Should I buy a refurbished iPhone?

[ahactor]

So, I was on the Cingular web site the other day looking at plans. And I just kinda slipped over into looking at some phones. I then looked at some of the refurbished iPhones just for the heck of it. I was shocked to see how much of a price deduction there was on them! Would it be a good idea to maybe wait a month or so, and then buy a refurb? Do you think you could also get Apple Care for it, if there is Apple Care on the iPhone?

 

[Lob]

So, I was on the Cingular web site the other day looking at plans. And I just kinda slipped over into looking at some phones. I then looked at some of the Re-Furbs just for the heck of it. I was shocked to see how much of a price deduction there was on them! Would it be a good idea to maybe wait a month or so, and then buy a Re-Furb? Do you think you could also get Apple Care for it, if there is Apple Care on the iPhone?

You probably still can get Apple Care. Here is the Apple refreshed/refurb page.

 

[ColsTiger]

Most of the Cingular refurb phone were returned during the 30 day trial period because the network wasn't strong enough at the previous owner's house. When I worked with Cingular, this was the only reason that people would utilize the 30 trial refund.

I currently have a refurb Moto ROKR and Moto SLVR and both are like brand new phones.

 

[ahactor]

Wow! Thank you both very much for your helpful replies! So it would seem that it WOULD be a good idea to get a re-furb after a month or so if you have a low-budget.

Are there any possible dangers to this? You mentioned that you worked at Cingular, do certain re-furbs sometimes not work?

 

[ColsTiger]

Wow! Thank you both very much for your helpful replies! So it would seem that it WOULD be a good idea to get a re-furb after a month or so if you have a low-budget.

Are there any possible dangers to this? You mentioned that you worked at Cingular, do certain re-furbs sometimes not work?

I read where some people don't like the refurb phones, but I've had very good service out of two refurbs. Actually, I can't tell any difference between them and a new phone except that they didn't come in a Motorola box.

 

[Corrosion]

Most of the Cingular refurb phone were returned during the 30 day trial period because the network wasn't strong enough at the previous owner's house. When I worked with Cingular, this was the only reason that people would utilize the 30 trial refund.

I currently have a refurb Moto ROKR and Moto SLVR and both are like brand new phones.

I've always assumed that re-furb means that the phone was broken and then repaired and resold. Is this not true?

 

[Spin This!]

I think refurb can take many forms but I've always known it as demo models (on display) sent back to the factory for cleanup or to be resold.

I bought a refurb 5 disc Technics CD changer years ago and it still works like a champ today... no indication that it's a refurb at all. AFAIK, it depends on the manufacturer but they usually clean everything up and make sure it's working perfectly. In some ways it's almost better than new because it already passed the "feats of strength" of reliablity... if there was anything flakey, it's gotten fixed.

We'll see if Apple does the refurb thing with the phone...

 

[Kabeyun]

I've always assumed that re-furb means that the phone was broken and then repaired and resold. Is this not true?

Apple is very liberal with respect to products they sell as refurbished. For example, an open-box item quickly returned because the customer changed his mind would be sold as refurbished.

Apple's QI and rewarranting of resold products is, in my experience, very reliable. I've bought four, and one (an iPod) did have a defective PMU. I called Apple and had a working replacement plus a $50 "we're sorry" coupon within a week.

-K

 

[ahactor]

We'll see if Apple does the refurb thing with the phone...

Well, Cingular will, they sell refurbished phones on the web site, so I assume that means that the iPhone will be sold there too.