The Pre-Owned Process Does Not Have Any Cracks In It

I work in a store that handles mostly video games and related items, but we also buy and sell preowned tech.

Me: “Hello, welcome to [Store]. What brings you in here today?”

Customer: “I would like to see what I could get for my iPhone XR.”

Me: “Well, to do that, I need to hook it up to our system. Is that all right?”

The system just verifies that the phone works and hasn’t been jailbroken.

Customer: “Yeah, that would be fine.”

I let the system verify that it works, and the glass and display pass our visual inspection.

Me: “All right, you will get $326 for your phone. Do you want to complete this order?”

Customer: “Not right now; I will be back in later.”

A few hours pass, and I honestly don’t expect to see him back in. It happens all the time. Surprisingly, he actually does come back.

Me: “So, did you decide if you wanted to sell it?”

Customer: “Yes, I want to sell it.”

I start hooking the phone back up to our system.

Customer: “Why are you doing that?”

Me: “I have to do this; we have to check each phone even if we already checked them. This is because our system also wipes your phone.”

Customer: “Oh…”

As I am doing the screen check again, I also realize that he has a screen protector on his phone. When I pull it off, I see that there is a small crack in the corner of the phone so I have to fail the glass. This causes a drop in the price that he will get, due to the fact that we have to repair it to sell it.

I will also state that, with my experience with repairing phones myself, replacing glass isn’t cheap since you also tend to replace the LCD and touch panels, as well, since even small cracks can cause damage.

Me: “Since the phone is damaged, we will only be able to give you $150.”

Customer: “What? My phone is not damaged. I demand you give me the $326.”

Me: “Sir, there is a crack in the glass. This causes the phone to fall under our damaged category. I have to give you the price the system tells you.”

Customer: “You are lying! There’s no damage, and if there is, it’s your fault!”

I start getting pissed, but I stay calm and stand my ground.

Me: “Sir, the screen is damaged so I have to put that it is damaged. Also, at no point did I drop your phone. Do you want to sell us your phone or not?”

Customer: “No, just give me back my f****** phone!”

As he is leaving the store, I hear him call me names under his breath.

Me: *Sarcastically* “Have a great day!”

My manager came out from the back office and asked what had just happened. I explained the situation. He just chuckled and told me I had handled it well. We never heard back from that guy, and I’m glad about it.