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Help me fill in the possible history of my phone

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PDiddy77

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 9, 2009
3
0
Hello everyone, I'm new here so thank you for reading my question. I'll try and be short and sweet.

so I replaced my stolen Iphone 3GS with a used one from craigslist. It's unlocked and the guy said he got it directly from the Apple Store. It works just fine and i made sure it is actually a 3GS....

For some reason, after a day I was curious to see if the Serial# on the box matched the Serial# on/in the phone. To my utter amazement, they did not match :p . When I checked selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do , the phone's serial # warranty said it expires June 22, 2010 (weird since I thought the 3GS only came out in July? but anyway...). Next I checked the serial # on the back of the box and this message came up:

"We're sorry, but this is a serial number for a product that has been replaced. Please check your information and re-enter your serial number. If your information is correct, you may need to contact us."

So my question to everyone here is...is it actually possible the guy just replaced the original one (bought before june 22 ?) with this one and it's now in the old box? Or does he just maybe have an iphone business and put this one in a box of one that just happened to have been replaced some time.

What else could he have likely done ? Thanks everyone !
 
V

vlug

macrumors 6502
Jul 18, 2009
276
186
i'd forget about the box and concentrate on the phone serial itself. He could be a trader and used another box or maybe he bought 2 iphones and god rid of his or his parters phone and used the wrong box. Either way the phone serial cant be faked and that's what you need to justify sending it for repair for warranty reasons.
 
Knowlege Bomb

Knowlege Bomb

macrumors G4
Feb 14, 2008
10,194
8,833
US
PDiddy77 said:
Hello everyone, I'm new here so thank you for reading my question. I'll try and be short and sweet.

so I replaced my stolen Iphone 3GS with a used one from craigslist. It's unlocked and the guy said he got it directly from the Apple Store. It works just fine and i made sure it is actually a 3GS....

For some reason, after a day I was curious to see if the Serial# on the box matched the Serial# on/in the phone. To my utter amazement, they did not match :p . When I checked selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do , the phone's serial # warranty said it expires June 22, 2010 (weird since I thought the 3GS only came out in July? but anyway...). Next I checked the serial # on the back of the box and this message came up:

"We're sorry, but this is a serial number for a product that has been replaced. Please check your information and re-enter your serial number. If your information is correct, you may need to contact us."

So my question to everyone here is...is it actually possible the guy just replaced the original one (bought before june 22 ?) with this one and it's now in the old box? Or does he just maybe have an iphone business and put this one in a box of one that just happened to have been replaced some time.

What else could he have likely done ? Thanks everyone !
Click to expand...

My guess would be the original phone was exchanged due to hardware defect and the phone that was sent to you is actually a refurb. If you see a "K" as the second character in the serial number, it's a refurb (or is it only the "5K's"? don't quite remember). When the exchange is done at the Apple store, the genius will print off a sticker with the new serial number that you can attach to the box over the old one so it matches that of your device.

Even if this is the case, refurbs are great. I've never had a new iPhone with quality as good as a refurb. The last time I sold an iPhone, I took it into Apple the day before and had it exchanged for Wi-Fi issues so I had a phone with a screen that had never been touched and the plastic still on. Helps with the selling price.
 
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PDiddy77

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 9, 2009
3
0
Thanks for the help. I'm not too worried. The phone hasn't had any issues the first few days and the warranty is still valid another 7 months. It's not a refurn either. Checked the serial for the K

So all is good. Thanks again.
 
thelatinist

thelatinist

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2009
5,937
51
Connecticut, USA
When phones are replaced they do not come in original packaging. The seller probably put his replacement phone in his original box.

You can find out all kinds of information about any Apple device by checking the serial number here.
 
P

PDiddy77

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 9, 2009
3
0
thelatinist said:
When phones are replaced they do not come in original packaging. The seller probably put his replacement phone in his original box.

You can find out all kinds of information about any Apple device by checking the serial number here.
Click to expand...


Thanks. So I checked that site and it does give more info than the regular apple serial # check.

I got worried when I put the new phone's serial in and this message came up

"Problems: Many of these phones have a yellow tint on the screen. Please tell us if this phone does or does not suffer from that."

I put in 3 different Serials though and this message came up for all of them. Does this come up for any Iphone serial you put in ? Thanks !
 
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hugo124

macrumors newbie
Aug 17, 2010
1
0
I have the same problem here. I bought one from Craigslist since mine was dropped into the bath tub (of course Apple didn't replace it). I've used it for 3 days till this morning when my friend called me. He heard me, but I couldn't hear him saying anything unless I turned on the speaker. What should I do now? Will Apple fix it for me?
 
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