Received Samsung Galaxy S7 with Broken Seal from Mobileciti

Lslackarse on 05/09/2016 - 17:44

Hi All,

I purchased an S7 from Mobileciti from this deal. I just picked it up today from BigW (Click and Collect), and found the seal had been broken on the box.

I've contacted Mobileciti and on the plus side they are very responsive and seem genuinely concerned about resolving the issue. They have said the new seals Samsung use are not strong and it looks from the photos I sent like it was broken from movement of the box during shipping. They have said that they have checked that the IMEI of the phone has not been used or activated before.

I'd rather keep the phone and use it as I was happy with the price (for local stock) and need a new phone ASAP, but I am concerned that I've been sold an expensive grey market import and/or refurbished phone rather than what I thought was a good price on local stock with a genuine 2 year warranty.

So I'm looking for a bit of advice:

  • Has anyone else experienced similar issues with broken seals and does the 'seal broken in transit' explanation sound legitimate? The package appeared to be in good shape and there's no obvious other damage to the box with the exception of one of the corners being slightly out of shape.
  • Is there any way of being 100% confident that I have a genuine Australian stock S7? If not, can I be confident based on the store reputation which seems to be reasonably good from what I can see.
  • Any recommendations as to whether to keep the phone, return it for a refund, or return it for a replacement?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Mobile

Related Stores

Mobileciti
Mobileciti

Comments

  • emjones on 05/09/2016 - 17:55

    To enter the following codes, simply open the phone's Phone application and enter each one:

    SW Version, PDA, CSC and Modem - #1234#
    SW & HW Info - *#12580369#
    Test mode - *#0    #
    Service Mode - *#197328640#
    ADC Reading - *#0228#
    Bluetooth Test Mode - *#232331#
    Bluetooth Address - *#232337#
    Ciphering Information - *#32489#

    If these codes do not work, you can contact the OEM and share the IMEI number with them to check whether you got a genuine phone or not. Try it and let me know if this works for you :) Cheers

  • emjones on 05/09/2016 - 18:08

    Here is another method to check:

    http://www.groovypost.com/howto/howto/check-android-recondit…

  • happydude on 05/09/2016 - 18:57

    Call *#1234# - it will then show the csc

    Then post the csc. This will tell you what region firmware it's running.

    Still no guarantee as a firmware can be chaged but it would be a strong indication that it's a grey import if it's not Australian.

  • Ughhh on 05/09/2016 - 19:17

    I'm also trying to check my LG G5, I know mine is grey import and (should be) OEM new, but it would be nice to check it.

    Inserting ##786# creates a popup that says "unknown application". Inserting ##786## does nothing. I also can't find RTN in hidden menu, either I'm blind or I'm not using the right launcher (I'm using Apex) or that method doesn't work on new phones?

  • [Deactivated] on 06/09/2016 - 21:24

    You are not the first - happened to me
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/256287

  • slackarse on 06/09/2016 - 23:47

    That's interesting to hear. There was no attempt to hide the broken seal on the phone I received, though I wasn't satisfied with the explanation that it probably broke during transit.

    To their credit Mobileciti have been very responsive to me and eager to resolve the situation, and I actually decided to return the phone today.

    Given the large number of positive experiences people seem to have had with this company I kind of feel like we are unfortunately the unlucky minority. Based on this I'm tempted to give them another chance and ask them to ship me a replacement phone rather than asking for a refund.

    Thanks to everyone for their inputs.

  • slackarse on 09/09/2016 - 11:15

    Just to follow up, Mobileciti accepted my returned S7 phone with no problems and immediately express posted out a new sealed unit, which certainly had not been opened. This has the Optus firmware loaded on it so I'm 100% sure that it's genuine Australian stock. I'm now very happy with the phone and the service I received, despite the initial disappointment.

  • wombat1955 on 09/09/2016 - 19:26

    You could also install this app. I have it on my S5 and will install it on my new S7 Edge when it arrives.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xihuanat.t…

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join