Returned my iPhone 5 because it was refurbished?

surjavarman said:

I recently received my iphone 5 but straight out of the box I noticed some minor scratches on top of the device and some kind of red discoloration at the back where the aluminum meets the glass as well on the side of that stainless still band. Furthermore there was a tiny blue speck on the front of the device. I tried rubbing it with some water and a cotton towel and it didn't come off.

Then I saw in another thread that another guy got a refurbished phone too. I suspect apple of giving me a refurbished second hand piece of junk. But how do I know they will not send me another refurbished iphone.

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I had to get my first iP5 replaced due to dead pixels and the replacement I'm sure was a refurb.....wouldn't call it a "second hand piece of junk". Generally speaking, their refurbs are in pristine condition (as mine and my wife's replacements were). Seems like you just got a bad phone - take it back and open the phone they give you in store to make sure its good - if the phone is pristine, who cares if it's a refurb or not?

jrswizzle said:

I had to get my first iP5 replaced due to dead pixels and the replacement I'm sure was a refurb.....wouldn't call it a "second hand piece of junk". Generally speaking, their refurbs are in pristine condition (as mine and my wife's replacements were). Seems like you just got a bad phone - take it back and open the phone they give you in store to make sure its good - if the phone is pristine, who cares if it's a refurb or not?

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well would you buy a car which looks like its brand new and cost likes its new, but it's already been crashed once and then repaired?

Sounds like you got a new phone that wasn't perfect. Take it back and get a new one.

Here is a problem with this idea on people getting a "refurb".

Apple does not use "refurbished" units. Not unless they've changed their policies recently. Refurbished units are normally sold or used by providers such as AT&T or Verizon.

Apple replaces units with what is called a "re-manufactured" unit. That is, a unit that has been rebuilt from parts that have been tested as good.
A refurb is just a unit thats been tested and sent back out, or had slight repairs.

Obviously, the difference and separation between these two descriptions is huge.

And when I say Apple, I mean one of their vendors.

surjavarman said:

I recently received my iphone 5 but straight out of the box I noticed some minor scratches on top of the device and some kind of red discoloration at the back where the aluminum meets the glass as well on the side of that stainless still band. Furthermore there was a tiny blue speck on the front of the device. I tried rubbing it with some water and a cotton towel and it didn't come off.

Then I saw in another thread that another guy got a refurbished phone too. I suspect apple of giving me a refurbished second hand piece of junk. But how do I know they will not send me another refurbished iphone.

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Return that one for a refund and buy another one.

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iceterminal said:

Here is a problem with this idea on people getting a "refurb".

Apple does not use "refurbished" units. Not unless they've changed their policies recently. Refurbished units are normally sold or used by providers such as AT&T or Verizon.

Apple replaces units with what is called a "re-manufactured" unit. That is, a unit that has been rebuilt from parts that have been tested as good.
A refurb is just a unit thats been tested and sent back out, or had slight repairs.

Obviously, the difference and separation between these two descriptions is huge.

And when I say Apple, I mean one of their vendors.

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Apple do use refurbished. loads of people on here will tell you that. Refurbs have their parts changed too when needed and are supposed to look brand new.

Yes, you get a refurbished phone when you return a defective phone to the Apple store. You agreed to this when you bought the phone and is covered in the warranty.

Wether you like it or not you will receive a certified
Re manufactured device.
Just like every company does for warranty swaps.
They either repair yours or give you a refurb.

If you got it out of a retail box, sealed with cellophane, it's new, not refurb.

Remanufactured handsets come in a plain white cardboard box.

I don't see why people are complaining about a remanufactured device. When I asked a genius about this, he said all physical parts that you can touch, and parts that can degrade (battery, buttons, ports etc) are all new. The only things that are used from other phones are parts that do not degrade. Parts like ram and cameras are examples of this.

Smartass said:

well would you buy a car which looks like its brand new and cost likes its new, but it's already been crashed once and then repaired?

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If it was given brand new parts, why not?

But obviously, comparing a purchase of tens of thousands of dollars with one of less than $1,000 is a bit far fetched.

Apple products don't depreciate NEARLY as fast as an automobile does. And there are a lot less things/parts to consider in a phone than in a car....

i.e. I drop my phone and shatter the screen and dent the aluminum. Apple takes it, rebuilds the phone with a new battery, new aluminum and a new screen.

vs.

I crash my car and the bumper is a mess. The dealership replaces the bumper and the car looks new - but the engine is used (tons of potential issues here), the tires are used, the inside of the car may or may not be clean....

Not really a fair comparison. Heck - even if Apple were to NOT replace the battery - at this point in time at most it would only be about 4-5 months old....when most people replace a phone at least every 2 years, you would never see the battery go dead anyways - and if it did, you'd likely be under warranty and could get it replaced.

Again - if the phone looks and works like new, why does it matter? You are getting a replacement for a phone you've already used....

