Are Carphone Warehouse mobiles refurbished?

littlewren

gjchester wrote: »

So they hold generic unlocked unbranded versions in store so they can give that device to anyone who takes out a contract on any network.

Probably 999 times out of 1000 a phone from CPW store will be generic unlocked stock, BUT its not guaranteed, and you can only tell really tell when you get the box and see if its got the network branding on it, or sometimes not until you try turning it on.

Grumblers right, most of the time you will get unbranded stock, and if you don't you can return it. Ironically you have a higher chance of getting branded stock buying online as they can hold much more in a warehouse and dispatch it to you, than having stock sat in store.

As mentioned to grumbler, why is a branded phone so bad? Is it just because it will have all the extra stuff on the phone? So I then should probably not accept it?

As mentioned to grumbler, sorry for all the questions. Trying to sort this out is giving me a headache! lol

littlewren

robbies_gal wrote: »

cpw is just a normal phone supplier like the networks are

ee will try and scare you off buying off them or anyone else or they lose the commision-youre still on ee you still have a contract with them

quidco reviews are suually about the cashback and how long it takes not about the phones themselves

The Quidco reviews about Carphone Warehouse were mainly complaining that they didn't get their cashback because CPW seemed to pull a fast one for whatever reason.

Silk

littlewren wrote: »

The Quidco reviews about Carphone Warehouse were mainly complaining that they didn't get their cashback because CPW seemed to pull a fast one for whatever reason.

Have a read of this excellent thread by MJ

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/558661=

littlewren

Silk wrote: »

Have a read of this excellent thread by MJ

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/558661

Thanks for the link Silk, I've used Quidco loads of times, I got £90 cashback from them when I took out my mobile phone contract 2 years ago with T-Mobile. In fact that was a fantastic deal, not one that will be repeated I don't think. I got a Sony Xperia SP with unlimited data & text and 100 minutes for just £5.93 per month!

grumbler

littlewren wrote: »

I'm still a bit confused though. So if I ordered a Samsung S5 through Carphone Warehouse on EE's tariff and when it arrived it had EE on the box, that would be bad? I don't understand why.

Not bad really. I just thought that you wanted an unlocked and unbranded phone.
The main disadvantage would be that it's locked to EE and you'll have to pay EE for unlocking it.

littlewren

grumbler wrote: »

Not bad really. I just thought the you wanted an unlocked and unbranded phone.
The main disadvantage would be that it's locked to EE and you'll have to pay EE for unlocking it.

To be honest grumbler, I've looked at so many phone deals over the past week that I don't know if I'm coming or going! ;-)


I don't mind having to be on EE's network as I've been with them (well, T-Mobile at first, of course) for 4 years. You mean I'd only have to pay EE to unlock it if I wanted to go with another provider? There wouldn't be any unlocking to do otherwise would there, unless I wanted to change provider and how could I do this mid-way through a contract?

littlewren

My phone that I've got at the moment - that I bought through T-Mobile's website - is obviously locked to EE now I suppose, is it? All this unlocking and unbranded has got me a bit confused. (Easy to confuse me lol)

grumbler

littlewren wrote: »

...You mean I'd only have to pay EE to unlock it if I wanted to go with another provider? There wouldn't be any unlocking to do otherwise would there, unless I wanted to change provider and how could I do this mid-way through a contract?

Firstly, you might want to do this at the end of the contract if you want to keep the phone or sell it. Unlocked phones sell at higher price.

Mid-contract you might want to use the phone abroad with a local sim to save on exorbitant roaming charges, especially outside EU.

gjchester

littlewren wrote: »

As mentioned to grumbler, why is a branded phone so bad? Is it just because it will have all the extra stuff on the phone? So I then should probably not accept it?

Depends what is done. Could be software or logo's you cannot remove, or (and this is less common now) they alter the function radically.

I once had a Sony X1, Vodafone made it so the right hand softkey was always a shortcut to Vodafone Live service. Problem was that was the only way to turn on or off the FM radio. The fact they overrode the key made the FM radio useless.

Its not too common to do that now, but the way Android is updated is Google release upgrades to the OS, the makers then produce upgrades for the phone, and if its a network version the network then has to approve and release it. The network are not great at releasing updates, and in some cases they simple do not bother, so its better to have a stock version than a network version to help get updates.

littlewren

gjchester wrote: »

Depends what is done. Could be software or logo's you cannot remove, or (and this is less common now) they alter the function radically.

I once had a Sony X1, Vodafone made it so the right hand softkey was always a shortcut to Vodafone Live service. Problem was that was the only way to turn on or off the FM radio. The fact they overrode the key made the FM radio useless.

Its not too common to do that now, but the way Android is updated is Google release upgrades to the OS, the makers then produce upgrades for the phone, and if its a network version the network then has to approve and release it. The network are not great at releasing updates, and in some cases they simple do not bother, so its better to have a stock version than a network version to help get updates.

Interesting info, thank you gjchester, I'm learning a lot through these replies!