My plan to get a Vigor

[untitled1]

I currently have a Thunderbolt that is experiencing technical woes. Specifically, when I share the wifi signal, my other devices can't get a reliable data stream. They stay connected, but if I use a service like Netflix, only a minute or two of video will play before it starts to buffer. After 4 or 5 bouts of buffering, it gives up altogether. A hard reset offered no improvement.

Meanwhile, Netflix plays just fine on the Bolt itself, so my 4G service is fine.

What I want to do is:

 

[TxGoat]

Are you using Gingerbread or are you rooted? I've noticed that when I was rooted with Thunderbolt, I'd use wireless tether, if the phone's screen went to sleep the data connection would stop. Once I turned the phone's screen back on and tried my browser it recovered. I threw on BAMF SoAB and I haven't had any problems with wireless tether. I'm going to hate going back to the Rezound's O/S.


Oh yeah and if you're going to try to get the phone replaced under warranty, they'll send you a refurb which is almost guaranteed to be in worse shape than your current phone.

 

[NightAngel79]

I'm on the fence of the ethical concerns... honestly as long as you are using your upgrade to get it cheap then sell full price then doesnt seem bad...

Leaving this open for now and getting the rest of staff to consider this as well

i did hear that Tbolts are going for less than 200 on ebay though...

Opinions?

 

[TxGoat]

I'm on the fence of the ethical concerns... honestly as long as you are using your upgrade to get it cheap then sell full price then doesnt seem bad...

Leaving this open for now and getting the rest of staff to consider this as well

i did hear that Tbolts are going for less than 200 on ebay though...

Opinions?

They'll drop even further when people start doing a side-by-side comparison. I guess now I understand why there were a couple of nasty posts in my Thunderbolt thread about me "divorcing" this phone. It's not a bad phone. Once Verizon drops it to below $100 with a 2 year contract, it will become more attractive to other buyers. Not everyone is ready to plunk down so much on a new phone and the one thing to keep in mind is that the Thunderbolt comes with a 32 GB micro card. And while the price of those cards have come down significantly, it's still $35-$40 worth of hardware, unless HTC has decided to go cheap and throw in 16 GB to keep costs down.

Oh and I put "feasible but not ethical" down if there's really nothing wrong with your phone but you want a new phone. And even more non-ethical if it's a refurb but you word it as "still boxed" to give the illusion that it's new in the box. That's what DailySteals.com tends to do.

 

[OfTheDamned]

On top of the fact that you will get a refurbished Thunderbolt as a replacement, it probably won't even come with a box or instructions. Most of the time replacement units don't even come with a battery. So you won't be able to claim that it is unopened. You may want to just look at a company like Best Buy's buy back program or even Verizon's buy back program to sell it. It would be a lot less trouble that way.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Also, I think you'll have to keep a data package on the upgraded line at $30/month.

 

[Crashumbc]

As long as you disclose that's a "unused warranty replacement" its fine.

Like OTD said a lot of times you get a refurbished phone. It all depends on what is in stock...

IF you try and sell a refurb as a "new" phone that's unethical...

 

[Crashumbc]

Also, I think you'll have to keep a data package on the upgraded line at $30/month.

I've heard both ways. "last" info. I got was from a supposed VZW rep who said as long as you move a dumb phone to the line it'll let you drop the data plan...

YMMV

 

[ChiTownJim]

My Warranty replacement Tbolt that I got about 2 months ago came as a refurbished but it was boxed as new with new cables, sd card and battery . Looked exactly like my original on DOP but said refurbished .. All in all I think your idea is solid it's pretty much on par with what I do everytime I get a new phone

I am still up in the air on the Rezound or GNex . I think camera quality is going to be the deal winner and honestly I'm leaning towards the Rezound since I've had great experience with HTC and not so great experience with Samsung .. My plan is to just give my Thunderbolt to my mom her Incredible 1 is on it's last leg.

 

[Blackthanos]

• Is this feasible? Will it work? Will I have any problems with SIM cards?
• Is it ethical? Am I somehow cheating Verizon?

Is it feasible? Yes and part or me salutes your intent to stick it to the system.
Is it ethical? That's a hard one. If it is, it's right on the very edge for me.
Are you cheating Verizon? WHO CARES!!! I think they will somehow manage. I'd be more concerned with if it counts as cheating the poor smuck who buys it on ebay.

 

[untitled1]

And even more non-ethical if it's a refurb but you word it as "still boxed" to give the illusion that it's new in the box. That's what DailySteals.com tends to do.

