My horror story trying to buy a phone online: Amazon, HTC & Nokia-A story of crooks, scams & junk
My experience so far trying to buy an online cell phone has been the equivalent of being mugged, cheated, and lied to all in the same night
My first smart phone was an LG Thrive I bought at Best Buy cheaper than I could get online. It was brand new, sealed in the box, and ran flawlessly for years until I decided to try a Nokia Lumia windows phone because of the cheap price for the hardware specs, Cortana, and the free HERE offline navigation. Me and my wife bought 2 of the Nokia's through our Amazon Prime account, she accidentally turned her narrator for the blind on the night before an important business trip (thank you Microsoft for no clear menu explanations ) and her phone screen went black and wouldn't respond to anything except saying weird phrases until an hour and a half with me and an AT&T tech finally shut the narrator off.
My nokia on the other hand was defective directly out of the box, and I spent several days fighting with it in every imaginable way before I finally threw in the towel and sent it back for another. The next one worked as well as you could expect a Microsoft product to work for the next 2 years or so..until the Windows 10 Mobile roll-out which rendered my phone useless through the typically buggy, half finished microsoft os releases they're famous for
So back to Amazon for a low priced replacement (or so I thought). I found an HTC desire 610 android that looked to fill the bill price and spec wise, so I ordered a new one through one of Amazon's backed vendors. I got a used one disguised to look new by a group of crooks called Wireless Experts Inc. Very disappointing Amazon handled the return nicely but when I asked why their preferred vendor tried to rip me off they said they couldn't control what third parties sent me?!?! Isn't that why Amazon backs them up? I assumed they checked them out first before putting their reputation behind them...but I guess that doesn't make business sense to Amazon (shrug).
So I found a reputable highly rated shop on e-bay to pick up another HTC desire......guess what? Another used phone disguised as new LOL. Oh the irony.
So I said to heck with this, and after fighting with the 2nd desire and HTC's HORRIBLE tech support for awhile to try and get it to work, I returned it and the case I had bought (at a slight loss for shipping costs), and went back to where my smartphone experience had all started...Best Buy. Not only do they match Amazon prices, but they had a better selection of phones with some even cheaper than online. Actual BRAND NEW phones sealed in the package and everything......with a reciept AND a return policy, plus actual free tech help in English any time I needed it. All locally and in person Nothing like HTC's pathetic online chat help telling me over and over to contact my router manufacturer because their phone wouldn't connect to my very modern high speed network which is running a roku, 3 phones, 3 pc's, 2 kindles, an android tablet, a chromebook, and whatever else I'm forgetting.....with everything connecting flawlessly.
I have to add that HTC did call me back from singapore (on a private line, they offer no official phone support for their products) because the second time I tried the online chat they were busy. But his accent was too strong to understand well and in the end he said send the phone back because the desire tends to have lots of issues and I probably wouldn't be happy with it anyway.
So I came home from Best Buy 300 dollars poorer (the same price as Amazon) but with an amazing honest to goodness brand new Moto X Pure Edition in my hands, and the sweet peace of mind knowing I won't have to phone shop again for years with my kind of phone usage
I HIGHLY suggest anyone wanting a TRULY new phone without the internet BS go to Best Buy, they price match with the phone in your hand guaranteed new, and you can skip the whole somebody repackaging stuff in their bedroom and shipping it to you hassles.
No more internet phone purchases for me, it's Best Buy all the way FTW baby!!!
My experience so far trying to buy an online cell phone has been the equivalent of being mugged, cheated, and lied to all in the same night
My first smart phone was an LG Thrive I bought at Best Buy cheaper than I could get online. It was brand new, sealed in the box, and ran flawlessly for years until I decided to try a Nokia Lumia windows phone because of the cheap price for the hardware specs, Cortana, and the free HERE offline navigation. Me and my wife bought 2 of the Nokia's through our Amazon Prime account, she accidentally turned her narrator for the blind on the night before an important business trip (thank you Microsoft for no clear menu explanations
) and her phone screen went black and wouldn't respond to anything except saying weird phrases until an hour and a half with me and an AT&T tech finally shut the narrator off. My nokia on the other hand was defective directly out of the box, and I spent several days fighting with it in every imaginable way before I finally threw in the towel and sent it back for another. The next one worked as well as you could expect a Microsoft product to work for the next 2 years or so..until the Windows 10 Mobile roll-out which rendered my phone useless through the typically buggy, half finished microsoft os releases they're famous for
So back to Amazon for a low priced replacement (or so I thought). I found an HTC desire 610 android that looked to fill the bill price and spec wise, so I ordered a new one through one of Amazon's backed vendors. I got a used one disguised to look new by a group of crooks called Wireless Experts Inc. Very disappointing
Amazon handled the return nicely but when I asked why their preferred vendor tried to rip me off they said they couldn't control what third parties sent me?!?! Isn't that why Amazon backs them up? I assumed they checked them out first before putting their reputation behind them...but I guess that doesn't make business sense to Amazon (shrug).So I found a reputable highly rated shop on e-bay to pick up another HTC desire......guess what? Another used phone disguised as new LOL. Oh the irony.
So I said to heck with this, and after fighting with the 2nd desire and HTC's HORRIBLE tech support for awhile to try and get it to work, I returned it and the case I had bought (at a slight loss for shipping costs), and went back to where my smartphone experience had all started...Best Buy. Not only do they match Amazon prices, but they had a better selection of phones with some even cheaper than online. Actual BRAND NEW phones sealed in the package and everything......with a reciept AND a return policy, plus actual free tech help in English any time I needed it. All locally and in person
Nothing like HTC's pathetic online chat help telling me over and over to contact my router manufacturer because their phone wouldn't connect to my very modern high speed network which is running a roku, 3 phones, 3 pc's, 2 kindles, an android tablet, a chromebook, and whatever else I'm forgetting.....with everything connecting flawlessly.I have to add that HTC did call me back from singapore (on a private line, they offer no official phone support for their products) because the second time I tried the online chat they were busy. But his accent was too strong to understand well and in the end he said send the phone back because the desire tends to have lots of issues and I probably wouldn't be happy with it anyway.
So I came home from Best Buy 300 dollars poorer (the same price as Amazon) but with an amazing honest to goodness brand new Moto X Pure Edition in my hands, and the sweet peace of mind knowing I won't have to phone shop again for years with my kind of phone usage
I HIGHLY suggest anyone wanting a TRULY new phone without the internet BS go to Best Buy, they price match with the phone in your hand guaranteed new, and you can skip the whole somebody repackaging stuff in their bedroom and shipping it to you hassles.
No more internet phone purchases for me, it's Best Buy all the way FTW baby!!!
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