Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

White Box Genius Bar Phones ARE REFURBS

179202 said:
The reason the manager told you that is because he would tell you that. Apple employees tend to be more honest than those in the manager position in the stores (the specialists/genius' are there because they love apple products, the managers are there to do business).

I don't understand why this is even a thread. OP - you should have searched the forum.

The white box phones are specifically for replacements. These may or may not be refurbs. When refurbs are available, they will be refurbs. Otherwise, they're used to replace products or to display on the shop floor.

FACT.

Can this debacle be over now?
Click to expand...

Oh give me a break not every manager is super shady trying to make a buck kind of person

You need to get that chip off your shoulder and realize people can be honest if you ask politely

What was the point off your post, you pretty much restated/agreed with what I said
 
Had mine swapped on Wednesday in Regent Street store (London). The guy on the iPod bar told me it definitely wasn't a refurb, they aren't using refurb stock yet. And it was in a brown box, not a white one. ;)
 
I recently got a white box replacement and it looks like a new phone.

As long as it isn't full of cosmetic imperfections and works, I don't really care where a replacement has come from to be honest. :)
 
Got an exchange a little over a week ago, the genius told me that the replacement could be a refurb and could be new but he thinks it should be new because the 3G iphones only just came out.

It was in a brown box which I assume is the same as the white boxes everyone talks about. The serial number doesn't start with 5k which I assume means its not a refurb?! Dunno. As long as it works I suppose.
 
they are refurbs

I can tell you for cetain that they are refurbs. If you get one you can most certainly tell. The SN are changed to start with 5k I think. Also everone I inspected had some kind of defect. The genius opened 5 boxes in front of me and they all either had dead pixels or dust under the screen. I am guessing the repair process is not clean room like factory.
 
mmoran27 said:
I can tell you for cetain that they are refurbs. If you get one you can most certainly tell. The SN are changed to start with 5k I think.
Click to expand...

"I think" and "for certain" go together like lemonade and toothpaste.

My white box replacement phone has no K anywhere in the serial #. And it had no defects. Does that mean it's not a refurb? No. It may very well be. But can I tell for certain or cetain? No. No I can not. Nor can you.

How bout we all just stop trying to figure it out?
 
shenaniganz08 said:
they are NOT refurbs, they are just not packaged in the retail boxes

I spoke with the manager at the Santa Monica Apple store and he gave me all the facts

the reason i would think apple employees are saying they are refurbs is to stop all the whiny people who want an absolutely perfect iphone


good for them, scare those people into keeping phones that should never be returned in the first place
Click to expand...

So what's apple been doing with all the iphones for the last two months that have been returned by whiny people who want an absolutely perfect iphone?
 
wreckshop said:
So what's apple doing with all the iphones for the last two months that have been returned by whiny people who want an absolutely perfect iphone?
Click to expand...

Being refurbished so that they can be used as replacement stock. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been being seeded to stores for over a month. That doesn't mean that every white box is going to be new but I think you are now going to see a pretty steady progression to the white boxed iPhones being refurbs.

I know in a thread about 2 weeks ago someone posted that their white box unit serial number was a 5XXXX series which has traditionally indicated a refurb unit.

You have to remember that only a small percentage of iPhone users actually come to MacRumors and post so you are not getting a true read on what is and is not being given out as replacements.
 
I researched this same question with Apple and AT&T since October '07, when I received my first replacement, and both Apple and AT&T never gave a firm or believable answer to the refurb or new question, nor did they address the issue of assigning serial numbers to refurbs. :confused:
 
Even if they are refurbs I don't mind. Like i said they have the same warranty as the original phone that you purchased. I also do not doubt that the first month they had to give people brand new iphones because they didnt have enough refurbs but if people think that they can have the phone 2 months and they take it in and get a brand new one they are mistaken. This is all my opinion by the way.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 16GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5A347 Safari/525.20)

mmoran27 said:
I can tell you for cetain that they are refurbs. If you get one you can most certainly tell. The SN are changed to start with 5k I think. Also everone I inspected had some kind of defect. The genius opened 5 boxes in front of me and they all either had dead pixels or dust under the screen. I am guessing the repair process is not clean room like factory.
Click to expand...

I got mine swapped out today in the Birmingham (uk) store. It came out of a plain brown box and doesn't have a serial number starting 5K. Don't know if it's a refurb or not and don't really care too much: what I do know is it looks perfect with no dust, misalignment or dead pixels :)
 
bori said:
My white box iPhone has a 5K serial number, but it was also made 2 weeks before i received it...
Click to expand...

