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.
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.