by Jenny Wadlow
Buying a new mobile phone can represent a big investment for a lot of people. And in today’s economic climate, most of us are trying to save money. A decent, new, top of the line device is going to set you back a few hundred pounds. Of course, you could always sign a contract with a mobile phone service provider and get a hand set that’s discounted. The problem with this though, is that you can often end up spending more money than you had planned.
First of all, phone contracts have a cost added to each monthly bill to compensate for the discounted hand set, and often over the course of the contract this adds up to more than the value of the phone. And secondly, mobile phone plans rarely exactly fit your needs exactly, so you may be paying for calling minutes that you don’t need, for example.
Pay as you go plans are great, but you need to buy a phone first. One way of saving money on a hand set is by buying reconditioned mobile phones. These are phones that have been returned, cleaned up, updated if necessary and then certified to be resold. Even reconditioned mobile phones have their pros and cons though.
The Benefits of Buying Reconditioned…
Of course, saving money is a big advantage to buying a reconditioned mobile phone. But there are other pros too. Most often a reconditioned phone has been returned not because there is anything wrong with it, but because the purchaser decided that he didn’t want it. So there’s every chance that your phone will literally be as good as new. Also, if you like a particular brand or model that is no longer being produced, there’s a good chance that you can pick up a reconditioned model and have the phone that you really want. Plus, buying a reconditioned phone is good for the environmentally conscious, since it really is recycling.
The Down Sides to Buying Reconditioned…
Obviously there are some potentially negative aspects in buying a reconditioned phone. You might not get a guarantee. Although some mobile phone operators do offer refurbished phones with warranties, not every model gets one. And that means if something goes wrong, you won’t be able to get your money back. On the other hand, whilst the majority of phones are not returned because something is wrong with them, some are. And there’s no guarantee that that problem has been fixed for good. This is of particular concern when it’s a model that has a known defect. For example, a model of phone that is known for having a bad battery to charger connection may be sent back for this problem, which is common to all models, and have it allegedly fixed, but the same thing is liable to happen again. The best way to avoid this is to do research on the model of phone that you want to buy before purchasing to see if that device has any known faults. It’s best to avoid phones that have known faults with the battery, connectors or screen, since these things are particularly difficult to fix.