“Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery, screen or camera” — that sounds scary, but it’s actually a good thing!

What that means is that we’ve replaced that part with a brand new one, because during our testing, the original part was not performing up to our (and your!) high quality standards.

Unfortunately, Apple tightly controls who can buy their parts, and charges extremely high prices (there’s a reason they’re the most profitable company in history).

To keep our phones attractively priced, we used the best quality non-Apple replacement available. As a result, when you activate the phone, you’ll see a service message in your phone’s settings saying that the part is not genuine Apple.

With years of experience refurbishing iPhones, we have realized that any non-Apple part, no matter how healthy, will show the service message that you are seeing now. Newer iPhone models can detect non-original batteries, screens, and cameras, and will always display this message at setup. It should go away within a few days!

If you notice any functionality issue with your iPhone, or you have any concerns about the parts in your phone, please feel free to get in touch with us at support@getorchard.com. Our team of Customer Advocates will be happy to help.

Transferring your data to your new phone can be a little intimidating, but it has gotten easier over the years. Even if you’re making the leap from Android to Apple or vice-versa, you should be able to transfer everything over smoothly.

If your new(ish) Orchard phone is an iPhone, Apple has some great tutorials:

• If your previous phone was an iPhone, see here. We definitely recommend using Quick Start if you can — your old phone and your new phone will interact and work together to copy your old data via Bluetooth. 

• If your previous phone was an Android, see here. You’ll need to download the Move to iOS app, and follow the manual set up steps. 

If your new(ish) Orchard phone is an Android phone and your previous phone is Android as well, backing everything up to your Google account is probably your best bet. But if you’re switching from Apple to Android, no worries! We’d recommend following these steps from Google, or using Smart Switch with a Samsung phone.

Keep in mind that while transferring your data, your phone is working overtime. This will cause the battery to drain much faster than during regular use. For more information, please see this FAQ article.

If you’re having any difficulty with any of these steps, please get in touch with us here and we’ll be happy to help.

Because most Orchard phones are unlocked and compatible with any carrier in Canada, connecting to a wireless network is as simple as inserting the SIM card from your previous phone into the new phone. If it fits, and your phone is getting service, you don’t even need to let your carrier know about the switch!

If your old SIM doesn’t fit (or this is your first phone) you’ll need to get a Nano SIM from your carrier. They’ll be able to either set you up with a new phone number, or port over your old number if needed.

If you need a new SIM, the next step would be to get in touch with your carrier. Please see your carrier’s instructions below:

• Telus
• Rogers
• Bell
• Koodo
• Chatr
• Virgin
• Fido
• Public Mobile
• Freedom

When in doubt, visiting your carrier’s nearest retail location to have the SIM activated in person is always your best bet.

In order to insert a SIM card into a smartphone, you need to use the SIM tool we provide with every order to pop the SIM card tray open. Once the tray is open, you’ll lay the SIM card flat into the tray. Like a puzzle piece, you need to match the shape of the SIM card accordingly into the SIM card tray. After you have done that, gently push the SIM card tray back into place. Wait a few seconds while the phone searches for signal, and voilà! You can start texting and calling.

If you’re not already on a contract with a carrier, finding the right phone plan can be a bit of a challenge. The good news is that since you purchased your phone outright and it’s unlocked (unless indicated otherwise on the product page by the carrier’s logo), you’ll have your pick of carriers! Bring your Orchard phone to any Canadian carrier, and switch carriers whenever you want. 

If you’re simply looking for the cheapest plan, we typically recommend avoiding the larger carriers (Telus, Rogers, and Bell), and looking at smaller carriers like Koodo, Virgin, Chatr, Public Mobile, or Fido.

If you aren’t sure where to start we recommend using PlanHub, which is a free contract comparison tool. Just remember to select “Bring your own phone”!

The majority of the phones we sell actually come from Canadians like you!

