Phobio

Obvious attempt at a bait and switch. They sent me an original quote of about $450 and so I sent my laptop in the original box, with all of the components. Then they emailed me a photograph of a laptop that wasn't mine, claiming damage. Not even the same model laptop. They then adjusted the quote to $165. I had them send me back my laptop and instead of receiving everything I sent, they sent back the laptop and half of the charging cord. No original box, no papers, and part of the charger. This is a disgrace to Apple and I cannot believe that such a respected company would sponsor this awful service for laptop sell back.

Scam! They make you an offer then renege with a new offer that is a fraction of the original using a flimsy excuse. Stay away!

DON"T SEND YOUR MACBOOK***
Phobio had given me quote of $220 for my Macbook. I was hoping I would get something close to that like 180-190 but they said my product was received damaged and my quote is $45. I looked at the pictures and to my surprise my Macbook screen frame was bent from one side with additional damaged that I did not had before. I called the company was told that the shipping box itself was not damaged at all so I must have had this damage before. I told him no I did not, I even had FED EX employee help me pack my laptop in the box which the Phobio had provided, and while packing the computer she even said that " your computer is in very good shape, why would you sell it ?" Now I'm rejecting their offer and I'm getting my laptop back as I do not want to do business with them at all and I hope noone else don't falls into their trap.

I recently sent an older iMac into Phobio, after getting the link via the APPLE website, as they service trade-ins and a recycling program now. The quote for the model of the computer was only $125, and given that is was an older model that was acceptable. I wiped the system, and put a fresh version of OS X on it. Everything in perfect working order, I shipped the computer off in the supplied packaging. Noting the ONLY good experience was the ease of submitting my trade-in and the fast and good quality of the shipping materials and instructions.

Upon receipt of my computer, I received and updated estimated for $45, due to damage to the system. Had I not just completed a thorough refresh and reinstall on this computer I may have let it slide. I declined the adjusted offer and the computer was returned. Now requiring booting in safe mode from whatever testing Phobio did, the system works fine, and has ZERO damage.

My impression is this company operates under a SCAM premise, and once it receives computers significantly downgrades the values expecting customers to agree. This happened with one other device I had sent in, which I assumed was poor quality QC and perhaps a one-off scenario. Now that it's happened twice, there is no doubt in mind PHOBIO=SCAM.

Insufficient packaging leads to damaged machine
I learned about Phobio from the apple store. I packed my cosmetically perfect machine and as specified power supply into a provided box that had no place to put the power supply.

I put the power supply on top of the machine and forced the box closed. Upon arrival they tell me the machine was damaged in shipping and take ZERO accountability.

After contacting the company 5+ times, they will not ship my machine back in a timely fashion.

Customer service simply blows you off. Makes promises with zero followup. I have also filed a complaint with Apple to get a resolution.

If my machine arrives to me in any other condition than what I sent it, I will file at local small claims court.

Inadequate packing resulted in damaged laptop.
I recently tried to use this service to trade in my older *** through your mail-in system. I went to an Apple store to help make sure the machine was wiped clean before it can be traded in and it was in perfect working condition. I sent over the laptop with the materials given to me, and was already suspicious as it was very flimsy and I was concerned whether it would handle the transit. Upon receiving their assessment of my machine, adjusting the original price from $160 to $0 because of "battery swelling" - I am convinced this is because of the inadequate packing material you gave me. The photo they have in their records was absolutely NOT how I sent it.

Now that I have received my laptop back - the entire track pad is completely cracked and destroyed, leaving me with basically a paper weight with no value. This is grossly incompetent of this company to provide such minimal packing for these machines.

If their business is to collect machines and provide value to the customers, this is incredibly negligent.

My nonprofit sent in 4 iMacs to Phobio in hopes to raise money towards buying a new editing suite.
Out of the 4 computers I packed in their materials and to their specifications (they give you step by step instructions on how to pack them), 2 of them arrived "damaged". 50% of the computers we mailed them arrived damaged and our the 200-300 dollars we were supposed to get for each station dropped to $65 and the only evidence they could provide was a blurry close up shot of a grey blob that was the "damage" (and that literally could have been any mac). They denied my request for a clear photo and my attempts at filing an insurance claim through Fedex: if Phobio doesn't flag the box as damaged, apparently you have no legs to stand on as far as challenging that the damage occurred in transit. So as a consumer, your only options are taking $65 or having your previously unbroken computer mailed back to you. I would be highly interested to see the stats on how many computers arrive to them "damaged". No transparency makes for shady business practices.

I have to echo some of the complaints on this site. The interaction with Phobio has the feel of a bait and switch scam. They offered $670 for my MacBook Pro, when they received it they "revised" the offer to $240. Clearly, they are banking on taking the easy way out, I have asked them to ship it back. EBay is next.

