A Warning and/or Theory for anyone looking to buy their handset unlocked/simfree

[paddylaz]

So a couple of years ago when I bought my Galaxy s2 sim free, it came with a defective screen. I also noticed that it had been updated with the latest firmware (which wasn't officially released yet) and the seal was broken. I concluded that this was a returned handset that had been sent to me. I assumed this was a one off. I got a replacement which was new and (unsurprisingly) perfect.

Anyway, as of today, I just returned my 4th lumia 920 (there won't be a fifth). The first had a horrific rattle, the second and third had loose display/the creak, and severe light bleed that made half the screen (when looking at anything dark) seem lighter than the other half. No I don't have OCD. Or any history of mental illness . These are REAL defects.

I'm writing this because I noticed something. The fourth was a handset I ordered from a different website (won't name it in case you think I work for a rival or some nonsense like that and are making this up). One moment I looked and the website said it was out of stock, the next moment it said they DID have stock. So I ordered the phone and as soon as I ordered it their website went to being 'out of stock' again. When the phone arrived, I was dismayed to see it had a slightly dented chassis and light bleed on one side. I also noticed that the sim tray removal pin wasn't in the 'slot' it's supposed to be displayed in, and was in fact wedged in the manual/quick guide. There is no way this could have happened by accident. I deduced that once again I had been sent a previously-returned handset which (because it had been returned)obviously had problems. I'm thinking they received a return, and just put it straight back into their stock for the next person. Hence the in stock/out of stock weirdness mentioned above.

So my theory is that these retail websites (specifically the ones that deal exclusively in handsets - not amazon or anything) have a culture of sending returned handsets out again to people in the hope that (and it's a likely hope) they will go to a customer who is not tech-savvy enough to know what standards to expect and what is wrong. After all the people on this forum might know their stuff, but remain 1% of total purchasers globally. I just wanted to share this and suggest to people to wait for new stock if ordering from one of these websites - there are a lot of 'armchair psychologists' on this forum suggesting that everyone has OCD - it could just be that a lot of these defective handsets are being circulated until the websites manage to find a 'home' with a less than discerning owner. This may well also be the case with those buying from shops but I have no experience with that so won't say further.

Sorry for the verbiage - thought it might be of interest to a few and I hope it helps someone in however small a way.

 

[slysy]

Very disappointing you have had so much trouble I wonder if Amazon will be stocking this phone anytime soon?

 

[paddylaz]

Hi again mate - yeah as you can see I took the plunge one more time since I last spoke to you!

Yeah they are doing some at the mo - off on holiday on Saturday so maybe when I come back I will give it another go x

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

No offense, bit how is not telling us the websites "helping" us. All you did was tell us your bad experience.

You should've stated which websites are partaking in these types of behavior.

 

[paddylaz]

No offense, bit how is not telling us the websites "helping" us. All you did was tell us your bad experience.

You should've stated which websites are partaking in these types of behavior.

well I guess Ithought it better not to a.) for the reason stated and b.) because if I'm right, I'm assuming they ALL partake in such behaviour to a certain extent and I didn't want to give the impression of a single 'bad seed' etc, but for the record it was Clove and Handtec.

 

[robnewton]

Id be suprised if clove are doing that, at least knowingly. Ive bought a number of phones from them & never had a problem. They also list & sell returns/demo units as seperate "B-Stock".

 

[slashd0t]

well I guess Ithought it better not to a.) for the reason stated and b.) because if I'm right, I'm assuming they ALL partake in such behaviour to a certain extent and I didn't want to give the impression of a single 'bad seed' etc, but for the record it was Clove and Handtec.

You would assume that they ALL do that? You can't generalize like that .. Seriously.

 

[paddylaz]

Perhaps 'ALL' is too strong - I don't literally mean every legally registered company that sells mobile equipment does this, but as I said if I am right about those two, who are in no way connected to each other commercially, it is not unreasonable to assume a culture of this sort is very likely to exist elsewhere.

Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[njblackberry]

Quite the ASSumption there. Jumping from your bad experience to "ASSume a culture of this sort".
Doesn't fly. Making stuff up to explain your poor experience doesn't make it a fact.

 

[paddylaz]

Quite the ASSumption there. Jumping from your bad experience to "ASSume a culture of this sort".
Doesn't fly. Making stuff up to explain your poor experience doesn't make it a fact.

Comprehension is clearly NOT your strong suit and unfortunately it's unpleasant people like yourself that make forums like this tiresome for others. 'ASSume' - very clever. If you would kindly look at the fifth post in this thread, you will see I say the words "IF I AM RIGHT." In other words, NOWHERE in my post(s) did I make the slightest suggestion that I knew they did this for fact. If I was claiming I knew it as fact, I would hardly put the word THEORY in the bloody title of the thread would I?!

I'm trying to help anyone who has been in a similar scenario (and hopefully prevent others) by relaying exactly what happened to me and offering a theory (that I think there's a reasonable amount of evidence to at least partly corroborate). At no point do I make ANY indication that what I have speculated is fact and at no point have I made anything up.

The fact that you would make an aggressive glib comment like that without even the courtesy of properly reading the thread is a bit unnecessary isn't it?

 

[Angry_Mushroom]

Well... ASSuming (hehe) that Nokia's stocks really are all depleted. Theoretically they could be panicking and having some pretty bad quality slip ups. I returned my first two sets due to a splotchy back-light that even the salesperson saw in the end. I think this extends beyond unlocked phones. I'm hoping Nokia gets this sorted sooner than later. I kinda like the designs.