What’s happened to my missing phone and tablet?

QIn November 2016, I sent a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone and Galaxy tablet to a company called Phone Recyclers ( www.phonerecyclers.co.uk), based in Birmingham. I’ve been waiting for almost a month for the £116 it owes me, but the company never answers its phone or my emails, and even blocks access to its Facebook page. Can you help? Dean Marshall

ADean’s not the only customer to have had problems with Phone Recyclers. It has received some scathing reviews on the company-rating website Trustpilot ( www.snipca. com/23226), with one titled ‘Excellent, so long as you don’t expect to be paid’. Over 35 per cent of the reviews are for just one star. Many customers complain that they haven’t received any money, which if true amounts to fraud. We’ll try to contact the company to investigate further.

Other customers have complained that the company is offering them less money than originally stated because it claims the device they sent is broken. This is a less clear-cut issue. It’s true that if a gadget has a defect, whether the customer knew about it or not, then Phone Recyclers is entitled to reduce its offer. That’s why device-recycling companies offer an ‘estimated’ price, which – unlike a quoted price - isn’t legally binding.

However, we’ve read the company’s terms and conditions and it seems that customers are emailed a ‘quote’, which means it must stick to the price agreed. Once the device arrives, it can’t use the ‘estimate’ loophole to offer less money. With such misleading terms, it’s not surprising that customers are fed up.

We’ll ask Trading Standards to examine the company’s terms because we think they are confusing. We’ll also check if they are investigating the company.