Teacher
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16 Messages
Refurbished Iphone 4
I'm sure this has been discussed over and over, but I am thinking of ordering a refurb iphone 4. It doesn't say what the phone looks like just the standard "Refurbished phones are previously owned devices that have been unused or lightly used and returned during the 30-day trial period."
I know that when you purchase the refurb 3gs it says cosmetic refurbor what not but the 4 says nothing.
From those of you that have purchased the refurbs, what should I expect? Is the phone in impeccable shape or a bit beat up?
Accepted Solution
Official Solution
tthorne78
Mentor
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38 Messages
13 years ago
In my experience seeing refurbs that other people purchased, they are always in very good shape in and out. They look and function like brand new phones. If a phone has a blemish, they typically disclose that. If it is just a refurb, it is fine.
I know you can save a lot of money on one of these, but I urge you to do any and all research if you plan to go out of the country with the phone ever. The iPhone is awesome and the services provided by at&t work well with it, but they are very limited. I just bought a new unlocked one from Apple directly and it was worth every penny to not be under the thumb of such a rotten company any more. Foor for thought.
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jdavis22
Teacher
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16 Messages
13 years ago
Thank you for the quick response. I was going to wait til the 5 was announced and get the 4 for cheaper but 99 for a slightly used phone is too hard to pass up.
I don't usually leave the country so that won't be a problem for me.
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tthorne78
Mentor
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38 Messages
13 years ago
My pleasure. You should be fine.
I actually forgot. My brother in law ordered a refurbished iPhone 4 a while back and although it looked berand new, it would not connect to the network. We called at&t and they could not figure it out and blamed it on the phone, which was actually correct. They then suggested we buy a second phone from them and that they would refund the money for the first when they received it back from us. That was totally absurd.
They already had his money and sent him a bum phone which they obviously did not test properly. In the equation, he was the trustworthy party, not at&t.
Leave it to Apple though. That day we walked into the Apple store and had them take a look at it. They spent 2 minutes with the phone and decided it wasn't worth their time or ours. They took out a "service part phone", which is basically a brand new iPhone that doesn't come in a box, or with any accessories (which we already had from the one at&t sent us), and they swapped it on the spot. And that is the story of how my brother in law bought a brand new iPhone 4 for the cost of a $99 refurb.
Of course he is leaving to go to Europe with us tomorrow morning and was kicking himself this evening for not selling the thing and buying a new unlocked one like I did. Luckily, he never updates his firmware (as I suspected) and I was able to software unlock it this evening along with his wife's 3GS.
Anyway, for that one story, I can tell you that I have numerous more in which the refurbs have been perfect in EVERY way, so no need to fear. Not to mention, you have Apple who will not hang you out to dry the way at&t does, so you're covered.
Best of luck to you. Enjoy the new phone.
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jdavis22
Teacher
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16 Messages
13 years ago
I agree, AT&T really screwed it up trying to make him buy a new phone instead of just sending him a new one on the spot. I hate going through AT&T for any problems with my 3gs. Even though the people at my local store are nice, there's usually not much they can do for me so I suck it up and drive an hour to the Apple store. I had a problem with the lock button not working, and no questions asked, they handed me a new phone. I had a friend get thrown in the pool with her 4 in her pocket and AT&T told her she was screwed and would have to purchase a new phone for full price and Apple gave her a brand new phone "just this one time". For this reason I love Apple's customer service. Their products are expensive, but well worth it when you get quality service.
I'm off to order my new phone now 😃 Thanks again!
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satchev
Professor
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2.4K Messages
13 years ago
Both issues you describe are hardware problems. Apple handles ALL the hardware issues for iPhones.
So basically, you're blaming AT&T for not redirecting the user to Apple to begin with??????? Okay... I kinda see your point, but saying "AT&T really screwed it" is about as accurate as blaming Apple for bad network coverage.
Address the issue with the appropriate company and you'll get better results 100% of the time.
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jdavis22
Teacher
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16 Messages
13 years ago
While I understand that these were hardware issues, AT&T does seem to not want to help people with any problems which is what I was trying to get at even when the problem is on their end. That being said, I am mostly happy with my service, which is why I stay with them.
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