Lumia 925 purchased from HSN...

[LordIzzy]

I just bought two Lumia 925's from HSN. I'm really excited to move from Android to WP but am a little worried because both of these phones had the T-mobile seals on the boxes sliced open. I checked around online though and it seems at least a few other people are also reporting this. Does this mean the phone is used/refurbished or is it a normal practice for the seals to be cut open?

Also, one of the phones batteries was completely drained and the phone wouldn't even turn on. I charged it up and was eventually able to turn it on. Is it normal for the battery to be completely drained when you purchase a new phone? The manufacture date on the phone is July 2013, wouldn't the battery setting for months without a charge damage it?

Should I send these phones back for replacements, or is this normal when you purchase a new phone online?

Thanks...

 

[Guytronic]

I just bought two Lumia 925's from HSN. I'm really excited to move from Android to WP but am a little worried because both of these phones had the T-mobile seals on the boxes sliced open. I checked around online though and it seems at least a few other people are also reporting this. Does this mean the phone is used/refurbished or is it a normal practice for the seals to be cut open?

Also, one of the phones batteries was completely drained and the phone wouldn't even turn on. I charged it up and was eventually able to turn it on. Is it normal for the battery to be completely drained when you purchase a new phone? The manufacture date on the phone is July 2013, wouldn't the battery setting for months without a charge damage it?

Should I send these phones back for replacements, or is this normal when you purchase a new phone online?

Thanks...

Hey there Welcome to WPC!
New 925er here also (from newegg)

Hmmm...
Kind of sounds like they may have been returns.
If they function and look new it may be too much trubble to return them.

The phone I received had about 15% charge on there with manufacture date of 07/2013 unopened.

If the phones were sold as new they should have been fully sealed.
Maybe you could press HSN into a partial refund.

For me I'd probably return them being an untrusting soul.
Hope if you keep the phones they work well with no bugs.

 

[metalchick719]

The boxes were sliced open??? Dead battery on one of the phones? That's kinda messed up. Like Guytronic, I got my 925 from Newegg. Its box was completely sealed and the phone's battery was quite low, but I immediately connected it to the charger before setting it up. I would definitely contact HSN about your situation.

 

[Bo]

I picked up one of the phones from HSN and the seal was broken on that one also. The phone looks new and the only thing I noticed out of the ordinary is that the sim kit was placed in the box, maybe that's why it was opened. They also included a car charger and a set of in-ear buds. I haven't installed the sim nor activated the phone yet but have connected it to WiFi and installed the amber update.

 

[LordIzzy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Bo, both of my phones look new as well. HSN is selling the phones as brand new. I don't see any scratches/blemishes on them but I guess if they were refurbished they would have cleaned them up anyway. If I remember correctly I think my sim kits were outside of the phone boxes with both phones, so I'm still not sure why the seal would be cut open. The only thing I found like I said is that on one phone the battery was completely drained, but I'm not sure if that is a normal occurrence on some phones and nothing to worry about.

 

[vitor.rf]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Bo, both of my phones look new as well. HSN is selling the phones as brand new. I don't see any scratches/blemishes on them but I guess if they were refurbished they would have cleaned them up anyway. If I remember correctly I think my sim kits were outside of the phone boxes with both phones, so I'm still not sure why the seal would be cut open. The only thing I found like I said is that on one phone the battery was completely drained, but I'm not sure if that is a normal occurrence on some phones and nothing to worry about.

About the battery, it can happen. If a battery stays charged for too long, without being used, it actually loses its charge. It takes a while, though (weeks). Probably the one that came with no battery wasn't even charged or lost it's charge. If the phones look brand new, and all its accessories, then don't worry

 

[metalchick719]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Bo, both of my phones look new as well. HSN is selling the phones as brand new. I don't see any scratches/blemishes on them but I guess if they were refurbished they would have cleaned them up anyway. If I remember correctly I think my sim kits were outside of the phone boxes with both phones, so I'm still not sure why the seal would be cut open. The only thing I found like I said is that on one phone the battery was completely drained, but I'm not sure if that is a normal occurrence on some phones and nothing to worry about.

How odd about about the SIM cards. Mine was inside the box, but the box was sealed.

 

[Will6371]

I got a 1520 last week and the sim tray was half way on the phone. It was stopped from closing the whole way by a bit of plastic, I had to remove the sim tray and slide the plastic off of it before I put my sim in it.

Not sure why Nokia do this but they must have their reasons I suppose.

