If my phone says its refurbished ,does that mean the problems it had are fixed?

[Android Central Question]

I recently was looking on E-bay for a Note 8 and found an affordable one that's refurbished, in the description the seller said it had LCD shadow, Now i assume that the problems resolved because its refurbished but im not to sure. Does anyone know for sure that its fixed or not?

 

[methodman89]

Ask the seller to video the phone booting up and working.

 

[Mooncatt]

Refurbish means that all problems are theoretically fixed. Unfortunately, I've had bad luck with them, to the point I call it refurbish roulette. In my case, all of my refurbs were warranty exchanges. Coming direct from the manufacturer, you'd think they would be good as new. Based on my personal experience, I wouldn't buy them period unless at a deep discount and I got to view it personally before committing to the purchase.

 

[Rukbat]

It depends on who refurbished it. My refurbished Note 3 still works after about 4years - it was refurbished by AT&T.

Sometimes, "refurbished" means that someone bought it, didn't like it after a few days, and got a different phone, and there were never any problems with it. Other times it can be as bad as water damage that was never fixed (it doesn't pay - eventually the motherboard will rot) - Mooncatt's experience. (And that's iPhones, in the case of one repair shop owner who posts to YouTube - you wouldn't believe the "refurbs" she shows - directly from Apple.)

I've also bought refurbs from resellers - and returned them because they had problems. If at all possible, I'd suggest staying away from a refurb.