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cash4chaos

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 27, 2007
80
0
campbell ca
Anyone have dealings with these guys. I am looking to get a 3g 8gig iphone from them . They claim itunes will update every new software release and won't relock the phone. I am finished with att and will us tmobile instead.
Thanks,
Mike
 
Buy.com is a reputable site that's been around a while. If it is selling factory unlocked iPhones, they are probably from the European countries that require them by law.
 
The warranty is unclear. They will replace your phone with a locked phone it would seem. The units are (without a doubt) stock purchased from countries that allow unlocked phones to be sold.
 
The warranty is unclear. They will replace your phone with a locked phone it would seem. The units are (without a doubt) stock purchased from countries that allow unlocked phones to be sold.

"Without a doubt"? Why not explain why you make such a claim?
I've made many purchases from them as I used to live across the street from their HQ. I highly recommend them.
 
"Without a doubt"? Why not explain why you make such a claim?
I've made many purchases from them as I used to live across the street from their HQ. I highly recommend them.

Where else would you purchase unlocked iPhones? Given the timing of when they occurred and that you can't just go down and purchase a bulk quantity of unlocked iPhones from Apple in the U.S., it would seem that Buy.com (who is a legit website) just purchased a lot from other carriers.

I asked the manager at my local Genius Bar, he said that legally unlocked phones couldn't be replaced in-store as they have no way of giving a customer an unlocked phone.
 
I personally would never buy from Buy.com ever again. A year and a half ago I ordered a 200 dollar camera. First things first, I paid 20 dollars for overnight shipping, it came in 4 days. Eventually when it did come I opened the shipping box and saw the camera box. Well that camera box was completely empty, no camera, no manual, no cords, no nothing.

So I filed a report and explained the situation. After waiting a week, it said that my claim was denied. Something about the weight of the package being the same as when they previous weighed it. That doesn't really matter because I didn't receive anything. Then I called and basically explained the situation again that I had paid for it, and did not receive anything except for a box. I don't think a small cardboard box is worth over 200 dollars.

To essentially get me off the phone they said that I would hear back from within 3-5 business days. Okay, fine. The thing is though, after 12 days or so, no one had called me. So I actually called them again, and of course now I'm rightfully angry. I was actually able to talk to this woman who was a higher up (not really sure what she did, but the foreign guy on the phone said she was a higher up).

She listened to my ordeal and supposedly sympathized with me. Saying that she totally understood what the situation was and how she would hate to be treated like this. She tells me that she'll get back to me within 24 hours. Now of course I'm thinking, finally all this BS and waiting has paid off. Well guess what, 24 hours pass, 48 hours pass, 72 hours pass, a week passes. I haven't received a return phone call.

So again I call them back. By the way: Their customer service number is no where to be found on their site (at least at the time). I had to search Google to find the number. I'm now really angry when I call. I'm not yelling but there's a sense of anger in my voice. I would think by now, they don't think I'm trying to stifle them from being paid. Why would I go through all this trouble just to steal a camera? They heard the story again, for the third or fourth time and now there's anger in my voice.

They tell me they will get back to me in 3 to 5 business days. I say to them "Really? Really? Are you sure? Because that's what you said the last 3 times and it took you a week and a half. And you never actually called me, I had to call you." They assured me it would actually be 3 to 5 business days.

Two days later I receive an email from Buy.com. Wow, I can't believe it. I'm paraphrasing now, but what the email essentially said was "We have looked over this situation and have come to the conclusion that we aren't going to help you. You're screwed."

So lastly I file a wrongful charge on my credit card. Of course Buy.com denies it and I don't get my money back. I kind of just gave up, because honestly what could I do? Sue them?

Sorry, when I hear "reputable" and "highly recommend" and Buy.com in the same sentence it makes my blood boil. As you can guess, I would never recommend shopping there.
 
Anyone have dealings with these guys. I am looking to get a 3g 8gig iphone from them . They claim itunes will update every new software release and won't relock the phone. I am finished with att and will us tmobile instead.
Thanks,
Mike

I'm curious if anyone has done this. I read one comment on buy.com that said synching with iTunes in the U.S. will lock the phone (this was for the 32gb GS model). Your comment above says this won't happen. Anyone buy one and have experience?
 
LoganT - good reason why I only purchase from reputable companies. They know full well that you are not going to try to sue them for $200 since it would cost you far more than that just to go to court. The $200 you paid them is pure profit. Why anyone would purchase from a scammer like them is beyond me. These companies manage to stay in business because not enough people get screwed; as long as they ship some of the merchandise they are pretty much immune from government interference. Or maybe they pay off the FTC investigators?
 
buy.com is a reputable seller and have dealt with them on many occasions all trouble free. From what LoganT said, the box weight was the same when buy.com shipped it and the shipping carrier received it. You should have filed a claim with the carrier because it sounds like ti was stolen from the box. I have had this happen before from companies like amazon and neweeg and you call the shipping carrier to file the claim. Next time go over all your options before jumping to conclusions and blaming a company that had nothing to do with your misfortune. You act like they can't tell the difference between an empty box and a several pound camera box with items inside.
 
Just thought I would report back - I bought a 32gb 3GS iPhone from Buy.com - came just fine after three days. Phone works fine, is unlocked. Came with a Chinese/Australian style plug and a plug adapter was included at no extra charge.

I registered the phone through iTunes with my Russian SIM card installed, but then popped in an AT&T Go Phone SIM card and it's been working beautifully for the past week (I'm in the U.S. for a few days).
 
good to hear!

I've always had good results with buy.com, got some good deals. BTW OT how are things in Russia these days? it's on my list of places I hope to visit someday!
 
Since when does the company have to agree with a disputed credit card claim? If this were the case there never would be any disputed charges, something doesn't sound right.
 
buy.com is a reputable seller and have dealt with them on many occasions all trouble free. From what LoganT said, the box weight was the same when buy.com shipped it and the shipping carrier received it. You should have filed a claim with the carrier because it sounds like ti was stolen from the box. I have had this happen before from companies like amazon and neweeg and you call the shipping carrier to file the claim. Next time go over all your options before jumping to conclusions and blaming a company that had nothing to do with your misfortune. You act like they can't tell the difference between an empty box and a several pound camera box with items inside.

I don't think you read what I said. Buy.com filed a complaint with UPS. But UPS came back to Buy.com and was like "Oh no, we checked the weight before and after and they're the same." Buy.com then comes back to me and tells me what UPS told them. So your whole little "file a complaint with the shipping carrier" was the first thing done. If they say no to Buy.com, what are they going to say to me?

I understand that businesses don't want to be ripped off. I completely get that. My family owns a restaurant business. And you know what? Sometimes our customers say they ordered something when they didn't. But we don't question them. It's better to keep your customers happy so they keep on coming back rather than be pissed off and never come back.

I bet if this happened with Amazon, Amazon would of immediately sent me out a new camera, no questions asked. And I would of been singing their praises.
 
From looking at the listings, it would appear that these unlocked phones on buy.com are being sold through buy.com by another retailer (kind of like Amazon.com Marketplace). So these are not being stocked, shipped, or sold by buy.com themselves.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Apple warranty on iPhones is limited to the country of the original sale. You can't "port" a warranty from an iPhone sold in Hong Kong phone over to the US, for example. So if you get one of these and it needs service, you're screwed. That is, unless you're planning an upcoming trip to Hong Kong sometime soon.

-- Nathan
 
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