i've just bought a new nexus s from cpw, and the seal tag is broken, but with another seal tag put over the top. i'm guessing this isn't normal and the phone has been used before and a new seal has been slapped over the top. anyone else experienced this?
i'm sure i'm in my rights to reject this.
I would reject it. My first Nexus S was from Best Buy and they tried to sell me the display model. The screen had a dead spot in it. They were baffled when I returned it a few days later as to what could have been the issue with that. Its a display model, and you:
A) didn't tell me that
B) didn't offer me some sort of open box discount as it was essentially used
C) didn't bother testing it to make sure it worked properly
I took it to a different store and they exchanged it for me right away and I am much happier.
after 20 mins phone tussle with cpw the advisor didn't understand that i bought a sim-free phone and kept telling me about my upgrade would be cancelled, that my contract would have to be cancelled too, and that i have to take it back to the store - at my expense - to return it and wait 3 days for a refund. i could then buy another phone instore though... after a bit of to'ing and fro'ing it looks like i can now actually walk out with a new phone, without 'purchasing' a new phone.
to cpw's credit though, i now have a new phone in my posession even after travelling to the store. so all's good (i hope)
also - not sure how true this is - but after i said that sim-free's usually have an extra seal inside the box, and i didn't think it was kosher - she pointed out that this is only with htc devices, and not samsung, and only samsung would have put that seal on over the original box as 'they' don't have samsung stickers...
which also kinda hints that they do resticker other brands.
mine was like that, I wasnt bothered to be honest
Mine was like that as well, seems to be widespread
The ones from Best Buy dont even come sealed. It drives me crazy
Someone on ebay has an HD2 for sale for a good price that he claimed insurance on. I was thinking of buying it. Does anyone know if it'll work if I buy it?
Thnx for help =D
cakinlife said:
Someone on ebay has an HD2 for sale for a good price that he claimed insurance on. I was thinking of buying it. Does anyone know if it'll work if I buy it?
Thnx for help =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my mystic ball tells me that he claimed insurance on it for a reason....
i would ask for the imei # & then call htc to see if it has any warranty still on it. if it does you could buy it & hope that what ever is wrong with it will be covered under the warranty but you might be buying a very expensive paper weight. I bought mine on ebay & made sure it was still under warranty before buying it & then shipped it out to htc for repair. they replaced my phone & shipped it back 2 me 4 free. i only had to pay for the shipping there.
His description says he only did it to get another phone and that its gauranteed working. But I'm wondering if T-Mobile would care about that and block your phone?
my only concern would be it having a bad esn which shouldnt be likely since he said he did the swap himself. normally that happens when you try 2 sell a stolen phone. i would call t-mobile with the esn# to see if its bad or not.
anytime you do an exchange through t-mobile you have 2 mail back the phone thats not working or you will get a huge restocking fee = to the phones price unless it was an upgrade which i think you then can keep your old phone.
I would check the completed auctions on ebay, its on the left hand side of the page. price what the htc hd2 has sold for & then if you can get it for cheaper then the average price i would go ahead & buy it. if you cant get it working on t-mobiles network then you can always resell it on ebay & since you did your homework on how much you can expect 2 sell it 4 you wont be out any/a lot of money. i wouldnt think that it would be an issue but i also wouldnt want to give you info on something im not 100% on, best bet would be to call.
I didn't know ESN's applied to phones that use sim cards.
So if the ESN is bad then it might not work and it would just be a paper weight?
Would applying a new OS such as android fix this at all and is the ESN changeable?
Thanks for the info guys, esp htccraze
As I was writing that I was wondering it myself. Lol. I looked online at a few places and your right, t-mobile is not affected by bad esn #'s. I was with verizon till just last year so thats where I was gathering my info from, so I'm really sorry about that.
It seems as though everything should be fine then. Like I said, if you can get a good deal on it & think you'd be able to resell it around the price you paid then there wouldnt be as much risk because you'll be able to get your money back if for whatever reason you no longer like/want the phone. I don't like 2 tell ppl what they should do with they're hard earned money but as a pt seller on eBay myself I feel that papal/ebay buyer protection would have you covered if something was listed wrong or if it dont live up to the description he put in his listing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
cakinlife there are 2 options you can do. 1) As htccraze said yes you might want to call htc if it is still cover under warranty. 2) The HTC HD2 could be use under another network if the phone is unlcoked.
