New eBay iPhone... not so new.

[Robby9279]

Yes, like there is absolutely no danger in buying anything from Craigslist...

Apple refurbs always seem to be pretty good. If I were in your shoes, I'd take the $300-400 savings and get the refurb. If you have pretty much any issue with the phone, Apple's just going to give you a refurb replacement anyway. Take the money saved and use it for something else.

Yeah, but I'd rather get a refurb after I get it brand new. I'm surprised nobody else feels the same way I do.

Edit: And yeah, the craigslist thing, I agree with you.

 

[benflick]

Yes, like there is absolutely no danger in buying anything from Craigslist...

Enless they have a gun/knife...

I'm not saying there is no danger in Craigslist, but compared to eBay, Craigslist is the clear winner. You meet people in person on Craigslist, so you can see the product you are about to buy in person before you buy it. Sure there are scammers on Craigslist, but you have to be stupid to fall for one.

 

[Gizmotoy]

The OP could still have the same problem had he purchased on Craigslist. It wasn't discovered it was a refurb until the SN was run. You have the traditional misrepresentation of the product, plus you have the additional personal danger of meeting the buyer/seller. With eBay you don't have to meet personally, and you should always have recourse through your Credit Card company for financial issues. The same is not true for Craigslist. I abandoned eBay and sell quite a bit through Craigslist, but I would certainly disagree it's the safer of the two.

Yeah, but I'd rather get a refurb after I get it brand new. I'm surprised nobody else feels the same way I do.

I bought mine, and after two months or so the case was cracking and was replaced with a refurb. Now the refurb is cracked. If I was doing it again, I'd save the $100 and buy a refurb from the start. You have the opportunity to save something like $400. That's huge, especially given my refurb was in better condition out of the box than my brand new one. No light leaks, and the screen was properly aligned.

I understand the desire to want the new one, but the price difference is just so high given that the only additional benefit you receive for it is a pretty box.

 

[dccorona]

Well I was skeptical to buy off eBay and now I regret doing so.
My loving mother went through the hassle of spending a boat load of money on me for Christmas to make me happy, and bought me a "new" iPhone off ebay. Well, I enjoyed playing with it, it's a great phone, some of you may have even seen my thread on opening day. Well, I thought the box was a little "too scratched up" so I figured hey, why not check the serial numbers. Well, to my unfortunate surprise the serial number on the box and the phone do not match. So I decided to go dig a little further and did what anybody else would do and entered both serial numbers on the apple website. Not to my surprise I get this message once I finished entering the serial number on the box, "Our records indicate that this product has been replaced. " Oh good... wait, what?! REPLACED? So I bought a replaced or... refurbished iPhone not a brand new... well brand new... refurbished.. iPhone.
Some of you may be thinking "Hey what's wrong with that, refurbished units are as good as new, they go through a whole new cleaning process, they work, it's not a problem" Hey, I agree with you, but that's not the point! I supposedly bought a new iPhone, but got a refurbished unit instead, I wouldn't mind if I knew I was buying a refurbished iPhone.
So my plan of action is to return this item back to the seller, and get my dad to handle this with apple and sign the contract and get a new plan and buy it directly from one of the retail locations, brand new. Is this possible, I'm not eligible for an upgrade so what's the pricing again $500 for 8gb and $600 for 16?
Well this was my story and the point was inform some people to be careful when buying an iPhone from eBay, you don't know what you're actually in for.

you didn't notice that the package wasn't shrink wrapped?
that'd be a big clue that it wasn't as "new" as you originally thought

 

[Robby9279]

I bought mine, and after two months or so the case was cracking and was replaced with a refurb. Now the refurb is cracked. If I was doing it again, I'd save the $100 and buy a refurb from the start. You have the opportunity to save something like $400. That's huge, especially given my refurb was in better condition out of the box than my brand new one. No light leaks, and the screen was properly aligned.

A light leak is the least of my problems, as this refurbished one has it. But I definitely understand what you mean. But considering we paid $600 expecting a new one, it makes us very angry. Especially when the refurbish units can run for $100 less on eBay.

you didn't notice that the package wasn't shrink wrapped?
that'd be a big clue that it wasn't as "new" as you originally thought

He said that at&t had taken off the shrink wrap in order to activate it which made sense to me.
Trust me, I looked for many sellers who would try selling it still in the shrink wrap. The person I bought it from even said it was still in the shrink wrap, until I emailed him prior to ordering it to ask if it was still on there.

 

[Gizmotoy]

A light leak is the least of my problems, as this refurbished one has it. But I definitely understand what you mean. But considering we paid $600 expecting a new one, it makes us very angry. Especially when the refurbish units can run for $100 less on eBay.

I wasn't referring to purchasing a refurb thinking it was new, as is your case. Obviously I think your money should be refunded. I would be very angry as well.

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Refurb is a refurb, as a responsible and respectable eBay seller, it should always be disclosed.

This guy is far from trustworthy, he's obviously scamming those that are less knowledgeable. My suggestion is to leave a feedback stating exactly what happened, and to me, it warrants a negative feedback for deceit.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Refurb is a refurb, as a responsible and respectable eBay seller, it should always be disclosed.

This guy is far from trustworthy, he's obviously scamming those that are less knowledgeable. My suggestion is to leave a feedback stating exactly what happened, and to me, it warrants a negative feedback for deceit.

Not a bad idea, and since sellers are no longer permitted to provide neutral or negative feedback on buyers, there's no fear of retaliation. I would wait until you've received your money back, if he does follow through on that offer.

 

[Robby9279]

Not a bad idea, and since sellers are no longer permitted to provide neutral or negative feedback on buyers, there's no fear of retaliation. I would wait until you've received your money back, if he does follow through on that offer.

Man I am praying that he does give my parents their money back... if he doesn't, I'm out of an iPhone....
I really hope he does... I hate this kind of anxiety.

 

[fireloss]

I don't think you understand what refurbished means. A brand new iPhone is more likely to have problems right out of the box. A refurbished phone was carefully looked at and assembled by someone in the USA that is Apple certified. Refurbished iPhones are better than brand new because they weren't slapped together really quick and shipped from China. I didn't get a good iPhone until I got a refurbished one. Also, I have a refurbished Mac Pro. I've NEVER had a single problem with it. The only problem I've ever had with this machine was a DVD drive stopped working and it was an add-on that I got after the fact. The original drive still works awesome. In all my experiences with Apple refurbished stuff is that refurbished always means higher quality than new.

Also, refurbished iPhones get a NEW battery, a NEW case, and new GLASS (if scratches are found). Refurbished iPhones have the same warrantee as a new iPhone as well. Why is it so important that you get a new iPhone (which could be a gamble) than to have something that was checked over and certified as "brand new condition"?

But as per my experience, every refurbished unit I got was a DOA, and it was more hassle than is worth saving a few dollars. A better way of getting them inspected is to specifically request that they have a quality check on the products before having them shipped.

 

[Ish]

Just looked and it says 90 days or more of warranty. You can always upgrade the apple care though.

I was going to say I don't think there is Applecare for the iPhone but I noticed you can get it in the US online store but not the UK one. I was told at the local Apple Store that there is no Applecare for the iPhone. US contracts are 2 years and UK ones 18 months, but that still leaves UK phones with six months left over at the end of the warranty.