Will i be getting a refurbished/used droid?

[John Connor]

my droid stopped working after i had an accident with it and when i took it to verizon they told me they dont have any droids and will have to ship one to me... than i started thinking, how can you not be in stock of the newest phone out by verizon?...

well i even asked her.. you have no droids here?.. and she responded no... not sure whether she just didnt want to be honest and tell me i will be getting a refurbished one in the mail because i find it hard to believe they dont have any...

this is also my 2nd time returning a droid, which she rudely pointed out.. first one became completely unresponsive and the touchscreen didnt work after 5 days, completely not my fault... the lady though just brought out a new phone from the back that time....

i have to go back tomorrow because i had to wait till the 2nd for them to ship it out... should i ask again about why i cant get a phone right there?

 

[Berry2Droid]

Since the phone is brand new theres a good chance you wont get a refurb. The policy for exchanging phones is, within 30days we have to give you a brand new one out of the box. If its after 30days we ship you one. Just because we ship it doesnt mean its not new. Did she give you a receipt? If she did look on it, if the code is like FRUMOTA855 or something with FRU in front of it, then its most likely refurbished or "certified like new" which means it was a phone that was sold and returned for whatever reason. 50% of the time CLN phones have 0 talk time on them and are just the result of someone not wanting the phone because of cost/functionality or xmas gift ect..

 

[John Connor]

Since the phone is brand new theres a good chance you wont get a refurb. The policy for exchanging phones is, within 30days we have to give you a brand new one out of the box. If its after 30days we ship you one. Just because we ship it doesnt mean its not new. Did she give you a receipt? If she did look on it, if the code is like FRUMOTA855 or something with FRU in front of it, then its most likely refurbished or "certified like new" which means it was a phone that was sold and returned for whatever reason. 50% of the time CLN phones have 0 talk time on them and are just the result of someone not wanting the phone because of cost/functionality or xmas gift ect..

thanks, well i had to wait till the 2nd so tomorrow i have to go back to verizon and than it will be shipped.. i will look in the receipt to see what it says...

would it be a problem if i just ask her if i will be getting a refurbished one?.. not because i plan on being a bitchy customer but i had a feeling she was hoping or avoiding i would ask a question like that.... if im getting a phone that is in "like new" condition i wouldn't mind aslong as it works perfectly, i didnt spend 300 on a phone to work mediocre

i work in customer service too so i understand what its like dealing with returns.....

 

[DroidJnkie]

I had to return an Eris once before I finally had enough and switched to Droid.

The customer service rep at the store told me (I asked him if I would be getting a refurbished one), and he told me that usually they do send out refurbished, but since the phone is so new it would most likely be new.

BUT,

he said that the phone would have a sticker on it, probably on the screen, that would say "Certified Like New", and that would tell me it would be refurbished.

You will get a pamphlet in the box that says something like "Congratulations on your "Like New Certified Phone" or some crap like that, but they put that in all the boxes and may not apply to you.

And yeah, the guy at the store told me they were "out" of phones too.

Seems like a standard line, a total lie.

 

[Berry2Droid]

I had to return an Eris once before I finally had enough and switched to Droid.

The customer service rep at the store told me (I asked him if I would be getting a refurbished one), and he told me that usually they do send out refurbished, but since the phone is so new it would most likely be new.

BUT,

he said that the phone would have a sticker on it, probably on the screen, that would say "Certified Like New", and that would tell me it would be refurbished.

You will get a pamphlet in the box that says something like "Congratulations on your "Like New Certified Phone" or some crap like that, but they put that in all the boxes and may not apply to you.

And yeah, the guy at the store told me they were "out" of phones too.

Seems like a standard line, a total lie.

Again, if its within 30d of purchase, we will give u a brand new out of box phone in the store, its called a 30day doa(dead on arrival)..after 30days, if there are FRU's(CLN's) we have to give you those, which the FRU Droid does exist now. If they are shipping it out, it is a fru. WHen she means we dont have any in stores, we dont, the FRU droids arent in stores yet really. If you complain enough they will just give you a new one in the store.

 

[metasin]

I had the exact same scenario, returned a 2nd unit and the store had no phones in stock. Shipped to me 2 days later. I am fairly certain that this is a refurbished unit. Everyhting works perfectly but there is a small dent in the speaker and a small scratch on the gold camera button.

