JB Hi-Fi has received a slap on the wrist from the consumer watchdog after a woman twice bought "new" Nokia phones from the retailer only to find out they were returned used products.

The woman filed a formal complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after she discovered contacts, photos and videos from the phones' previous owners. She had bought the Nokia mobiles from the JB Hi-Fi store at Westfield Kotara, NSW, in June last year.

JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Uechtritz rejected suggestions it was a company policy to sell used phones as new, saying the mix-up was a "mistake".