Selling 2nd hand as new. Mobiles in MBK.

[barry553]

I recently purchased a galaxy s4 in MBK. The price was pretty good at around 13000 baht. When I agreed the price the girl went to collect the phone which took about 5 minutes. When she got back she was extremely quick to break the seal before I had a chance to say anything. This of course made me feel obligated top buy it.

The phone seemed ok. Its only when I got back that I realized that the seal which says do not accept if seal is broken was covering an already broken seal. They must have a supply of these stickers. They had also applied the free screen protector already. This also shows they had already taken the phone out of the box. So this phone could be a refurb. good quality 2nd hand, who knows.

The phone is in excellent condition but I have this feeling in the back of my mind that I haven't bought it new. The phone also had a uk socket so is probably not eligible for the Thai 1 year warranty here. So this is another warning to those thinking of purchasing phones at MBK. I've bought phones where I know the box has not been tampered with. On this occasion I was fooled. The shop seemed pleasant enough but this was enough to make me not consider purchasing from them again.

Edited May 20, 2014 by barry553

[Skint]

13k I think you got your pants pulled down

[tw25rw]

I once bought a new phone at MBK that had a load of someone else's music on it..

[RichCor]

This isn't anything new, and goes for all the electronics sold there.

I've seen them open seemingly sealed product marked for Thailand distribution that contained grey-market product out of Malaysia or India. I always wondered where the heck they get the boxes.

I'm also leery of the brand-name product being counterfeit. With some I can tell right off, many I wouldn't know until I opened the cover or inspected the actual circuit boards.

And a simple ThaiVisa search will reveal more. I just like to see myself type. Hey, what a minute, is this a real acer laptop??? Why are the letters rubbing off?

[barry553]

13k I think you got your pants pulled down

It was with the updated processor i9506. So even if it was 2nd hand (which it doesnt look like) I got a good deal. You sound clueless.

[chris2004]

If you are paying a lot less than the "going rate" it's almost certainy a fake/2nd hand.

[casualbiker]

Many shops open boxes to show customers .. doesn't mean it's 2nd hand.

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lomatopo]

The MSRP is 17,500, but that may have changed over the past few weeks to 17,000?

Localized (official, Thai, Samsung/THL warranty agent) product can be found for 14,490.

Grey-market for 13,600.

[kurnell]

My colleague bought a near new Nokia phone at MBK which was full of explicit videos of private moments with a number of girlfriends. Hours of entertainment.

[Skint]

13k I think you got your pants pulled down

It was with the updated processor i9506. So even if it was 2nd hand (which it doesnt look like) I got a good deal. You sound clueless.

You sound like you got fleeced and know it

[fertilizer]

When you check the box you might find out if the sticker is fake by trying to remove a small part of it. It appears the original sticks very hard to the box while a "fake sticker" can easily be removed "in one piece" so to say. The phone might still be ok but it shows the box is likely to have been opened before.

[lomatopo]

You can match the IMEI on the box with the one on the phone (under the battery and/or Settings, About phone, Status, IMEI), and also do a look-up on the IMEI, simple enough to scan the bar code.

I think the SGS4 TAC (first six digits of the IMEI) is 357138.

The OP should fully vet the phone as the return grace period is typically seven (7) days max., some shops three (3) days. The replacement product, in the event of a return, might be better, or worse.

Edited May 21, 2014 by lomatopo

[speedtripler]

they normally scam the original headphones as these can be sold for 500 and give you chinese fakes in the box when this happens

i have also bought a "new" phone and when we turned it on there was a french install of android on it and some other stuff although

it was immaculate and workig perfect in every way and good discount so i bought it anyway

[puuchaibaa]

Before you pay the most secure way of knowing if a phone is new and/or has an official Thai warranty is to go to the manufacturer service centre with the serial number. Just take a picture of the UPC label. If a vendor does not allow you to do this, then maybe they have something to hide.

I did this a couple of days ago with a new Note 3 at MBK. The box looked properly sealed, but since resealing is any easy thing to do I wanted to be double sure. The vendor let me I take a picture of the label. I took that upstairs to the Samsung service centre and they verified that it was an official Thai product with a warranty which ends in one yr. Easy.

Went back to buy the phone and I watched them unseal it. Then I matched the serial number in the phone with the one on the box. Nice stress-free purchase.

You can do the same thing with 2nd hand phones if you need to verify any remaining local warranty.

[poooket]

I once bought a new phone at MBK that had a load of someone else's music on it..

Happend to me too, bought a "new" phone from Jaymart. Came in a sealed box but later I found lots of music and a full contact list on the phone.