I bought an iPhone from Elkjøp – reported stolen

Now Amer Idris, 28, receives an apology, a new phone and a gift card from the electronics giant.

Last December, Amer Idris (28 years old) bought an iPhone 14 pro. In April this year, it was closed after the iOS update. Since the phone was still covered by the purchase warranty, Edris contacted Elkjøp.

– They said I had to either pay NOK 399 to get it fixed in store, or send it to Apple for warranty use. I chose to send it, he says.

It isn’t long before the phone is returned, with an explanation from Elkjøp: the phone is locked, because it has been reported stolen in a global database.

– I thought I couldn’t vote. The phone was reported stolen in September, and I bought it in December, he said.

Idris bought the phone “as new”, from the outlet department in Elkjøp.

Elkjob: I was not far away in such a state

Elkjøp Norge’s sales manager, Stian Hoff, wrote in an email to VG that they could deny that the phone Edris bought was actually stolen, as it should never have been lost.

– We have reported this to our security officer and are awaiting feedback on whether the phone has been registered as stolen to the insurance company – without being able to go into details about it, he writes.

The record in Elkjøp shows that the phone has been purchased twice before. Both times the purchase was promptly cancelled, so that it never left the Elkjøp warehouse. In the process the Kajoub suspects that something is going on.

– A lock case has been created on the phone, and to do this any theft must be reported to the police. The only thing one needs to do this is the IMEI number. That number is on the receipt, he says.

– I have never been left in such a situation before, and I suppose it will be a long time before something similar happens again, he says.

new father

For two weeks, Idris tried to persuade Elkjøp to settle the situation. In the meantime, he had to use his old iPhone 8 that he had lying around.

– My daughter was born last week, and I had to use my old phone to take pictures. There is a huge difference in quality between the iPhone 8 and iPhone 14 pro cameras.

– It’s embarrassing that there are no high-quality photos from this important moment. He says it’s something you want to document well, and remember for the rest of your life.

On Tuesday this week, he received a new phone and a NOK 5,000 gift card as compensation.

Despite this, he was not impressed with Elkjøp’s treatment of clients. He describes it as difficult.

– This week they apologized for the situation, but I still don’t think the treatment I received was fair. At first, I didn’t get any answers to the queries, and I found out that all the agencies I spoke with wanted to pass the responsibility on to someone else.

Hof apologizes to Idris on Elkjøp’s behalf, and says he should have received help immediately.

– We fully understand that this has been a frustrating and confusing experience for our customers. We are so sorry.