My elderly Mother in Law purchased a refurbished iPhone SE from Coles for $250 in May 2024. She has just received a message saying ‘this phone will no longer work after 31/8/24’.
After some investigating, it seems that the phone has a US model number and as such will NOT work.
The local Coles Manager would not take responsibility, refused to offer a refund and referred us to Boost Mobile saying ‘it might still work after the 31st’. I have since found out this is very unlikely.
Why should my 83 year old mother in law have to buy a new phone so soon after buying this model?
Why won’t Coles take responsibility, surely they should have known about this!
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Hi @mandjramsden, welcome to the community.
It is likely the phone would have purchased online through Coles BestBuys. BestBuys is an online marketplace where sellers other than Coles can sell products. BestBuys has terms and conditions associated with purchases on the site. Section 9 outlines the Return Policy:
Unfortunately, it is unlikely she will get redress based on these T&Cs.
Since she is on the Telstra network, is this by following:
text the number “3” to “3498” to check if their device will function after the 3G shutdown.
If not, it is worth doing to confirm.
A less accurate way is to check using the phone’s IEMI number:
The third way if you know the model number, it to check online resources about future compatibility. This is one (noting reliability of information is unknown):
Coles is unlikely to know the details of products sold, other than that provided by the seller.
An avenue to seek redress is to look at how the phone was sold at the time. If it is confirmed that it won’t support 4G when the 3G network is shutdown, and the phone was sold as being suitable for Australia’s 4G network, then this is misleading under the Australian Consumer Law. As such, it may be possible to seek resolution under the ACL.
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Thanks for all the suggestions, we have done the text to “3498” and confirmed the phone is unlikely to work. Phone was purchased over the counter not online, I’ll try contacting Coles customer service. There would be many others affected by this and I still believe Coles should accept responsibility given the sale date was so close to the network shutdown date.
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Coles does list this product.
Boost Mobile. 12 month warranty and 30 day satisfaction guarantee. There is no information on the 4G capabilities in the info Coles provide. On line or in store purchase, supplied via Boost Mobile?
Most web resources suggest the iPhone SE from the 1st Gen in 2016 is 4G LTE capable.
Perhaps there is something else the OP can tell us about the purchase details or products which may help to clarify? The actual purchase order/receipt or invoice would provide some certainty as to the seller, and likely T&C’s.
Is the product sold as refurbished capable of working on Australian networks for the 12 months following purchase? The above suggests it is sold with that intent. To note the 12 month warranty and lack of advice it cannot. A reasonable person would also expect an iPhone SE refurbished through an Australian based supplier to also be 4G LTE capable.
Coles are also not an innocent third party in the sales arrangement with Boost, if the notion of “teaming up” is considered as most would.
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A rather interesting arrangement. Coles selling second-hand phones in their stores.
I assume the SELLER is Coles, and as such is responsible for honouring any express warranty offered by the supplier. It seems these phones come advertised with a 1 year warranty.
Well I would be going back to the SELLER, if Coles, and telling them that the network provider is saying the phone is not fully capable of operating once 3G shuts down and demanding my money back. And at the time of sale in May, it was being widely warned that the 3G network was shutting down by end of Sept 2024. Last being Optus.
Now some of the concern about mobile phones is that there are some that work fine on the 4G network, but may not work for 000 calls once the 3G network goes. Is that something any person needs to find out just when it is needed?
I’ve just discovered that my SE2020 is NOT compatible after the shutdown. Apparently the lack of Band 28 excludes it. I cannot get 5G here at home and it looks like I never will. So not being able to afford a new iphone… I’m screwed.
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While mobiles generally work internationally the firmware from region to region is not always the same, nor are the inclusive bands.
An example a few years ago was that my Australian Moto RAZR worked fine on the AT&T network in the USA with a PAYG prepaid SIM - except it always double charged each call. AT&T was helpful in fixing it only after the agent (after much to and fro) accepted it was impossible to always make the same 3 minutes call less than a minute apart with each lasting 3 minutes.
I think that it is a US model is part of the ‘complaint’; eg while it works on the Australian networks it is not suitable for the Australian networks because it seems to be missing an important band.
Now for Coles, the managers are going to fob the customer off to Boost but the ACL puts the problem firmly on Coles as the first stop.
As a practical matter I would be ringing Boost to discuss on the basis that they provided an apparently foreign product not suitable, as advertised and see how that goes. Expect to be fobbed off to Alegre?
I suspect a formal letter of complaint might be necessary, delivered to the Coles manager, cc’d to Boost, and if possible cc’d to Alegre who seems the party that failed dilligence.
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Noted @PhilT’s wisdom on US variations, and general advice to the OP. Assume your model is an A1662?
