices delivered to us are opened within view of CCTV cameras, which capture footage around the clock. When we get a new device or devices, the items are immediately labelled to ensure the right handsets are linked to the right customer account, so I'd like to reassure you we're very careful when opening our customer's packages. The slight delay in me getting back to you was due to our MD being away from the business and being unable to sign off on access to the footage. As I'm sure you'll understand we take data protection and the privacy of staff working within our business very seriously, so I had to wait for his authorisation to access footage from the appropriate date and time.

I can confirm that we didn't find the back of the device in question when unpacking the phones listed above. Is it possible it was mislaid prior to being sent?

Thanks again for using Bozowi.co.uk.

FLASH, DASH, DONE!

A very fast efficent service. Good clear and simple instructions with the best price on the Web to boot!
Although I opted for the slow method of payment by cheque, it arrived in the post the same day BOZOWI notified me via email the payment had been processed.
If you are going to recycle your mobile phone then these are the people to use.
Thanks Bozowi.
Steve Stroud

11 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Steve, thanks for your positive review - we hope you consider dealing with us again in the future.

brill company

Thankyou for a very smooth transaction sent phone recorded delivery you received it fri morning email straight away to say you had money in the bank as stated sameday excellent would highly recommened thankyou so much.

11 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Claire, we'd like to thank you for your positive review and kind words. Customer service is very important to us and we hope you consider using Bozowi.co.uk again in the future.

Received my money !

I sent a Blackberry curve 8520 to this company with an offer of £54.15. I received the freepost bag which I sent with the phone. After 7 days I received an email stating they had not received my phone so I phoned up the mobile network company and had the phone barred through fear that someone had stolen it. I then treceived an email stating they had received my phone but it did not meet there criteria because the phone was blocked. I printed out their report and sure enough the only thing on the sheet that did not pass was the phone was blocked. I then phoned the network company up and had the phone un-barred. I have now received another email stating that the phone has now not met our criteria because of water damage to the battery and a revised offer of £49.00. Why was the water damage not picked up on the first examination. Now I'm accepting the offer as it is still £9.00 more than another company is offering but there is something dishonest about this company. Put it this way if I don't get the money by the end of this week being 10th March 2013 then the phone is getting barred and I'm prepared to lose the phone just to p*"% this company off.

Update

I did receive my money before the 10th March 2013, can't help feeling that maybe it was because of this review. All I can say is, if you intend to use this company and your sending an expensive phone don't use the free post service, send it signed for. And Bozowi improve your customer service, actually call back your customer when you say you will. You must strive to reach 5 stars from every customer in all the 10 years I have been in business I have never had one complaint.

Max Corderoy found this review useful

06 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Mark
This is an unfortunate situation due to the barring of the phone let me explain. When we receive handsets the first thing we do is to check if they are barred/black listed, if they are as was the situation with your phone we carry out no further checks. As I am sure you will appreciate there is little point in wasting time checking a phone further if it is barred. The customer is informed and a copy of the barred report is supplied which contains instructions on how to unbar you handset.

You then unbarred the handset and we then proceed to test the phone at which point we found that liquid damage. If the handset was not barred the liquid would have been picked up on the initial inspection.

I hope this answers your question why we did not pick up the liquid on the first examination.

Many companies do not pay out at all for liquid damaged handsets we however offered you a revised price which you say is still £9 more than the competition.
You accepted the price after our payment run yesterday therefore you payment will be sent and will be in your account sometime this Friday.

There is nothing dishonest as the above clearly demonstrates.

Poor Customer Service

20th April 2013 - Finally this week the cheque arrived on the third attempt, sent by recorded post! Not sure what happened to the first two, but it must be down to Royal Mail once again!!!! I haven't cashed it yet, there's the next challenge:-)
I get the princely sum of £7 for an old Sony Ericsson, I have to accept that was the agreed amount as I was never sent an email giving me a price, and as I sent it five months ago, I can't remember.
Thank you Bozowi for sorting this out, and I have to say it was an interesting transaction. I shall miss our email exchanges which were always polite.
Unfortunately I still cannot hand on heart say that I would recommend you to friends or family, or yet even strangers.
Bozowi I bid you adieu and hope that you can iron out some of your customer services issues.......

Charlotte, Mike Ginman, Chris Carpenter, Max Corderoy and Chowdary Cy found this review useful

11 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Andy, thanks for your feedback - we're obviously very concerned about the issues you've raised. Please check your email - you'll have a message in your inbox regarding your outstanding payment, and we will be sure to resolve this issue for you as soon as possible.

Fine!

No problems!

11 March 2013

Reply from Bozowi

Dear Lyndsey, thanks for your review - customer feedback is very important to us, so we hope you'll consider using Bozowi.co.uk again in the future.