I sent my laptop and I was waiting for a notification if I approve or disapprove the trade in value but this never happened and they said they sent me a Visa card only for $40 which I never received and I will never accept this trade in value for a *** (I never agreed with this trade value). For that price better to donate it to someone who needs it. It,s not fair. I feel I was robbed. I am Very unsatisfied. I am asking to get my laptop back but it looks like is almost impossible. Very sad, very unclear and confusing information on purpose for sure. Very bad service and I don't know how apple can recommend them. It tis so easy and friendly to start the process and very complicated to find a solution.

I will never sell it for $40 if I knew it since I start the process and the charger was included. The charger cost more money than the $40 they are trying to pay me. It is not fair at all.

By *** website they directed me to use Phobio to turn in used *** products for cash trade in. After following prompts from Phobio I got quote for my *** Core i7 3.4GHz 27" (mid XXXX) XTB for $320 which I accepted and sent as instructed. Keep in mind that before sending in I have the original receipt of purchase at the *** store and picture of the *** powered up that has the overview description of the *** itself stating that it is a *** Core i7 3.4GHz 27" (mid XXXX) XTB. After waiting Phobio contacted me letting me know that the *** was lesser model *** Core i5 2.7GHz and revalued it at $225. Are they trying to scam me!? I have full documentation of what my *** is. I decline the offer and wanted my *** returned. Which they did, but not in the condition that I sent it in. It was in full working condition when I sent it in. The *** turns on but the computer will not detect the hard drive. What did Phobio do? I tried calling them with 40 minute hold and gave up. I called two other times and by the third time I got an answer. They kept refusing to accept that my computer is the correct model. The representative was not helpful in trying to get my computer back to the way it was. They lack no knowledge of technical support to fix their mess. They "directed" me to another technician. Which they connect me an *** specialist that had nothing to do with Phobio and what they did. Phobio just passed *** along to someone else so to handle their mistake. The *** specialist tried to be helpful, unaware if what Phobio did, and still no success of getting our *** to work. *** technical support found that OS had been erased. *** attempted many times to help reinstall OS. But after more than 2 days with *** tech support the computer still could not reinstall an OS. *** also at that time CONFIRMED that my *** is the *** Core i7 3.4GHz with the Serial ID. I appreciate *** for trying to fix someone else mistake, but Phobio needs to responsible for what they have done.
Product_Or_Service: ***
Account_Number: XXXXXXXXXXX

We initially took an old macbook to the *** store where a helper checked it out and informed us that they do trade-ins via phobio and helped us enter our information online. We sent the WORKING macbook to the company and had it returned DAMAGED with no prior intimation. I checked the macbook to see if it was working and it would power on but show a blinking harddisk icon on the screen and the trackpad looked as if it had been pried open. I immediately hopped on chat with representatives from Phobio, who are extremely uninformed about the representative said he would escalate the issue. We were contacted by someone higher up who said he would give us the money we were owed if we sent the macbook back, which we did. After that, we got an email saying we had to do the online process again, which we did. And since then there has been no response. I even complained to apple who suggested I contact the Revdex.com. The first time we filled out the trade-in, the value was $175, the second time it was $70. And I explicitly told the rep that I expected the original quote and have not received a response in over 3 months, though I have emailed multiple times. I feel cheated and extremely angry that they are able to get away with doing something like this.
Product_Or_Service: Trade-in service
Account_Number: original trade summa

I went into *** Wireless store at 1111 Johnson Rd, Centralia, WA on 2/10/18 and was told by the manager Caleb that in order to upgrade my Galaxy S6 Edge+ *** 32GB, I had to turn it in and I would receive $200. The receipt was emailed to my email account, and when I got back home and downloaded the attachment with the Credit Receipt, it showed $89.88 credit. The problem is the manager used Phobio and in the receipt, it then said that all Transactions are Final.
My grievance is with the *** store who was not truthful about my trade in on many counts; one that it was unnecessary, second that the transaction was final with no recourse and lastly with a company who will condone the practice of working with a company and employee who was not forthcoming about this way of doing business. I want my phone back, and the employee needs to understand to be transparent in how he does business with ***, and not to be deceitful in order to get a high dollar trade in, and have this company back him up.

Overall I'm pretty disappointed with this company and how they operated in my interaction with them.

That said, there are a number of aspects about them that I can say is positive. They have a modern, user-friendly website that makes the process of getting a quote for a trade in hassle-free.

They shipped a box with padding inside to protect the device and postage paid for a return to their processing center. I even got a follow up email from them when my shipment was delayed due to having to find time to fit dropping it off at a FedEx location just to check in and make sure I didn't have any issues which I found to be a nice touch.

Before sending in my old laptop, I had followed Apple/Phobio's instructions regarding reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling MacOS to restore everything to its factory state. I powered off the computer, placed it in the box, and sent it off as instructed, but everything about my experience with them after this point was a quite frustrating and very disappointing.

Upon receiving my device, I received an email with an adjusted price estimate of $0 because my device would not power on according to them.

I contacted customer service asking them how it was possible that the fully working computer I had sent them was now, in their words, dead on arrival. They offered no real explanation, recompense, not took any accountability for this and essentially gave me the answer "I don't know what to tell you, this is what we got from you."

