Ever heard of the trade in used iPhones that are sold for new? In December 2015, in Tuk Com on Pattaya Tai (South Pattaya Road), I bought an iPhone 5 to replace my age-old Nokia.
Although the iPhone 5 was no longer the latest of the latest, I chose this model because it has a fairly small size. The fact that the device was also nicely discounted was a nice bonus. I wanted a smartphone to go with it. For the big work I have had an iPad Air for years and this to great satisfaction.
Six months to the day after purchasing my phone, the screen darkened after lighting up for a second. The device still worked. For example, when I received a call, the vibrate function worked.
Since I was in Amsterdam at the time, I went to the Apple Store at Leidseplein with this complaint. My claim that I had bought the iPhone from an Apple store in Thailand only six months ago was immediately disproved. Throughout Southeast Asia, there appear to be only official Apple Stores in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The serial number was checked and it immediately turned out that something was wrong. The information known to Apple showed that the warranty had expired and the suspicion was expressed that an 'unauthorized modification' to the screen had already taken place. With the promise that they would check the iPhone further, I was able to come back after an hour. The only restriction was that if it turned out that an unauthorized repair had indeed already taken place before, they could do nothing more for me.
And yes, wrong. I was shown a screen showing that the device had already been sold in mid-2013 in Louisville, USA. So the warranty had long since expired and I was shown a photo of the interior indicating where the 'unauthorized modifications' had taken place. So I got my device back.
Not yet recovered from my disbelief, I asked for an explanation of how this was possible. You buy an iPhone with all the trimmings in a decent store and then you turn out to have bought a pig in a poke. Understandably, I did not receive a clear answer to my question as to whether it might have been a previously stolen device.
According to the rules, the employee could not give me a printout of the data. I was allowed to 'secretly' take a picture of the screen in question so that I could possibly use it to get a story in Pattaya. Later I realized that I would probably get myself into a lot of fruitless hassle and end up in a nasty yes/no discussion. I heard that in Tuk Com for about 800 to 1000 THB the screen can be repaired 'unauthorised' again.
Just back in Jomtien I read the following message on the NOS app: nos.nl/l/2108164 “Apple is not allowed to sell second-hand iPhones in India”
What seems; Apple "refurbishes" traded-in iPhones and resells them in "poor" countries for $150. This is significantly less than the new price and also more than 50% less than I paid for it. India thus protects its own market and therefore does not allow Apple for this trade if at least 30% of the products in question are not manufactured in the country itself. Since Apple has the manufacturing done in China, they miss an interesting market in India.
My suspicion that my phone may have been stolen before and then ended up in the store via a fencer is still not ruled out. After reading the article mentioned above, however, it is obvious that I have come across a 'refurbished' copy without realizing it and that I have had to pay a hefty price for it. Since the various acquaintances I told this story also reacted with surprise and disbelief, I decided to put this story on Thailandblog. A warned person counts for two.
Submitted by Paul Jomtien
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Interesting story.
What you also see a lot in Thailand is that if you think you are buying a Samsung in a store, it is actually a copy of Chinese manufacture.
It is therefore advisable to buy it in an "original Samsung store".
Gr Rob
small phone shops in department stores also sell original ones, you really don't have to go to a Samsung store. Warranty and more: everything official. Bit of a stretch to mention that.
They really will not sell counterfeit products: the Thai consumer will not accept this either.
If you follow your reasoning, you wouldn't be able to buy a printer at an electronics shop, no brand shoes in a large department store, no Levis in a trouser store, but everything only in brand stores, etc. Well. But if you buy something on the local market, and considerably cheaper than the original, then you can expect it to be counterfeit.
That there would only be official Apple stores in Singapore and Hong Kong is of course nonsense. Check out Apple's own site:
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https://locate.apple.com/th/en/sales/?pt=all&lat=12.910336&lon=100.8850169&address=Pattaya
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You can also (before purchase…) enter the serial number and check the warranty and so on.
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https://checkcoverage.apple.com/th/th/
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In your case it could very well be a 'refurbished' copy. The offers are (also in the Netherlands) often almost indistinguishable from new. Only then the repair should not be qualified as 'unauthorised'. But I wouldn't be surprised if something is soon 'unauthorized'. Which consumer has sufficient knowledge to be able to properly assess this?
By the way, the question is whether the screen is broken, if it does light up for a second.
