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Replacement Bionic Recertified

DRILLINDK

Member
I received a replacement Bionic b/c mine is having notorious connection issues. The phone arrived today, however it is not New. Its a "like new certified replacement." I'm a little upset, I thought I would be receiving a new Bionic, not a used one. Isn't this a little tacky of Verizon. Shouldn't I complain and request a NEW phone??
 
What CLN? Please elaborate a little more. My frustration with this phone has been growing, but I'm pretty pissed off now.
 
i am sorry CLN is Certified Like New. its more or less a refurbished phone. i understand your frustration with the phone
 
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To elaborate, Verizon has what is known as a "Hassle-free Replacement Policy", which provides for a Brand New unopened phone as a replacement for the one you now have. Once the phone is more than 14 days old, it falls under the "Certified Like New Replacement" policy. That policy allows for Verizon to use phones which were returned by other owners for any variety of reasons, even if it was simply because they decided to go to a different model, brand or even carrier. These phones are received into inventory at Verizon, then Verizon either themselves or via an outside contractor completely revamps the phone, wipes off any previous owner's data, repairs any identified flaws, replaces any exterior that has "cosmetic" damage, runs a full test on the phone, and boxes and ships it back to Verizon for further shipping out to its customers, or drop-ships it directly to those customers upon the direction of Verizon.

Surely you can understand that a phone which is even in the hands of a customer one day can never be re-sold as Brand New, so the only way that these phones can be placed into someone else's hands is via a warranty replacement or sold as Certified Like New (read Refurbished) devices. It's not much different than a car that rolls off the lot and once you own it, any warranty claims are handled through the warranty policy. It is not specifically within your rights to be able to take an item back and get a new replacement, unless specified in the Retailer's Return Policy. Return policies vary from retailer to retailer and even from product type to product type within a retailer. Some have more restrictive limits on returns for electronic items, items with motors, etc.

What you can be sure of with that replacement is that it is covered under the original 1-year warranty from the time of purchase of your original device as specified, and that the device also carries its own 90-day replacement policy if your one-year policy is near its end, so even if the phone is replaced on day 364 of your original purchase date, you will still be protected under the devices 90-day replacement warranty.

Finally, even though this item may be technically "used" in the sense that it was at one time in the hands of a consumer, it must still pass all the same tests as a new one does, and there is a list somewhere, but not at my immediate disposal which details all the "checkpoints" it must pass in order to be "Certified Like New". In other words, you have a phone now, that is virtually undetectable as being different from one directly out of the box and new, except that it has been disclosed as not new, but Certified Like New. There are some who feel that a CLNR phone is in some ways better than a new one, since any reason that it was returned has been either excluded or mitigated, and it's gone through a full second barrage of testing before shipping to you, so they feel it's less likely to have problems out of the box than even a new one.
 
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@foxkat while what you are saying is true, i have found that the CLNR phones from VZW are not exactly tested with the most stringent standards. I went through 4 replacements for my D1, all having similar issues (headphone jack and/or usb jack). The last one that I did get ended up being a really nice one that is still kicking to this day, so it really is hit or miss.

@drillindk you are pretty much SOL with getting a "new" phone. if there is anything wrong with it, call up VZW and complain, they will send you another CLNR, and with my experiences it has very much been a crap shoot as to what you will get
 
To elaborate, Verizon has what is known as a "Hassle-free Replacement Policy", which provides for a Brand New unopened phone as a replacement for the one you now have. Once the phone is more than 14 days old, it falls under the "Certified Like New Replacement" policy. That policy allows for Verizon to use phones which were returned by other owners for any variety of reasons, even if it was simply because they decided to go to a different model, brand or even carrier. These phones are received into inventory at Verizon, then Verizon either themselves or via an outside contractor completely revamps the phone, wipes off any previous owner's data, repairs any identified flaws, replaces any exterior that has "cosmetic" damage, runs a full test on the phone, and boxes and ships it back to Verizon for further shipping out to its customers, or drop-ships it directly to those customers upon the direction of Verizon.

