Does anyone know what happens to returned Clies?

[n2ifp]

Do returned Clies go back to Sony or are they dumped on some off the wall clearing house as refurbs? They must go somewhere after being returned to stores and such. I am interested in any ideas as to what happens to the Clies.

[anniebluesky]

At Best Buy, they are resold as "Open Package" at a slightly reduced price, which is reduced further each week.

[cerberus]

At Best Buy they are sold as open items only if they work! I hope people don't think they sell broken PDAs. The broken returns go back to the manufacturer where they(I guess) refurb them and sell.

[sstrasser86]

haha that would be funny if they just threw them back in the box and sold them again

[n2ifp]

What brought this up was in another post, some 3rd party refurbisher is selling clies fairly cheaply, so one has to wonder.

[cerberus]

I was also wondering about a $360 NX...... sounds too good to actually work!

[rxmedicine]

pretty sure they generally get sent back to the manufactuerer where they get refurbished...and sold at a discounted price...

[n2ifp]

Hey, I am not against anyone getting a good deal. I would just hate to see anyone get stuck!

[CopyCat]

They are usually sent back to the manuf. The manuf. may take the ****ty pieces out put new ones in and sell again as new. Stores or Sites the refurbish the clies themselves its a toss up. They either get a perfect condition one in and package it back up to sell discount or they get a ****ty one back and get it to work somehow and sell at same discount or cant fix it. This of course all depends on how thorough a person other than the manuf. can fix it.

Places like BB and others don't have the tech people in the stores to fix **** like PDAs and Digi-Cams and what not. What they sell discounted is looked at very shortly just to see if its basic functions work and then sold again. No hard "burning" or in depth testing is done. If they can't fix it, it gets shipped out to whoever.

This is all in opinion mostly. I worked as a techy at BB for awhile and that was my experience.

[Token User]

Originally posted by CopyCat
They are usually sent back to the manuf. The manuf. may take the ****ty pieces out put new ones in and sell again as new. Stores or Sites the refurbish the clies themselves its a toss up. They either get a perfect condition one in and package it back up to sell discount or they get a ****ty one back and get it to work somehow and sell at same discount or cant fix it. This of course all depends on how thorough a person other than the manuf. can fix it.What a crock.

New is new. Fresh from the manufacturer, never been used.
PRO : Fresh Clie smell. Full warrantee.
CON : More expensive, may fail out of box.

Refurb is previously broken (or a fault found) returned to manufacturer within warrantee period, repaired, then sold as refurb or white/brown box with a limited warrantee.
PRO : Sort of fresh Clie smell. Cheaper. Tested an verified to a greater level than a new unit.
CON : Limited warrantee. Little chance of being early adopter.

Openbox is a BB/CC/Fry's type thing. The "supposedly" working unit is returned under the terms of the companies return policy. It can not be sold as a new item. Fry's slap a "sticker of death" on it and charge full price ... BB/CC generally do open box specials.
PRO : Generally Cheaper. Generally full warrantee from manufacturer.
CON : Try before buy. Parts might be missing. May be buying someone elses problem (ie it might have had a knoife stuck inthe MS slot to "activate return policy". :mad:

Sometimes openbox and refurb units are sold to places like overtock.com, or ubid.com as a consignment. They are then generally sold as refurb units.
PRO : Best price. Fully tested (for the most part). No early adopter tax.
CON : Limited warrantee.

How's that??

[CopyCat]

good job

[mdharris]

Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City will sell them as an Open Item if they are not broken. If they are broken they go back to Sony in San Diego. Sony has two service areas, one for customer service units and another for refurbs. Customer units go through a process and are repaired and sent back to the customer. Refurbs are fixed and cosmetics are changed then sold through Sony as refurbs.

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by mdharris
Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City will sell them as an Open Item if they are not broken. If they are broken they go back to Sony in San Diego. Sony has two service areas, one for customer service units and another for refurbs. Customer units go through a process and are repaired and sent back to the customer. Refurbs are fixed and cosmetics are changed then sold through Sony as refurbs.

Does Sony sell refurbs to 3rd party distributers? I wonder if these 3rd party discount distributers really refurbish them properly or just resell Sony refurbs?  This is not for myself, I only question it for others.