I think you can assume that because I'm worried about the ethics, I wouldn't do something like that. If they send me an old beater in a Ziplock bag, then the whole deal is off.

I really don't want to screw anyone over. I want to get what I want and make sure everyone else in the deal is happy, too.

 

[TxGoat]

Is it feasible? Yes and part or me salutes your intent to stick it to the system.
Is it ethical? That's a hard one. If it is, it's right on the very edge for me.
Are you cheating Verizon? WHO CARES!!! I think they will somehow manage. I'd be more concerned with if it counts as cheating the poor smuck who buys it on ebay.

I don't know, even though it's a large faceless organization that's known for ripping people off when it can get away with it I still think that you have to establish your ethics as "Would I want the same done to me?" Granted I understand wanting to stick it to a big company like Verizon that's used to sticking it to whomever/wherever/however/whenever...as long as legally they can get away with it.

I think you can assume that because I'm worried about the ethics, I wouldn't do something like that. If they send me an old beater in a Ziplock bag, then the whole deal is off.

I really don't want to screw anyone over. I want to get what I want and make sure everyone else in the deal is happy, too.

But what if it came in a zip lock bag with something else?!?!

 

[olbriar]

IMO, if you are questioning the ethics enough to set up a poll, your inner self already considers it unethical. And a note on refurbs... My many Dics came boxed with no back or battery. I doubt your proposed transaction would do big RED any harm but the end consumer of your refurb is taking a pretty big hit. My refurbs were clearly not factory fresh. But....... whatever it takes to get this beast into your hands. I well understand.

 

[dguy]

Oh yeah and if you're going to try to get the phone replaced under warranty, they'll send you a refurb which is almost guaranteed to be in worse shape than your current phone.

Do you know what refurbished even means? With the exception of mistakes where something gets out that isn't supposed to get out(which will be righted if you just complain), a refurb is identical to a brand new device.

 

[TxGoat]

Do you know what refurbished even means? With the exception of mistakes where something gets out that isn't supposed to get out(which will be righted if you just complain), a refurb is identical to a brand new device.

I've had 6 refurbs sent to me so I definitely know what refurb means, at least as far as HTC and its Thunderbolt are concerned. It's a phone that's been pieced together by a high school dropout (being generous here) that may or may not have used too much glue when putting a Thunderbolt screen back on. Thus the screen sticks out past the protective edges on the phone and when you flip it upside down for speakerphone mode it may wear the screen out prematurely. Or it means that when they put the screen back on they didn't use ENOUGH glue and the screen actually moves down into the housing when you type something. Yeah I know all about HTC's "refurbs".....and have all the return shipping label receipts to prove it.

 

[compchick813]

I think that as long as you disclose it as a refurb, you wouldn't be cheating the buyer. Taking pics of any scratches, etc. would also help them know what they're buying.

 

[vzwuser76]

For everyone that's mentioning that refurbs don't come with the battery, battery door, & charging cable, he already has that on his current phone. When you send the defective unit back, you only send back the phone itself, not the battery, door, etc. If you sent everything back it would be unusable.

As long as you disclose that it's a refurbished unit from Verizon, there is no ethical dilemma. You are stating outright what you are selling and not trying to say it's brand new. If you said brand new phone still in the box, that would be unethical.

As far as feasible, it depends on what you get for your Tbolt. They have a stigma for being problematic, no matter how many people say theirs is just fine, many don't believe them because of what they experienced, heard, or read. Plus if it is listed as refurbished when you sell it, it will not garner the same money as a new one. Currently there is 8 manufacturer refurbished phone on ebay. The one ending soonest is very similar to what you're going to sell (phone, battery, charger, cable, 32GB sd card, and box), listed as never been used, and it's currently at $195 with 18 minutes to go. So if you can live with around $200 to part with it, then you're ok.

To be safe ethically, I would say refurbished in the title because the one I referrenced doesn't say that it is. The only place refurbished is mentioned is in the "Item Specifics". His description is the stock HTC PR with specs. Other than that he just says it's never been used and the 32GB card is included. To me that's a little murky ethically, since some people only look at the description. Here is a link to the ebay auction I mentioned:

HTC ThunderBolt - Never Been Used, 32gb SD card included | eBay

 

[TxGoat]

For everyone that's mentioning that refurbs don't come with the battery, battery door, & charging cable, he already has that on his current phone. When you send the defective unit back, you only send back the phone itself, not the battery, door, etc. If you sent everything back it would be unusable.

As long as you disclose that it's a refurbished unit from Verizon, there is no ethical dilemma. You are stating outright what you are selling and not trying to say it's brand new. If you said brand new phone still in the box, that would be unethical.

