[Asha] This is your Marketplace. How in the world did
this get on the market? People are selling these devices
hoping the customers are not going to notice. This is not a product
that I would call refurbished. Big mistake, big mistake. [Asha] Shocking
revelations on your Marketplace. [♪♪♪] [Asha] We're
going undercover. And here we go. Testing one of the biggest names
in consumer electronics, Best Buy. This is definitely rolling. [Asha] Big tech often
comes with a big price tag. But does a big break
online come with risks? Thing is, Best Buy says their
refurbished devices may be more reliable than new. They're vetted,
"grade A" products. But not if you ask
these customers. No quality
assurance at all there. We were pretty pissed off. Watch out when you're on the
marketplace for this type of thing. [Asha] Your marketplace is going
shopping on Best Buy's online marketplace to see if we find
lemons in our lot of refurbished phones, laptops, and tablets. And we go in-store too to
see what employees tell us. [Asha] It's the Best
Buy refurb readout. We'll give you the lowdown
soon, but first in summer 2019, Joanne Nixon and her
partner Richard Horst check out bestbuy.ca
for a new tablet. [Richard] She wanted something
more than just her phone to use, to go on the internet, so I was
looking for an iPad, as a birthday gift. [Asha] They land on a
refurbished iPad pro and like the $800 price tag. [Richard] As far as I was
concerned, I was on the Best Buy website at the time, I
wasn't thinking this was a third-party seller. [Asha] They were shopping on
marketplace which means it is from a third-party seller. Within months Joanne and Richard
run into some tech troubles. So, you'd go to turn it on, and
you'd get like nothing, you'd just get the plug sign come on
the screen, and so I would hand it over to Richie and say you
know, work your magic, he would reboot it, give it back to me,
and it would work for a couple of days and then it
would do that again. [Asha] They try to get a refund,
but the 90-day warranty period is over. They get no help
from the seller. How did you feel? We were pretty pissed
off and-- -Annoyed.
-Annoyed, yeah. It's not a fortune but $800, you
pay that for a product, and you think will last a couple of
years at least and it breaks down quickly, someone's
gonna do something about it. Here nobody was
willing to do that. [Asha] We're on the case. We start shopping on Best Buy's
site for phones, tablets and laptops and we buy four of
each from 12 different third-party sellers. Then we send them to tech
experts to get the 411 and find out if they're in top condition
and if they actually work. That's where we bring in Alex
Sebastian. His company
refurbishes and sells phones and tablets. -Here we are.
-Hi, Alex. -Hi, Asha.
-Nice to meet you. -Come on in.
-Nice to see you. [Asha] Alex has been in the
business for seven years and knows the tech market well. What are the advantages of
buying refurbished tech? I mean there's really two,
the first one is price, a two-year-old phone does
everything that you or I will want it to do, and it can
be half the price or less. And the second one is the
environmental component. if you're buying a used phone,
we're not mining those rare earth minerals again,
we're avoiding all of that. [Asha] Extending the life of
these devices is generally seen as a good thing. But Alex, who sells on Best
Buy's site, says the refurbished market
has some bad actors. Would you say some
sellers are cutting corners? Absolutely. [Asha] What's happening? It's either the seller is
putting a phone in the market that hasn't been rigorously
tested and letting the user figure out what's wrong with it,
or the seller may be doing some low-quality repair work or using
low quality parts while that phone may initially work,
it's not going to last. [Asha] Interesting. He explains how
they'll test our devices. So, there's really
three components. The first one is pretty
straightforward, cosmetic assessment, the second set
that we do is 28 tests of core functionality, does this
phone work as expected today? And for the final set of tests,
we're actually going to have a look under the hood, that means
taking off the screen and having a look inside for any evidence
of low-quality repair work or low-quality replacement parts. When you say
you have a set of standards, did you come up with
that or is that something that happens across the board? I mean there's nobody setting
a standard that everyone is adhering to in this business
and so refurbished is language that's thrown around a lot and
depending on when you're buying it's going to mean
something different. So, it's over here. [Asha] Let's meet our
second tech tester. Hey, Maaz. -How are you?
