Apple iPhone 12, 64GB, Black – Fully Unlocked (Renewed)

For starters; the price on these phones is great. Between having the reassurance of Amazon buyer protection, and the benefit of knowing the device has been tested for performance, it’s well worth it.

I needed a new phone fast after my cat knocked mine into the sink ☹️ Rice fixed it for a while, but it was only temporary before it died altogether.

I hate buying phones and avoid it whenever possible. 99% of mine belonged to someone in my family first. And i was good with that. Needless to say, my cat didn’t wait for someone in my family to upgrade. I was on my own this time.

Okay…. that’s not entirely true. My grandma had an iPhone 7 sitting around so that held me over in the meantime. Going from an iPhone 11 Pro Max to an iPhone 7 was….bad. It was too dam small, in every possible way. 32 gigs of memory!! I needed an upgrade. Fast. My 11 year old was bullying me relentlessly. And that’s on me. They had my old XR (formerly my dad’s)

I scoured FB marketplace. I’d decided upgrade a little, so I could feel better about the switch. I didn’t want to feel backed me into a corner by my cat’s recklessness. I would get a slightly newer model in a fun colour.

Marketplace had plenty. Sending message after message from my iPhone 7, I worried. “This person seems too eager”, “this one has been posted so long”, “I want a purple, but the only purple one listed has less storage space” and “the pretty green one has a small crack”, “this guy lives 2 hours from me” and “Battery life? Errr last time I checked it was like 74%?….no, I can’t take a screenshot of it, it’s turned off”…. “cash only please” Etc.

So much pressure. What happens if the thing doesn’t work? That’s $300+ down the drain. I knew I couldn’t afford new. But I hated the idea of buying something used from a stranger on Facebook. I didn’t want to get scammed, and I also didn’t want to settle.

That’s when I remembered good ol’ Amazon. Maybe I’d check there. Just for funsies. Probably out of my budget, but it couldn’t hurt.

Sure enough, refurbished devices selling “like new!” Mostly same cost or less than what I’d found so far. Surely there was a catch? I read through everything, tested by Amazon, includes all the specs, unlocked, I can pick the colour, the storage size, the condition, etc. AND I could have it delivered to me tomorrow??! With a warranty?!!

I recovered from my brief stint of disappointment after learning the 12’s don’t come in yellow. Then fought hard to decide between mint and lavender. The lavender would take an extra day to arrive. Mint it was!!

As promised, it arrived the next day. It was in beautiful shape. 128g’s, mint green, not a single scratch, 86% battery life. All for less than I would have paid to some stranger for a 64g with some “small scratches”

Once my case and screen protector arrived I excitedly set it up and synced my data.

Oh no.
The FACE ID DIDNT WORK ????

After becoming used to facial recognition, having that yanked away, and dealing with a 7 for over 2 weeks— I was desperate for the convenience of Face ID. I had been using my fingerprint. Like a *caveman*.

Not to mention I have Blink 182 tickets, and it specifically states facial recognition is required to access the mobile tickets. Idk if that’s true, but I needed Face ID!!

I googled, I contacted apple support. Fixing it could be upwards of $300. That’s almost what I paid for the whole phone!!

I realllllly didn’t want to be stuck without a phone again. But I also wanted one fully functioning.

So I reached out to Amazon support and explained. The rep was incredibly helpful (as most Amazon reps are) and after bts failed, she advised the ship was a 3rd party seller, and she send a message to them. “If they don’t fix it by (insert date) contact us back and we’ll make this right” she encouraged.

I’m ngl. I was nervous. I didn’t have high hopes, having dealt with 3p sellers on Amazon in the past. At least Amazon had my back, ig. The concert wasn’t till July. Even without facial recognition, it was loads better than the 7. I could make do in the meantime.

The seller came in clutch though, and my worry was unwarranted. They responded within minutes. They were receptive, apologetic, and more than willing to help.

As I’d anticipated, they offered a refund or exchange, as soon as they received the return. I explained my concern with not having a phone for several days or more; and the merchant offered to overnight a replacement as soon as the return was dropped off.

I could deal with one day without a phone! I gratefully accepted. That was Saturday night, we made plans to catch up Monday for the return instructions and for them to overnight it.

Monday I reached back out; and they were ready to ship, BUT they *had no more green….* ???? SHOCK
“…do you have purple”
No. 🙁 just blue, white, and black.

THIS WAS A HUGE BUMMER.It’s silly I know, and the definition of *first world problems “.. but I mean…. My change of heart about this whole phone thing HINGED ON THE FUN COLOUR. Without it, I was just a person…out $350… because my cat was thirsty while I was watching YouTube while washing dishes. I needed a cool colour. Plus, I’d already gotten the matching case! Clear with mint green borders.

It wasn’t even a fun blue… it was a dark, serious, navy blue. It was pretty and classy, but I wanted something fun. I even asked if he had any older models in yellow ???????? no luck,

They told me they’d be restocking in a day or so. Still, no greens or purples came in.

Ugh. Reality was setting in. I was going to have to settle. It was fine, I thought. At least it would be a fully functioning phone.

No. I wasn’t ready to let go. They assured me I could take my time to decide, and I asked if we could wait another week in case one came in. If it didn’t, *then* I would choose from the options available.

I messaged them Wednesday afternoon, bracing myself for the answer…. THEY GOT IN PURPLE! YAY.

They sent a label, I dropped it off, sent a photo, and had my new phone the next morning.

they’d said overnight shipping… but wow! I’d dropped off the return around 3pm, and had the replacement by noon the next day. I didn’t even have my new case yet ????

Despite the Barney-Esque colour scheme my mint green case created, the lavender is GORGEOUS and I’m actually sort of glad the green didn’t work out.

Don’t get me wrong, the green is also gorgeous.. but in the end I’m glad I ended up with the lavender. I was overjoyed when I was prompted to set Face ID during setup. Worked brilliantly, as did everything else.

Great packaging, no cosmetic flaws, amazing battery life, customer service was great, and best of all… ITS PURPLE!

Can’t wait to pair it with the new case. I’m so glad I went this route where I have some peace of mind as a buyer.

I’m grateful to the seller for being so helpful and patient with me as insufferable as I must have seemed making such a fuss over colour preference

If you’re nervous buying a phone used or refurbished too, hopefully you can take comfort in knowing- this seller is legit. You receive a good quality product, and, speaking from experience, they’ll gladly help resolve any issues you may run into.

I would not classify myself an an iPhone fan. I used iPhone 3GS/4/5/6 from the very beginning. I switched to Android later until my old android phone was no longer supported by my carrier. Then I switched back to iPhone again (carrier gave a free iPhone SE). After that I bought Apply watch and AirTags. Being stuck in the eco-system, I wanted to upgrade my phone but thought that brand new iPhones are overpriced. I ordered this iPhone 12 since it is Renewed and sold by Amazon. I picked the Renewed premium version for the higher battery life (description says >90%). I received it today and found no obvious scratches on the surface. Battery life is at 100% surprisingly. I think this is a good pick and I plan to use this phone for a few years. Would definitely recommend this product to others.