AT&T Offers Refurbished iPhone 5 Starting at $99

[MacRumors]

AT&T is now offering refurbished iPhone 5 devices at a $100 discount from their usual price. The new offer was noted by 9to5Mac.

Customers are still required to sign up for a 2 year contract, as with the regular iPhone 5.

AT&T appears to be offering all permutations of color and size. The discount across the board for the refurbished units is $100 from the up front cost.

- 16GB Black iPhone 5 - $99
- 32GB Black iPhone 5 - $199
- 64GB Black iPhone 5 - $299

- 16GB White iPhone 5 - $99
- 32GB White iPhone 5 - $199
- 64GB White iPhone 5 - $299

The refurbished iPhones are available online-only.

Article Link: AT&T Offers Refurbished iPhone 5 Starting at $99

[viperGTS]

Betting these are the scratched up ones that people have been trading in lately.

[obamtl]

Originally Posted by viperGTS

Betting these are the scratched up ones that people have been trading in lately.

Yes, and no. I understand that Apple swap out the cases of refurbished phones as standard, so it will likely be in pristine condition if it's an Apple condition, even if it was originally scratched before getting sent back.

[Missmonie]

I purchased this deal yesterday. The att rep on the phone said the phone goes through a thorough check and all outer casing and the screen is replaced so the phone is essentially brand new. I hope that's true! I've had several refurbished blackberrys from Verizon and they were always like new.

[nburwell]

Originally Posted by viperGTS

Betting these are the scratched up ones that people have been trading in lately.

Haha, I was thinking the same exact thing. But I'm sure there are a lot of customers who are in the dark about "scratchgate".

[tomashi]

Scratched up? You guys are kidding or retarded right? You know Apple puts a new shell on everything that is refurbished.

[achtungfemme]

Seems as though the refurbs are sold out and AT&T's website has been screwy all day as I was trying to upgrade.

The weirdest thing is that when I add an iPhone 4S refurb as a NEW customer, they are in stock and I can purchase them. But as an UPGRADE they are out of stock. I mentioned this to the support chat person and he just kept saying they were out of stock and pointed me in the direction of other great phone models they had on sale today.

What the frick is going on?!!

Anyone else have this issue?

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by Blackberryroid

No matter how desperate I am for a product, I'll never get a refurbished one.

Originally Posted by stevensocal

I won't buy a referb phone, it's a 50/50 chance you wil get a lemon. I work in the cell phone biz and I see what comes back for refer.. NO THANKS... Pay the extra 100.00 get in the STORE .. Not online .. Have the right experience of enjoying the best phone in the world , first hand , if you can't afford full price DON'T BUY ONE.

I can't comment on refurbs, in general; I guess it's 'buyer beware'. Having said that, if these are APPLE refurbs, one needn't worry. You're hard pressed to distinguish them from 'new', plus full warranty, and available APPLE-CARE; they are good deals.

Originally Posted by Thunderhawks

.....BTW: The longest person living without food was Irom Chanu Sharmila who didn't eat for 500 weeks.

That's well over 9.5 years. Find that hard to believe, source please?

[imagineadam]

Originally Posted by viperGTS

Betting these are the scratched up ones that people have been trading in lately.

Finally got my 16gb black yesterday. Very impressed. The first guy who posted this is most likely right on. Indeed my phone had one tiny scuff in the mirror finish. But that was it! Everything else flawless! Even though I myself am kinda OCD this isn't bothering me knowing that I got a brand new phone for $100 cheaper! It's gonna get scratched up anyways! Glad I saved one of those thousands of misfit iPhone 5's with a tiny scuff!

[pommephone]

Originally Posted by imagineadam

Finally got my 16gb black yesterday. Very impressed. The first guy who posted this is most likely right on. Indeed my phone had one tiny scuff in the mirror finish. But that was it! Everything else flawless! Even though I myself am kinda OCD this isn't bothering me knowing that I got a brand new phone for $100 cheaper! It's gonna get scratched up anyways! Glad I saved one of those thousands of misfit iPhone 5's with a tiny scuff!

Actually, you didn't get it for $100 cheaper and you didn't get a brand new phone. You got a scuffed up used iPhone for only $50 cheaper because you can now buy a brand new one at BestBuy, RadioShack or Target for $149.99.