I would be suprised if there was no sting in the tail here
Insurance is not used just to get a new phone (most insurance phones are refurbs anyway) and the only reason it would be replaced without being sent in for repair/exchange would be if its reported lost/stolen, then the owner got it back (or it was not lost anyway)
Dodgy to say the least
If the IMEI is blacklisted, you need to provide proof of ownersip to unlock it (if you are not the original owner) in the UK that is
IMEI for the phone
IMSI for the SIM
Thanks everyone for the tips, I ended up losing the auction lol (price got too high) but now I know =D
Really appreciate all the help
Ive been living with a stupid freaking blackberry style for the past 2 months. I CANT TAKE IT ANYMOREEEE I want my evo back sooo badly but no matter what I do to repair, nothing works. I have been working on this for a while now.
3 digitizers and lcd's have been used. My problem right now is that i believe that the digitizer port is somehow messed up. The annoying thing is that sometimes, randomly, the digitizer/touch panel will work and the phone will work perfectly. Which is what happened a couple of days ago after i finally got a new lcd after some wait and everything was going perfect until it happened again. What happens is that in hboot i get a touch panel fail, the phone will not boot past splash, and recovery is inacessible. If i remove the digitizer cable altogether it will boot and it will let me go to recovery. I have tried the 2 others i have and rarely, one will work.
You guys have ANY ideas? I tried cleaning with 91 alcohol and that didnt help.
PLEASEEEE I miss my 3 year old child.
EDIT and yes i am up at 4 like i have been to fix my evo
ebay.
i know fixing it by hand is a path you have gone a long way down and if that's something fun for you (and I realize it is for some) by all means keep on going down that path.
but times have changed from the days when evos were $450 on ebay.
now you will probably pay less for a mint condition clean esn evo than you would for all the parts you described, to say nothing of the value of your time.
i have personally repaired front speakers, rear speakers, camera lenses and digitizers/LCD assemblies, just about everything but the vibrator. i once loved tearing apart evos. but now i just buy evos whole.
intermittent connection problems are the worst. do you really want to spend more late nights fighting this thing? craigslist, ebay, swappa, whatever. get this behind you.
100% what NxNW said.
If it is in fact the connector on the board, then this will be no fun at all. The solder points on that are far too much work AND risk for the reward. Although, you can find a good board, just the board alone. Same part# as the one you got and just exchange whatever it needs, if anything. But it really is better to ebay the whole device. I got one for under $12 that needed a new charge port. Another buck and some soldering and BOOM.
Sent from my SlimPC36100 using tapatalk 2
Wambo_Bomb said:
100% what NxNW said.
If it is in fact the connector on the board, then this will be no fun at all. The solder points on that are far too much work AND risk for the reward. Although, you can find a good board, just the board alone. Same part# as the one you got and just exchange whatever it needs, if anything. But it really is better to ebay the whole device. I got one for under $12 that needed a new charge port. Another buck and some soldering and BOOM.
Sent from my SlimPC36100 using tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys are right; just looked on ebay and theirs mobo's on here auctioning with no bids. 20$ for a fully functional one? Ill take it!
Thanks for the advice
my very quick survey of recent "completed auctions" for plausible looking phones with clean ESN's shows the current price for a non-janky Evo you could just activate and use as-is is around $60
i am seeing a range of $40 to $100 depending on whether it is in below average condition on the low end, or pristine condition plus some accessories on the high end.
basically 60 bucks for a ready-to-go evo with just a battery, no charger or usb cable, possibly no sd card.
a lot of auctions with reserve prices of $70 and higher are closing with the seller not getting any bids that meet the reserve.
on the flip side if you are "winning" an auction at $20, that phone is just "for parts".
actually i have bought phones described as "for parts" that *already* had parts harvested from it (usually the USB/charing port). sometimes you just get a picked-over carcass.
if the description doesn't *say* clean ESN, it's not. i even had to send back an evo once because the ESN was bad even though the seller said it was ok. they refunded my money claiming someone *else* told them it was clean. whatever. ebay can be a hassle but there's an endless supply of cheap clean evos out there, you just have to be observant.
If the seller is in your area, I would also HIGHLY suggest meeting them in person at a Sprint store to activate it on your line. I have seen dozens of posts in the S3 forums recently about people getting stuck with a blacklisted phone because the seller reported it stolen after selling it to them. So beware.
