The "stringent" refurb process isn't

[lssmit02]

I recently purchased a dual 1.8 G5. It was defective out of the box - had the fans on full blast problem. I called Apple to complain, after trying the recommendations on this site (reset PMU, etc). They referred me to my local Apple VAR, which also does service. They were able to fix it, after having it for 3 days. The tech said that he had to re-seat the processors, and run the calibration program again. Whether all that was necessary, who knows, but now it runs great!

My conclusion is that the refurb process is not as stringent as Apple would have you believe. It's surprising to me that the machine could leave Apple with the kind of problems it had. However, I was pleased with my post sales service (although the delay was killing me), and now the machine is folding for me 24/7. It's very quiet, particularly compared to my old Dell piii, fast, and fun. I'm pretty sure that I'll be buying applecare, though, in the next year, just in case.

 

[tkacenko]

It's awful actually

It's awful, actually. My first refurb zapped me when I pulled it out of the box, and it couldn't even power up!

Instead of shipping me another one, they could only refund my money (That's alrigh, cause by the time I got my money, there was a faste version out for only a little more $$. Dual 1.25s vs 867s)

My next refurb, a 15 iMac, wasn't extreme ready like the salesman claimed, and it shipped with a keyboard that refused to eject the CD slot. Swapped keyboards with the powermac and all was solved. But get this... it was covered with black finger marks all over its white case. Okay, they let me keep the extreme card for free. For future use, I guess.

Are they refurbishing these things in Guyayana??? Or do they just keep sending them to customers until one of them jimmy-rigs the thing to work?

I'll never buy a Apple refurb again.

 

[Sun Baked]

They tried to make me pay $19.95 + S&H to replace a new set of CDs with the refurb that looked like they'd been used as hockey pucks at a frat party.

I needed to reload the OS and couldn't, so it was either a DOA machine or a new set of CDs -- they opted for the CDs.

Computer was fine, I just wanted an functional set of restore CDs, games, and Quicken.

 

[discoforce]

So it sounds like the refurbs aren't as perfect out of the box, but all the problems get addressed post-sale?

I'm thinking about a refurb 15"PB AL, and having to take it back once to save $500 sounds pretty good to me (besides, I like going to my local store ).

Question though: I've noticed different prices on refurbs at the Apple store vs. other merchants. Do refurbs not have the same price controls other Apple products have?

 

[Bear]

So it sounds like the refurbs aren't as perfect out of the box, but all the problems get addressed post-sale?

I'm thinking about a refurb 15"PB AL, and having to take it back once to save $500 sounds pretty good to me (besides, I like going to my local store ).

Question though: I've noticed different prices on refurbs at the Apple store vs. other merchants. Do refurbs not have the same price controls other Apple products have?

The question becomes, who is doing the refurbs for the stores? Are they Apple refurbs or are they being done by someone else?

 

[Bear]

I recently purchased a dual 1.8 G5. It was defective out of the box - had the fans on full blast problem. I called Apple to complain, after trying the recommendations on this site (reset PMU, etc). They referred me to my local Apple VAR, which also does service. They were able to fix it, after having it for 3 days. The tech said that he had to re-seat the processors, and run the calibration program again. Whether all that was necessary, who knows, but now it runs great!

My conclusion is that the refurb process is not as stringent as Apple would have you believe. It's surprising to me that the machine could leave Apple with the kind of problems it had. However, I was pleased with my post sales service (although the delay was killing me), and now the machine is folding for me 24/7. It's very quiet, particularly compared to my old Dell piii, fast, and fun. I'm pretty sure that I'll be buying applecare, though, in the next year, just in case.

If the processors needed reseating, the machine could've been bounced too much during shipping. Unfortunatly some things happen during shipping and one of those is things become loose and sometimes even knocked totally out of place. This goes for new and refurbed stuff.

 

[lssmit02]

If the processors needed reseating, the machine could've been bounced too much during shipping. Unfortunatly some things happen during shipping and one of those is things become loose and sometimes even knocked totally out of place. This goes for new and refurbed stuff.

Sure, and that was in part why I was willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt and see if it could be repaired. I didn't make too much of a stink, and the Applecare person did say they would take it back if the hardware problems persisted. Again, in my case I was happy with the post sale service. YMMV.

 

[keysersoze]

Refurbs

I've been using a refurb AE base station and card (direct from Apple.com store) for awhile now and no problems thus far, but man, if I had read the previous posts I probably never would've ordered them in the first place.
Scary stories.

 

[CubeHacker]

I just recieved my refurb eMac last week. Overall I am extremly happy. Everything worked perfectly out of the box - specifically no display problems, which I was worried most about. Although it certainly has signs of prior use, I don't have any real complaints.

For example, it shipped with an Apple Keyboard (the new, uglier model, lol), and an old Apple Pro Mouse, which was slightly scratched up. No big deal though, I'd never use that mouse. Also, the casing of the eMac seems to have what looks like the scars of tape that was violently ripped off and left some sticky residue. I'm finding it nearly impossible to rub off, but then again, its hardly noticible. The last "issue" was that there was something loose inside the case itself that would cause a rattling sound whenever it was turned on, which I eventually found and fixed. But I didn't really care, since I opened her up the next day to overclock to 1.4GHz and install a 8x superdrive and larger hard drive.

All things considered, i'm very happy, especially considering its $500 price

 

[iMax531]

A few years ago I purchased the 22" Cinema Display from Apple as a refurb and it came in perfect condition and has worked well ever since. It does have more and more stuck pixels though.... like 8 now.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

my folks bought a refurb 17in iMac last year and had no trouble with it whatsoever... all of your stories are a little troubling though... seems like apple could do a better job of testing those machines before they went back out to the public

 

[flyfish29]

I had problems with my 17" iMac last fall and they had to eventually switch it out for another machine...luckily they had it. It was a pain, but oh well...crap happens. It seemed there was a big problem with refurb. last fall about the time I had problems, and now it seems like there was another batch this spring that had issues...maybe someone is having bad days?

I would worry about buying a laptop from refurb. It seems like if someone knows they are going to be returning something they don't care as much about it and might not take as good of care of it??? I would think a desktop is harder to abuse between the time they get it and return it for problems. I could see someone throwing the laptop down in frustration after they know they are getting a new one? I don't think most would do this, but I am sure some would.

Overall I have been happy with mine, but was frustrating when the problems happened out of the box. I think that the nature of online sales is so that since every single comptuer is shipped separately in its own box you will encounter more issues upon arrival due to the lack of care a single box receives versus a pallett full of macs arriving at an apple store or comp usa or someplace that orders in bulk. On anything that is Pallett shipped you are less likely to see damage on the boxes than a single box.