The easiest way to get started selling with Orchard is by downloading and running the Orchard app on the phone you’d like to sell with us. Just search “Orchard” in the App Store or Google Play to find it.

You can also register it for sale here. You’ll also see the full list of models we are currently buying. The oldest models we buy as of March 2023 are the iPhone 6S Plus, the Pixel 2, and the Galaxy S7.

Using our online form or running the app, you’ll be able to register your device for sale. You can decide how quickly you’d like to receive your payment and provide us an address where we can mail you all the shipping materials you’ll need to get your phone safely to our headquarters.

You’ll receive confirmation emails from us at each stage of the sale of your phone to keep you in the loop. You can expect to be paid through an Interac e-Transfer at the end of your selling window. 

This way, your old phone won’t sit in a drawer, or worse, end up in a landfill.

If your phone model is too old for us to buy back from you, we’d recommend looking up local recycling programs. And if the phone is still fully functional and in good condition, you might want to consider donating it!

Over the years, we’ve become real pros when it comes to attaching a screen protector. That’s why, when you buy a screen protector with your order, we take the liberty of attaching it to your phone before shipment.

Having trouble seeing the screen protector on your phone? Good! The best screen protectors are next to invisible. We use Tech Armor HD screen protectors, which protect your phone from scratches without being obstructive. Evidence of your screen protector is most prominent at the outer edges or around the microphone and camera holes. Tilt your phone and feel the edge of the screen, you should notice a thin layer on top of the screen of your phone.

Still no sign of your screen protector? Send us a picture of your screen at support@getorchard.com, and we’ll get things sorted for you right away.

Adding our one-year Orchard Care Premium warranty to your order is the most effective way to protect your investment from everything up to and including accidental damage. You can read more about the warranty here.

If you’ve already placed your order, no sweat! The one-year warranty can be added any time in the first 90 days of your order. To add Orchard Care Premium, contact us!

You might also want to consider picking up a quality case for your phone. There are almost endless options for cases, but we highlighted a couple of our favorites below:

• OtterBox

For the best protection, we recommend the Defender series of cases. For a slimmer look that still offers good protection, we’d recommend either the Commuter or Symmetry series.

• Spigen

Spigen cases offer a more understated look than OtterBox, while still providing decent protection of your device.

If you’re noticing this when first setting up the phone, this is perfectly normal!

When activating a phone, especially if you are restoring a backup to the phone, your phone is working overtime. This will cause the battery to drain much faster than usual.

This situation should resolve itself within a few days. We test our phones to a battery health standard of 83% minimum, which means you shouldn’t experience drains beyond what is normal for your specific model once it’s all set up.

If you feel like your battery is draining too fast after the phone has been fully set up, it could be that the phone’s battery is simply miscalibrated – which is also quite common, and thankfully, pretty straightforward to fix.

All you need to do is run the iPhone’s battery all the way to 0%. If your phone shuts down on you before reaching 0%, just wait a few minutes, turn it back on and use it until it turns off again. Repeat until the phone no longer responds after waiting a few minutes. Your battery is now truly and completely drained. Now, plug in your phone and charge it back to 100%. Once it reaches a full charge, run your phone back down again (as above) and after another charge, the battery reading should be more accurate as it approaches 0%.

Still having trouble? Contact us! We’ll run a remote battery health assessment and advise you of the next steps. 

First, check your charging cable and block. If you have another device that fits the cable, plug that one in. If that other device does not charge, then the issue is with your charger.

If the other device does charge when plugged in, then there are still some things that you can do.

First stop is to check the charging port on your phone. It may be blocked with lint buildup or other debris. If there is lint present, carefully remove it with a straightened paperclip. We clean the charge ports in this way, but we may not have gotten it all, or a bit of lint might have slipped in there later on.

If your charger is working normally and your charging port is clear but you continue to have issues charging your phone, make sure the phone’s software is up to date.

Still having trouble? Contact us!