NxNW said:
my very quick survey of recent "completed auctions" for plausible looking phones with clean ESN's shows the current price for a non-janky Evo you could just activate and use as-is is around $60
i am seeing a range of $40 to $100 depending on whether it is in below average condition on the low end, or pristine condition plus some accessories on the high end.
basically 60 bucks for a ready-to-go evo with just a battery, no charger or usb cable, possibly no sd card.
a lot of auctions with reserve prices of $70 and higher are closing with the seller not getting any bids that meet the reserve.
on the flip side if you are "winning" an auction at $20, that phone is just "for parts".
actually i have bought phones described as "for parts" that *already* had parts harvested from it (usually the USB/charing port). sometimes you just get a picked-over carcass.
if the description doesn't *say* clean ESN, it's not. i even had to send back an evo once because the ESN was bad even though the seller said it was ok. they refunded my money claiming someone *else* told them it was clean. whatever. ebay can be a hassle but there's an endless supply of cheap clean evos out there, you just have to be observant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one for 20 said it was in fully functional form. I only need a phone for a couple more months. Unfortunately, i forgot to bid before the auction ended I need to get better at ebay lol
If you know someone who took advantage of the recent $199 brand new Nexus, locked to T-Mobile, "sealed in box" deal, tell them it was a fraud and file for a return claim IMMEDIATELY. I figured it out today when I opened the box
a) for starters, the original Google box did not read "make in china"; even if it did, it would say.....umm.. Made in China (Grammar, people, grammar).
b) The original Google OEM packaging did not have the production date inscribed on the box; this "new box" did.
c) the dotted seal itself was a quite a bit misaligned (you guys will know what I am talking about)
d) No N6 is EVER locked to specific service. I still took the bait thinking that well, since it says locked to T-Mobile, the sim will come separate. I am not sure if this part is authentic, but I assumed that none of these N6 OEM boxes were supplied with sims inside. This one came with one inside. So, how did it end up inside if this was "sealed"?
e) the BIGGEST giveaway--the OEM screen protector was quite unique for our handsets; it was rough to touch but plain, and more importantly, it had a marked white triangular spot at the left corner of the handset (Google's way of saying that you can peel this from here if you want). This one I received had a cheap 60 cents type screen protector with smudges and crumples all over.
So, yea, filed a report and waiting for a refund. So much for my future love for this brilliant beast. Now I will have to give more love to my current one.
sdg1980 said:
If you know someone who took advantage of the recent $199 brand new Nexus, locked to T-Mobile, "sealed in box" deal, tell them it was a fraud and file for a return claim IMMEDIATELY. I figured it out today when I opened the box
a) for starters, the original Google box did not read "make in china"; even if it did, it would say.....umm.. Made in China (Grammar, people, grammar).
b) The original Google OEM packaging did not have the production date inscribed on the box; this "new box" did.
c) the dotted seal itself was a quite a bit misaligned (you guys will know what I am talking about)
d) No N6 is EVER locked to specific service. I still took the bait thinking that well, since it says locked to T-Mobile, the sim will come separate. I am not sure if this part is authentic, but I assumed that none of these N6 OEM boxes were supplied with sims inside. This one came with one inside. So, how did it end up inside if this was "sealed"?
e) the BIGGEST giveaway--the OEM screen protector was quite unique for our handsets; it was rough to touch but plain, and more importantly, it had a marked white triangular spot at the left corner of the handset (Google's way of saying that you can peel this from here if you want). This one I received had a cheap 60 cents type screen protector with smudges and crumples all over.
So, yea, filed a report and waiting for a refund. So much for my future love for this brilliant beast. Now I will have to give more love to my current one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the phone work?
Whether the phone worked or not is irrelevant. The phone is counterfeit, meaning its components would be subpar. Especially the screen, which would be an IPS LCD at best, TFT LCD at worst, with a resolution decidedly below the 2560x1440 of a genuine article.
As the above post mentions, it is most possible counterfeit. My guess is that it is at best a US refurbished item that was sent to China for repackaging and became "new and sealed." I checked for its IMEI and turned out clean.
