UK iPhone 15 Pro Max Buyers Report Orders Being Swapped for Fakes During Shipment

Some lucky United Kingdom consumers once received a new Apple iPhone when they merely ordered apples from UK supermarket retailer Tesco. Now, several UK customers buying new iPhones are sadly finding a rotten-to-the-core surprise when they open their new iPhone’s box.

A number of folks who have ordered an iPhone 15 Pro Max from Apple’s UK online store in recent weeks have instead received an iPhone SE, an iPhone 14, or outright iPhone fakes.

In mid-November, a UK-based Redditor’s post told the tale of ordering an iPhone 15 Pro Max directly from Apple and receiving a not-very-convincing Android clone with an iPhone skin. Now, it appears several other UK buyers are reporting similar experiences.

While we don’t have an exact count of buyers who have received something other than the iPhone they ordered, several folks have reported seeing their orders swapped out for either an incorrect iPhone model or an Android handset. Unfortunately, many of those reporting this issue to Apple say the company has accused them of attempting to defraud the iPhone maker.

As first reported by iMore, 88 commenters on Apple’s community forums claim they received the wrong handset. Many of those folks have simply clicked the “Me too” button, although several provided detailed explanations of what happened.

“I was told by one of [Apple’s] representatives that it’s impossible for them to have put the 14 in there by mistake, so it had to have been switched after they dispatched,” posted user Chris-J-88. “My concern is that they’ve contacted the courier and they’ve said that nobody their end had touched it so Apple are now concluding that it must be me that’s trying to defraud them.”

“[Surely] they can see where the 15 is/has been activated,” he continued. “I can’t believe that I’ve bought a phone for 1200, received the wrong item and have just got to accept it.”

After Apple initially failed to assist him, Apple community forum commenter Chris-J-88 reported the incident to the police, who told him they were unable to help. He also notified the finance company he used to make the iPhone purchase, and that firm told him they would attempt to mediate the dispute between Apple and himself.

Chris-J-88 now reports that the issue has been resolved after emailing Apple CEO Tim Cook and explaining the details of the issue. A week after sending the email, Chris-J-88 received a call from Apple’s European head office and was told that upon reviewing the case, Apple would be sending out a new iPhone 15 Max Pro, which was delivered the very next day.

Another forum user says that they also had a satisfactory resolution to their situation — but also only after emailing Tim Cook directly. “I got a call from a different exec after I emailed the CEO,” wrote PetHRwi.

One customer who ordered an iPhone 15 Pro Max and received an iPhone SE instead accused UK courier firm DPD of performing the swap deliberately.

DPD is apparently known in the UK for having a less-than-reliable delivery record. The iPhone SE the buyer received had a Tesco Mobile sticker on it, so they phoned the UK carrier.

“Tesco stopped using DPD for phone deliveries,” the user reports being told, “as they had a number of customer complaints regarding phones going missing.”

However, not all of the wrong deliveries were handled by DPD, as some users report having bad deliveries made by courier company DHL.

One user claims to have been told that the specific delivery driver involved in delivering his missing iPhone “had in fact now been let go.”

Chris-J-88 played it smart with his second iPhone 15 Pro Max delivery.

“When the replacement arrived,” he wrote, “I asked the courier to record me opening it in front of them to avoid a repeat, ensuring to capture the serial on the device box too.”