Returned phones repackaged as New?

[alpinemack]

Many people here (and elsewhere) mention that they returned their Touch Pros for new ones, some even multiple times (as far as 6 or 7 times).
What happens to these returned phones?

Apart from being packaged as refurbished, do any of them get repackaged as 'new' phones again?

Some of the reasons that people would have for returning them are 'non-faulty' reasons such as they simply did not like it or some part of it was difficult for them to use, etc... Do such phones get repackaged as New again?

[electronicrice]

Originally Posted by alpinemack

Many people here (and elsewhere) mention that they returned their Touch Pros for new ones, some even multiple times (as far as 6 or 7 times).
What happens to these returned phones?

Apart from being packaged as refurbished, do any of them get repackaged as 'new' phones again?

Some of the reasons that people would have for returning them are 'non-faulty' reasons such as they simply did not like it or some part of it was difficult for them to use, etc... Do such phones get repackaged as New again?

if someone buys a phone, uses it and then returns it, it's not NEW anymore is it?

no they recondition the phone and sell them as refurbs or use for warranty purposes

[alpinemack]

Yes but how can you be so sure of this - especially for the returned phones that don't have any defects.
They could simply put it back into a new package, couldn't they?

[Insoc]

Only they know...

How would we know?

##786# should say if the phone is refurbished, if they update that.

I am sure that if anyone could prove them wrong and it would cost them money in court, they do the right thing and refurbish them.

But if you don't trust them, what can you do about it except be happy with the phone you have...

[cordevil95]

When I returned my phone at Best Buy they pulled a box out of their stock, opened it up, and I could tell right away that it wasn't "new". There were fingerprints on the phone, if I remember correctly the screen cover was taken off, and when it was turned on it didn't go through the initial setup process. I suppose they could have taken this phone out for someone to play with at the store, but I'm guessing it was returned. The manufacture date was earlier than the one I was returning. The other phone they had in stock was new and had a manufacture date of a week or so later.

If you are buying one, just check the manufacture date, and make sure all the packaging looks untouched.

[Insoc]

"When I returned my phone at Best Buy they pulled a box out of their stock, opened it up, and I could tell right away that it wasn't "new". There were fingerprints on the phone, if I remember correctly the screen cover was taken off, and when it was turned on it didn't go through the initial setup process. I suppose they could have taken this phone out for someone to play with at the store, but I'm guessing it was returned. The manufacture date was earlier than the one I was returning. The other phone they had in stock was new and had a manufacture date of a week or so later."


I have seen TWO BB that would open new phones, put the batteries in and run it through it's start up customization to save time when selling them to customers. This might be a common practice seeing it done at two different stores...

I have also returned two phones to BB and both times they were given to customer care, with return stickers, so they were not returned to stock.

When I got my second phone, it was made 10/12 (an early date) even though it was a 2nd or 3rd shipment to the store. My first phone was a 10/15, purchased on a Sunday before their official Monday release...

[alpinemack]

Thanks for the replies.
Okay. How do I find the manufacturing date on the phone? Is it printed on the device (hardware) somewhere?
Or is it only from the software? (like doing ##786#?)

And when you refer to manufacturing date, is that the same as the build date, ROM date, and other such dates that I have seen mentioned in the forums?

Replies on how to determine these dates would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

[Insoc]

##786#

Manufacturer's Date is that, when the phone was made.

[AndyCR512]

On mine, it was also on the inside of the battery cover (the cover itself, not under it).

[IFMISM]

from my understanding if it is less that 30 days and has had less than 100 mins used on it then it can be sold as new after the techs have looked it over. or atleast this is what i was told in the store by the tech that replaced mine