As far as feasible, it depends on what you get for your Tbolt. They have a stigma for being problematic, no matter how many people say theirs is just fine, many don't believe them because of what they experienced, heard, or read. Plus if it is listed as refurbished when you sell it, it will not garner the same money as a new one. Currently there is 8 manufacturer refurbished phone on ebay. The one ending soonest is very similar to what you're going to sell (phone, battery, charger, cable, 32GB sd card, and box), listed as never been used, and it's currently at $195 with 18 minutes to go. So if you can live with around $200 to part with it, then you're ok.

To be safe ethically, I would say refurbished in the title because the one I referrenced doesn't say that it is. The only place refurbished is mentioned is in the "Item Specifics". His description is the stock HTC PR with specs. Other than that he just says it's never been used and the 32GB card is included. To me that's a little murky ethically, since some people only look at the description. Here is a link to the ebay auction I mentioned:

HTC ThunderBolt - Never Been Used, 32gb SD card included | eBay

Wow a never been used assignment on a refurb? I wonder what that guy's Ebay rating is. I hate misleading stuff like that. Of course if you put "refurb" on an auction, good luck getting 50% of what it's worth. One thing about selling the phone, I would probably personally repack it with a new battery as an "extra" just because I've seen people have problems with old batteries in their refurbed thunderbolts (ok 2 threads at most).

 

[olbriar]

For everyone that's mentioning that refurbs don't come with the battery, battery door, & charging cable, he already has that on his current phone. When you send the defective unit back, you only send back the phone itself, not the battery, door, etc. If you sent everything back it would be unusable.

I guess it will be ok to sell the refurb in an unopened box and ship the battery cover and battery in a separate box. (silly me)

My point was it will be impossible to sell it in an unopened box as new... dats all.

 

[vzwuser76]

I guess it will be ok to sell the refurb in an unopened box and ship the battery cover and battery in a separate box. (silly me)

My point was it will be impossible to sell it in an unopened box as new... dats all.

My Inc2 is a refurb and it didn't even come with a box. You set the phone in this kind of suspension system (all cardboard) that's inside the fedex box. The problem is that suspension system needs to be used to send back the old one.

So I kinda missed that on my last post. What the OP should do is put the refurb along with everything else that came with the phone in the original box. On his ebay or cragslist ad he should state that it is a refurb and hasn't been used since he received it from Verizon. All of the accessories are there but that it is a reufrb.

You will also need to make clear that it is sold as is and no warranty with it, because if you put another phone on your line, I believe that nulls the warranty on the older phone as far as Verizon is concerned. Not sure on that but something to think about.

 

[olbriar]

^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly. No foul against selling a new refurb properly represented. I'm sure it's no skin off of VZ's nose either. After all they either gain a customer with the refurb buyer or at least keep a customer with a data plan. OP takes his proceeds and buys a new phone. Win win near as I can see.

 

[untitled1]

Well, I obviously had concerns about the my idea before I even posted, and you all have convinced me that my concerns were valid. Guess I'll be sticking with the Bolt for a while.

 

[TxGoat]

Well, I obviously had concerns about the my idea before I even posted, and you all have convinced me that my concerns were valid. Guess I'll be sticking with the Bolt for a while.

Your other alternative is if you have a family member that's on Verizon's network and has an older phone, swap your phone out for a refurb, box it up, get a new battery for it and give it to them as a gift.


My plan is to actually give my phone to a family member and then they're going to give it to someone as a gift.


Is the only reason you're wanting out of your TB is because of the wifi tethering? Get with Tech Support and see if they can help you. If it's rooted then there's some well documented cases about Wifi tethering not working.

 

[untitled1]

If it's rooted then there's some well documented cases about Wifi tethering not working.

Nope, not rooted. I'm paying for the official tethering. I do plan to look into getting the Bolt fixed or replaced, because I can't tolerate it the way it is now. Would've dealt with this weeks ago but I keep getting called into work on my days off ...

Too bad I don't get OT pay for my extra hours. Then I'd be able to afford the $299 for a Vigor upgrade ...

 

[TxGoat]

Nope, not rooted. I'm paying for the official tethering. I do plan to look into getting the Bolt fixed or replaced, because I can't tolerate it the way it is now. Would've dealt with this weeks ago but I keep getting called into work on my days off ...

Too bad I don't get OT pay for my extra hours. Then I'd be able to afford the $299 for a Vigor upgrade ...

Have you called Verizon to tell them that the wireless tethering is not working? Have you gone into the Mobile Hotspot, gone to Advanced>Power Mode>Always On for your settings?