Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Third time is a charm! FINALLY I got what I paid for, after returning two suspicious devices! DEVICE No. 1: So... I ordered this Galaxy S6 Edge for my girlfriend as her birthday gift. I did not want to purchase it through a carrier, so I got the G925F model, knowing it won't be covered by Samsung's warranty because it's a global version. However, when I received the phone, I couldn't help but think it has been opened. As you can see in my picture, the original Samsung seal has been cut open (clean cut) and then a new sticker was on top of that to cover that up. I thought I saw two stickers, but when my girlfriend lifted the first one, the second one at the bottom was revealed and we could immediately see that the case has been opened. Even thought this was sold at a "NEW" device, my girlfriend felt like it has been opened previously and she did not want to keep anything that was suspicious. I purchased the first one from WIRELESS PLACE. I contacted the seller, asking for explanation and the seller just said I was accusing him/her and basically provided no explanation. I left a seller feedback, and Amazon immediately deleted it saying they fulfilled the order and it wasn't the seller's fault. However, how is Amazon responsible for an item when it was supplied like that by the seller? I don't get it. Anyhow - I was able to return the first device. I do not recommend Wireless Place at all. DEVICE No. 2: Because we returned the first one, now my girlfriend was sad because she didn't have the gift on her birthday. I immediately ordered a second one, this time from SHOPEBEST. This time, before I placed the order I reached out to the seller and asked specifically, "I have purchased it from another seller and the seal was tampered with- is your device 100% brand-new, never been opened?" and the seller confirmed the device was a brand-new device and it's never been opened. So I was confidant in my purchase and ordered it from this seller and I thought everything was good to go.... Well, we received the device from Shopebest, and there were a few things that were wrong with this order. First, the seller said it was G925I model (very confidant seller, guaranteed it was the i model) but the one we received was G925F model. We did not complain at all about this - just thought the seller did not keep good track of what they were selling. Because the F model has more LTE bands, it was a plus. However, the case had a problem..... it did not have the Samsung seal on the short side of the box, it was just put on the box, rather randomly, on the long side of the box and it wasn't even straight. Also, my girlfriend opened it up and checked the phone, and guess what? The OS was already upgraded to 5.1.1!!!!!!!!!! That means someone has opened it, used it, and upgraded the phone to the latest OS. And even if you reset the phone to factory setting, you can't uninstall the OS (without rooting the phone). So we had our suspicion, but wanted to make sure and check with Samsung before we make false accusations. So we e-mailed Samsung UAE (the phone said it was from UAE) and received the following answers. An excerpt from the email we received from the Samsung UAE agent (what is in the parenthesis is my question): (1. Where on your S6 Edge box do you place the Samsung warning seal that says _quotdo not accept if this seal has been broken_quot? Is it the top or bottom, or the sides where it''''s longer in length?) "For your inquiry, Samsung Gulf Electronics supply all Mobile phones to two Authorized distributors in UAE (Eros & Axiom) and you can find two Samsung seal placed on the device box at the narrow sides then the distributor seal placed on four or two sides of the device box after packing using transparent plastic." (2. What Android OS did this come out of the factory? If a phone is straight from the factory, should it have OS 5.0.1 or 5.1.1?) "Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (Gulf model) come with Android Lollipop 5.0.1" (3. Based on my IMEI number, do I have the 925F model or is this a 925I model?) "We have verified the IMEI number and found that the device having the market code of UAE the model number is SM-G925F." So there you go, we now know for sure that it wasn't exported by an authorized dealer and also the seal was not put on the longer side of the case by Samsung - they always put it on the short side. I knew about this because I have purchased Galaxy phones before from Korea, from Samsung store and they all had the "DO NOT ACCEPT" seal on the short sides. So we got confirmation that this device has been upgraded by someone else who has opened the box and used the phone. Of course, returned it. At this point, the only reason we were able to remain calm was the Amazon's policy and its customer service reps. It was ridiculous. DEVICE No. 3: FINALLY! I purchased the last one - was going to just go to AT&T and purchase it outright if this one had problems too - from the seller OPEN GROUP WIRELESS. As soon as we opened the package, we knew we got the real deal this time. Please refer to my images that I attached below. They have all the seals where they are supposed to be, no double seal, no misplaced / randomly placed seal, etc. This one had the Samsung seal on the short side and the dealer sticker also. We carefully examined the package and opened the box. The GF checked the phone, OS, and everything and everything was good! She is now super happy that she got the good product. We called the seller before placing this order as well, and the person who answered the phone at Open Group Wireless could not be any more rude. She was extremely rude, but we don't even care because we finally got what we paid for. The reason why we purchased from this seller is because when we asked what side the seal was, the woman said it was on the short side. Now, we are getting more information about the device through Samsung Korea customer service center (located in Suwon) to see if this was exported by authorized dealer and to trace it back to the country of origin because now the device does not say where it's from. Based on their answer, if we find anything contrary to our belief that it is a good, genuine, unused product, then I'll update the review then. I am posting this review on all three product pages.