I had to get my 5 replaced because the volume button stopped working. Received a nice phone though. Im sure its a refurb but the phone itself looks brand new. No bumps, scratches, nothing! I was really impressed with how the phone looks due to the fact that the 5 scratches easily. It is a bummer that its a refurb phone. I paid for a new one, unfortunately I had to replace it.

I can understand wanting new if you bought new... But to know it is refurbished because of some blemishes is silly. There will always be a few imperfect phones. That's why they let you return. There were a zillion posts on launch day of scuffed iPhone 5's...were those refurbs?

If the phone was new, then the OP has nothing to worry about. The OP has 30 days to return. The OP will get a brand new phone, if his new phone was defective. After 30 days, a refurb.

surjavarman said:

I recently received my iphone 5 but straight out of the box I noticed some minor scratches on top of the device and some kind of red discoloration at the back where the aluminum meets the glass as well on the side of that stainless still band. Furthermore there was a tiny blue speck on the front of the device. I tried rubbing it with some water and a cotton towel and it didn't come off.

Then I saw in another thread that another guy got a refurbished phone too. I suspect apple of giving me a refurbished second hand piece of junk. But how do I know they will not send me another refurbished iphone.

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Trust me my friend you would definitely want that iPhone 5 with all those defects than an android.

Android DEFINES junk.

Think about it.

iPhone 5 with scratches vs Garbage

Op just take it back and get another. I don't understand why this is a huge deal, if it looks as bad as you say they should take it back no questions.

If someone put a pristine new iPhone down next to a pristine refurbished one you could not tell the difference in any way, externally. Your anger is disgusting and uncalled for. So your phone was scratched/marked out of the box, this is not uncommon, as read in these forums, due to some quality control issues at the factories.
1. Your thread title makes no sense. Your post needs more explaining - did you return it or are you just accusing Apple of something?

2. Don't believe everything you read on these forums.

Act, don't yap

I have purchased at least 3 iPhone refurbs over the years, a 4, 4S and recently a refurbed black iPhone 5. All have been perfect. No problems.

If anything, Apple refurbs are actually BETTER than new to be honest.

I understand paying for a new device and then when that doesn't work out due to a manufacturing issue being upset because you receive a refurbished replacement back in exchange. I went through something similar recently where the two iPhone 5's VZW sent me both had issues (Defective auto-focus & loud internal rattle). Apple agreed to replace the phone with a white box refurb, which I reluctantly agreed to. Long story short the refurbs showed up time and time again looking subpar cosmetically. The last one they sent me had a loose battery that was moving around.

Finally Apple was over the exchange game and sent me a brand new phone. I got it about 2 weeks ago now. So far everything is good. It did come straight out of it's sealed retail box with a couple minor scuffs, but nothing that would warrant a return on my part. I'm happy to have a phone that works flawlessly and has none of the above issues I mentioned previously. As soon as Apple sent me the new device I called VZW to cancel my Asurion and then signed up for AppleCare+. So I'm all set until February 2015 should anything happen. By then I'll probably be on to the next iPhone. I'd recommend AppleCare to all. For $99 and a $49 deductible it's something to consider.

surjavarman said:

I initiated the process of returning the iphone already. No big deal but it means that I'd have to go through life without a smartphone for more than a week again which is just annoying.

And if I'd wanted a refurbished iphone I would buy one at a refurbished price just like any mac or ipod

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That's your whole argument, as it was mine. Why am I paying full retail for a refurbished device? It's a legitimate question.

surjavarman said:

I initiated the process of returning the iphone already. No big deal but it means that I'd have to go through life without a smartphone for more than a week again which is just annoying.

And if I'd wanted a refurbished iphone I would buy one at a refurbished price just like any mac or ipod

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Seeing as how this forum is full of posts from people pulling brand-new iPhone 5s from the box with scuffs and scrapes from day #1 (when there were no refurbs), how exactly is it that you're able to tell that yours is a refurb?

If its from Apple, and it came in a retail box (ie one with a picture of the iPhone on the box, and the box contained the charger, cable, and headphones), then it wasn't a refurb. It was a scratched up new one, which going through your post history on here, you seem to be aware of.

surjavarman said:

Then I saw in another thread that another guy got a refurbished phone too. I suspect apple of giving me a refurbished second hand piece of junk. But how do I know they will not send me another refurbished iphone.

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If you want to be certain its easy. Don't buy an iPhone. Because no matter how much anyone tries to tell you that it's not a refurb, if its not 100% perfect in your eyes you are going to think it is. So save yourself the worry and buy something else.

'New' iPhone 5 with defects because it slipped through the quality control in China: Worth it's price in gold.
iPhone 5 with all degraded parts replaced and gone through the quality control again, but this time in the US: Second hand piece of junk.
iPhone 5 that didn't slip though QC in China, got sent back and had all degraded parts replaced: I don't know, you tell me.