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In short, in Amsterdam at least you let yourself be fooled, and in Pattaya you may not have fully understood what you were buying.
If a warranty card was included with your purchase in Pattaya, you can of course rely on it, and if it was not included you should have been able to understand that it was not a factory new one.
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Your filling with 'unbelief' is something you must work on. In Thailand nothing is what it seems and you have to understand and respect that. 🙂
The link points to stores where they sell Apple products. Not to Apple stores. That's a big difference. The Netherlands only has 3 Apple stores or Apple stores. However, there are a lot of stores where they sell Apple products. As far as I know there is no real Apple store in Thailand.
At BOL.com I currently see a new iPhone 5 with a 2-year warranty for 249 euros.
Even less than with Tuk com.
Rob,
in a large part of the world, devices are sold on a lease basis. This is especially the case in the US and Korea and Japan. These contracts are for one or two years. After this, these devices go back to the provider.
These devices then go to China in large quantities and provide the phone with a new housing and screen. A new box with a copied description, new charger. Done. If you ever come to shenzhen china I advise you to take a look there. You don't know what you see.
This is a multi-million dollar business and many Dutch companies are also involved. Believe me !!!
Nothing wrong with that because these devices are cheaper and can last a lifetime. However, he is not new. So he may have fallen into a Korean toilet at some point. But who notices this from the outside. The farang himself asks to be cheated, although the Thai does not always know it either. Again it is not only the case in Thailand.
An update of your phone via the laptop can often solve a problem! 😉
Dear Paul,
For the Tukcom, every farang is a price shooter. Brought a notebook myself to repair the electrical part. They would make an offer.
When I came back half an hour later they came with the notebook open with many coffee places.
Cost of the repair 6.000 baht. Immediately brought the notebook, because I don't drink coffee so they tried to bottle me. They did want to keep the notebook for spare parts. Not
Someone told me to buy iPhones, etc. from BigC, because they don't have any fake, second-hand or stolen goods.
apart from Big C you can also go to AIS, True and other official telecom stores for original iPhones, Samsung and even original Chinese phones. Just in the large department stores throughout Thailand. And yes, there are even official Apple stores, so brand stores, with logo and all
If you buy an older copy of apple, you have to make sure that it is still in the completely sealed original packaging. In addition, they immediately perform an update from which you can see which versions it has already passed. If not in the original closed packaging, it is always second hand, whether or not revised. Same with Samsung.
Through various internet shops, such as Lazada, you can buy so-called "refurbished" or refurbished iPhones, often for 1/3 of the normal price. It is guaranteed to be a genuine iPhone refurbished by Apple.
Dear French Amsterdam
Only Singapore and Hong Kong have an Apple store
Those 4 in Pataya are not licensed stores, see the name, is not Apple
Excellent
Jan
You are right if by 'Apple Store' you mean Apple's own stores where only Apple is sold by personnel who are also employed by Apple itself. Of these, three are in the Netherlands.
But the suggestion that you can only (safely) buy a real Apple in such an Apple Store is of course not correct. There are countless authorized dealers that either only sell Apple or, for example, Samsung (for example, you have Samsung shops) and you also have shops that are dealers of several brands.
If the contributor of the article in Amsterdam says that he bought an Apple in an Apple store in Thailand, they should not tell him that this is not possible because there are no Apple Stores in Thailand. I have also used Apple Store to mean "a store where the Apple brand is sold by a merchant authorized by Apple."
Incidentally, the contributor of the article can of course always send a message to an apple.com feedback email address and explain the procedure, with the necessary attachments.
If they insist on their stripes, you can still refrain from further action, but if you are a little nice, there is always a chance that people will make the effort to find a solution.
Not always price, but it also costs nothing.
Dear,
I would never buy a mobile from Tucom in Pattaya or from Pantip Plaza in Bangkok. Warranty is minimal and bought is bought and often bought. Ib Pattaya it is best to go to the apple store in Central Pattaya. They are certified to sell Apple products. Good luck for your next purchase.
Gr. stephan
I once bought a Samsung phone for a friend in Tucom. Could he also use the internet, take a picture, because he still had one of those very small ones who can only text and make calls. As many as 100 "stalls" with the same offer almost everywhere. I liked that Samsung and especially the price, since it wasn't for me. Just asked, since the price was not high, whether this was a copy. And everywhere I went, the honest answer was there: Yes Copy. So it was up to me whether I wanted to or not. But do ask. If the price seems too attractive, you can assume that it is a copy. The fact is that i-phone/samsung/nokia/nike, you name it, also costs almost the same in Thailand as in Europe.
tell your real experience then…
No one is waiting for a monkey sandwich stories about Thailand.