 

[Will6371]

I just bought two Lumia 925's from HSN. I'm really excited to move from Android to WP but am a little worried because both of these phones had the T-mobile seals on the boxes sliced open. I checked around online though and it seems at least a few other people are also reporting this. Does this mean the phone is used/refurbished or is it a normal practice for the seals to be cut open?

Also, one of the phones batteries was completely drained and the phone wouldn't even turn on. I charged it up and was eventually able to turn it on. Is it normal for the battery to be completely drained when you purchase a new phone? The manufacture date on the phone is July 2013, wouldn't the battery setting for months without a charge damage it?

Should I send these phones back for replacements, or is this normal when you purchase a new phone online?

Thanks...

If I was buying a new phone I would expect it to be sealed, simply no excuses.

Have you questioned it with them?

 

[LordIzzy]

Yes, I did contact HSN and they say that they never sell refurbished or returned phones and that the Lumia 925's are coming to them directly from T-Mobile. The reason they gave for the seals being cut is that they do a quality control check on the phones before they're shipped out which consists of them cutting the seals and checking the contents of the phone boxes to make sure everything that should be in the box is there. I'm not sure whether to believe them or not but I guess what they told me is a possibility.

 

[Guytronic]

Yes, I did contact HSN and they say that they never sell refurbished or returned phones and that the Lumia 925's are coming to them directly from T-Mobile. The reason they gave for the seals being cut is that they do a quality control check on the phones before they're shipped out which consists of them cutting the seals and checking the contents of the phone boxes to make sure everything that should be in the box is there. I'm not sure whether to believe them or not but I guess what they told me is a possibility.

To add to your confusion:
There are so many companies that open and repackage items for resale without the buyer ever knowing.
I can see absolutely no reason to cut open a package for quality control especially if the devices were coming directly from T-Mobile.
Sorry my friend sounds like HSN is trying to pull some wool over the eyes.
Frankly I would have returned an item sold as new that I received opened.

What is the warranty for phones from HSN?

 

[tEhLoNeR]

Wow, I just bought a 925 from HSN as well, arriving next Friday. I'll tell you if mine come sealed or not when it arrives. Really weird that it arrived open because of QC. If anything I would assume that T-Mo will reseal the package saying that it was opened for quality checking purposes. To be honest though, I've never gotten a phone from T-Mo that's been previously opened. I'd try and go for a partial refund if I were you.

 

[Will6371]

Yes, I did contact HSN and they say that they never sell refurbished or returned phones and that the Lumia 925's are coming to them directly from T-Mobile. The reason they gave for the seals being cut is that they do a quality control check on the phones before they're shipped out which consists of them cutting the seals and checking the contents of the phone boxes to make sure everything that should be in the box is there. I'm not sure whether to believe them or not but I guess what they told me is a possibility.

That is just BS I think.

I would tell them you want another two phones and check them before you sign for them. They should be able to set the delivery up in a way that they collect the two that you have at the same time.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yes, I did contact HSN and they say that they never sell refurbished or returned phones and that the Lumia 925's are coming to them directly from T-Mobile.

I do NOT believe that. Newegg swore the same thing to me until I confronted them with the tracking that showed they came from Simply Wireless. It doesn't show in anonymous tracking, on the shipping labels, or on the packing slip, but if you have an account with the shipping company it will show it. When confronted, they admitted it but told me it didn't matter because they (Newegg) stands behind the sale. People getting them from HSN have also reported they came from Simply Wireless.

So while nobody can say where every phone came from, many of the Newegg and HSN phones came from Simply Wireless and nobody has shown any came from elsewhere.

If anyone has one in transit via UPS and just uses anonymous tracking, check to see if the first UPS center it went thru is in Baltimore. It's been a while now, but am pretty sure that was the first step of the journey.

In the case of Newegg, the first rep who told me they came directly from a Newegg warehouse was just following a script or making it up as they went. I'll bet its the same at HSN.

And it doesn't make sense for them to be coming from T-Mobile. I mean every one who posted the manufacture date for the HSN/Newegg 925s have it in July 2013. That's an eternity for cell phones. I looked at a 925 in a store and it had a much newer date. Why would T-Mobile sit on old stock and sell newer phones first? I hope someday we find out the back story behind these phones. Was a semi full of them stolen last fall and recently recovered and/or no longer evidence? Or what?

 

[JimWPan]

Mine was not cut open (from HSN). I have examined the case carefully before I open it.