It will be interesting to see what AT&T charges for refurbished iPhone 5 once they get more in stock. I thought $99 was a pretty good deal until the price drop to $149.99 for brand new.

[mscriv]

Originally Posted by pommephone

Actually, you didn't get it for $100 cheaper and you didn't get a brand new phone. You got a scuffed up used iPhone for only $50 cheaper because you can now buy a brand new one at BestBuy, RadioShack or Target for $149.99.

It will be interesting to see what AT&T charges for refurbished iPhone 5 once they get more in stock. I thought $99 was a pretty good deal until the price drop to $149.99 for brand new.

The $50 discount at those retailers is a limited time offer. The phone will go back up to the normal price after the holidays. I'd say it's a safe bet that At&t will hold out for a little longer at the $50 off rate, but that very soon the standard refurb price will be $100 off the normal rate.

[imagineadam]

Originally Posted by pommephone

Actually, you didn't get it for $100 cheaper and you didn't get a brand new phone. You got a scuffed up used iPhone for only $50 cheaper because you can now buy a brand new one at BestBuy, RadioShack or Target for $149.99.

It will be interesting to see what AT&T charges for refurbished iPhone 5 once they get more in stock. I thought $99 was a pretty good deal until the price drop to $149.99 for brand new.

Okay maybe not brand new but for a phone that has been out for only two months and with all the OCD people returning them with tiny scuffs pretty much the day or day after they have opened them that's pretty much brand new to me! And when I ordered it on the 23rd there were no other deals going on. Maybe there are now like you said. But anyways I'm happy with my barely used tiny scuffed iPhone 5! You can't take it away from me!

[MarximusMG]

Pretty impressive pricing. Wonder how long stock will last.

[dukebound85]

Permanent or just for Black Friday?

[xionxiox]

YES! i hope the supplies lasts until my upgrade

[arn]

Originally Posted by dukebound85

Permanent or just for Black Friday?

seems likely to stick around (as supplies last)

arn

[jmsait19]

Bought a refurb 4 for my wife, couple years ago... Like typical Apple refurbs, it came in perfect condition. Kinda bummed we already bought 5's, because I'd have no problem doing this again.

[doodads]

Originally Posted by jmsait19

Bought a refurb 4 for my wife, couple years ago... Like typical Apple refurbs, it came in perfect condition. Kinda bummed we already bought 5's, because I'd have no problem doing this again.

These aren't Apple refurbs, they are AT&T refurbs.

----------

Originally Posted by FF_productions

What's the warranty on this?

When I bought a refurbised iPhone 4 from AT&T, the Apple warranty applied based on the original purchase date of the phone. If you give Apple your serial number, they can tell you when the original owner bought it and how much warranty is left. For these refurbs at this point, the end of the warranty is likely to be next June or July.

[screensaver400]

Originally Posted by doodads

For these refurbs at this point, the end of the warranty is likely to be next June or July.

iPhone 5 only went on sale September 21, 2012. Since a one-year warranty is standard, the earliest warranty end date is one year from that date.

[mscriv]

Originally Posted by doodads

When I bought a refurbised iPhone 4 from AT&T, the Apple warranty applied based on the original purchase date of the phone. If you give Apple your serial number, they can tell you when the original owner bought it and how much warranty is left.

Just thought I would echo this. My wife and I bought refurb iPhone 4's through At&t almost two years ago and this was the case for us. We plugged in the serial numbers at Apple's website and found out when each phone's warranty expired. We could have purchased Applecare to extend the warranty, but chose not to do so. Our refurbs have been great and were cosmetically excellent. The plan is that sometime soon we will buy iPhone 5 refurbs to upgrade.

[nickpro]

Has this ever happened this fast?

There's no doubt in my mind this is due to the scratchability of the 5's and the over-abundance of swapped and now refurbished units.

[Blackberryroid]

No matter how desperate I am for a product, I'll never get a refurbished one.

[siurpeeman]

curious to know if one could purchase applecare+ on one of these.

[Jessica Lares]

Not bad. It'll be $0 on contract by next year though at this rate.

[cc2096]

Originally Posted by siurpeeman

curious to know if one could purchase applecare+ on one of these.

^^This...