Apple iPhone 12 (Refurbished) (Open Box)

I bought my iPhone 12 here in about Oct 15 2024. Then on December 14, almost exactly 2 months later, the audio on the phone app stopped working. Suddenly I was like a mime with a phone. If I did a video call, I'd have to perform interpretive dance. I'm a pretty fair tech geek. After running complete diagnostics at home and at the Apple store, both on the software and hardware, it turned out to be a $250 hardware problem. This was most likely because when the the vendor swapped in a new (non-Apple) battery, they did not seat it correctly. To be fair, iPhone 12's are also known for having phone audio problems (muting audio weirdly.) But after extensive diagnostics, as I said, it did turn out to be a hardware problem. It seems to me that a refurbished phone should work longer than 2 months. And usually, they do. Just not this one. Now, maybe I could have gone to the trouble of returning and replacing this phone, But even if they let me do that, who among us can be phone-less for a week? Even if you bought the insurance coverage, you'd still be out the phone for that long. Normally, I don't mind unplugging on nights or weekends, but I need my phone for work. So, I paid the $250 to Apple to fix it in a couple of hours. You do you, but honestly, until the vendor addresses that problem, I would steer clear, especially if it's an iPhone 12. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.