Woot makes good on customers who received refurbished Nexus 5’s

Last week we shared a great deal: a brand new 32GB Nexus 5 going for just $149 on Amazon-owned daily deals website Woot.

Up until then, we’ve only seen refurbished Nexus 5 units going for such a low price. As it turns out, there was a reason why the deal was so good. The phones that users received were not brand new, they were refurbished. And they weren’t 32GB, they were 16GB.

Ouch.

Somebody messed up real bad, and understandably customers flocked to Woot’s support forums to complain.

The confusion was made worse by a Woot representative’s initial claim that the Nexus 5’s were actually new phones boxed in the wrong retail packaging.

Yesterday afternoon, Woot backtracked, and the good news is, it was all a giant misunderstanding. The retailer confirmed that customers received refurbished 16GB units instead of what they were promised, ostensibly because of a supplier’s fault.

Woot apologized and offered anyone who wants to keep the devices they bought a $75 refund. That brings down the final price to $75 for a refurbished 16GB Nexus 5, which is not bad at all. Those who don’t want to keep the refurbished phones will receive a full refund once they return them to Woot, as well as a $30 coupon as a “we’re sorry” note.

If you bought the device and decide to keep it, you will get a one-year warranty instead of the 90-day that is typical for refurbished units.

At the end of the day, Woot deserves flak for the mess, but at least it took care of its customers in the end. Has anyone here got the wrong device? Let us know about your experience!