One reseller provides detailed specs for 2 models of the iPhone SE2020.
https://www.techrific.com.au/apple-iphone-se-2020-128gb-black-excellent-grade
Model no A1662 supports only B29 on 700Mhz
Model no A1723 supports B28 on 700Mhz
For 4G Boost on their own web site advise customers will need a mobile VoLTE enabled that has Band 28 on 700Mhz to be able to make 000 calls. Own goal if they have been recently facilitating sales of any model that does not have that capability IMHO.
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Does you mother in law have any literature/advertising materials for the phone at the time of purchase?
It would be interesting to see what these said at the time of purchase. What websites state now may be different to that when purchased, and why knowing what information was available at the purchase time is important.
Not necessarily. It is dependent on how the phone was sold. As outlined above, if
If the phone was sold as being suitable for Australian 3G networks, without information about 4G compatibility, then Coles won’t be responsible. A buyer of the phone at the time of purchase would know its limitations and purchased it knowing it was the case. This isn’t contrary to the ACL.
If the phone was sold without any network compatibility information, what was said at the time of purchase could apply. If it was asked if the phone was 4G and the purchaser was lead to believe it was the case, then this again would be misleading under the ACL. If one said 'my phone needs to be replaced", and the old phone was 3G…if the replacement phone worked on the 3G network then it met the consumer’s requirements/request. Even when, replacement phone has been provided had a short service life due to 3G being switch off.
There are unknowns which makes it difficult to determine if resolution under the ACL is possible.
That (lack of Band 28, for 4G) is usually only a problem in rural and regional areas - because in metro areas there are usually alternative bands (for 4G) but obviously I don’t know where you are located. It will also depend on which provider you are with. I wouldn’t conclude that you are screwed just yet. In any case, if you are really screwed, you don’t need to do anything because you can’t do anything. Just wait until October 28 (or as further delayed) and see whether you have a working phone or one that can be made to work.
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First off you will need to confirm which of the three possible iPhone SE phones you have viz. 1st gen (2016), 2nd gen (2020) and 3rd gen (2022) - as that is an eternity of difference in tech-years.
Secondly, you will need to locate the receipt / invoice - so that you know who really sold you the phone. More generally, you will need to locate all applicable paperwork. In particular, that would spell out what warranty period applies.
As a side question, what were your goals in purchasing this phone?
Everyone should have known about this by May 2024. Vodafone had already shut its 3G network down at the end of 2023!
If you specifically pointed out at the time of purchase that you were looking to replace a phone that was being obsoleted by the 3G shutdown then arguably the phone was not fit for purpose even at the time of purchase, and that would strengthen your case.
For fun, if “they” keep on delaying the 3G shutdown then customers might get their full 12 month period of warranty with a working phone, and then be unable to claim / complain when a phone finally stops working. 
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Turns out my device is also a US version. I suppose someone traded it in at a second hand phone dealer. However, I will be contacting ozmobiles tomorrow to see if they will do anything about it, given its under their extended warranty which expires next week.
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I received a notification from my mobile service provider that I " might have limited/patchy coverage from 28th Oct. including 000 emergency calls. For more reliable coverage after the closure upgrade to to a compatible device" At first I thought this was a scam. Then I realised it wasn’t They refer to my phone type an iPhone SE 2020. I checked on Telstra’s and others websites to check further. Then I updated my softwear to the latest version and ensured 4G was selected in settings all to no avail. Every time I message their 3G checker I get the same response " …“this phone cannot connect to the mobile networks main 4G frequency…” No way am I “upgrading to a compatible device” when this phone is only 4yrs old. Maybe it is a scam after all?
Welcome to the Community @moorela
The issue is VoLTE and more specifically 4G band 28.
Is your iPhoneSE 2020 an A2296 (global/Aussie), A2275 (USA), or A2298 (China). Another? Only the A2296 apparently had band 28. You can validate your iPhone specifics here.
Sometimes VoLTE has not been enabled. You can check
Mobile Settings. → Select SIM Card → Mobile Data → Select Mobile Data SIM card. Tap on Enable VoLTE Calls.
The messages are probably not scams.
Although your phone may have been bought new, not refurbished, this other topic may provide additional insights.
Please let us know how you go working it out.
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Apologies, as the poster thinks it’s a scam I wasn’t sure what they were referring to.
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Good point.
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My SE 1st generation (introduced 2016) 4G is still working well even though Vodafone has already switched off 3G in December '23.
I bought mine at an Apple store in 2018.
which I interpret as the ‘3’ to 3498 text.
According to GSMArena the original SE had all the bands and only 1 model. For whatever reason Apple saw fit to roll out multiple SE models, all the same except they are different, with the 2020 
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Thanks for the helpful response. Looks like my refurbished iPhone SE2020 is model A2275 a USA phone. It appears that it may not be compatible with our network’s upgraded 4G when Telstra implements it. in October. From what I’ve read here and elsewhere those in this grey zone won’t really know until the changeover ( not a happy thought).
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Thanks for clarifying that. With your additional detail it is a refurb I merged your post into this topic as it is more relevant.
If you have not read it in entirety it might be useful advice depending when you bought your phone and who from.
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