-Good. [Asha] Maaz Kamani is
tackling our laptop haul. His family has been repairing
computers for more than two decades and they've seen it all. What's the craziest laptop
repair that you've had to do? Well there's a
lot of them actually. So, one that comes off the top
of my head is customer threw his laptop through the gap
of the elevator, six stories straight down.
-What?! And he was able to retrieve it? He got it back and he brought it
in, and we were luckily able to get it working again. You're like the
laptop whisperer. I appreciate that. How will you test these laptops? We're gonna see-- if the
specifications match what's internal to the computer,
to see if the physical condition of the computer's
good, and just run a basic test to make sure that all the
parts are in working order. While they start testing away,
we head to Fredericton to meet Chris Dunstan. I'm doing good. I'm not too bad.
I got a working phone. [Asha] He hit up Best Buy's site
for a new phone back in December and finds a refurbished
iPhone 7 that's "certified", that means fixed and
tested by the seller. And yet he has
issues immediately. When I called my mother,
first person I called on it. I'm talking away and she'd
should go "I can't hear you. I can't hear you." Then took the SIM card out, put
it back in my old phone and she could hear
me no problem. [Asha] Maybe it was bad
luck. So, Chris buys
another phone but then... I tried calling my dad for once, my voice was
distorted, cracking up. [Asha] Chris returns
it for a third phone. The fingerprint
scanner was no good on it. [Asha] Three duds from three
different sellers, and the hassle of dealing with returns. I have a disability there. If I break down my car, it's
not like I can get out and walk somewhere. One phone I bought, I bought it
from Best Buy Marketplace, took the return to Best Buy. I took it to Best Buy,
and they wouldn't take it. So, I went home again, got a
shipping label emailed to me from the seller and I had to
take it to a Purolator depot. [Asha] He reaches out to us with
his concerns. So do many of you. One viewer says she thought she
was buying directly from Best Buy. [Woman] Best Buy has cornered
the market and is so big they can get away with anything. [Asha] Another says her
refurbished headphones stopped working after
just a few months. [Woman 2] Best buy will do
nothing to help me. Another complains
about a refurbished phone with a bad battery. [Man] I am quite sure they don't check them over
before they sell them. [Asha] Remember, these are
products that Best Buy says might actually be more
reliable than brand new. Our results are in. Time to connect with Alex. So, you looked at all the devices that we brought you and
you checked for cosmetic condition, functionality, you
also opened them up and looked inside.
-Mhm. Do you think that all
refurbished devices get that kind of check before they
get into consumers' hands? Almost certainly not and I think
the results of what we found here will show that. [Asha] Let's start
with the phones. Looking at cosmetic condition,
when you're dealing with the Note 9 and the iPhone
XS, what did you find? We found that they're in truly
excellent cosmetic condition, very close to mint. What about the iPhone XR
and the J3 Prime? So, the iPhone XR, we found it
was not in a refurbished grade and the J3 Prime, it was kind
of borderline in that respect. I mean there's some noticeable
scratches on the back. Does that matter? If a customer receives that
device and they look in the back and for some reason
they're very fixated on that, I think they certainly have a
leg to stand on to say this is not in a condition that's
consistent with refurbished. And what about the XR? So, the XR, it has quite a
bit more markings on the screen which I think
pretty clearly landed in the condition that is
not refurbished. [Asha] But check out the
website...there's no mention of scratches on the listing. The final conclusion
about our phones? I don't think that they had a
proper cosmetic grading done before they were
put up for sale. [Asha] Turns out two of our
four phones don't meet his standard. Will the rest of our
tech pass the test? Coming up, secrets
from inside Best Buy. [Asha] Do you have a story
you want us to investigate? Write to us.