I did not even turn on the phone because
a) ethically, it would be wrong and
b) if I am going to return a counterfeit or not as described item, the closer it is to the original condition, the better it is for full refund
sdg1980 said:
If you know someone who took advantage of the recent $199 brand new Nexus, locked to T-Mobile, "sealed in box" deal, tell them it was a fraud and file for a return claim IMMEDIATELY. I figured it out today when I opened the box
a) for starters, the original Google box did not read "make in china"; even if it did, it would say.....umm.. Made in China (Grammar, people, grammar).
b) The original Google OEM packaging did not have the production date inscribed on the box; this "new box" did.
c) the dotted seal itself was a quite a bit misaligned (you guys will know what I am talking about)
d) No N6 is EVER locked to specific service. I still took the bait thinking that well, since it says locked to T-Mobile, the sim will come separate. I am not sure if this part is authentic, but I assumed that none of these N6 OEM boxes were supplied with sims inside. This one came with one inside. So, how did it end up inside if this was "sealed"?
e) the BIGGEST giveaway--the OEM screen protector was quite unique for our handsets; it was rough to touch but plain, and more importantly, it had a marked white triangular spot at the left corner of the handset (Google's way of saying that you can peel this from here if you want). This one I received had a cheap 60 cents type screen protector with smudges and crumples all over.
So, yea, filed a report and waiting for a refund. So much for my future love for this brilliant beast. Now I will have to give more love to my current one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the seller from the US or Hong Kong ?
mikeprius said:
Was the seller from the US or Hong Kong ?
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Click to collapse
Did my bit of research to figure that out. First, some context. So, lot of Chinese sellers have a US pos (point of sale) with a residential address here (primarily happens to be in California cities because of closer proximity to airports with ease of international imp-exp) and sell stuff here as US seller. It is only when you look at their sale history and what they've been selling vis-a-vis their returns/return comments, most buyers are disgruntled with having requests to either take partial refunds and take off negative reviews or keep the product and...options are endless.
My seller was in PA, and I have been keeping an eye out for a NIB N6 for months. Few weeks ago, they (32GB, Blue or White) were being sold for $285 directly from Hong Kong from different sellers. Not too many bought those (I kept them on my watch list to see what's going on). Suddenly, these vanished from the site (for the most part). Then, this $199 deal came along from a 98.5% rating seller. Sounded too good to be true; still, I jumped at it because I was hoping for the best and also trusted Ebay's return policy. Now this...so, I think that My seller is likely a point of contact for Chinese sellers.
sdg1980 said:
Did my bit of research to figure that out. First, some context. So, lot of Chinese sellers have a US pos (point of sale) with a residential address here (primarily happens to be in California cities because of closer proximity to airports with ease of international imp-exp) and sell stuff here as US seller. It is only when you look at their sale history and what they've been selling vis-a-vis their returns/return comments, most buyers are disgruntled with having requests to either take partial refunds and take off negative reviews or keep the product and...options are endless.
My seller was in PA, and I have been keeping an eye out for a NIB N6 for months. Few weeks ago, they (32GB, Blue or White) were being sold for $285 directly from Hong Kong from different sellers. Not too many bought those (I kept them on my watch list to see what's going on). Suddenly, these vanished from the site (for the most part). Then, this $199 deal came along from a 98.5% rating seller. Sounded too good to be true; still, I jumped at it because I was hoping for the best and also trusted Ebay's return policy. Now this...so, I think that My seller is likely a point of contact for Chinese sellers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen a lot of sellers from Hong Kong, but it never occurred to me that they were using US addresses to front. Ironically, the product was nearly the same as the Hong Kong......Ebay has gotten much better about fraud though. Before (over 10 yrs ago) Ebay and Paypal were 2 separate companies and the protection was very weak and only a percentage of the price. Now they allegedly cover it....I'm curious to what ends up happening with your situation.
sdg1980 said:
If you know someone who took advantage of the recent $199 brand new Nexus, locked to T-Mobile, "sealed in box" deal, tell them it was a fraud and file for a return claim IMMEDIATELY. I figured it out today when I opened the box
a) for starters, the original Google box did not read "make in china"; even if it did, it would say.....umm.. Made in China (Grammar, people, grammar).
b) The original Google OEM packaging did not have the production date inscribed on the box; this "new box" did.
c) the dotted seal itself was a quite a bit misaligned (you guys will know what I am talking about)
d) No N6 is EVER locked to specific service. I still took the bait thinking that well, since it says locked to T-Mobile, the sim will come separate. I am not sure if this part is authentic, but I assumed that none of these N6 OEM boxes were supplied with sims inside. This one came with one inside. So, how did it end up inside if this was "sealed"?
e) the BIGGEST giveaway--the OEM screen protector was quite unique for our handsets; it was rough to touch but plain, and more importantly, it had a marked white triangular spot at the left corner of the handset (Google's way of saying that you can peel this from here if you want). This one I received had a cheap 60 cents type screen protector with smudges and crumples all over.
