Nathaniel D.

Since the refund process under standard warranty began 9 months ago the customer service team has been terrible. Long periods of no contact, vague descriptions of damage to void warranty and now I'm out of pocket £80 for a repair and a phone that I've recently been informed cannot be fixed. No response since to return my device or money. The deal may be good but be warned you run the risk of disastrous customer services should anything go wrong.
Full details:
TechInTheBasket offers as stated on its website a 12 month warranty on mobile phones.
Warranty | Techinthebasket.
It gives the following statement

"The TechInTheBasket standard warranty, once paid for,

Warrants the product to operate according to manufacturer's specifications for the period as stated above from the date of invoice.

For all products,

We will provide you with the respective warranty through our own company and restore the product back to manufacturer operational standard."

My handset, a Pixel 5A purchased in June of 2022 from TechInTheBasket experienced a fault in May 2021 which rendered the device inoperable. Without accidental or malicious damage the device stopped working and would not power on. It could not be forced to restart or operate but would alarm for 5 minute periods infrequently with no way to stop the device. It would not appear as a readable device when connect to a PC and had no response to charging when using the provided charger.

I informed TechInTheBasket and after some back and forth emails over a period of a month the device was sent to TechInTheBasket for repairs. The device, along with original box and charger where returned alongside pictures of the device in very good condition with no external damage demonstrating the device had been handled appropriately and in good use.

After 2 months of little response, which is completely unsatisfactory, I was informed in September that the motherboard had been artificially damaged and that I would be required to pay for repairs. The term artificial does not appear on their website and I would not be told any more details of the damage to indicate that I had caused it through improper use. I do not believe that TechInTheBasket provided sufficient proof to justify claims that it was not covered by warranty and that they were avoiding their responsibility to repair or replace the device.

TechInTheBasket continued to ignore my questions for further proof and would only accept money to repair the device. I paid the requested £80 on the 8th of October.

I received little to no communication over the next 2 months and after multiple requests for updates was informed on December the 18th that my device can not be repaired.

It is clear to me that TechInTheBasket has used email delay tactics and avoided fulfilling their contract obligations to follow the warranty that I purchased when purchasing the handset. They have deliberately dragged out email responses and refused to provide sufficient proof for damages when requested. They are now holding both my handset and the additional money I paid for it without providing a repair or replacement service. This in my mind equates to fraud or a scam.