How bad can a refurb be?

[antonio3]

Originally Posted by dz1262

are you getting your refurbs from Asuron (however that's spelled) or Sprint directly? Because for my refurb I drove directly to a sprint store and they handled it. According to them the replacement phone I got came directly from Palm. I've heard lots of Horror stories from Asuron.

all my refurbs are from the sprint store... i go in.. they now ask me... order another one? lol

[awezman]

I have had a couple pre refurbs now. I dropped and cracked my original pre, and luckily the service place didn't make me pay the deductible for the replacement plan I pay for every month, and it was replaced under the standard warranty. My first replacement had backlight bleeding from the edges, so I got another replacement and it had the same issue. I kept the phone with this issue, because everything worked, but my original phone did not have this issue so I assume this is only an issue with refurbs.

[haapala]

Originally Posted by awezman

I have had a couple pre refurbs now. I dropped and cracked my original pre, and luckily the service place didn't make me pay the deductible for the replacement plan I pay for every month, and it was replaced under the standard warranty. My first replacement had backlight bleeding from the edges, so I got another replacement and it had the same issue. I kept the phone with this issue, because everything worked, but my original phone did not have this issue so I assume this is only an issue with refurbs.

What is blacklight bleeding? Im seeing on my newest referb that came yesterday that the orange key which I pressed a million times yesterday with the Sprint rep setting the thing up now has turned almost totally black while it was bright orange when I got it. I thought at first it was damage from my fingernail (yeah they are long and I do use them to push keys) but the key feels nice and smooth and is working fine. Then last night I noticed several of the keys arent as bright as the others. Its RTYU and Im wondering if they were dim on the all Pre's for some reason being at the top of the keypad but cant for the life of me ever remember seeing that on my old Pre. Maybe I just didnt pay attention? Either way Im most definitely not sending it back for that problem as long as they all continue to work. I know where all the keys are anyway after using the thing for a year so if they go black they go black. Just wondering what might be causing it.

On a side note I asked earlier about broken pixels and I think I have a few but am not sure. On my old Pre I had two small perfectly round dark spots on my screen. They didnt feel like scratches but since I had no idea what they were I assumed that was what they were. Well this "new" Pre has them as well and interestingly enough in almost the exact same place as my old Pre had them. It even has two or three more in other spots. Luckily they with the exception of the two in the middle of the screen the others are all on the edge and not in the way of seeing much of anything. Again I wont replace it because of this simply because I went almost a week without my Pre and that isnt happening again if I can help it!

Those things aside this phone seems quite good. Slider is tighter than my old one ever was and even tighter than the last broken referb. The USB door is nice and tight. My old one never was and would pop open. My files (music/pics/Preware) went in through the comp like a charm and all of my apps came back really fast. Even my signal seems a tad better. Of course its killing me not putting Uberkernal, Govnah and all my patches back on but Im trying to hold off until after the MIA update lands sometime in March 2011 lol.

Melissa

[chrispl]

When I got my refurb it looked brand new. Until I looked at the keyboard under good light and realized that it's dirty. One side of the volume button was sticking out, wouldn't go in properly. Replaced it with the button from my broken phone, it's fine now. The USB cover seems to be too thick, it sticks out of the phone just a bit. Definitely noticeable but it doesn't bother me too much.

[bcumings]

I had a problem with my wifi never turning on, and eventually Sprint decided to get me a refurb. I was pleased by the fact I got it the next day. I was not pleased when I set it all up and took a good look at the screen. It looked like it had an inch layer of soot on it. Oh wait, that was just how the screen looked. It was terrible. Then I tried to reboot the phone or turn it back on after it went to sleep. The power button would not work. I had to keep sliding the keyboard in and out to wake it up and could never reboot it without taking the battery out.

I called them up the next day. They sent me a new one, which I received the next day. So, I did get great customer service eventually. Unfortunately, the first refurb should have just been recycled and never sent out again. It would have been nicer if they actually looked at the issue when I took it in the shop and was told it was fixed. The second refurb has been great and it pretty much looked like it was brand new.

[Jochen K.]

Originally Posted by haapala

What is blacklight bleeding?

I think what he means by backlight bleeding is that, whenever your screen is all one colour, it looks different around the edges.
My (bought brand new) Pre has a strip about 5mm (1/5") wide above the lower edge, which, if the screen is all white, faintly resembles a piece of paper that had one edge in contact with water.
In other colours it's hardly noticeable.

Originally Posted by haapala

On a side note I asked earlier about broken pixels

AFAIK, dead/broken pixels descibes pixels that are stuck in one colour - not necessarily black.
If you download something like Flashlight HD from the App Catalog, you can try this: the app can create any colour the Pre is capable of all over the screen; depending on which screen colour you choose, dead pixels should be more or less visible.

Regards,

Jochen

[webpoet73]

I got my refurb yesterday and everything seems fine. Except the mini-USB charging port is very loose. It does charge and my Mac does recognize it, but how long before it becomes non-functional? (I had a charging port go bad on an old LG phone...)

[InIlIoN]

I was getting my phone replaced, and they said it would take 2 to 3 days to ship over. well i got in today to pick it up and to my surprise it was a new in box one. So the refurb you have may be a new phone.

[bjl95mustang]

I recieved a Brand new Pre a few weeks ago from Assurion.

I ran ##786# and confirmed that it had never been used and everything looked like a new phone.

[icecool988]

To update on my earlier post my refurb had multiple issues with the keyboard, i called in, complained, and the rep agreed that after all the problems i have had i deserved a new phone. The next day a brand new pre arrived ups.

Im just going to send the phone back, leaving me with 2 (actually 4 total counting the extras from my centro) batteries, 2 chargers, headphones, cases cables etc...

I dont see them calling me and requesting those extra peices, i consider it a bonus for dealing with 3-4 bad phones, missing calls and the general hassle of broken phones, having to use a headset or speakerphone, having to use virtual keyboard etc.

im happy

[dslunceford]

My third Pre came today and it's refurb from Sprint (shoved into a box for a pre leather belt/clip case). It also has the pearlized center button vs the newer build chrome.

1st Pre had speakerphone issues and Sprint sent new in box as replacement. After couple months volume down button stopped working (doctoring didn't fix, so hardware issue). I had had a launch day pre that had to return and wait until EAS/security was fixed to meet corporate policy, so I'm fine with getting another launch day refurb (I think)...we'll see how it holds up.

[hollowaylives]

I just received a refurb phone through sprint today after having my Pre's screen stop responding. The Pre I bought had a warranty date of 8/1?/09. The refurb they sent me had a warranty date code of 06/01/2009. Does this mean they sent me a first production run model? Should I go back and request a model of the production run I bought or later? Am I just being paranoid in thinking I am in for a world of trouble with this phone. It took six days of back order for this to come in, and This date code is not comforting.. On a side note, It did come with 1.4.5 preloaded...

[iTz Nicholas72]

I got my 6th replacement yesterday and it better minus the space bar. All of the keys click but the spacebar is 'mushy' but still works.

[Trader05]

I just ordered my 4th replacement, this is the 2nd one through asurion. Last one i got had minor oreo and a week later it got worse. I called they wouldn't take it back because it was over 7 days. I'm going to carefully inspect the one i get tomorrow and update this post.

The one i received today has NO recondition status and warranty date code is 6/28/2010. Not bad and the slider is pretty good.