Why is it that refurbs are always terrible?

[VideoGameMatt]

I got a refurbished Droid the other day and i have noticed quite a few poor construction issues. I have never ONCE had a good refurb of any cell phone. Back when i had an EnV i went through four, three of which were refurbs. When i had a voyager i had one refurb from asurion cause my original broke, and what is up with that? getting a refurbished when you pay them absurd amounts of money. But they did send me a new one when my refurb died after a few days. And last week my Original Droid which i've had since december, its screen died so i went to the store and they had none so they had to ship me a refurb. it arrives and the first thing i noticed was the slide is so loose i feel like the screen will fly off if i open the slider too much. The power button is also very stiff and its hard to tell if ive actually pressed it. The screen also looks like its cracked on the left side and top left corner because the screen doesn't look flush with the glass and there is a lot of backlight leakage there. There is also a blue line around where that crack is. Plus the screen wiggles in any direction because the slider sucks so badly. And there is a nice size gap between the screen and keyboard which causes a tapping sound if i touch the screen too hard. So my question is why are refurbished phones always such utter trash?

 

[sboman_32]

I KNOW YOUR PAIN! I'm currently on my 3rd replacement Droid and it is horrible as well. Mine has a hair thin line running through the screen from top to bottom that isn't something I've done. The screen surface is completely smooth, it seems as if it's underneath the glass. And I also have the blue lines around my screen. I'm hoping verizon will let me swap for something else.

 

[Skull One]

It was, for all practical purposes, someone else problem to begin with. I doubt very seriously the person refurbing them has a clue how to do it right. Mainly because they are told "Fix X phones per day or you're fired".

 

[VideoGameMatt]

It was, for all practical purposes, someone else problem to begin with. I doubt very seriously the person refurbing them has a clue how to do it right. Mainly because they are told "Fix X phones per day or you're fired".

I think their quality control is going down on the refurbs. I remember you used to get your refurbished phone in a box a small phone sized box and on this box was a sticker and it had a list of all these tests that the phone passed to at least show you the parts worked at some point. They don't even do that anymore. Now you just get the phone on a piece of cardboard saying that verizon is committed to your satisfaction and the phone meets their standards to be "certified like new". What utter trash. Sometimes i debate going to sprint or something. That Epic 4G does look pretty nice.....

 

[sboman_32]

The replacement phones are junk but NO WAY I would leave Verizon

 

[VideoGameMatt]

The replacement phones are junk but NO WAY I would leave Verizon

i doubt i would leave verizon either, my service is just too good where i live. Sure i get mad about the cruddy refurbs but i doubt i would leave unless they just kept sending me refurb after refurb after refurb

 

[joeybarclay]

I KNOW YOUR PAIN! I'm currently on my 3rd replacement Droid and it is horrible as well. Mine has a hair thin line running through the screen from top to bottom that isn't something I've done. The screen surface is completely smooth, it seems as if it's underneath the glass. And I also have the blue lines around my screen. I'm hoping verizon will let me swap for something else.

i have noticed the same thing im on my2nd refurb and it looks like my screen is scratched underneath the glass:icon_evil:

 

[sboman_32]

i know your pain! I'm currently on my 3rd replacement droid and it is horrible as well. Mine has a hair thin line running through the screen from top to bottom that isn't something i've done. The screen surface is completely smooth, it seems as if it's underneath the glass. And i also have the blue lines around my screen. I'm hoping verizon will let me swap for something else.

i have noticed the same thing im on my2nd refurb and it looks like my screen is scratched underneath the glass:icon_evil:

i think we should get free dx's for our inconvenience!

 

[r314bd]

I have a refurbished Droid from VZW warranty. Looks brand new for all intents and purposes, and works perfectly.

They aren't ALL bad.

 

[steveninspokane]

So far mine is holding up well.

 

[jdk2]

I got one the other day and have had no issues with it. It looks brand new. The software and hardware work as you'd expect.

They're not all junk.

 

[FlipBack]

I got my refurbed droid the other day and have no problems. My first refurbished phone experience was a success.

 

[hookbill]

They aren't always terrible. Just like everything else you read in the internet you only hear about the bad things. People don't start a thread saying, "Got my refurb today, works great." No point in that.

 

[Mingle]

I pretty much got a brand new one I think. Well, looked brand new.. do they change the build dates on the back when they refurb them?

Mine had no scratches to be found, no signs of ever being used... and works great!

 

[adrenalinemotion]

i had a refurb sent out to me and got it friday, it was in worse shape than my current droid. had some small dents/nicks around the slider, the slider was extremely loose, the whole slider pushed up and down and felt like an old storm 1. i called verizon and told them that i wouldn't accept something like this that is in worse shape than my current droid. they offered to send me another replacement, and i told them that i was sick of getting refurbs that are in worse shape than my current phone (this is not the first time i've been through this) they placed me on a brief hold, when the rep came back he said he was able to offer me $50 off 2 year pricing on the phone of my choice. i'm thinking about going with the X. anyway, the rep that i spoke with was easily the most helpful person i've spoken to when i've called verizon. not because he offered me an early upgrade, but because he actually LISTENED and DID something about the problem at hand. big thumbs up to verizon this time around!