This could just as easily happen in the Netherlands, for example. If you go to a brand dealer for a car in the Netherlands, you will also be talked into new parts or premature replacements when it is not necessary and perhaps original parts will also be exchanged for b-brands with the same profit motive in the Netherlands.
I've heard about mix-ups before, but I haven't come across anyone who can actually prove it.
@ Ger, here you meet someone who has experienced it themselves. 25 years ago, through no fault of my own, I had a frontal collision with my pick-up and another pick-up in Si Racha. Had 1st class insurance and everything was therefore paid for by the insurance at a repair company of their choice. Lasted 3 wks. When I came home from work, I was a sailor, and I looked at the km counter there was no less than 3000 km more on the counter. Went to Toyota for maintenance service and the mechanic who opened the hood immediately said that the battery was not supplied by Toyota. It was a Yamaha or something like that and Toyota used National. I did not believe because the car was only 1/2 year old. he opened all the hoods of new Toyotas and yes, all Nationals batteries. Stolen during the repair. Know many more of these stories, also experienced by Thais.
Here's another good one. I was, years ago, with my pick up for maintenance at Toyota Rayong and in the waiting room my wife came into conversation with another Thai woman. This lady had been to Chiang-Mai where she had to have her car repaired. She came to Toyota because there were such strange noises coming from the engine. During the conversation, the mechanic came into the waiting room and told her that almost all original Toyota parts had been replaced with fake parts. What do you think of that.
Also know a story that the entire car had been replaced, only the Toyota emblem was still original. As it turned out, the husband had bought another car and did not dare to tell his wife. He thought: if I leave the emblem on and take the same color car, she will not notice.
Really happened in Thailand and not like the other monkey stories above from 25 years ago !!!….. . And this time a story directly from the source instead of via the girlfriend of an acquaintance who has family in Northern Thailand who has heard something from the neighbor ….
Do not understand what the point and / or advantage is to remove a "vital" part from one person, and then place it at another? This certainly does not happen at (real) dealers, because then one is quickly finished as a dealer! This also seems illogical to me at the repair shop on the corner of the street, because how often does someone come there with a brand watch, with the exception of currants? Just monkey sandwich! Do you have a reputable timepiece that needs to be repaired: Take a look at the dealer list! In case of complaints, contact the manufacturer. With a really reputable brand, the complaint is resolved 100% free of charge.
As you can see from the story, this also happens at Apple!
If an iPhone is stolen you can't do anything with it tough ID cannot be circumvented
By the way, you can simply order your iPhone online from Apple and it will be delivered to your home
moral of the story don't buy an apple
for the price of a refurbished apple or second-hand apple you buy a new samsung or other brand phone, take a look at xiaomi, indeed chinese made, but your apple is also made in china
Quite right! Apple has a name that you have to pay a lot of money for. In terms of technology, brands such as Oppo, Huawei and Xiaomi are little inferior, all the more in terms of price. But many people like to be seen with an Apple, gives a certain status. Apple is therefore a topper in name and mark branding.
I would also be annoyed and surprised if this happened to a real original telephone. When I started reading the story, I thought for a moment that it was a fake device… so not.
When you order something from Lazada here in Thailand, it can also be a device from abroad. I don't know how far these compare to the phone you bought in that store.
I have already purchased three devices through Lazada. Also refurbished. That means that they are second hand devices, but they have been checked and are many thousands of Baht cheaper.
Sometimes you also have to be lucky. I had a good hit at MBK in Bangkok last week. My Samsung Note 3 purchased from Lazada turned out not to meet my expectations. I could exchange it anywhere in Bangkok for a Note 4 with an additional payment of 7000 baht. I didn't think that was a good deal. At one seller in MBK I would pay “only” 4 baht for the Note 4000. I immediately left that.. then you sell a fake, I told him. The real one can never cost so little.
I was lucky a little later and was able to buy the Note 5000 with an additional payment of 4 baht. Although it is a used model released by a Korean provider, I can use the device and it has an 8 core processor instead of the most common 4 core.
So… you can be lucky. You just need to know what you want.