marketplace@cbc.ca. [Asha] This is the
Best Buy refurb readout. We've got a haul of refurbished
devices from one of the country's biggest players in
electronics to see if they're as good as new as
the company claims. So far, half the phones don't
make the cut and we've got more results coming in. But let's meet Barbara Otter
from Prince George, B.C. Her Best Buy story starts in
2020 with an iPhone for her daughter. You buy it, you
get it, then what? We bought it in September. It arrived within a few days,
it worked perfectly fine, until late January. So that was after
the warranty expired. And it was just really, really
physically hot and it wouldn't hold any charge. [Asha] There's more. The surprise was when I took it
to an Apple certified service provider and
the fellow ran the diagnostics on and said, oh, according to
Apple, this phone should be off market and should
be decommissioned. [Asha] They basically told her
it should have been destroyed, because
of a previous defect! A shocking
revelation for Barbara. They tell you the phone is
decommissioned I mean, what was running
through your mind? So, the question was not so much
that the battery died, but how in the world did
this get on the market? How many of them are
actually out there? That's why I reached
out to Marketplace. [Asha] We've got your back. And we have some more results
from our tech tester, Alex at Orchard. So far two out of the four
phones we bought don't make the grade for
cosmetic condition. But do the phones actually work? Better news there, I mean there
was a clean sweep, all of the phones were
fully functional. [Asha] All of the phones pass
the look under the hood too. Let's talk about the tablets. So, we've got the iPad, two
Samsung Galaxies, this one's bigger, and then the iPad Pro. Cosmetic condition, what did
you find with the tablets? So, in this case the tablets all
pass in terms of their cosmetic condition. What about functionality? On the functionality side we
uncovered a couple of more problems, specifically with the
iPad Pro and the Galaxy Tab A. So, tell me what's
wrong with the iPad Pro. The screen itself is a very
good quality screen but the workmanship when it was replaced
is problematic, and the best way to demonstrate that is
to press right here. [Clicking]
-I hear it. And what's happened here is the
glue that bonds the screen to the frame hasn't been
properly applied and that's why you're hearing
that movement. If this iPad is dropped because
it's not firmly in that frame there is a risk over time
that the screen could actually just come out of
the body of the iPad. That doesn't sound safe. Not safe, not a good
user experience either, no. No. [Asha] On to the larger
Samsung Galaxy Tab A. Again, this tablet has had its
screen replaced. When it was done some pressure
was applied to the back of the screen and that has
caused discolouration. It's in the form
of bright spots. [Asha] Here's the final
scorecard for our phones and tablets. All of the devices work. But two of our four phones don't
make the grade cosmetically. And two of our four
tablets have screen problems. Do you think that there were
proper checks and balances in place then? I think that people are
selling these devices hoping the customers
aren't gonna notice, and they may not notice, but
that doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do. [Asha] Now for our results on
those four laptops we got. Maaz from ASK computers is
ready with our reveal. Hey Maaz, good to see
you again. Likewise. So, let's just start with the
cosmetic condition. The ASUS was
probably-- had the most scratches on it, but
there wasn't much to it, it was just minor scratches,
the display itself was fine. [Asha] "Possible imperfections"
is mentioned online, but there are multiple
scratches and scuffs. The specifications check
out too, so we get what was promised. The only minor thing is what we
saw with the HP, some keys were not working, but we
found out that was just a minor
software glitch. So, all you had to do was
update the software. Upgrade, correct, correct. When we're talking about
hardware, you know, you open these up, you looked at
them, how did it look? So, the ASUS specifically here
had some minor repair done to it on the motherboard, but
the other three didn't have any repairs done to them. [Asha] So, in our group of
12 everything works, but it's definitely not "grade
a" across the board. Two phones with scratches. Two tablets with
sloppy screen replacements. And one laptop that's
rough around the edges. So, will Best Buy help us
with these shoddy devices? Well, just take a listen to
what Joanne and Richard say they heard in store. Then we went to Best Buy in
person, and we talked to people that worked in the store
and they all said, oh never buy on marketplace, big mistake,
big mistake, it's third-party sellers and you never know what
you're getting. [Asha] We're going
into five stores to get some answers. Wonder what will happen when
we tell them about our issues? Hidden cameras are rolling. [Asha] And what do you know, we
get the same warning as Joanne and Richard. [Asha] Marketing professor
