Nikon Refurbished = Broken

[paul ewins]

I've just received a Nikon LS8000 scanner that I bought from a US dealer. It was listed as "Nikon Refurbished" which I thought would be a good safeguard compared to buying a second hand unit. When I took the scanner out of the box I could hear a rattling sound from within the scanner. I took the cover off and found two brackets lying loose in the bottom along with some small pieces of broken plastic. The brackets are the same as others in the scanner but I can't see any that are obviously missing - these look like extras.

I then replaced the cover and set the scanner up. It turns out it has more problems as it won't recognise any of the film holders. Hopefully a minor problem, but the scanner will have to go in for repairs at the local authorised Nikon repairer. There is a warranty, but it is only valid in the US and the cost of shipping it back again will probably be the same as just getting it repaired here. Not to mention that it will probably be ten times quicker getting it done locally.

I haven't named the dealer involved because I can't see how it could be their fault unless they have been swapping broken units for good ones (i.e. outright fraud) and resealing the boxes. The shipping box showed no sign of damage and there was a layer of packing peanuts, another box and bubble wrap so it doesn't look like a shipping issue. The extra brackets rattling around in the scanner makes it seem like a very, very poor job of refurbishing by Nikon, poor repairs and poor QC.

I really thought that buying a factory refurbished unit would be a safe deal but it seems I was wrong.

 

[copake_ham]

Did you contact the dealer? What did they say? If they sent it to you as a legit "export" it seems they should make good on repairs (including shipping - or covering the cost of local repair) or else replace the unit (assuming it was damaged in shipping).

 

[Brac]

I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I've bought a number of factory refurbished items in recent years including a Canon scanner and recently a Fujifilm d-----l compact (needed it for ebay pics) and that came from Canada to the UK. Have experienced no problems with any of them and with refurbished items they have been individually inspected which should mean they are working OK. But it sounds like your problem is a handling issue. Packages can get literally chucked around in mail sorting offices (& elsewhere) and this can cause damage however well they have been packed.

You should certainly contact the dealer as per copake ham's advice. The dealer may be able to claim from the mail service.

 

[paul ewins]

I'm still waiting to hear back from the dealer. I'm expecting any action to take a while.

 

[kswatapug]

Paul,

FWIW, I bought my LS8000 years ago as a refurb, and it, too, had issues upon arrival (I believe the power supply was shot). We've long been NPS members and Nikon did the repair at no cost to me, though I had to ship the unit to them. Good luck. I hope the seller comes through for you with regard to the shipping.

 

[paul ewins]

A little progress here. The seller has promised to send me an International warranty that should cover the cost of getting it fixed here. The repairer has called back to say that the main board is shot and will need replacing, so the all up cost will be just over AUD$830 (US$710). Yep, a great job of refurbishing by Nikon.

 

[Kino]

Anymore, you have to consider 'refurbished' as, 'thrown back in the box upon return' and stuck on the shelf for resell.

It is a real crap shoot as to if you get a functional bit of gear, although you can generally pressure them to repair or replace the unit if DOA.

 

[bcostin]

There's nothing quite as disappointing as an item broken right out of the box. I recently bought a refurbished Epson 4990 directly from the Epson online store. The pulley mechanism under the scanning bed was broken and rattling around. Everything else was packaged and sealed so I suspect it was shipping damage. To Epson's credit, they took it back and sent me a new one within a couple business days.