I remember at one point in time, the word “refurbished” meant something different than the term “used.” Typically it meant that components that were likely to fail, or were “wear out” items. were replaced.
Now, I see countless electronics sold as “refurbished” when they did absoutely nothing to the product, except maybe blow the surface dust off the device.
I see SSD drives listed as “refurbished.” Really, shit heads, what did you do to “refurbish” that solid state drive?
These people need to be charged with fraud if you ask me.
1 Like
I may be mistaking, but isnt refurbished a wording for rma`d → repaired → sold again?
2 Likes
That’s the conventional definition.
There could very well be regulations on what can be sold as “new” and if someone purchased it, opened the box, turned it on, then returned it, that may not be able to qualify as new, but “refurbished” can fetch a higher price than “used”. So they probably just label it as refurbished after cleaning it off and replacing the plastic peels.
If an SSD has a bad capacitor, for example, it’s purchased, installed, doesn’t work, is returned and the company fixes the capacitor, that’s literally the definition of refurbished.
I’m really not sure what the purpose of this thread is. Are you trying to define refurbished or are you trying to vent?
3 Likes
The major difference between “used” and “refurbished” is that the latter typically comes with a warranty, whereas the former is a “good luck” kind of deal.
Just like with a new one, you could get unlucky and get a broken one, or one that breaks soon, but with refurbished you can at least return it.
So yes, refurbished still means something. It means that it’s been checked by the manufacturer and found to be “OK” enough to let them give you a warranty.
3 Likes
From what I have been hearing refurbished means the company got it back and someone repacked it. Used to mean it was diagnosed to be 100% working and fully checked, with the mass of returns through sites like amazon there is no money in it anymore I guess.
2 Likes
Yep, most “refurbished” from Amazon and Newegg have broken things, missing parts, is completely dead, has completely bent pins in a CPU socket they will try and claim you did that to, etc.
2 Likes
Proper refurbishment includes cleaning, troubleshooting, load/stress testing, and repair.
But this is a time consuming process.
If an intermitant problem does not present itself in machine logs or actually during testing, then its in doubt that it even exists.
So as a tech on an rma you review the logs and the customers complaint to try and pinpoint the cause.
You run the tests to verify the issue.
If it is not found its usually assumed it was user error.
This is usually what happens.
But you cannot totally rule out fraudulant repair activity without the use of tamper labels, but this can lead to legal issues.
So in most cases the term refurbished is a very murky definition.
On that note if i refurbish an item, all test data documentation and recommendations are returned with the device.
2 Likes
I always treat “refurbished” the same way as “used” when I buy something.
3 Likes
Both? I think he’s trying to point out that common practice now is to label things “refurbished” without the diligence that the actual definition of that word is supposed to mean.
1 Like