 

[Bond J]

Refurbished device is NOT a used one. They are repaired and throughly checked. So they are as good as new and sometimes better because of their testing.

 

[John Connor]

Again, if its within 30d of purchase, we will give u a brand new out of box phone in the store, its called a 30day doa(dead on arrival)..after 30days, if there are FRU's(CLN's) we have to give you those, which the FRU Droid does exist now. If they are shipping it out, it is a fru. WHen she means we dont have any in stores, we dont, the FRU droids arent in stores yet really. If you complain enough they will just give you a new one in the store.

im pretty sure like in all businesses, this is possible, but i dont want to be one of those customers.. like i said ill gladly accept a refurbished one if its in perfect working condition

 

[teeshac]

have a friend go in and ask to buy a droid and see what happens

 

[Psychokitty]

Refurbished device is NOT a used one. They are repaired and throughly checked. So they are as good as new and sometimes better because of their testing.

I'd need proof of that. These things are not that expensive to manufacture. The cost of refurbishing a phone by completely disassembling it, checking the specs and testing every component, reassembling it, boxing it up & shipping it back out is probably very close to the cost of manufacturing a new one. So I think "refurbished" is nothing more than a good look-over, and during that "look-over" there's no doubt that they are allowed some tolerance as to what they can overlook.

 

[DroidJnkie]

Refurbished device is NOT a used one. They are repaired and throughly checked. So they are as good as new and sometimes better because of their testing.

If they have to be repaired, then how are they NOT used????

How do you explain the dent and scratch that was mentioned by someone else? Did it come out of the factory like that?

Highly doubt it.

Refurbished = piece of crap that they tried to fix.

At the very BEST:

Refurbished = phone that was USED then returned for whatever reason.

 

[Fabolous]

Not sure how it is now, but I got one of the first "refurbished" phones, as I had to exchange mine a few days after my 30 days were up.

As far as I can tell, mine was a new phone. Sure, it shipped with no battery cover, but physically, it was immaculate. No scratches, dents, or whatever.

The tolerances were much tighter than my release day Droid too, as my headphone jack is now perfectly snug (the reason I had to get rid of the first one), as well as the slider.

But now that the device has been on the market for almost 2 months, there probably are real used, refurbished devices. In that case, I can't attest to their quality.

 

[CRPercodani]

In all my dealings with refurbished gadgets I find them to be better quality then new ones. The software is tested and hardware is also on every refurb, but a factory new model only has every 100th or 1000th unit tested. Either way OP, your lucky because you ruined your DROID by dropping it into a puddle or whatever it was, so be extremely happy they didn't check the water damage sticker(s) and hope they don't when it gets back to the factory because they can put a charge on your bill for a new one.

 

[Berry2Droid]

REFURBISHED OR CLN(Certified Line New) phones are not NESSECARILY USED, as they are definately phones that have been sold to a customer. As i said. Example: Customer comes in, buys the droid as a gift, brings it home, giftee says no i dont want it, ok lets return it, return it to verizon, even tho it has 0minutes was never activated or used, we cant resell it in the store, so we send it back. The warehouse deems it refurbishable, its put through the same testing ANY NEW PHONE goes through before its put on the shelves, and packaged back out as refurbished or CLN. Any phone verizon sends you thats NOT in the original box is a CLN or refurb. If they are sending u a brand new phone, they send u the original box/manual/charger/battery with it. Again, doesnt mean theres even 1 minute of use on the phone, its still refurbed.

And ill tell you this, no verizon store, at least in my area(NY Metro) is ever gonna be OUT of droids. They have new ones, you just dont get a new one out of 30days. Simple as that. If you ever see the white standard box they send you the phones in, it has a bunch of numbers and stuff on the front that say PASS or FAIL, those are the CLN tests..they dont send them unless they all pass.

 

[John Connor]

In all my dealings with refurbished gadgets I find them to be better quality then new ones. The software is tested and hardware is also on every refurb, but a factory new model only has every 100th or 1000th unit tested. Either way OP, your lucky because you ruined your DROID by dropping it into a puddle or whatever it was, so be extremely happy they didn't check the water damage sticker(s) and hope they don't when it gets back to the factory because they can put a charge on your bill for a new one.

reason why i wont complain, ill be happy with a refurbished phone that works just fine..... as far as adding a charge, i dont think so..... i been with verizon for 5 years, i have a family plan with 4 lines, i doubt they'll lose a customer over 400 dollars.. not a smart business move

 

[Bond J]

PsychoKitty and Droidjunky :

1. They arent disassembled completely. Only the problems they have are fixed.
2. Most of the phones that are returned are the ones that people just don't want because they switched to another device or had their headphone jack not working or keyboard was loose or battery cover went missing. All that kind of stuff is easy to be fixed. They then test everything out and send em out.