Surely you can understand that a phone which is even in the hands of a customer one day can never be re-sold as Brand New, so the only way that these phones can be placed into someone else's hands is via a warranty replacement or sold as Certified Like New (read Refurbished) devices. It's not much different than a car that rolls off the lot and once you own it, any warranty claims are handled through the warranty policy. It is not specifically within your rights to be able to take an item back and get a new replacement, unless specified in the Retailer's Return Policy. Return policies vary from retailer to retailer and even from product type to product type within a retailer. Some have more restrictive limits on returns for electronic items, items with motors, etc.

What you can be sure of with that replacement is that it is covered under the original 1-year warranty as specified, and that the device also carries its own 90-day replacement policy if your one-year policy is near its end, so even if the phone is replaced on day 364 of your original purchase date, you will still be protected under the devices 90-day replacement warranty.

Finally, even though this item may be technically "used" in the sense that it was at one time in the hands of a consumer, it must still pass all the same tests as a new one does, and there is a list somewhere, but not at my immediate disposal which details all the "checkpoints" it must pass in order to be "Certified Like New". In other words, you have a phone now, that is virtually undetectable as being different from one directly out of the box and new, except that it has been disclosed as not new, but Certified Like New. There are some who feel that a CLNR phone is in some ways better than a new one, since any reason that it was returned has been either excluded or mitigated, and it's gone through a full second barrage of testing before shipping to you, so they feel it's less likely to have problems out of the box than even a new one.

what he said :hail::hail:
 
@foxkat while what you are saying is true, i have found that the CLNR phones from VZW are not exactly tested with the most stringent standards. I went through 4 replacements for my D1, all having similar issues (headphone jack and/or usb jack). The last one that I did get ended up being a really nice one that is still kicking to this day, so it really is hit or miss.

@drillindk you are pretty much SOL with getting a "new" phone. if there is anything wrong with it, call up VZW and complain, they will send you another CLNR, and with my experiences it has very much been a crap shoot as to what you will get

i have had very good luck with mine . i guess it just luck of the draw
 
The problem with CLNR devices is there's too many "Friday afternoon" phones being pushed through.. by that, I mean people not taking pride in their work and just going through the motions

... this one passed... and so do those three... and now I'm taking a break.. :eek:

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!
 
@foxkat while what you are saying is true, i have found that the CLNR phones from VZW are not exactly tested with the most stringent standards. I went through 4 replacements for my D1, all having similar issues (headphone jack and/or usb jack). The last one that I did get ended up being a really nice one that is still kicking to this day, so it really is hit or miss.

@drillindk you are pretty much SOL with getting a "new" phone. if there is anything wrong with it, call up VZW and complain, they will send you another CLNR, and with my experiences it has very much been a crap shoot as to what you will get

And Jayman, your assessment of your own personal experiences are not necessarily reflective of the industry as a whole. Sure, there may be phones that manage to slip through the CLNR process with undetected problems, but there are also phones that roll off the assembly line which are DOA.

It's only speculation to say that they are not tested with stringent standards. Certified Like New phones must meet a strict list of minimum standards, as well as having had the "reported" problem (if there was one) addressed and either excluded as a non-issue or resolved by the technicians. The word "Certified" is an indication that someone qualified oversees the certification, whether Verizon or Motorola or both, and that same authorized entity deems the refurbished unit "Certified".

Also, not to say that you didn't experience what you claim, but to have 4 phones in a row with the same issues is extremely outside the standard deviation, and points not to problems with the phone itself but to problems in the operation of the phone, or in other words, something else that was causing the issues, such as apps which were configured incorrectly, conflicting, or containing bugs, defective USB and/or Headphone cables or plugs, and last but not necessarily least - user error. That's not to say I am blaming you, quite the contrary. If your present phone wasn't working correctly I might lean toward user error but the fact that the 5th phone (4th replacement) works properly and the three or four before it didn't says it was probably one or a combination of the other potential causes.
 
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I had several Certified like new D1 after the original new ones we had starting having a problem with the power button going bad @ almost a year, just before warranty was up.
Every replacement had the same issue but all with in the next 2 months of receiving them.
We had two of these D1 we were using with the extended warranty coverage & I finally gave up & bought Bionics to replace them.
 
i went thru about 8 D1's before i got them to replace it for a Droid X2 and it worked flawlessly

i bought my Bionic CLN on the website for 1 dollar back in Dec and ive never had a problem with it
 
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