Refurbished Cell Phones

[nsulham]

I'm eligible for a wireless upgrade (AT&T) within the next couple months and I've been scoping out some phones. Don't have a lot of dough to work with at the moment and I really want to upgrade to a smartphone so I've been checking out the refurbs.

Anyone have any history or experience with a refurb. phone?

[thedude]

I haven't had any experience with a refurbished smartphone. I have a buddy who got a refurbished tilt. and it is working just as well as my new tilt (which btw i love and highly recommend).

[seniorpaul]

I bought a refurbished Iphone and it looked brand new. Came with all the accessories (even though i believe the website said it wouldn't) and i've never had any problems with it.

[zepfan]

I think the refurbs can be a bit of a crapshoot since you really don't know why it was refurbished. A lot of the time the manufacturer has "repaired" the phone but it still doesn't work properly and then you get stuck with a nightmare that's more trouble than it's worth. On the other hand, some of the phones may be refurbished just because someone didn't like the design and exchanged it for a different one, depending on the store's return policies so you could luck out and get one of those ones. If you can get some kind of gurantee or warranty I would do it. Otherwise, if you're a gambling man, just buy it and pray. If you're spending any significant amount of money though, I would try to get some kind of guarantee on it if possible.