Markus Giesler specializes in consumer research, especially
when it comes to tech. The risks that were
traditionally carried by Best Buy are now sort of
shifted forward, onto sellers
and consumers. And that's never good news. [Asha] We want to get his take
on our results so, we show him our
problematic phones. Should this have even
been sent out to us? I would say no. [Asha] Lots of knicks and
scratches on the front screen. Wow, yeah. Once again, this is not a
product that I would call refurbished. [Asha] And he checks out our
troublesome tablets. There are bright spots on the
screen and our expert believes it could be that whoever
refurbished it and fixed it was putting pressure on it while
they were replacing the screen and perhaps that's
what caused this. This is the kind of stuff that
you can't see on a website or even when you at
first unpack the product. Do you hear that? [Clicking] Yes, I do. Yeah. Again, I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. [Asha] Then he has a
look at our laptop. You can see on the close-up
here on this screen how many scratches there are and cosmetic
issues right on the lid. Absolutely intolerable. [Asha] Next up our hidden camera
video what Best Buy employees tell us about their marketplace. The messaging here is,
you're essentially on your own. You know what, you can
do whatever you want. I wouldn't do it! But if you feel that this is
safe and this is proper for you, do it. I wouldn't do it. If the Best Buy employees
themselves don't have faith in the proper functioning of
the Marketplace, then I should probably steer clear
as well as a consumer. This is a highly problematic
situation that we hope Best Buy will look into. [Asha] Pro tips
coming right at you. And Marketplace gets action. Get more marketplace. Sign up for our
weekly newsletter at cbc.ca/marketplace. [Asha] This is the
Best Buy refurb readout. Your Marketplace gets the
lowdown on refurbished tech from the company's
online marketplace. Does it live up to
their "grade a" promise? Here's a look again at
the final scorecard. Two phones with scratches. Two tablets with sloppy
screen replacements and a rugged-looking laptop. We've heard from customers. I felt betrayed by Best Buy. It changed my outlook on
Best Buy Marketplace, big time. But it's just unfortunate that
the phone shouldn't have been on the market. [Asha] Experts... Best Buy needs to do better. [Asha] And even
Best Buy employees. [Asha] Now we want to
hear from Best Buy. We share our results with them
and ask for an interview, but they won't talk on camera. In an email, Best Buy tells
us it's committed to "operating with the highest standards"
and our investigation prompted another round of scrutiny. They say they're training staff
and developing better product descriptions on their
marketplace, so customers know exactly what they're getting. [Asha] As for the third-party
sellers in our investigation we get a range of responses, some
offer refunds, some dispute our findings...others say we
got what we paid for. But look, buying refurbished can
be good for your wallet and the environment. So, we've got some
pro-tips for smart shopping. Do your homework on these brands
who are selling products, if you can't find anything on the
brands that's a huge red flag. If there's one review where
somebody has had an extremely hard time, take
that very seriously. Search broadly, you know, try
to bring in as many different marketplaces and
providers as possible. Be aware that what you're being
promised to be not always going to be delivered. [Asha] And if you've
already purchased a device. You can potentially download
a manual, and the manual can sometimes show you that there
are self-checks that you can do. With computers that don't have
anything, what I would suggest is you can download freeware,
free software, those tests usually illustrate how strong or
how effective your computer is. [Asha] And always make sure you
know how long your return and warranty periods last. Look out for shipping and
restocking fees too in case you have to send something back. Joanne and Richard wish they had
those tips before buying this fried iPad. How do you feel holding it
knowing what you've gone through over the last year or so? Well, it's frustrating. Maybe we should hide it, so we
don't have to think about it. [Laughs] Joanne, why did you reach
out to us at Marketplace? If we can help other people not
get ripped off that would feel good, at least that would be
something good that came out of it. [Asha] Well, they're feeling
pretty good right now. After we tell Best Buy about
their case, the company agrees to give them a new iPad!
After having 4 pairs of Pixel Buds 2 with problems, bought from Best Buy refurbished products, I've encountered this documentary. Best Buy doesn't make it clear that you're buying from a third part seller.
My problems were:
In other words: Pixel Buds 2 already from the factory has a lot of issues. And Best Buy marketplace put a cherry on top of it.
Learned my lesson. Stay away from Pixel Buds.
Concur - just bought a pair of Buds A for a good price, only to have them arrive without tips of any kind.