Refurbished HP-1

[Finto]

Anyone have any experience with a factory refurbished HP1 off eBay? I'm looking at one from BigZ electronics for 415$ do they come in original box and look brand new? Is the warranty null? Thanks

 

[rwier]

Anyone have any experience with a factory refurbished HP1 off eBay? I'm looking at one from BigZ electronics for 415$ do they come in original box and look brand new? Is the warranty null? Thanks

I have purchased many refurb's over the years, but never a scanner. I have always had great success with these products. I do not hesitate to buy refurbed. If Uniden sold "refurbs", I would not hesitate.

However, in this case, I am having a little difficulty imagining a scenario that would allow your question to make sense.

1) The radio must have been sold as new to a consumer.
2) That consumer must have returned the radio as defective.
3) The radio must have been brought up to spec's by the "factory".

Here it gets a little murky, lol.

4a) Factory resells radio as "Refurbished" to a different consumer. (I have never heard of Uniden doing this)
or
4b) Factory resells radio as "new". (Not nice!! But who would know???)
or
4c) Factory returns "Refurb" to original consumer (Uniden wouldn't call it a "Refurb", they would just say they repaired it). This third scenario makes the most sense to me. If your imagination can come up with a fourth scenario, explain it.

Now this takes us to the continuation of 4c).

5c) Original consumer (somehow) transfers "repaired" radio to BigZ. BigZ (in my opinion) has only a used radio to sell. Where/when would the word 'Refurbished" enter the picture?

I think there is something wrong with this story. If you know additional facts that might make more sense out of this, rephrase, or augment, your question.

 

[MarkWestin]

DOA units are a fact of life, especially since the European Union passed specifications to not allow lead in solder in all consumer electronics presumably to keep lead out of the land fills. This has caused a much larger percentage of new units that don't work out of the box. These units are returned to the dealers who in turn send them back to Uniden. Uniden repairs them and sells them as "refurbished" units. The only problem is that they only have a 90 day warranty on them as opposed to one year on new units. Uniden does sell these units themselves but I haven't heard of dealers selling them before. The relatively small difference in price between a refurbished unit and a new unit makes me wonder why anyone would buy a refurbished unit.

Mark

 

[garys]

The Uniden online store often has refurbished units for sale. Right now they have "like new" HP-1s listed for $479.00.

A "refurb" could also be a unit returned by a customer to BigZ which they can't sell as new, so they are calling it a refurb. Or maybe BigZ bought refurbs from Uniden and they are selling them.

I'd be very leery of buying a "refurbished" unit for so much less than the Uniden site sells them for. I seem to remember a thread here about someone who bought a refurb unit (I don't know from who) and it came missing accessories, which the seller claimed were "additional cost" items. I don't remember the details, though.

 

[zzdiesel]

Refurb items very seldom have all of the accessories or with my luck anyway.

 

[n5ims]

Often a refurb unit will have a much shorter warranty, often only 90 days, while a new unit will have the full warranty (most scanners are a year or more). Another thing to worry about is often the warranties are only good for the original purchaser and when purchased through an authorized dealer. One should assume that anything purchased on eBay is "as-is" and without any warranty and set your bids accordingly. You may get lucky and get a valid warranty with something on eBay, but don't count on it.

 

[rwier]

The Uniden online store often has refurbished units for sale. Right now they have "like new" HP-1s listed for $479.00. ......................................................................

Was not aware, I agree with the rest of your's. I'd buy a refurb directly from Uniden, but $479.00, lol? I'd go $350, if they threw in the big E, lol.

 

[garys]

Refurb items very seldom have all of the accessories or with my luck anyway.

If you're buying them from Uniden or someone else reputable, they should be identical to a new unit except for the warranty. If someone is stripping out accessories and selling them separately they are ripping your off. It's like a firearms dealer who takes a firearm in trade then sells the gun with only one magazine and sells the additional magazines separately. It's might not be illegal, but it tells you a lot about the character of the seller.

I've bought several refurbished units from Uniden directly and they came with all accessories, documentation, and packaged like new. Other than the shorter warranty, there is no way to tell that they aren't new.

 

[zzdiesel]

That is good to hear. I've had mostly good luck with all types of refurbs, but some things wasn't always in the package. I'm mainly talking about computer hardware.

 

[W8RMH]

You wouldn't know it by reading these forums, but a lot of people buy scanners then are unable to program them and return them for a refund.

These scanners can not be resold as new so the manufacturer will give them the once over and sell them as refurbished. They are usually a good deal.

 

[ratboy]

I've always had great luck with refurbished stuff, except for the logitech remote controls, those have been a total train wreck.