Can't decide what to do

[Morty2264]

Absolutely.

Case in point: I knew a guy some years ago who had a Playstation. He managed to break it (I think he said it fell off a shelf during a game), so he went to a store and bought a new one. He very carefully opened the box in a manner that wouldn't be obvious. He took pics of how the game was packaged, then took the thing apart and swapped the innards with the innards of the broken one. Then he repackaged it and resealed the box. Returned it to the store and made up some story about why he was returning it.

There's a 100% probability that that game went home with someone else at some point, and that person ended up with the broken unit.

Oh, no! That's so awful. Now I'm afraid to buy refurbished ever again haha! But it's safer to spend a little more and get a new model.

 

[cydewaze]

Oh, no! That's so awful. Now I'm afraid to buy refurbished ever again haha! But it's safer to spend a little more and get a new model.

I'm not sure why you'd be afraid to buy refurbished because of that. Whoever bought the returned unit would have been buying it thinking it was new.

 

[Morty2264]

I'm not sure why you'd be afraid to buy refurbished because of that. Whoever bought the returned unit would have been buying it thinking it was new.

I've always been a little wary of buying refurbished... But, I know that you can certainly buy refurbished products and get great results. I'm moreso worried of me happening to choose the specific model that will break down or be faulty! It's happened with new products so why not!

 

[anon(19759)]

See, I'm at the opposite end as far as refurbished phones go. For 15 years, I was the IT Director for the largest phone refurbisher in the Midwest and eastern US region. Our techs were trained and certified by the big boys, Motorola, Sony, Samsung, LG, Kyocera. We received hundreds of thousand phones for repair and recertification. OEMs, carriers, retailers like Best Buy and Radio Shack sent us phones that their customers returned under warranty. We saw phones from Magic Johnson, Walter Payton, famous actors, etc. It was really something. People don't realize this but a recertified phone is really awesome. One, every electronic device has a 6 or 7-month cook period. Defective components are likely to fail in these first 6, 7 months. We, and only we, with data from the OEMs, knew which components had a high fail rate. We then automatically substituted those components with improved engineered parts. Even when a capacitor was working fine, we replaced it automatically if our historical data demanded it. All parts were new, OEM original parts. We automatically replaced screen, battery, and antenna. Two, we flashed all phones with the latest drivers and firmwares at the component level. I'm talking about squeezing one more dBm out of a radio antenna, whatever. Three, we redid all solder joints to assure the phones work for years to come. Fourth, we cooked the phones under extreme heat test, cold test, and harsh conditions. So see, all these refurbished phones ended up being better than new phones that came off assembly lines. That was our refurbishing process, not just spraying some cleaner and wipe it off. And we weren't alone, I'm sure, as OEMs and carriers are very strict in selecting their refurbishers. They tour the facility, they make you become certified before they grant contracts. If I could, I would buy all of my electronics refurbished. I would even pay more for the peace knowing that someone else looked at my phone besides the OEM. I think people see what car dealerships do with so-called recertification process and think that's what phone refurbishers do. Car dealerships change oil on a used vehicle, visually inspect belts and hoses, detail the car, then put it back on the lot for sale. They don't stress test the water pump, the condenser, etc. A phone refurbisher does component level replacements.

Thanks for this. Have never had a good understanding of refurb, but I have bought many refurb products in the past and have never had an issue.

 

[quangtran1]

I've always been a little wary of buying refurbished... But, I know that you can certainly buy refurbished products and get great results. I'm moreso worried of me happening to choose the specific model that will break down or be faulty! It's happened with new products so why not!

I'm not worried about much of this really. Just be alert and set your expectations accordingly. If I buy an unopened box, I expect the item to work. When I see an opened box, I check out its contents and look for damages. We know that most high-priced items were returned due to buyer remorse. Most likely, there's nothing wrong with them. On a side note, I have no problem buying opened boxes for myself, for things that I can fix myself if necessary. However, I won't buy opened items for others, simply because I don't want to become their support department.

 

[Rukbat]

As far as a refurb rather than a new phone, in the original post, most carriers have a 2 week "replace it with a new phone" policy. If you go past that, or if you're with an MVNO, not a carrier, you get a refurb. (The phone you're sending back isn't new, is it?)

 

[1213 1213]

See, I'm at the opposite end as far as refurbished phones go. For 15 years, I was the IT Director for the largest phone refurbisher in the Midwest and eastern US region. Our techs were trained and certified by the big boys, Motorola, Sony, Samsung, LG, Kyocera. We received hundreds of thousand phones for repair and recertification. OEMs, carriers, retailers like Best Buy and Radio Shack sent us phones that their customers returned under warranty. We saw phones from Magic Johnson, Walter Payton, famous actors, etc. It was really something. People don't realize this but a recertified phone is really awesome. One, every electronic device has a 6 or 7-month cook period. Defective components are likely to fail in these first 6, 7 months. We, and only we, with data from the OEMs, knew which components had a high fail rate. We then automatically substituted those components with improved engineered parts. Even when a capacitor was working fine, we replaced it automatically if our historical data demanded it. All parts were new, OEM original parts. We automatically replaced screen, battery, and antenna. Two, we flashed all phones with the latest drivers and firmwares at the component level. I'm talking about squeezing one more dBm out of a radio antenna, whatever. Three, we redid all solder joints to assure the phones work for years to come. Fourth, we cooked the phones under extreme heat test, cold test, and harsh conditions. So see, all these refurbished phones ended up being better than new phones that came off assembly lines. That was our refurbishing process, not just spraying some cleaner and wipe it off. And we weren't alone, I'm sure, as OEMs and carriers are very strict in selecting their refurbishers. They tour the facility, they make you become certified before they grant contracts. If I could, I would buy all of my electronics refurbished. I would even pay more for the peace knowing that someone else looked at my phone besides the OEM. I think people see what car dealerships do with so-called recertification process and think that's what phone refurbishers do. Car dealerships change oil on a used vehicle, visually inspect belts and hoses, detail the car, then put it back on the lot for sale. They don't stress test the water pump, the condenser, etc. A phone refurbisher does component level replacements.

Yeah, refurbished from OEMs should be fine, it's the ones that are refurbished from elsewhere that are dubious. Because as you said, if the OEM is getting it refurbished then they will make sure everything is up to scratch.

Good to know OEMs replace the battery, that was my main concern with refurbished stuff.

 

[Morty2264]

I'm not worried about much of this really. Just be alert and set your expectations accordingly. If I buy an unopened box, I expect the item to work. When I see an opened box, I check out its contents and look for damages. We know that most high-priced items were returned due to buyer remorse. Most likely, there's nothing wrong with them. On a side note, I have no problem buying opened boxes for myself, for things that I can fix myself if necessary. However, I won't buy opened items for others, simply because I don't want to become their support department.

I definitely agree with you! It literally pays to use caution and to adjust your expectations when buying opened versus unopened merchandise.

 

[cydewaze]

Ok, so I've been using the phone non-rooted for a few days, and I'm going to leave it like this.

Things that I used to root for that the Pixel does without:
- Banning certain apps from spamming the notification bar
- Unlock when I'm home
- Unlock when connected to certain bluetooth devices

What I seem to lose:
- One-tap GPS and Airplane mode toggle
- Some battery life (I used to use an app called L Speed that seemed to improve the battery life)

On that last one, it might just be that 7.1.1 uses more juice than 7.1 due to Raise to Wake. Not really sure, but I used to be down to around 45% by the time I got home from work, and now it's more like mid 30s. But it's still pretty good battery life.