So, yea, filed a report and waiting for a refund. So much for my future love for this brilliant beast. Now I will have to give more love to my current one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a moot point compared to the rest of your post, but the ATT models can be locked. I purchased one for someone, and it was carrier locked. The person didn't really care since they use the AT&T side of straight talk anyways.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
...The phone is counterfeit, meaning its components would be subpar. Especially the screen, which would be an IPS LCD at best, TFT LCD.....
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Click to collapse
I think it is a look a like.
The price 199, is to low for a brand new N6.
chapelfreak said:
It is a moot point compared to the rest of your post, but the ATT models can be locked. I purchased one for someone, and it was carrier locked. The person didn't really care since they use the AT&T side of straight talk anyways.
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Click to collapse
I'm not comprehending your point here. I'm talking about fraud. As I type this, I'm being fully refunded through eBay. Whether you got the original one or not for your friend is the point of this thread, not which carrier.
NLBeev said:
I think it is a look a like.
The price 199, is to low for a brand new N6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's the real deal but used or at best refurbished. Look up on eBay. Thousands of well known brands are sold as new or used. I got my N6 brand new over there. So, it's not always fraud. In this case, it's not as advertised and the box is fake. That's all.
When you see "brand new in box" after two years of a flagship phone, you'll have raised eyebrows for sure. I did, bit the bullet anyways, and am getting refund.
sdg1980 said:
I'm not comprehending your point here. I'm talking about fraud. As I type this, I'm being fully refunded through eBay. Whether you got the original one or not for your friend is the point of this thread, not which carrier.
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Click to collapse
My comment was in response to your point d. The N6 is in fact locked to a specific carrier, ATT, in my experiences buying them for customers.
I've had bad luck buying "new" phones in the past. I'll never forget the headache when I bought a brand new Galaxy S and the speaker doesn't work. Wasn't the seller's fault. The phone was just defective. Anyway I decided just to send it to Samsung since it was covered under warranty. They sent it back to me THREE TIMES before they actually fixed the problem. Then I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note II on ebay and the camera wouldn't focus. Finally I decided to never buy a phone from ebay again. I feel your pain.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers mobile app
sdg1980 said:
I'm not comprehending your point here. I'm talking about fraud. As I type this, I'm being fully refunded through eBay. Whether you got the original one or not for your friend is the point of this thread, not which carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your point D mentions that no Nexus 6 is ever carrier locked. As written that's false, making point D invalid. To make point D valid you would need to mention that no N6 comes carrier locked to T-Mobile.
That is why he pointed it out.
As far as I know, there havent been any rumblings of a Nexus 6 Clone on the net like Samsung phones.
Also there were 3 variants of the Nexus 6 where as 2 of them were carrier locked and one which was carrier branded but technically unlocked.
T-Mobile/At&T are carrier locked, while the Verizon version is not and I can attest to this because I own a Verizon variant running on T-Mobile.
Like most Chinese clones the phones are usually IPS or TFT panels with subpar resolution of the original. Also they can only achieve 26 but will have a fake 4G icon to make people think the phone is using 4G.
Now your story is a cool one, as you did not even test the phone, or actually use the phone. You didnt even turn on the phone. Therefore I do not buy your story, and without proof you cannot say the phone is a clone or fake one. You have every right to inspect the item you bought to make sure it is not fake. So i find your claims incomplete of merit.
@bvzxa3: T-Mobile never locked their Nexus 6. That dubious honor was reserved for AT&T, along with having the death star on the back. Also, he never said the phone was counterfeit. I made that assumption based upon the description of the box having spelling errors and misaligned "cut here" hash marks. A later post of his mentions his belief the phone was in fact refurbished, but not by Motorola.
two variants: unlocked US version, and an International version.
I bought one from us for only $249.00 and have never had a problem with it.
I agree you should have tested it without that you should not get a refund.
I got Verizon one and it was locked.
