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Hi All -
Have you purchased anything refurbished? If so, from where & was it "As Good As New"? If it wasn't, were you well taken care of thru their Customer Support & Service Dept?
I am just wondering if one place is better than another to buy refurished from. I wouldn't mind saving $100+ hereor there, but wonder if it's worth it in the end.
Denise
Denise --
I picked up a refurbished Canon EF 17-40 F4.0 L lens from Adorama two years ago for $550 (at-the-time list was $750) and couldn't see any difference from a new lens -- other than the 'refurbished' sticker on the real lens cap. It works perfectly -- and I'll continue to scan the refurbished list from now on (even though I can't afford anything right now!). Go for it is you see something you want.
Dave
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Adorama recently amended their Refurbished products to include a year warranty (instead of the previous 90 day warranty). In my opinion, you simply can't go wrong. Look at it this way--a refurbished item has actually been handled by a service rep. If you buy a new product, only asmall samplewithin an entire batch get thoroughly checked. If there was something wrong with the refurbished item, it's already been tended to. What are the chances that there are being two issues with the same item?
I've purchased (I believe) two items from Adorama's refurbished inventory...and they've worked just fine.
What Sean said, only I have bought three items. I had a problem with one at month ten and followed their RMA instructions and had full refund in a week -- item was not in stock or expected to be in soon, therefore refund VS. replacement. I was happy and would buy again without hesitation from their refurb gear. I am currently looking at a Rebel series for my son.
Chris
Only caveat is to make sure you're actually getting a deal on the refurb. As I pointed out in Denise's thread on the 35L, Adorama's price on the refurb is the same as the price of a new copy from J&R (a reputable online electronics dealer). Likewise, Adorama's current list has a refurbished EF 85mm f/1.2L II that is actually a buck more expensive than a new copy of the same lens also from Adorama (because of the current instant rebate on that lens).
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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist
Good point, John! There is another I am looking at that is only $130 less than new which isn't a real lot, that is why I hesitate. Yet, it is a $130 savings ...which would cover the dollars spent on a filter, etc.
I recently bought a 17-55 f2.8 refurb from Adorama for $900 and it looked completely brand new with no scratches or any signs of wear. The only thing I saw were maybe 3-4 specks of dust inside the lens that I did not consider a major issue as it wouldn't show up in the images. (I suspected this may have been the reason for the return if it were returned). It came in a canon factory sealed white box and it's been working like charm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Setters
That's true, Sean. The warranty extension has definitely made this more appealing. I have bought used from private parties but I guess I felt better about it knowing alittle more history/background of the lens and why it was being sold.
It looks like Adorama gets rave reviews so far from everyone here for buying refurbished!
Denise
I've ordered a T1i+kit refurb, and a 24-105mm refurb from Adorama. They looked like new. Boxes, manuals, lens hood/pouch for the L lens, strap, software, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Setters
But that's not all... If you order now*, Adorama will also handle return shipping on warranty repairs, even internationally (well, for Canada at least. I'm not sure they extend this to the world), as long as it's from wherever they originally shipped the lens.
* - or a later. I just felt like being in infomercial mode.
Well, this refurbished discussion finally pushed me over the edge. I've been avoiding the 17-55 f2.8 for years and I just broke down and ordered a refurbished one. Hopefully I will have a good experience to add to this thread in a week or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotdane
I'm not far behind you. With everyone praising the 17-55 on a goldenpedestal, it's so very tempting to push the "Purchase" button. Let me/us know how it turns out, though I'm sure I already know the answer to that. :P
......Quote:
Originally Posted by neuroanatomist
that's true, their price of refurb has been not that attractive for a while, shopping around before you buy.people tend to go with those "reputable" stores because they are scare of those "bad" stores, one of the reason those "reputable" stores can keep rising their price is because most of us are scare of those bad one. I believe there are stores in between, offer better price(reasonable cheaper) with good service. we should give them a try not only just because we can save some bucks but also help having more competition in order to get more reasonable price in the future.
"
I attempted to get an refurbed EF 50mm f/1.4 USM from Adorama a couple of times but settled for an refurbed EF 50mm f/1.8 II. It was like new.
I Picked up three refurbish 430EXs, over the course of a year and a half, all from Adorama and found all of them to be like new.
I then tried to get a refurbed 70-200mm f/2.8 L from Adorama but gave up after two failed attempts and purchased a new one from B&H.
I recently purchased, from Adorama, a used "V" grade 580EX and found it to be exactly as described. I'm happy enough I plan to buy more used gear from them.
My only gripe with refurbished (or used for that matter) orders from Adorama is that it takes a few days to know if you really got it or not. They don't, apparently, have their site set up to stop taking orders when the items are accounted for, I find it frustrating.
I ordered the lens from Adorama June 30 and with their standard free shipping it arrived Friday July 2 in time to try it out over the holiday weekend. The box is not the usual Canon retail packaging but a white refurbished box. The lens inside looks new. No dust inside or out and not a scratch or scuff mark anywhere on the exterior, save a little gold sticker on the base cap that says "refurbished".
Adorama's refurbished price was $899.95 and both Adorama and B&H have the lens new for $1'079.
My only regret is not ordering a lens hood. I've borrowed the hood from my 24-105 but a hood for each lens would be nice.
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Originally Posted by pilotdane
Get theEW-83Jhood. In fact, you'd be better off using theEW-83J, designed for the EF-S 17-55mm, on both of the lenses. The EW-83H hood, designed for the 24-105mm, is shallower, since it's designed for shading the FF image area. When using an EF lens on a 1.6x crop body, the hood designed for that EF lens is much less useful (still better than not using one at all, though). Using the hood designed for the 17-55mm, but on the 24-105mm on a 1.6x crop body, you'll get better blockage of stray light, and no optical vignetting from the deeper hood, even at 24mm.
I bought the 17-55 refurbished last August from Adorama to replace a 17-85 and have never looked back. It seems to be every thing it is said to be and performs as such. Looked new except for the sticker and cam in a regular canon box. Just looked up the price & it was $846 & the new at the time was just over a grand if memory services me right. As with most things you have to look for deals from reputable places.
My .02
Wayne
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Just remember, whenever possible, to buy by clicking through from TDP. Bryan gets support for the site this way. I don't know how specific you have to be, but if, for example, you were going to buy a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II, you go to the review, click "Buy", and it will take you to the product directly, and TDP gets a small piece to help keep the site running. I don't know what would happen if you browsed away from that and bought something else, even from the same site, so I have been trying to be very vigilant about my process as described. Clarification might be in order from Bryan on this.
<div class="NewsDayName"]I always look for, and purchase, my[url="http://www.adorama.com/refby.tpl?refby=rflaid041619&sstring=Canon%20R efurbished]Refurbished[/url]gear using a link from the "Canon News" portion of the site, I.E: </div>
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Originally Posted by The-Digital-Picture.com/Canon-News/
<div class="NewsPost"]...butI suspect they can tell the click through came from <span style="color: #000000;"]The-Digital-Picture.com from cookie or other trackinginformation.</div>
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