Bought the wife an iPhone 11 off of eBay when the latter had a pre-Xmas sale. "Refurb, excellent condition, **1 year warrantee**" (not sure the link will work). So I say, why not? (Her iP8 was showing it's age).

It arrives, looks really nice. Score!

Three months later, she says it's barely making it through the day. I check and the battery health is 73%, which doesn't sound bad, but IIRC, Apple recommends battery replacement in the mid-80's. And the phone (settings/battery/batteryhealth) says "battery is significantly degraded" and needs replacement.

So I check into the warrantee and it's Allstate/Squaretrade. I fill out their online claim form, which leads me into a corner telling me I should be able to resolve this "software issue" by restoring the phone to factory settings. Naw, don't think so.

So I start an online chat with them and tell them the same thing. Go through two agents, the second of which says Good news - you don't have to file a claim. I'll send you directions exactly how to solve the problem. Bye.

Chat ends. So far, crickets. How were you going to send me this magic info? Didn't say - he mentioned another agent, who never came on. Nothing in email or messages.

Honestly, I wasn't sure they would cover this, although I don't know why not, given the eBay description. Return (and feedback) windows are closed. Apple store now charges $90 for a new iP11 battery.

I'm inclined to try again with the warrantee people or seller, this time with pitchforks and torches. But I thought I'd get y'alls opinion first.

pdq,

Definitely try the warranty people again. However, and this is the biggies, the fine print may say the warranty doesn't cover batteries and/or consumables and it may not cover a refurbished phone. Worth a download of the exact text of the warranty to see what it says about batteries and the refurbished status of the phone. Even if the paperwork says no, I'd probably try again before coughing up the bucks for Apple to replace the battery.

Robert

you are certainly right to be upset.

re next steps...

forget about the seller. They have absolutely no obligation to set things right even though they probably sold it with less than 80% battery - you're fault for not being diligent. That leaves the seller off the hook.

But not Allstate. I would not give up on them.

Start by shaming them on social media. That usually doesn't work, but sometimes it's a magic bullet. Also shame ebay and contact ebay about this. Don't expect the low lever CS reps to be much help, but try to mover through the system.

I've been wondering how the Allstate warranties would work. Gotta say that I thought they'd be better than this - squaretrade certain was from what I heard.

But keep in mind that when a retailer say 'refurbished' it means used and wiped with a damp cloth.

The link mentions that the warranty kicks in if the phone stops working.
I find reasonable that a used phone will have a not so fresh battery, so I wouldn’t bother.
Apple or Best Buy, whatever is more convenient.

I gotta say that I take back my initial impression after reading the warranty fine print...

under Limitations of the warranty:

The Warranty shall be rendered null and void, and of no further force or effect, providing no Warranty coverage with regard to a Product for each of the following reasons, without limitation:

Products requiring maintenance or replacement due to normal wear and tear, corrosion, rust, stain, age or Products damaged due to any improper or discouraged use, mishandling, negligence, excessive wear and tear, including damages caused by maintaining, operating or using the Product in a manner not consistent with, in accordance with, or not contemplated by the instruction manual provided by Warrantor with the Product, or by otherwise failing to follow safety, operating, care or cleaning instructions; and it goes on and on and on

Taking out the unnecessary words you have: Products requiring maintenance or replacement due to age... are not covered.


[pages.ebay.com]

The seller has a LOT of feedback that's very good ( know it's too late for you to leave feedback). I think I'd go to them and just tell them that it came, looked to be in very good shape and only when your wife recently said it was barely making it through the day that you looked at the battery health. Mea culpa, but would they replace it?

Who knows, maybe they'll make it good because maybe their internal policy is to replace batteries that aren't above 85% level and if this one's at 73% now it wasn't likely at 85% when you bought it. Or maybe they'll just ignore you, but it would only take a couple of minutes to send the question.

Thanks for the feedback. I think if I haven't heard back from the warrantee folks about their magick cure by tomorrow, I'll go through them again.

If they stiff arm me, I'll take Michael's advice and contact the seller. And eBay, since this is "eBay refurbished" and they'd also prolly be interested in a worthless 1 year warrantee.

Batteries are a consumable and not covered under most warranties. If it is at 73% now, it could easily have been at 80% 3 months ago. Even Apple doesn't cover a battery past 90 days.

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C(-)ris
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Lots of good feedback, but they've had over 50 unsatisfied customers in the last 12 months - many of them complaining about the battery life. You gotta read the feedback even with 99.9% good feedback. Many saying that the seller took care of their complaints, but you're over 3 months from the original sale. They know what they are doing and they know to take care of customer complaints within the return period, but they also know that they owe you nothing. I'd be interested to hear if they bother to reply. They probably get 50 messages a day just like yours.

New battery purchase worth the wear and tear on nerves.

Squaretrade only covers batteries if they drop to below 50% max power within the extended warranty period. That's how they define a covered "failure."

And yeah, that's ridiculous since an iPhone is basically an annoying paperweight when it gets much below 80%.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2023 07:01PM by Tiangou.

I would never buy a used phone off ebay.

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chopper
I would never buy a used phone off ebay.

I did once, but from an individual who posted details. I really don't like these iphone factories - their main work is buying cheap phones and selling them for more. Motive is profit - not just getting rid of an old device.

Awhile back I went through Swappa to pick up a used iPhone 11 as a replacement for the grandson. Everything worked out fine, he's still using it.

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chopper
I would never buy a used phone off ebay.

Well, I'm starting to get that message, but this seller did have good feedback, eBay called it "eBay refurbished", and it came with a 1 year warrantee.

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pdq
Thanks for the feedback. I think if I haven't heard back from the warrantee folks about their magick cure by tomorrow, I'll go through them again.

If they stiff arm me, I'll take Michael's advice and contact the seller. And eBay, since this is "eBay refurbished" and they'd also prolly be interested in a worthless 1 year warrantee.

curious - did the seller reply to you?