Sent from my Pixel XL using xda premium
sdg1980 said:
If you know someone who took advantage of the recent $199 brand new Nexus, locked to T-Mobile, "sealed in box" deal, tell them it was a fraud and file for a return claim IMMEDIATELY. I figured it out today when I opened the box
a) for starters, the original Google box did not read "make in china"; even if it did, it would say.....umm.. Made in China (Grammar, people, grammar).
b) The original Google OEM packaging did not have the production date inscribed on the box; this "new box" did.
c) the dotted seal itself was a quite a bit misaligned (you guys will know what I am talking about)
d) No N6 is EVER locked to specific service. I still took the bait thinking that well, since it says locked to T-Mobile, the sim will come separate. I am not sure if this part is authentic, but I assumed that none of these N6 OEM boxes were supplied with sims inside. This one came with one inside. So, how did it end up inside if this was "sealed"?
e) the BIGGEST giveaway--the OEM screen protector was quite unique for our handsets; it was rough to touch but plain, and more importantly, it had a marked white triangular spot at the left corner of the handset (Google's way of saying that you can peel this from here if you want). This one I received had a cheap 60 cents type screen protector with smudges and crumples all over.
So, yea, filed a report and waiting for a refund. So much for my future love for this brilliant beast. Now I will have to give more love to my current one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didn't share any links so it is hard to know what the situation was other than the fact that you feel ripped of by the unauthentic looking phone. But let me share my own experience of buying what seemed like new phones and how that turned out.
I really like Samsung Note 3. I think it was one of the best phones ever made, not because it has the best performance or build, simply because it is a good toy; it is easy to root and a lot of development has been done on it. You can tear it apart and put it back together in 5 minutes. It is not full of glue and impossible to reach corners. After 3 years used Note 3 phones still get sold at prices higher than some mid tier phones. I also have an S7 edge but I rarely use it. It is just not as much fun.
It is because of that, that I have owned 6 of them so far. If I break them I either fix them or get another one. And since it is not sold in retail stores anymore the only place to get them is Ebay.
Six months ago I found one advertised as a new T-Mobile phone on Ebay for ~$240 but it would be shipped from Hong Kong. I was curious how a T Mobile phone would actually be sold in Hong Kong? But with today's global economy it would not be a far stretch of imagination so I went ahead and ordered it. Took about a month to get it and when I opened the box I could swear the thing was a new phone. Everything was correct down to the T Mobile logo on the box.
After a few days I realized that, as new as the thing looks on the outside, it was in fact not a T Mobile phone. The LCD had an image burned into it which was visible especially on a blue background. It had clearly been used as a demo unit for a long time showing the same image over and over, which had gotten burnt into the OLED display. The headset connector had been used 366 times, charger connector 1216 times, and S pen had been detached 313 times. So the phone had been used extensively.
I dug a bit more into the hardware of the phone and I found that the model number hardcoded into the phone was SM-N900TZKETMB which is the model number for a black phone. This phone was white so clearly the frame and the back had been changed. I should have known better because the phone had a gold trim. T Mobile never sold this phone in this color.
I called Samsung and they said the phone had run out of warranty. I actually guessed it myself because again I could access the hardcoded info in the phone and I knew it had been manufactured more than 2 years before the purchase date.
So, in summary, this was not a new phone. This is a refurbished phone, albeit masterfully refurbished. I emphasize that it was not a copy. I verified myself that it has all the genuine hardware inside. So I ended up returning it for a refund.
A few months later, I found a "new" T-Mobile Sony Xperia Z3 on Ebay, another one of my favorites, sold from Hong Kong. Went ahead and ordered it, just to go through the same ordeal. If you know one thing about Z3 it is probably the fact that it has a great camera. The camera on this one was horrible. I have never before or since seen a camera that bad. The LCD was dim with uneven brightness, and some other problems... you get the picture. I ended up returning that as well. Later, I found out that T Mobile never sold this phone in this color either, so fool me once...
A couple of months passed by and I figured that since I like Note 3 and that white phone with the gold trim actually looked good, knowing that I will get a refurbished phone, I should go ahead and order another one from Hong Kong. After all, it was the original hardware in a refurbished shell, so what could go wrong. I ordered it and it came, again, in a sealed box with all bells and whistles. This time however, the phone would not function properly. It would not attach to T Mobile LTE network and even after putting the right APN etc, I would lose connection after every reboot. I started looking into the hardware. I found that it was in fact an N9005 (international model) refurbished as a N900T!!! They had force-flashed the T Mobile ROM on it and in the process had blown the knox fuse, which was a deal breaker since I need to use the phone in a secure corporate environment. That phone went back to Hong Kong as well.
