Do you buy refurbs?
I've bought maybe 10 refurb items over the years, always electronics. But I have to say I only had luck with maybe 4 out of the 10 working right. Is there anything you stay away from when it's a refurb?
I've bought a number of refurbs via woot. Fingers crossed, no problems so far!
I have had great luck with refurbs. They were all factory ones I believe but I've purchased at least 15 refurbs from woot and not a one has given me a problem.
My friend got her 1st try at refurb (laptop) through Tiger Direct and it had to go back. She's sworn them off for good.
Yes, I've got lots of refurbs. Only one comes to mind that didn't work and I didn't get it through Woot!
I buy refurbs pretty regularly and usually I don't have a complaint about them vs new.
Yes, my computer is a refurb.
That said, Squaretrade's warranty offerings for refurbs are more expensive and for a shorter period of time than offered for new which is a bit aggravating.
I bought an Ipod speaker system for a Christmas gift. To be honest, I was surprised when it arrived. The item looked new, and was in the original packaging. I would do it again if the price was good.
I bought a Shark vacum refurb~and have had no problems at all.
I love refurbs. Generally undetectable differences to new products at much lower prices. I do tend to try to avoid refurbs of things people use with their bodies a lot, but even then I'll buy a refurbished mouse or gamepad - as long as it's clean. Probably not headphones or something like that though.
I've pruchased about a dozen refurb'd items and had zero problems. All were Factory-refurbrished" or "remanufactured" items and came with some form of warranty, generally 90-180 days, and in a few cases, the same warranty as a new item.
All comes down to the warranty. If it's good enough (i.e., basically what you'd be getting with a new product, or close enough) then refub status usually isn't an issue for me.
The third-party refurb stuff I typically stay away from as well. I don't think I've ever seen one with a warranty that's up to my spec from a company trustworthy enough to know you're going to get a professionally refurbished product with appropriate parts.
There are cases where 'factory refurbished' means they checked it, put it through a set of standards, and, if it meets that set, it gets a sticker. Nothing else is done. So, if it's a case of overheating or just shutting down after an hour, it won't be detected. Buy it cheap, but make sure the warranty's a good one.
Yeah, why not? The hope is that the factory has re-furbished it better than when it was brand new because they've had time to work out the kinks. Wouldn't go for a non-factory re-furb though. I'd say that if you made a habit of purchasing re-furbs, you'd end up saving more in the long even if you get a couple duds.
It depends - I'll be much more cautious from now on since my last refurb from Woot! (a 32 GB iPod Touch) was extremely poorly refurbished and died within a week. Fortunately for me Apple customer support took pity on me when I told them how much I paid for the device and replaced it free of charge.
I have bought refurb'ed HDDs from Woot! and still use them today with no problems (Seagate FTW).
I'll stick to low ticket refurbs, but yes, I buy them.
Ditto. Factory refurb with a factory backed warranty, that's fine. 3rd party refurb with a limited warranty ... it better be a darn good deal inclusive of a SquareTrade warranty for me to consider.
I have not had any issue with refurbs to my recollection. I'm using a HDD I purchased refurbed from Woot more than 2 years ago. My touchpad is fine and so is my Scooba. I consider a factory refurb to be like new, and expect it to function that way.
I would not really go for a non-factory refurbished item however. That is rolling the dice for sure.
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