A VIRGIN customer has been left fuming after she received a cracked tile instead of her new £1,200 iPhone.
Olivia Parkinson was raging when she opened up the box to her brand new iPhone 12 ProMax to discover it had been switched for a piece of ceramic last month.
The artist, from Preston, Lancashire, contacted Virgin and Yodel to get to the bottom of the issue but claims she was initially told she would be liable to pay for the phone.
Images captured by Olivia show the box of her iPhone sitting open while the inside charger and earphones are missing.
Beside the box is a smashed tile which has been crudely stuck back together with masking tape.
Other images show her holding the tile remnants which have been smashed and stuck together to fit inside the Apple box.
Enraged by the whole ordeal, Olivia took to Twitter to express her anger at the two companies.
She said: “Don’t you just love a new phone day to then receive this.
“iPhone 12 ProMax who??”
She provided updates on the situation continuously, posting a week after the phone initially arrived saying: “Day 7 of receiving no answers off Virgin for the brick I received and not the phone!
“They’ve opened an investigation to see whether they’re liable or me.
“A loyal customer who buys a new phone could be liable to still pay for it.”
After Virgin launched their investigation, according to Olivia then they decided to make her liable to pay for the missing phone.
She said: “Virgin are making me liable to pay for the phone that I haven’t received so please retweet this so I can get some help.
“Do not use this company or delivery service.
“Disgusting companies.”
Olivia claims that since taking to Twitter, the company has backtracked on making her liable to pay.
Instead they are said to have offered to terminate the loan and refund her the money that she had already paid.
Since Olivia started posting about her ordeal last month, social media users have been commenting on her Twitter posts.
@MonicaShalloe said: “This is shocking Liv!!! Absolutely disgusting.”
@TilakLimbachia posted: “This is crazy.”
@chloee99 commented: “Actually can’t believe this.”
Speaking today, Olivia said: “I wanted to upgrade my phone from an iPhone 7 Plus to the new iPhone 12 ProMax.
“For being a loyal customer I was offered free next day delivery.
“On the next day a parcel was delivered by Yodel who chucked the parcel on the floor and got back in his van and drove off.
“All happened very quickly. I proceeded to open the box to find the iPhone box ‘protected’ by parcel paper.
“I unpeeled the plastic covering and opened the lid to find a smashed up tile that was held together by masking tape.
“They informed me that this investigation will take up to 3-5 working days to get a conclusion back to me.
“Nineteen days later from first ordering the phone I received a phone call from an agent of Virgin Media in which she informed me that they and yodel haven’t found any security breaches therefore I myself am liable to still pay for the handset.
“After multiple calls with Virgin they proceeded to tell me they couldn’t do anything about the situation and that the financial department will be in touch to give me some advice.
“With this conclusion I came to Twitter to receive some help and to spread awareness of my situation.
“Once my tweet started receiving backlash towards Virgin Media they emailed me to offer a termination of the loan agreement and all money currently taken out of my bank account to be refunded.
“Currently I am waiting for this to process and when it does I will be moving to a new provider.”
A Yodel spokesman today said: “Following a thorough investigation we have confirmed that the parcel was sealed in its original packaging when delivered.
“We’ve been in contact with Ms Parkinson to keep her updated and encourage her to contact the retailer to resolve this.”
A Virgin Media spokesman today said: “Our investigation found Olivia was the victim of a fraud so we have closed the account, written off the outstanding balance and will be returning all of the money she paid.”