So three phones from three different vendors all having the same problem. Why?
Because there is a cottage industry in China that buys used phones from the US and other countries. They clean them up, replace the exterior frame, replace any broken components with aftermarket parts, and they even print the exact same brochures, boxes, and plastic wrappings to masquerade them as new, and they sell them on the internet. This is a step-up from the fake phones they used to make a few years ago so at least the hardware inside is mostly authentic, but they are dishonest and will easily lie to you about the phones being new. The above-mentioned phones were all shipped, not from Hong Kong, but from China through Hong Kong. Not everyone is picky like me to go through all this trouble to test and return these effectively used products. Some people just use the phone to make phone calls, which most of these phone do very well anyway.
I do not want to disrespect the Chinese. But in the consumer electronics sector, this is unethical and I see it being done more and more by them. Selling low grade goods disguised as original products to people erodes the buyers confidence. Five years ago if I wanted to buy a replacement LCD on Ebay, I could find some at the $100 dollar price mark and some at the $10 level, which would tell me which one it the Chinese low quality crap so I could stay away from it. Today, I want to buy a Sony LCD on Ebay and I have a price range from $20 to $50 and there is no guarantee that the $50 is any better than the $20 one. For what I know they may have all come from the same crappy low quality manufacturing line in Shenzhen.
Just to make things clear here, when we're referring to AT&T locking the device, we're referring to a SIM lock, not a bootloader lock. Regardless of carrier, the US Nexus 6 could be bootloader unlocked so custom ROMs could be installed. But only AT&T SIM locked the device.
I recently purchased 3 S7 edge G375U from ebay seller "cellitems" and my experience is far from acceptable.
Only 1 out of 3 looked new. 2 out of 3 were scratched up especially on the flash and sensor lens on the back. All 3 came with the box seals broken. When I contacted them they assured me they were new and only opened for unlocking. I was thinking what? These are factory unlocked to begin with!
I started looking more closely to these phones and it turned out all them are Sprint version G375P with G375U ROM installed. Although it works fine but I surely don't like being lied to.
If admin see this, please move this thread to the discussion. Posted here by mistake
"Although it works fine but I surely don't like being lied to."
For the principal, I'd go for a refund, or more assertive resolution that failing... and look elsewhere
Asking for a refund on 2. Keeping one for personal reason. I think ebay should have a better system in place to punish these sellers. It's said that most customer didn't know they got tricked. 1 star feedback will be given. I wish ebay can notify other buyers of this scam.
e20140 said:
I recently purchased 3 S7 edge G375U from ebay seller "cellitems" and my experience is far from acceptable.
Only 1 out of 3 looked new. 2 out of 3 were scratched up especially on the flash and sensor lens on the back. All 3 came with the box seals broken. When I contacted them they assured me they were new and only opened for unlocking. I was thinking what? These are factory unlocked to begin with!
I started looking more closely to these phones and it turned out all them are Sprint version G375P with G375U ROM installed. Although it works fine but I surely don't like being lied to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be new to eBay...
90% of everything on eBay is fake
*Detection* said:
You must be new to eBay...
90% of everything on eBay is fake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not true. Im buying 3 phones in the past and not one was a fake.
I think the buyer should be more careful and reading the ratings for example. Not reading the positive ratings.. Read the negativ ratings. I didnt say its his fault... I dont like it too and hate them sellers.
To the op :
Did you Pay via Paypal? So u can Open an issue on Paypal. Until its not solved the seller didnt get his money
lladwein said:
That's not true. Im buying 3 phones in the past and not one was a fake.
I think the buyer should be more careful and reading the ratings for example. Not reading the positive ratings.. Read the negativ ratings. I didnt say its his fault... I dont like it too and hate them sellers.
