'Refurbished' is a term that gets banded about quite liberally these days - it should mean all new housing, screen etc and fully tested. What it generally means (unless buying from Apple itself) is that the company (Brightstar in this case) has given it a once-over and shoved it in a generic box with a generic cable.

These are just phones that people have recycled - not unlikely that they have been trashed for 18 months before they were recycled in an EE shop as part of an upgrade. Totally not worth the hassle IMO.

Cheapest I can see on GiffGaff is £209. O2 Refresh seems like the best deal as long as you cancel everything properly. Otherwise this seems the next best. As long as the condition is acceptable, and not a foreign/limited version...

There is still stock available, both for Collection and Delivery. I picked up a Space Grey 5S yesterday in Sussex (32Gb) - phone I received is pristine, just comes with a USB charging lead and nowt else. On the basis of others' comments about variable quality I opened it in the car park, just in case....

Sadly it looks like the 32Gb is OOS, but all colours of 16Gb are still showing stock at one store or another (or for delivery).

No stock, oh well, search goes on. My brother wants an iPhone for his 14yr old grandson

Like a mug, I've just bought an iPhone 6 for £299, allegedly "Apple refurbished" , I'm pretty sure that's how it was phrased on the Argos site 5 days ago when I first saw the advert, now it's been revised and there is no mention of Apple apart from the make. The phone isn't in very bad condition, a few marks on the back and edges but it certainly isn't up to the high " Apple refurbished " standard which in my opinion is the benchmark . I'll hopefully get £30 back via TopCasback which puts it down to the SmartfoneStore refurbished price but at least they're usually very honest about condition. I just think it all smacks of sharp practice by Argos which is crazy because they must have a good cut of the retail market so why tarnish they're reputation by using Ebay trader stunts.

I had two of these (see previous Argos post http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sim-free-iphone-5s-refurbished-16gb-159-95-argos-2553780) both went back without issue as they were quite scratched. Not apple refurbished but by a company called Brightstar & apparently Japanese imports?

see previous thread on the 5s from Argos - there is no apple warranty, these are 2nd hand phones from a company called Brightstar

link doesn't say anything about apple refurb that i can see. just picked up a 32 GB I ordered earlier in week and has some considerable dents on the case going straight back.

Apple warranty - this means that can deal with Apple and not argos if you wanted. They have always replaced stuff for me or repaired very quickly

I wouldn't trust the battery and warranty doesn't include its change

This is exactly correct.

Although potentially pencil in a few hours to call O2, some of their staff are hilariously bad. I spent 75 minutes yelling at them to take my money, in order to pay off the day or two airtime before I'd cancelled. I wish I had the recording for YouTube.

Haven't done it myself, so may be better asking others but basically I believe :

Order the phone and tariff on the refresh scheme

Get phone, activate it (try not to use any calls/dara/mins) - get it unlocked if you wish (can request via O2 app)

Call o2 and pay off the phone part of the plan and cancel the airtime part of the plan using your cool off period

Hi - could you give a bit more detail on this process as it sounds like a great way to sort a new phone for my son? Thanks.

Wtf, shocking offer. If you're only spending this amount may aswell head to eBay. I picked up an iPhone 6 for £180, original screen, box & cables etc. eBay guarantee too if anything goes wrong.

Already posted - You may want to read some of the comments on this thread...
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sim-free-iphone-5s-refurbished-16gb-159-95-argos-2553780#comments

remember to get it unlocked before you cancel the airtime

Trouble is anyone could of downloaded any nasty stuff on it. Not worth the hassle imo

I think Argos did have some iPhone 5 refurbs some time back that were from Apple with new casing plus ear buds and charger. The iPhone 5s that they are selling now are just recycled 2nd hand phones with the odd scratch or nick. They only come with a data cable. You are buying a 2nd hand phone with a warranty for about £50 more than you could get on on eBay with all the accessories. I took mine back and bought locally of Gumtree for £70 less as I think its a lot to pay for a warranty that you don't know if they will honour. Argos Q & A is very contradictory on this product and they really should sort it out.

Done this thanks. Better option than the Argos deal --- new phone

You take out a new contract, pay off the handset and cancel the airtime tariff (both immediately).

You could buy a brand new iPhone 5s unlocked for any network from Giffgaff for £199.. I'd rather pay the extra £30 personally

Brand new on o2 refresh its £153.99

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/phones/apple/iphone-5c-like-new/#contractType=payasyougo

The 5c is £150 on PAYG

Wouldn't touch this at all. I purchased 64gb this week to which I'll be taking back. They are either USA or Japanese variants of the phone and not the U.K models. If you get the Japanese variant then you can't take a picture or screenshot without the shutter sound going off. Argos telephone customer service is absolutely dreadful too. They keep putting the prices up too. The 16gb one was £149, then £159 and now £69. Its ridiculous!

I have had a refurb iphone 5 from argos. It came in a box like original but said 'Preowned' on the box with charger and earpods in the box. phone was in perfect condition, I would say just like a brand new phone.

Lol the Q+A on the argos site is complete and utter ****, one person says unlocked, other says it gets locked... ...You just get phone and usb, refurbished but not by apple

It looks as though the product description was written by a graduate of the Gumtree School of English.

Edit: I mean the description on the Argos page