It was a very frustrating situation as I know I had sent them a working device, but it was essentially their word against mine, and they were not wavering in their position that they took any role in the process whatsoever.

They offered to recycle the device for free, which I obviously declined knowing had sent them a working product, and they shipped it back to me for free.

Sure enough, the device I got back would not power on. Luckily however, I'm experienced with computers and was able to diagnose the issue and restore the system to its former state, but I have read other similar issues on the internet from other people and find it disappointing the company conducts themselves with a kind of "oops, too bad, it's not our fault though" attitude.

What they had done, was reformat the hard drive in such a way that there were no partitions on the disk at all, and resultantly there was no system to boot into, so obviously it would not be able to turn on. I just find it extremely disappointing that this was a result of a direct action they took and they are not taking any accountability at all. I fear for customers lured in by their ease of use and slickly designed site, having the same thing happen with their device, and not having the slightest clue how to fix their device; essentially being stuck with an expensive paper weight, all by Phobio's doing.

Overall, I would never choose to business with them again, and am advising anyone who might read this review as well as friends and family in-person to avoid doing business with them at all costs.

They are running a scam

I shipped them my macbook pro that they offers $620 for
When they received it they lowered the offer to $250
I rejected the offer so they sent me back the laptop without the charging cabel

Thieves

Shipped my *** to phobio as directed, they responded a few days later stating they will send a Visa card worth $295 & have not received payment
Phobio was supposed to send the *** on the 8 of November and I was supposed to receive it 10-14 business days later. I never received anything. When I call phobio they state it's out of their hands and can't do anything. Now I have no laptop and no Visa card.

This company is horrible. I shipped them a MacBook that successfully powered on. When they received the MacBook they claimed the device was inoperable. I don't understand how this is possible when it powered on the day I sent the MacBook in their provided shipping.

I have reached out three times trying to talk to someone about this. I received one blanket response saying they would not be honoring their original quote and would recycle the MacBook for free. This is ridiculous, how many other people are they taking advantage of. I also plan to speak to Apple about a horrible partnership they are pushing with these guys.

Scam-mailed *** inexchange for $705, computer perfect condition & functioned w/o any flaws. now offering $315 stating cant load operating sys
Scammed- mailed *** in exchange for $705. The company sent me a bid to send my computer in. I just went online to see if *** credit had been issued and they said computer was received and operating system couldn't be installed. They're claiming a blank screen with a ?. The computer I sent was in perfect condition & functioned w/o any flaws. They have the computer, have "reinstalled" an operating system, claim it doesn't work and are now offering $315.
I did a live chat w/ representative and have asked for a manger to get back to me.

I had a similar experience to the other reviewer. My computer was in perfect working order, and in excellent condition. I sent it in after I received a quote for $350+. When they received it, they said they tested it and it failed some test and lowered the quote to $165. Then after rejecting it, they sent the computer back in a state where it no longer worked. After complaining, I got an email saying "take it to an Apple store". I would stay clear of this company. Sure they may write a response but it's B.S. in my opinion. Avoid!!

Phobio quoted a trade-in price for my MacBook pro that I agreed with ($230). There was no damage to the computer and it was in fine working condition. The company sent me an email saying there was a dead pixel and they were adjusting my claim to $105. I asked for proof as I had been working on this computer for 6 years and had never seen any issues. They said they were unable to provide any proof. I had them send the computer back to me (which was an easy process to their credit) and then traded it in with another company (Gazelle) who gave me $250 for the trade in and found no issues with the computer. Phobio's process was disappointing and felt fraudulent, preying on consumers who have already sent in items to squeeze them for extra money. Just be careful.

I sent in my fully functional and undamaged MacBook Pro to Phobio though Apple's Buyback Program.

Prior to sending in my Macbook, the computer was undamaged and fully functional. It had been kept in a protective case from the day I purchased it.

Several weeks after sending the computer in, I received a notice from Phobio that my MacBook arrived damaged. Instead of accepting a substantially lower offer, I opted to have the computer returned. At the time, I assumed that perhaps the computer had been damaged in shipment.

However, when I received the computer back, it became clear that the computer was damaged by Phobio and then someone tried to cover it up. First, the damage to the external case is clearly the result of a drop on a hard surface. Again, this couldn't have happened prior to me sending the computer to Phobio because the Macbook had always been in a protective case and was never dropped.

The "smoking gun" came from reviewing the inventory stickers that Phobios had placed on the bottom of my MacBook. There were two stickers. The visible sticker had a "D" on it (presumably meaning "damaged"). However, the "D" sticker had been carefully placed over a previous sticker. That sticker had a "W" on it, which almost certainly means "Working." It seems clear that a Phobio employee dropped my computer after receipt and then sought to cover it up (literally).

Moreover, the computer was sent to Phobio with a working operating system. When I received the computer back, the Hard Drive had been completely wiped. So, now I have an unusable computer that Phobio destroyed, and then fraudulently accused me of sending in a state of disrepair.
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