To the op :
Did you Pay via Paypal? So u can Open an issue on Paypal. Until its not solved the seller didnt get his money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Naive
Ratings and feedback mean nothing, I bought a PS3 controller from a guy with thousands of 100% positive feedback, controller was a fake
Bought iPad charger from someone with very high 100% positive feedback, also fake
You want to know how they keep their 100% positive feedback? The same way they tried to get me to reverse my negative rating by refunding me under the agreement that I could keep the item as long as I changed my feedback from negative to positive (I did not change my feedback)
eBay ratings = Nothing
You got lucky
*Detection* said:
Naive
Ratings and feedback mean nothing, I bought a PS3 controller from a guy with thousands of 100% positive feedback, controller was a fake
Bought iPad charger from someone with very high 100% positive feedback, also fake
You want to know how they keep their 100% positive feedback? The same way they tried to get me to reverse my negative rating by refunding me under the agreement that I could keep the item as long as I changed my feedback from negative to positive (I did not change my feedback)
eBay ratings = Nothing
You got lucky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind of luck is always needed.
But Ive learned that there's always a trusted Shop where you can buy.
lladwein said:
Kind of luck is always needed.
But Ive learned that there's always a trusted Shop where you can buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, you can find hidden honest gems shops, but like I say, you have to sift through the 90% of fakes to find that 10% pot of gold
I'd rather pay the extra to buy from a real online shop than use eBay these days
e20140 said:
I recently purchased 3 S7 edge G375U from ebay seller "cellitems" and my experience is far from acceptable.
Only 1 out of 3 looked new. 2 out of 3 were scratched up especially on the flash and sensor lens on the back. All 3 came with the box seals broken. When I contacted them they assured me they were new and only opened for unlocking. I was thinking what? These are factory unlocked to begin with!
I started looking more closely to these phones and it turned out all them are Sprint version G375P with G375U ROM installed. Although it works fine but I surely don't like being lied to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally I would leave this be but this is a legitimate discussion Im goin to move this thread so more can see and read
Thread moved to general and discussion
*Detection* said:
Yep, you can find hidden honest gems shops, but like I say, you have to sift through the 90% of fakes to find that 10% pot of gold
I'd rather pay the extra to buy from a real online shop than use eBay these days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my personal use, I ended up buying it from Bestbuy. Even Items directly from China operated store was good. Got one of those Lenovo's fastest tablet for cheap!
Recent experience of buying new phone on eBay (all local USA sellers) is horrible. Aside from S7 edge, I bought a LG G5 in the summer and ended up returning them all, 5 times total. Again, the phone was installed with unofficial ROMs.
I would like to add, buying from individual ebay sellers (not one with a store) is mostly safe.
I would like to add never buy parts from FixEZ on ebay as they claim oem quality And most def is not...
I bought a lcd and frame assembly from them and its made of reg glass not gorilla and there cust service rep cussed me out when I sent the screen shots of the website as he told me they never claimed oem.
Which they most def did...
The screen cracked in my pocket when i sat down just from the pressure in a front pocket of fairly baggy pants might i add
This was for a LG G4
There is one advantage to there being so many fakes on eBay, so long as the seller advertises them as genuine, and they are not, you can usually get a full refund along with them letting you keep the item if you complain they are breaking eBays Ts&Cs by false advertising
They'll usually try to get you to accept 50% refund & keep the item, but if you push them and tell them you want them to send you a pre-pay box to return the item for full refund & will contact eBay about their false advert, 90% of the time they refund in full and you get an automated message from eBay saying you do not need to do anything else nor return the item
And tbh, I feel no sorrow for them losing any money considering they know they're scamming so many people with fakes
*Detection* said:
Yep, you can find hidden honest gems shops, but like I say, you have to sift through the 90% of fakes to find that 10% pot of gold
I'd rather pay the extra to buy from a real online shop than use eBay these days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does factory sealed mean anything when buying on ebay ? Or is there a workaround for that too ? like fake seals or stickers
boydsc331 said:
Does factory sealed mean anything when buying on ebay ? Or is there a workaround for that too ? like fake seals or stickers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything is possible on eBay, easy enough to buy shrink-wrap and claim it is factory sealed
Stickers have often been faked
Firmware on the phone has been faked
Model number on the back of the actual phone has been faked
Model number on the box has been faked / wrong box used
Buy new if you want 100% guarantee it is what you are buying, or make sure you have a good and sure way of being refunded if you still go the eBay route
ok so I went the ebay route. I found an individual seller, not one of those cell phone stores. I got 2 of the 930FD for $460 each. Not a great price but not too bad I thought. They were factory sealed and brand new. Thankyou all for the tips and suggestions.