Refurbished?

[oPIXIEo]

Hi, I was wondering what the general consensus of getting a refurbished iPhone from Apple is.

I bought my 32GB 3GS in June from a friend who used it for a year and kept it in MINT condition, on Thursday I dropped it from approx. 5ft from my locker at work...it landed on a concrete hard floor and knackered the power button and back case (I'm so freaking angry with myself for being so **** clumsy). We have since had it opened up to investigate further and since putting it back together have discovered that the screen doesn't light up properly so I'm guesstimating it would need a power button, back case and screen. Right now I have no phone and it's killing me!

I don't want to waste my time and money trying to get it repaired as Apple wouldn't touch it now so I would have to take it to a 3rd party repair shop and only get 1 months warranty on the repair.

What do you think about paying the £139 to an Apple Genius Bar and getting a refurbished iPhone, has anyone got a good experience with this? My only concern is how good refurbished phones are will they last as long as a phone that has never been broken?

 

[dissolve]

I've owned a refurbished notebook and iPod touch from Apple and both were fantastic. Can't comment on phone specifically, but I do highly recommend the refurb site. They offer the same warranty as brand new so any problems should get fixed right away at an Apple Store.

 

[rnelan7]

I agree, but I also have not bought any phones from the refurb site. I have bought other items refurbished and they have been as good as new for me. Worst comes to worst you can just return it if you don't like it.

 

[oPIXIEo]

did it today. My partner surprised me with a trip through to the Genius Bar in Glasgow and paid the money to trade my knackered iPhone in for a new one...so far it's great! PERFECT condition.

what we found out is that the refurbs have never been owned by anyone, handsets come straight off the production line and get tested before shipping to a store, if they're found to be faulty they are sent back to the start of the line, stripped and rebuilt.

OR

Theyve been made up out of PARTS of phones traded in by people: if you trade your iPhone in because of a broken screen for instance, they will dispose of the screen and reuse all the other working parts in rebuilds.

I'm hoping it stays perfect, I will be investing in a shock proof cover (shopping for one now) and have TOTALLY learned my lesson! It will never be set down on anything higher than a coffee table from now on lol

 

[BrokeniPhone85]

I know plenty of people who have bought refurbished, they haven't had any problems whatsoever. I am definitely going to go this route next iPhone I get until somebody proves me otherwise.