I could be wrong but I would think on the 5K serial numbers that what would be the manufacture date on the 8K serial numbers would be the refurb date or if you like the re-manufacture date.
 
Opie said:
Even if they are refurbs I don't mind. Like i said they have the same warranty as the original phone that you purchased. I also do not doubt that the first month they had to give people brand new iphones because they didnt have enough refurbs but if people think that they can have the phone 2 months and they take it in and get a brand new one they are mistaken. This is all my opinion by the way.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I think the refurb process has much stricter QA standards and inspection than a new iphones.
 
wreckshop said:
I'm with you. I think the refurb process has much stricter QA standards and inspection than a new iphones.
Click to expand...

I likewise agree. I actually buy refurb computers at my office all the time. I compare the prices of new and refurbs and unless I can get a better deal on new (which does happen on occasion), I almost always buy refurb. On top of the tighter QA and testing process, keep in mind that refurb does not always mean problem. In the US, electronics that are returned open cannot legally be sold as new. They must be labeled as open box, refurb or previously owned even if they have no problems and were never turned on.
 
shenaniganz08 said:
Oh give me a break not every manager is super shady trying to make a buck kind of person

You need to get that chip off your shoulder and realize people can be honest if you ask politely

What was the point off your post, you pretty much restated/agreed with what I said
Click to expand...

Well, what was the point of your post? People can be honest even if not asked politely. Method of asking isn't always reflective of the person. Anyway, that's not what this is about.

White/Brown box phones are supplied to Apple for exchange or display purposes. I would imagine with all the problems with 3G's (cracks etc), that a decent number of these phones are refurbs. And by the way, I was told that if a customer asked if a product was a refurb to just say 'no', since there isn't really anyway of telling from the customers pov.


There is no chip on my shoulder, just awareness at what some people are like and facts that I've been told during an induction process.
 
179202 said:
And by the way, I was told that if a customer asked if a product was a refurb to just say 'no', since there isn't really anyway of telling from the customers pov.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you work for Apple. IANAL, but if this is the case and you were actually told this, I would check with someone at Apple Corporate as I believe telling someone that what you are giving them is new when it is a refurb would be a big no no. Telling them that it is not possible to know as units that are boxed and used as replacements could be new and could be refurbished would be fine. But actually telling them that it is new is deceptive and could get you and Apple into legal troubles.
 
Phil A. said:

I got mine swapped out today in the Birmingham (uk) store. It came out of a plain brown box and doesn't have a serial number starting 5K. Don't know if it's a refurb or not and don't really care too much: what I do know is it looks perfect with no dust, misalignment or dead pixels :)
Click to expand...


When was your appointment? I was in there earlier too, doing the exact same thing! Unfortunately my replacement has some cosmetic issues on the back, so it looks like that will be going back next weekend.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)

Joe23 said:
Phil A. said:

I got mine swapped out today in the Birmingham (uk) store. It came out of a plain brown box and doesn't have a serial number starting 5K. Don't know if it's a refurb or not and don't really care too much: what I do know is it looks perfect with no dust, misalignment or dead pixels :)
Click to expand...


When was your appointment? I was in there earlier too, doing the exact same thing! Unfortunately my replacement has some cosmetic issues on the back, so it looks like that will be going back next weekend.
Click to expand...


Cosmetic issues on the back? Sheesh. No wonder iPhones are in such short supply.
 
mcdj said:
Cosmetic issues on the back? Sheesh. No wonder iPhones are in such short supply.
Click to expand...

When I buy a phone, I don't expect it to have a dent in the back of it! Sorry for being so picky...
 
Joe23 said:
When was your appointment? I was in there earlier too, doing the exact same thing! Unfortunately my replacement has some cosmetic issues on the back, so it looks like that will be going back next weekend.
Click to expand...

5:30 this afternoon. I'd been waiting to take it back for a while due to cracking appearing near the dock connector, and finally got around to it today: It was an incredibly painless experience - the genius had a quick look, shone a light down the headphone socket to check for water damage and swapped it out.
 
My prigional phone was replaced. I asked and the genius said they might be new, might be refurbs, but all refurbs came with a new case. So, even if the insides were repared, the part I would se was new, absolutely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back