MobileGuru Australia: a Comprehensive Review for Buyers

Every customer looking to buy a refurbished mobile phone looks for a reliable retailer to buy from. However, tons of refurbished mobile retailer options might leave you overwhelmed and thinking about which one is the right to do business with.

Well, worry not. In our retailer review series, today we will review another Australian refurbished smartphone retailer, MobileGuru.

From how many payment methods MobileGuru offers to whether or not they provide freebies, you will find everything in this article.

That said, let's first know a little about MobileGuru.

MobileGuru's Background

MobileGuru is an Australian-based pre-owned or refurbished electronic company that sells mobile phones and their accessories across Australia.

On the MobileGuru Australia website, users can not only buy refurbished smartphones but also sell used ones.

But the question arises, are they good enough to do business with?

While refurbished smartphones are relatively lower in price, does MobileGuru offer the best prices in the market?

Let's delve a little deeper and understand everything in detail.

No Shop Front

While selling mobile phones online is all good and fine, a physical store where users can actually go, check products, and buy is somewhat essential.

Even if we keep the product checking aside, having a physical store adds to the credibility of the business. However, sadly, in the case of MobileGuru Australia, you can not find any physical store.

They indeed have a warehouse where all their refurbished products are kept and dispatched, but they do not have a physical store to sell or showcase their products.

Moreover, having a physical store like PhoneBot's store in Reservoir is also vital for confused buyers. Some people do not know what they want. Therefore, the staff present in a physical store can guide them to make wise purchasing decisions.

And since MobileGuru Australia also allows its users to sell used products, it becomes necessary to have a physical store so that users can immediately sell products without shipping expenses and unnecessary delays.

Lack of Payment Methods

When it comes to buying a product, the last thing a user notices while checking out is the availability of payment methods. And if the user's preferred payment method is missing, it might lead to frustration and eventually, cart abandonment.

Any retailer that does not provide many payment methods restricts quite a few people to buy from them.

Payment methods provide users with the flexibility to pay with ease using the option they prefer or use in their day-to-day lives. For example, if we talk about PayPal, no matter how famous it is, it's a possibility that not every buyer has a PayPal account. The same is the case with other payment methods.

Therefore, providing users with multiple payment methods is always the best option. But guess what? You can only find limited payment methods on MobileGuru Australia.

They have a decent number of payment methods available like PayPal, AfterPay, and LatitudePay, however, they provide fewer payment options than their competitors.

Limited Product Range

MobileGuru Australian only deals in brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google (which stay out of stock most of the time on their site). While they have a good product range of iPhones, when it comes to Samsung, they only offer the S series and only one model of Galaxy Note and Z Flip.

So if you want to get your hands on Samsung A or Note series, you cannot find it on MobileGuru.

And besides the product range, not everybody is looking to buy an iPhone or Samsung, for that matter. There are people who want to get their hands on products from Huawei, Oppo, OnePlus, etc., as well. But MobileGuru does not have any such products to sell.

Undefined Battery Healths

Imagine watching your favourite movie or talking with your friends over a phone call, and your phone dies? Frustrating, isn't it?

Battery health is the lifeblood of a smartphone, especially a refurbished one. If the battery health of your refurbished is not optimal, your phone will discharge quickly, restricting you to make use of it in the best way possible.

MobileGuru Australia offers three types of refurbished products:

1. Used(products with battery health of 70% - 74%)
2. Ex Demo(products with battery health of 75% - 79%)
3. Amazing As New(products with battery health of 80% and up)

While they mention the battery health range, specific mention of battery health for individual products can not be found on MobileGuru's website. And the fact that MobileGuru sells used products with 70% battery health is alarming. A smartphone tends to perform poorly with battery health around 70. 

No Bundle Deals, No Freebies, No Value Added Products!

While you can buy accessories separately on MobileGuru, there are no value-added products, deals or freebies available.

To incentivize the buyer and provide value, retailers like PhoneBot often offer discounts, special deals, and complimentary products along with the original purchase.

For example, PhoneBot offers free new batteries along with iPhone 6, 7 and 8. You can get a free charger and a cable with any mobile purchase. Moreover, you can also see live deals 24/7 on PhoneBot.

However, in the case of MobileGuru, you can not get any discounts, value-added products, and deals.

Live Chat Support Not Found!

Live chat support is essential to keep customers in the loop and solve their queries right off the bat.

But no such support is available for customers of MobileGuru. You can contact their customer support team using different channels like email, or phone, but you may need to wait for a substantial amount of time to get a response. 

Select Wisely!

The low prices of smartphones may entice you to buy a refurbished device without giving it proper thought. But before making your buying decision, you need to do proper research about the retailer and choose wisely.

So before buying your next refurbished device, do not forget to keep the above-mentioned features in mind.

See also: REEBELO AUSTRALIA REVIEW - SHOULD BUYERS BE WARY? (2023)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are of the author. All brand names/trademarks belong to their respective owners and Phonebot has no affiliation with these brands.