[Token User]

Originally posted by n2ifp
Does Sony sell refurbs to 3rd party distributers? I wonder if these 3rd party discount distributers really refurbish them properly or just resell Sony refurbs? This is not for myself, I only question it for others. They generally collect devices until they have enough to offer a a consignment lot to any of a number of companies. Occassionally, you will see them appear at Fry's (marked as whitebox or refurb units) at a discounted price, but more typicaly, they will appear at places like ubid.com or overstock.com (or other online auction sites). They also sell them directly via their own outlet store and sometimes via thier online sites.

For instance ubid currently has a single NX70V listed in one auction ending in 3 hours for $265 (manfacturer refurb, 90 day warrantee), and 2 NR70V's listed for $265 ending in 34 minutes. That is pretty typical. Since the NX series is fairly new, you wont see them appearing as Dutch auctions yet (ie multiple items for sale as single items on the same auction), but you an expect to see a new NX70V appearing for auction tomorrow.

[n2ifp]

Hi Guys!

Very good, that's good to know, so they are still factory refurbs. I was concerned that some might be unscrupulous vendors.

Thanks to all who contributed :)!

[mdharris]

Token is correct. I guess the main thing you want to look for is warranty. If the unit is being sold as a refurb Sony will still cover it for 90 days if the purchase is a legit refurb.

[n2ifp]

Very good mdharris!

I remember who your ex-employer was :). A lot of local stores take returns and stuff them back on the shelves and resell as new. That really irks me, so I look for sealed boxes now. I don't want some else's return only to find out it doesn't work, it's scratched, or missing items.

[mdharris]

I actually worked for Best Buy and Sony. So I have seen both sides. I would never buy an Open Item...... Why take the chance for a 10-15% discount.

[sstrasser86]

yeah i only buy new and will never buy the refurb or open box items

[Token User]

Originally posted by sstrasser86
yeah i only buy new and will never buy the refurb or open box items Refurb is OK, and has often gone through a more rigourous QA than a new item. For all intents and purposes it IS new (except the 90 day warrantee).

Openbox (and Fry's sticker of death) is an entre other risk. I wont touch them UNLESS it is something low risk like a floor model (I bought a Sony 200sx 17" monitor that way). Anything that is returned can not be sold as new. Whitegood are generally pretty good as openbox items (we saved about $500 total on buying a fridge, dishwasher, and gas stove at a Sear's outlet - everything was new ... the fridge was to big for the gap in the original buyers house, the dishwasher had a broken mounting clip - fixed for $5 of parts from Home Depot, and the stove had a small ding in the side - which you never see because it is up against a wall).

You just have to choose what you are purchasing carefully.

Would I buy a Factory Refurb?? Yep. If it was what I was looking for.
Would I buy a Openbox electronic device - probably not (the monitor is an exception).

[Shrink]

I have it on "high authority" that they all go to ClieHeaven;)
alan

[n2ifp]

Radio Scrap is infamous for reselling returned items as new. I had some problems with Staples, although they didn't give me a hard time. When I opened the box in one example, it was quite obvious that it was broken.

I am curious, I never been to a Fry's nor is there one my area. What is the sticker of death?

 

[Token User]

Originally posted by n2ifp
I am curious, I never been to a Fry's nor is there one my area. What is the sticker of death?I had the perfect answer typed in ... then Opera went belly up on me.

Go here (http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20030327) ... then come back.

The sticker of death is a returned item that is "tested" :rolleyes:, then re-shrinkwrapped and put back on the shelves AT FULL PRICE :mad:.

College students treat Fry's as a rental service - especially for LAN parties. Go in, pick up a high speed switch, pay the "rental deposit" (full price), have fun fragging, swapping pr0n, whatever (http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/kroq/kbaudio/west_hollywood_lifestyle_whatever.asx), then return it for a full refund of your deposit on Monday (or whenver the RedBull/Bawls and Vodka wears off).

NEVER do a return at Fry's on a weekend (except early Sat), or Monday night. Any other night of the week OK. Actually, NEVER GO to Fry's on a weekend ... Fry's at Anaheim is the only place in Orange County where the lines are longer than Disneyland.