And you are NOT getting a new phone after your 30 days unless they send you a bunch of replacements that turn out to be faulty which is highly unlikely.

 

[inssane]

Well VZW was sending out refurb BB Storm 1's a month after it was released.

 

[Psychokitty]

Heh-heh...Look around, Folks.

30% of the people on this board are walking in to their Verizon store and getting their phone swapped out within 30 days so they can get a brand new Droid to replace the one they dropped, hacked, got wet, spilled coffee on, scratched, got dust under the screen, have a loose jack, have a loose keypad or a myriad of other things they've done that "Verizon will never know..." they did. At least 50% of the people (here, anyway) returning them are trying to get away with something. They are trying to get a new phone to replace the one they've mistreated!
You guys acting like these refurbished phones are on par with certified pre-owned bimmers are kidding yourselves. Somewhere there's a dude checking the headphone jack on a refurb for electrical continuity, maybe even giving it a wiggle, but it doesn't happen to be during that 5% of the time that it was a problem. In the same building, the very crisp, sharp edge of foil just beginning to peel off the top of a camera button on a "refurbished" droid goes unnoticed as it gets slipped into a bag by a gloved handed boxer-upper. In another room someone blows out the minute dust particles that get trapped in the very thin trough between the screen and the recessed frame, and two tiny particles actually get trapped beneath the glass, forever keeping company to the other two that are trapped there for which the phone was returned. They go unnoticed at the inspection table by the tired 2nd shift inspector making $11 an hour, half of who's salary goes to pay for her kid's childcare. That same gal working production line QC would never have a problem spotting a defect because production defects tend to be very obvious.

"Used" means used. They were used by people, with an extremely high chance of having been handled too roughly -if not downright abused, and checked by low paid inspectors who really couldn't give a crap about your fancy new phone.
Sorry for the cynicism, but I feel it is very naive to put too much faith in people's desire to serve others perfection.

 

[CRPercodani]

reason why i wont complain, ill be happy with a refurbished phone that works just fine..... as far as adding a charge, i dont think so..... i been with verizon for 5 years, i have a family plan with 4 lines, i doubt they'll lose a customer over 400 dollars.. not a smart business move

I agree they probably won't do it, but they definitely could. They could of also checked it at the store and just said no to begin with. It's not a smart business move to give out new phones every time a customer ruins one.

 

[Psychokitty]

It's not a smart business move to give out new phones every time a customer ruins one.

Very true, and all the more reason I don't thing much money is spent on looking these refurbs over.

 

[CRPercodani]

With Verizon I have no clue how well they look over phones, but with iPhone 3G's I know refurb's tend to be in better condition then new ones.

 

[John Connor]

just got back from verizon.. i look at the receipt and it does say "FRU".. so i guess i'll be getting a refurbished phone... hopefully it will be in 100% working codition

weird part is i turned my phone on while waiting in the store for the first time in 3 days and it works, i showed it to the lady and she told me she would still send me out a phone ... she said when she clicked on browser the screen would go black, she showed.... anyways at the end, i handed it to her and she gave it back and said i can keep it.. she said tuesday when i go in they can activate my new phone and she said i can give it to them... but i think she said the phone is mine

 

[Psychokitty]

Good for you. Go online to your Verizon Wireless account and log in the phone yourself. Then you can try & keep the other one. Sure, it's not very ethical, but then, it's one less completely screwed up drowned phone that someone else will get mailed to them as a refurb later on.

 

[John Connor]

Good for you. Go online to your Verizon Wireless account and log in the phone yourself. Then you can try & keep the other one. Sure, it's not very ethical, but then, it's one less completely screwed up drowned phone that someone else will get mailed to them as a refurb later on.

i would try to keep it but im not sure if i'll get a charge... also, the phone is working fine now, browser goes to google and everything....

 

[jdk2]

Continue to use your present phone until you get the replacement. Then try that one too. Once you decide which is the better phone, return the worst of the two.