 

[tEhLoNeR]

I do NOT believe that. Newegg swore the same thing to me until I confronted them with the tracking that showed they came from Simply Wireless. It doesn't show in anonymous tracking, on the shipping labels, or on the packing slip, but if you have an account with the shipping company it will show it.

How do I check that on UPS? I know my phone passed through a hub in Baltimore, but I don't know how to check who actually sent it.

 

[LordIzzy]

I do NOT believe that. Newegg swore the same thing to me until I confronted them with the tracking that showed they came from Simply Wireless. It doesn't show in anonymous tracking, on the shipping labels, or on the packing slip, but if you have an account with the shipping company it will show it. When confronted, they admitted it but told me it didn't matter because they (Newegg) stands behind the sale. People getting them from HSN have also reported they came from Simply Wireless.

So while nobody can say where every phone came from, many of the Newegg and HSN phones came from Simply Wireless and nobody has shown any came from elsewhere.

If anyone has one in transit via UPS and just uses anonymous tracking, check to see if the first UPS center it went thru is in Baltimore. It's been a while now, but am pretty sure that was the first step of the journey.

In the case of Newegg, the first rep who told me they came directly from a Newegg warehouse was just following a script or making it up as they went. I'll bet its the same at HSN.

And it doesn't make sense for them to be coming from T-Mobile. I mean every one who posted the manufacture date for the HSN/Newegg 925s have it in July 2013. That's an eternity for cell phones. I looked at a 925 in a store and it had a much newer date. Why would T-Mobile sit on old stock and sell newer phones first? I hope someday we find out the back story behind these phones. Was a semi full of them stolen last fall and recently recovered and/or no longer evidence? Or what?

Thanks for the info... My phones did ship from Baltimore. I do have the "UPS My Choice" service but for the phone shipments it won't give me detailed info. It says that due to the way they were shipped detailed tracking info is not available. I think it might have to do with them being shipped UPS SurePost instead of regular UPS ground.

After reading your post I did go do some research on Simply Wireless and I found several things that referred to it as "HSN Simply Wireless". Does HSN own Simply Wireless? I did find a company synopsis for them and it does say that they provide phones for HSN, QVC and other affiliates. So I think you are correct and all of the July 2013 925's from HSN, Newegg, etc that are selling in the $200 range are being fulfilled by Simply Wireless. So I guess the question then becomes where did they find all of these July 2013 phones? Because you're correct, July 2013 was a while ago and they should have already gone through new stock from that production date.

So at this point I don't really know what to do. It seems that if you buy one of these $200 July 2013 phones it's going to come from Simply Wireless. I guess it's*either stick with one of these or you have to fork out $400+ to someone like T-Mobile for the phone. I have examined both of the 925's I bought and I can't find any blemishes or defects and they both seem to operate just fine.

I did find something that may be useful. Apparently the phone has the equivalent of a cars odometer called a "Lifetime Counter". If you type ##634# into the dial pad it will bring up a screen that gives you the Lifetime Counter along with some other info. The Lifetime Counter shows the total amount of talk time the phone has ever had. I did this with both of my phones and one had a total of 1:47 (1 hour 47 minutes) and the other 3:12. I logged into my T-Mobile account and added up the total amount of hours/minutes each phone has been used to talk since I activated them and it adds up to these two figures exactly. From what I've read the phones Lifetime Counter cannot be reset. You can use this to tell if your phone has been used in the past. It looks my my two phones have never been activated/used so I guess they are both new.

 

[Guytronic]

How do I check that on UPS? I know my phone passed through a hub in Baltimore, but I don't know how to check who actually sent it.

The phone I received routed thru Baltimore.
The UPS site never showed the shippers address until the package stopped in San Leandro CA which is about 100 miles south of here.

I'm betting your phone is coming from Simply Wireless also.

 

[LordIzzy]

on a side note I just want to say that I love this phone and WP. I don't understand why WP gets such a bad rap. WP just seems to have an elegance or something that both Android and IOS are missing. I wish I would have tried WP a while ago. I don't think I could ever go back to Android now...

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I want to make clear, my 925 has been great and that seems to be the norm for these phones. So I don't think these are factory seconds or anything or if Nokia even sells substandard product. I was pretty annoyed that Newegg wasn't honest about the source because I shopped the 925 and would NOT have bought this if I knew it came from Simply Wireless just because the company had horrible reviews (although not product related). Of course in the end it was all good since I did get a great phone for a great price.

If HSN now owns Simply Wireless, then maybe HSN wasn't technically lying and if Newegg owns HSN or vice versa, maybe Newegg wasn't either.