Free cash, so whatever they give you is a bonus! (envirofone.com)

Member Name: f1ndl0w

Product:	envirofone.com
Date:	18/05/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Really simple process, can get even more by using cashback sites.

Disadvantages: Offers for slightly damaged phones can be a little low

I heard about this company a few years ago, but haven't actually used them until recently. I was at first quite anxious about sending of my potentially valuable phones to some relatively unknown company, but went for it anyway with one that was only worth a few quid at first.

The process is very simple, you just register, add the phone(s), which you want to recycle to a "cart", and then they will send you a postage paid envelope for free! Once you've got the envelope post it back, and within a few days they will either tell you that your phone has been accepted, or give you an offer if it is in bad condition.

They will pay you either by cheque, or Argos vouchers. If you are a regular at Argos then it is worthwhile going for the vouchers, you end up with around 10% more cash (presumably because of lower processing costs). The Argos vouchers are sent in the form of a one-off card (like phone top-ups) that gets automatically topped up each time you make a trade.

In the case that your phone does not meet their quality standards then you will be sent an email with an offer as to what they will give you for it. At this point you can either accept their revised offer, or have them return your phone (for free). This happened to me recently when I sent in a phone originally valued at £25, but because of a loose battery cover I received an offer of just £17.50. I did feel that this was them almost taking advantage of the situation, as I could probably have brought a new battery cover for a couple of quid off eBay, and returned the phone to get the full amount. Even so I accepted that offer, as I felt it probably wasn't worth the hassle, this is more of a note than anything - as I thought that something as small as that wouldn't be picked up on, but it obviously depends how meticulous the person inspecting your phone is.
A quick hint to maximise the "free" cash is to check out cashback sites before trading in, at the moment rpoints offer 200 points for each new sign up & 80 for every trade in, which are rewards bigger than most transactions when you actually have to pay for something!

Overall I'd recommend Envirofone, as your mobile hidden in a draw somewhere are essentially worthless to you, my view on it is that anything that they give you is a bonus, so go check out what your phone could be worth - you may be surprised!

Summary: Overall a really good service, and well worth checking out what your old mobiles are worth