CAUTION: Always check the SIM card tray product code on a used Lumia before purchase

mocarey

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Oct 22, 2012
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I've posted about this issue before, though thought I would share my cautionary, farcical tale once more, especially now that I have more accurate info.

I purchased a Lumia 900 from an eBay seller. Upon receipt, I noticed that the device had a serious screen 'burn-in' issue, where the home screen tiles were visible at all times on the phone. Instead of returning the device to the seller (which in retrospect would have been the smart thing to do!), I contacted US Nokia Customer Care who informed me that the device was under warranty and that I should send this to them for repair.

They sent me a replacement brand new device about a week later in a demo box, which worked perfectly, i.e. I was able to set up the phone and use it without issue....till about 2-3 weeks later when the GPS stopped working. Within two weeks the device did a round trip to Nokia and back to me. The returned device now had demo software loaded on it, which 'refreshes' the data on the phone every day, erasing all my info, with me also unable to login to my Live account or erase all the existing accounts on the phone.

Since then, over the course of 2 months, that phone has done a few more round trips to Nokia and back, along with 2 other replacement Lumia 900 handsets that Nokia has been sending to me as well. The issue with all 3 handsets is that these all have the demo software that 'refreshes' the phone's data every day, making these impractical to use on an ongoing basis. The software on these phones can also not be updated using Zune, i.e. the only way to get these fully functional is to flash to a retail ROM and then update.

Here's my thoughts about this ongoing debacle (yes, it's still happening, I just got back the first device in the mail and Nokia have confirmed that I should expect to receive the two other devices in the mail shortly as well):

- The original device that I purchased was a demo unit that had apparently been flashed with a retail ROM, which is why Nokia's first and subsequent replacements have all been demo units. Nokia Customer Care should never have accepted the original device 'under warranty', as the one year warranty does not apply to demo devices.
- For some unknown reason, the first replacement did not have demo firmware loaded, which is why I was able to setup and use the phone.
- When these devices are returned to Nokia, they test these to make sure everything works. They also 're-flash' the devices to make sure that the demo software is loaded and then send these back, which appears to be their normal protocol for demo devices, i.e. the Service Center reports back to the client facing Customer Care that the devices are fully functional and ship these back to the customer.

So here's my caution, always check the product code on a used Lumia before buying this to confirm that you're buying a retail device and not a demo unit, as it can make the warranty process painful. The demo units have a different product code from the retail units.
 

vormison

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I've displayed my dissatisfaction with much less frequency than I really wanted to recently. I, myself, am about to have my 4th Lumia 900 shipped to me. Every single phone has been met with some seriously glaring issues from the get-go that rendered it unusable. I really don't know what to do at this point. I love Windows Phones - I love my Nokia but I think I, unfortunately, have really hit my limit.

So, I guess I am just sympathizing with you a bit about issues I've had for over 2 months now.
 

mocarey

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You could have flashed this phone with any number of firmwares off navifirm. None of them would have been demos

Yes, I could have done that, though I was trying to give Nokia the opportunity to resolve this issue appropriately, i.e to repair the device and send it back to me fully functional, just as I had received it.
 

mocarey

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I've displayed my dissatisfaction with much less frequency than I really wanted to recently. I, myself, am about to have my 4th Lumia 900 shipped to me. Every single phone has been met with some seriously glaring issues from the get-go that rendered it unusable. I really don't know what to do at this point. I love Windows Phones - I love my Nokia but I think I, unfortunately, have really hit my limit.

So, I guess I am just sympathizing with you a bit about issues I've had for over 2 months now.

Sorry to hear about your issues. Have you tried emailing Stephen Elop? His team might be able to help with your issue, maybe with some additional QA checks before they ship the next device to you. I received two responses from the email address "stephen.elop at nokia.com" when I emailed about my issue. The result was that I got a single point of contact at Nokia Customer Care to handle my issue and the service center that shipped the devices out to me started doing additional QA checks on the devices that were shipped back to me. From my post above, that didn't help me, as their QA was to confirm that the demo device worked as expected, i.e. including the 'demo' mode that has been causing me grief. You might have better luck though.
 
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vormison

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Yes, I have went the Elop route twice now (I felt bad doing it but have run out of options). Nokia is very attentive, understanding, and apologetic...unfortunately, this hasn't helped the quality of phones I have been provided with. I use my phone, primarily, for business and now I am going to be without a phone for about 7 days or so. Oh well, I am patient and hopefully this all ends well.
 

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