Are Carphone Warehouse mobiles refurbished?

littlewren

I know that there are probably some refurbished mobile phones on Carphone Warehouse's website, but when I was talking to EE earlier today to try and upgrade to a good deal when my contract runs out in June - although I can go for an earlier upgrade now - I mentioned that the phone I want I can get cheaper per month from Carphone Warehouse. The advisor told me that their phones are often refurbished but they don't mention this, and said that the monthly deal is never as good as when you go through EE themselves.


He also said he wouldn't advise going through a company that offer incentives such as cashback in case they go under. This made sense as Phones4U went under recently.


Now I know that obviously the advisor wants me to take the deal out with them directly, but how much truth is there in what he says about Carphone Warehouse?


As an example, EE said a Samsung S5, which is what I am looking at, would be £28.99 per month from them for 1000 minutes & texts & 2G data with a cost of £45 for the phone itself whereas Carphone Warehouse are offering unlimited texts & minites with 2G data for £26.99 per month, no charge for the phone. I could go with the Carphone Warehouse one in June, but I won't if it's refurbished. I know my number would change but that's not a major concern.


TIA for any thoughts on this.

Silk

The short answer is yes they do sell refurbished but they have to inform you if they sell you one.


There's always the risk with cashback but if you can minimise the risk with proper homework on the subject.


You may not need to change your number if you use a PAC if changing networks or if upgrade

littlewren

Silk wrote: »

The short answer is yes they do sell refurbished but they have to inform you if they sell you one.

There's always the risk with cashback but if you can minimise the risk with proper homework on the subject.

You may not need to change your number if you use a PAC if changing networks or if upgrade

Would a refurbished one always be mentioned on the website? I know it should be, but the EE advisor made it sound like I could be ripped off with one if I order from Carphone Warehouse.

Silk

littlewren wrote: »

Would a refurbished one always be mentioned on the website? I know it should be, but the EE advisor made it sound like I could be ripped off with one if I order from Carphone Warehouse.

Yes it would always say if that's the offer ,,,,if you order online you can always return it anyway. They are easy to spot as they usually come in plain white boxes.

grumbler

All sales people have a habit of lying about their competitors. EE advisers aren't an exception.

Also, all phones from CPW (except iPhones), unlike from EE, are not locked and are free from EE's bloatware.

littlewren

So would you both recommend Carphone Warehouse for taking out a mobile phone on contract? I have only purchased a PAYG from them a long time ago.

grumbler

Well, you can have problems with both CPW and EE. If it's cheaper at CPW I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them. The contract will be with the network directly.

Don't forget to check TCB/Quidco.

Silk

littlewren wrote: »

So would you both recommend Carphone Warehouse for taking out a mobile phone on contract? I have only purchased a PAYG from them a long time ago.

I wouldn't on principle myself but that's only from my personal experience with one of their companies.
That said lots of people use them without any problems and see no reason not to use them if it's cheaper and can be done online to give you better protection.

grumbler

grumbler wrote: »

...Also, all phones from CPW (except iPhones), unlike from EE, ... are free from EE's bloatware.

It's worth saying that their new WiFi calling is apparently "only supported by the EE version of Android and Windows devices", but I am no expert.

http://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/network/wifi-calling?WT.MC_ID=ON_MEC_S_GoogleAdWords_G_Brand_WiFi_Calling&WT.srch=1

d123

grumbler wrote: »

It's worth saying that their new WiFi calling is apparently "only supported by the EE version of Android and Windows devices", but I am no expert.

http://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/network/wifi-calling?WT.MC_ID=ON_MEC_S_GoogleAdWords_G_Brand_WiFi_Calling&WT.srch=1

You are correct, for Android and WP devices it needs specific EE firmware to work, the only device which just works with it is the iPhone.

littlewren

grumbler wrote: »

It's worth saying that their new WiFi calling is apparently "only supported by the EE version of Android and Windows devices", but I am no expert.

http://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/network/wifi-calling?WT.MC_ID=ON_MEC_S_GoogleAdWords_G_Brand_WiFi_Calling&WT.srch=1

The EE advisor mentioned this but he didn't go into detail so I wasn't sure what he meant by it. Thanks very much for the link grumbler