Is my phone new or refurbished?

[jungleexplorer]

I bought an i727 off ebay for my wife. It was listed as, Brand New, Unopened, Undamaged. I got it yesterday and it looks really nice and as far as I can tell it was new, but it does not work right. When I first got it, I transfered my wifes sims from her old phone to it. The phone worked fine in all functions but showed no cell tower signal. I have a i727 and it was showing full signal (all bars) while sitting next to my wifes new i727 that was showing no network signal at all. Thinking the problem might be mife wifes very old sims card, I called AT&T and they said she needed a new sims. I went down and got her a brand new sims card, but that did not fix the probem. The phone does get some signal on ocassion, but it ius like one bar at most and then the connection dies in a few minutes. Even when were in the AT&T store it showed only 1 bar.

Now, I am wondering if this phone was really "Brand New". I have been reading that there is some kind of RTN menu in smartphone that can tell you if the the phone is refurbished and I also remember reading somewhere that there is some way to see how many hours of use a phones has on it. Unfortunately I have found no way to find this info on this phone. Does anyone know how to do this?

 

[Rukbat]

Why would it matter? The phone is obviously defective - ask for a replacement or refund. (And if you paid by PayPal or a bank card you're very well covered for defective merchandise.)

 

[jungleexplorer]

It matters to determine if the seller was lying. When leaving feedback on ebay you rate the accuracy of the description. If a person list an item as brand new that is actually refurbished or used, then that is an inaccurate description. The rating system is our way of keeping eBay sellers honest and informing other buyers about a seller. I appreciate it when other people leave accurate ratings and try to do the same in return for them.

 

[lunatic59]

Found this about refurbished goods. It is pretty much how I understand it, too.

The Federal Trade Commission bans deceptive labeling in the sale of any product. This means that returned items cannot be sold as new, and retailers who sell rebuilt or otherwise remanufactured items must label them as such and not sell them as new items. If an item has merely been re-shelved without being used by another consumer, retailers should indicate that. Likewise, recycled materials cannot be reused to construct new goods---as with reused padding in upholstered products---while labeling the item as new.

Read more: Consumer Laws About Refurbished Goods | eHow

I don't know of any hidden files or menus that will tell you if the unit was a refurb or not, but I would guess not, since it didn't perform well. Many times production testing will randomly sample a lot of devices rather than test each unit allowing the likelihood of a defective unit passing QC. Refurbs are individually tested and more likely to have faults caught.

I buy refurbs (Servers, cameras, laptops ... not phones yet) and for the most part have been very happy. They have all been clearly marked on or near the serial number as a refurbished unit.

Given the response of the seller (from the other thread) I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[jungleexplorer]

I normally buy refurbs for the same reason as you, but my wife thinks it is just because I am cheapskate and don't want to pay full price. Since this was a gift for her, I went new.

I posted this question before the seller responded to my email with such great service. I agree with you that it is unlikely the they are being deceptive in their ads.