Manufacturer Refurbished

Rascalator

I am interested to discover the experiences MoneySavingExperts have had when buying things that are described as "manufacturer refurbished". I also want to understand exactly what expectation they have of who has undertaken the refurbishment and what differences they see between third-party refurbishment and manufacturer refurbishment.

I am exploring this topic because I recently purchased a MacBook Pro from the Argos Outlet on Ebay. I had passed over a number of MacBooks that were described as used or third-party refurbished. I decided the buy the laptop from Argos on Ebay because I took reassurance from the description "Manufacturer Refurbished". I thought the work had been done by Apple.

I have since discovered that it wasn't refurbished by Apple at all but Argos tell me by a company called DJ Henry. Argos further tell me that DJ Henry are an approved refurbishment agent for Apple but when I explored this point with Apple they said they have no knowledge of the company or its work.

I feel cheated and I wonder how many other people buy expensive items after convincing themselves that "Manufacturer Refurbished" means refurbished by the manufacturer.

I think we need a campaign to stamp out this abuse and provide a legal definition of this term.

cattie

I have purchased 3 items sold as refurbished over the past few years. They have been a Brother all in one printer, A HP laptop & a Fujifilm digital camera. All were bought direct from manufacturer & all appeared to be brand new when they arrived.

My assumption was that the items were in fact new, but probably store returns when a new model came out & superseded the previous model.

As long as you get the full manufacturer's warranty when buying a 'refurbished' item, I wouldn't worry about who had carried out any 'refurbishing' work on the item prior to the sale.

Honeythief

I have no problem with refurbished items. At least I am confident that they have been looked at and tested to make sure they work - that is more than can be said for most things! Honestly I don't care who did the refurbishing so long as I get a warranty and the usual legal rights. So long as what you buy works, and you have some comeback if it fails, what does it matter who did the refurbishment?

Farway

I have no problems in buying manufacture refurbished. Like Cattie above, I have bought Fuji cameras, form Fuji, no problems, great service,& unblemished cameras

When one of mine failed it was immediately replaced, no charges or quibbles from Fuji

I think the secret, it there is one, is to use the manufacturer and not a third party, like Argos

Mistral001

To me honest, I have always assumed that "manufacturer refurbished" did not mean that it went back to the original manufacturer to be refurbished. I cannot imagine the original manufacturer wanting to do this as it would take away from sales of their new items.


I suppose some very sophisticated and expensive items like aeroplane engines will get "manufacturer refurbished" by the original manufacturer but household equipment costing a few hundred pounds?

Honey_Bear

I try never to buy new items, and go for refurbished as my first choice. I bought a Bi$$el carpet washer refurbished by them through their website and it looked as new when it arrived. I've bought locally refurbished fridges, vacuum cleaners and other electrical appliances and as other people have said, at least they're tested before you buy them!

If they have a warranty, I don't mind who does the refurbishing. It does at least mean I can avoid all that hard sell nonsense about buying a three year insurance plan to go with new products, and I've never paid a delivery charge, either.

Gigervamp

The problem with warranties on refurbished items, is that they're often only for 3 months.

My husband bought me a refurbished palm pilot a few years ago and I was always having problems with it and having to put it back to factory settings. As the warranty was only a 3 month one and the problems started just after this time, I just stopped using it.

I won't buy a refurbished electrical item now.

smeeinnit

I've had a few manufacturer refurbished items, including the laptop I am using now, bought 3.5 yrs ago from Dell (which was an absolute steal, and Dell messed up a little - I had a larger hard drive than advertised and a blu ray drive which they didn't say was in the spec either ) I am very happy buying these sort of things, as long as I get a 12 month warranty, and nothing less. I do agree that direct from the manufacturer is best. HTH.

thriftwizard

My iPad is a top-of-the-range refurb from the Apple UK store; I've had it two and a half years, paid just over half the "new" price for it and have had no problems whatsoever. Would buy again, without doubt; it was bought to sync with a Mac and various iPhones & although lots of brand new tablets would have come in cheaper, it was exactly what we needed at a very good price.

pablakeman

To echo what others have said, check out the warranty, but as long as it is comparable then refurbs are a great way to save money! I always aim for refurb first