Team-BHP - Refurbished products from company: Is it worth the risk?

Hi. I'm on a short-term visit to the USA, and I have a huge shopping list (as usual, I'm guessing). I see a lot refurbished products on the company website itself, like Nikon dSLRs, Apple iPad2s, Berrys. Now if I were to choose them all refurbished, I should make a total saving of nothing less than 600USD. It's a tempting one indeed.

Since they all have company extended warrantys, am I risking something here? BHPians.. please share your opinion and advise.

Memphes.d

Check the Warranty terms on these products -AND- check if they have extended wty on these products.

Normally, factory refurbished items carry a wty of only 90 days, and no option for extended wty.

Having said that, I have purchased a few gadgets of this type, and have not faced problems.

Usually these are items returned for no reason. But companies like to wash their hands off with these. Its a gamble, but usually if there was something wrong, they would have known about it and fixed, so not much of a risk.

Yes it is worth the risk. Usually these are items returned not because of any problems. I have personally picked quiet a few of them. As an example couple of cordless phones when i was in the US, my film based SLR Nikon N70 camera and Tokina lens which are functional till today (they are more than 13 years old). Although i do not use them anymore as better digital ones are now easily available.

So yes if the retailer is reliable and the product as such is not looking damaged (They usually check that and pack it in a transparent wrapper, so that buyer can visually see) then its worth it.

Most of the brands in the developed countries have a "Money-Back-Product-Return" policy.
When I was working with 3 UK (Cellular Service Company), these returned handsets were classified as refurbished. As legally these cannot be sold as new.

Do check these with a eagle eye, and like someone above mentioned, check the warranty and the extended warranty too.

I have bought a refurbished apple ipod back in 2004 from US. The package also mentioned the reason and what was refurbished. In my case, it was the display problem, and they replaced it.

Still I use this video ipod. No issue.

So, I think it should be ok to get such refurbished product.

Many times the refurbished products have not even been turned on, and are unwanted gifts etc that have been returned. If your getting a goof warranty period, I would say go for it if the saving is a considerable amount compared to the price of a new product.

Check out sites like buy.com too. And what ever you pick up, try and use it to some extent at least - even if you have to just switch it on & let it run. Just in case there are any problems, you can claim warranty right there.

Try and give a friend's address the shipping address (your address). (Dont use a hotel / guest house address). This way, any mails/packages can still reach you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 2738191)

You were right, condor. I checked with all of them. And the warranty is mostly not an international warranty if I purchase from the USA, with the exception of Toshiba.

That too, a 90-day warranty is standard for all refurbished items.

Is there a possibility that a refurbished product can have miniscule physical damages/scratches? I've read elsewhere that the outer casing is inspected well. And yes, it is safer to purchase refurbished products from the company directly than via a retailer who might be clearing old stock or display pieces.

Dear All, I was planning to buy the below listed items from the US. But when I saw some reviews, I see that you get the same items in India for same or lesser price. Not sure if these are worth to bring back from US. Can experts advice?

Refurbished products from company: Is it worth the risk?-amazon.jpg

JBL and Polk - in some cases official India prices are same or a bit lesser, and come with a proper warranty. Not sure about Polk, but JBL definitely has service support in India. Warranty in India should be the deciding factor - most manufacturers don't offer an international warranty, and warranty conditions are a bit vague to say the least when it comes to online sales.

The Garmin unit makes some sense at that price, since the cheapest Garmin in India is about 9K. Not sure if Garmin India will honor warranty on a product bought online in US.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 2738562)

@gopi, if you can get an item here, for a similar price as in US, then why would you want to buy it from US ?

I have not enquired the price for these items in India personally. I was basing it on the reviews from the forums.*Hence I was not sure if I should go ahead and buy and sought help from experts

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte (Post 2738603)

The Garmin unit makes some sense at that price, since the cheapest Garmin in India is about 9K. Not sure if Garmin India will honor warranty on a product bought online in US.

Thank you very much. I know you are the expert in this. As for Garmin, I also saw that India prices are definitely costlier and hence I will buy it in the US.

The speakers and amplifier are something which I was confused about. Based on your inputs I will skip buying these in the US. Thanks for your help in the decision making process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte (Post 2738603)

If the price is almost same and may be 5-10% extra I will suggest to buy from India instead of carrying this meterial from US. In custom they may create havoc problem.

As per warranty even HP does have issue buying laptop from US and servicing in India. They just try to create problem rather giving solution. My Laptop went wrong with in 12 months after purchasing and while I went to service in India they blindly says that it purchase in US. So warranty does not support.