[Android Central Question]

Ordered V20 H990DS on Amazon last week and it recently arrived. Upon arrival I attempted to boot it up, would get a few screens in, and then the phone would say invalid battery and shut off. I saw online that doing a factory reset can fix the issue, which it did. The problem is I go to set it up now and it asks me for the Google Account previously synced to the phone. I never synced a Google Account to the phone previously since I did hard reset before I could even set it up. Any suggestions? Currently it's just a $500 paperweight and it's super sad. Thank you for any and all help.

[Mooncatt]

Sounds like you didn't get a brand new phone, but a used one being sold as new. Asking for the prior account info is Google's factory reset protection, designed to prevent thieves from using your phone and would not be asking you that if it were new or the prior owner logged out before resetting it.

At this point, you have a couple options. I'd personally send it back and get a refund. Your other option may be to try contacting the seller (assuming you can find the contact info) and see if they have that info for you to use and get past this. But(!) If they are able to give you that info, it means someone has been on that phone doing who knows what. It could be innocent, like just making sure it worked before selling it. It also would've left your phone exposed to them installing malware. That's just too much of a risk for me on something sold as brand new. That, plus your battery issue tells me this isn't a phone I'd keep for any reason. Especially not for $500.

[Enzo Arne]

Sounds like you didn't get a brand new phone, but a used one being sold as new. Asking for the prior account info is Google's factory reset protection, designed to prevent thieves from using your phone and would not be asking you that if it were new or the prior owner logged out before resetting it.

At this point, you have a couple options. I'd personally send it back and get a refund. Your other option may be to try contacting the seller (assuming you can find the contact info) and see if they have that info for you to use and get past this. But(!) If they are able to give you that info, it means someone has been on that phone doing who knows what. It could be innocent, like just making sure it worked before selling it. It also would've left your phone exposed to them installing malware. That's just too much of a risk for me on something sold as brand new. That, plus your battery issue tells me this isn't a phone I'd keep for any reason. Especially not for $500.

Ouch that sucks. Already been two weeks without a phone. Thanks for the advice. Will see if I can't start the return process today. Thanks man.

[Mooncatt]

Yeah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially to another V20 owner. It's an awesome phone and hopefully you can find another one that works.

[Rukbat]

Amazon is pretty good about that - I had to return a G5, and had no problem (just had to pay the return shipping, which was a few bucks - and which I don't think is right).