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Need some quick Iphone Refurb advice.

V

volntitan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 4, 2005
374
0
OK. My daughter's 21st BDay is Saturday and of course I waited last minute. I want to get her something completely unexpected. An iPhone. Now AT&T have the refurbished ones for $149...problem is I can't get it by Saturday. I found one at Best Buy for $199 (16gb). Am I asking for trouble purchasing a refurb from Best Buy? I know they will update the iphone soon, but for what she needs, the current one will be just fine.

Please advise!!!
 
Refurbs from BestBuy are the same from anywhere else; they are serviced and certified by Apple. I wouldn't worry about it.

And happy birthday to your daughter.
 
Honestly, I would just wait 2 months until the new ones are released. I know you said that she will probably not need the new one, but you are signing a two year contract. If the next iphone is subsidized by AT&T as well, then that's 2 years you're stuck with having the "old" iphone when you could have gotten the new one for the same price.

However, I think a refurbished iphone is fine, and I believe Apple will still cover you for 1 year warranty from what I read here:

http://store.apple.com/us/help/online_store_exclusives

(scroll down to "Buy a Certified Refurbished Product")

And I'm sure BestBuy will have some warranty options as well, but I wouldn't pay extra for it, since AppleCare is pretty good already.

I myself have a refurbished iphone and it looked brand new when I opened it and I have not have any problems since.
 
If it was for me, I would wait. But her current phone has died and she needs a new one. The best buy guy is trying hard to sell the "accidental damage" plan for $14 a month and said Apple Care for Iphone isn't any good because it won't cover accidental. The phone they sell refurb is $50 more than the AT&T one, but I can get it before Saturday.
 
$14/month is kind of expensive, but it's true that AppleCare won't cover accidental damage. In my experience though, I've had friends who broke their products and AppleCare still replaced it anyway. One dropped her iphone as she was opening the door, and the door kicked the iphone across the room and into the wall hard. It wouldn't even turn on, but she took it to Apple and they gave her a new refurbished iphone. The other dropped her macbook and it wouldn't boot, so AppleCare replaced the harddrive for her.

The only sure thing that they won't help you with though is water damage. They can easily tell if there has been any and won't do anything for you then. If she is careful with her phone, I would advise against getting the accidental protection.
 
Thanks. I looked at that link you posted but it doesn't say anything about Best Buy Refurb phones.
 
volntitan said:
Thanks. I looked at that link you posted but it doesn't say anything about Best Buy Refurb phones.
Click to expand...

I would

a) get her a temp phone

b) get her an empthy Iphone box and put in an IOU card.

put both inside a gift box


When she opens the iphone box and looks confused, explain to her that, you will get her the new iPhone when it comes out .

This way she gets the best of both worlds
 
volntitan said:
If it was for me, I would wait. But her current phone has died and she needs a new one. The best buy guy is trying hard to sell the "accidental damage" plan for $14 a month and said Apple Care for Iphone isn't any good because it won't cover accidental. The phone they sell refurb is $50 more than the AT&T one, but I can get it before Saturday.
Click to expand...

Get her an iPhone gift card from the Apple Store. That way she can just hang on to it till the new one gets released and purchase it once the new one is released. In the mean time, she could just get a cheap prepaid phone from ATT, Verizon, etc.
 
Dr. Cabrera said:
I would

a) get her a temp phone

b) get her an empthy Iphone box and put in an IOU card.

put both inside a gift box


When she opens the iphone box and looks confused, explain to her that, you will get her the new iPhone when it comes out .

This way she gets the best of both worlds
Click to expand...

I think the giftcard route is the best... Come on, listen to the Doctor!
 
I really would just rather have her have it in hand. Like I said, she doesn't need the latest and greatest. Even if they came out with a 32gb one, I still wouldn't pay the extra for that anyway. And it won't be 4g yet...heck, she doesn't even get 3g in the area where she goes to school.
 
volntitan said:
I really would just rather have her have it in hand. Like I said, she doesn't need the latest and greatest. Even if they came out with a 32gb one, I still wouldn't pay the extra for that anyway. And it won't be 4g yet...heck, she doesn't even get 3g in the area where she goes to school.
Click to expand...

Then I guess it comes down to: Do you want one in hand for $50 more or do you want to wait for AT&T's delivery?
 
my experience

In February, I bought a refurb 8gb from Best Buy. I needed to buy mine there because I had gift cards to use. I paid $149 for it at the time. 5 days later, I noticed AT&T was selling the refurb 8gb for $99. So I went to Best Buy and they priced matched and refunded me $50. Then I decided that I wanted a 16gb. Since I was still within my 30 days, I returned it to Best Buy for a 16gb, which they were selling for $249, but I had them price match again and I got it for $199.

So, I would buy it at Best Buy, and have them price match AT&T - problem solved!!! And, I've never had any problem with my refurb phone.
 
getting the accidental damage package from best buy is nice if there is a high risk of the phone being damaged. best buy will replace it. i know someone that works for best buy mobile and he said even if he didnt work there he would purchase it and i trust him completely.
 
I believe BestBuy's iPhones are all refreshed. They are not Apple certified or tested. Geek Squad fixes these up. Some can be scratched, some can be impeccable. It depends on the previous owner. YMMV. And they don't come in the nice boxes give you, they are in custom BestBuy ones (if that matters). The upside is that they give you a one year extended Geek Squad warranty.
These unused or lightly used iPhones were returned during the buyer's 30-day trial period. Each refreshed iPhone is independently quality tested and loaded with the latest software to meet current factory standards.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, I don't doubt they have been tested, but I'm not a big person on refurbs (unless I get a nice warranty plan). BestBuy, if that's where you're getting it, has some nice plans -- I would hate to be stuck in a plan for another 12+ months if there ever was an issue on my phone.
 
AT&T has $99 8GB iPhones and $149 16GB iPhones refurb. I'm lookin' at them now. I would just order this thing and give it to your daughter a couple of days late. Unless she's a stuck-up B, she'll be all HOW AWESOME!!! I wouldn't spend any more than those prices now with a revision coming up within two months. You either get yourself a good deal or you get the new thing later.
 
I got the Best Buy one. Turns out that I had a reward zone bucks coupon and some unused gift cards, so got it for $160, tax included. I couldn't bring myself to pay $14 a month for insurance.
 
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