Canon factory refurbished products, just called canon

[Turntablist]

I called 1-800-OK-CANON and I spoke with two representatives and they told me that canon doesn't authorize any store to sell factory refurbished items? They only replace customer's equipment with factory refurbished equipment. So, who exactly refurbishes these items if canon doesn't?

[jkoc]

what the?!

[gjl711]

No kidding... Hmmm...
I wonder if other manufacturers do the same. I have sworn off referbs after being burned twice, once with a Kodak P/S camera and the other with a Sony monitor.

[Turntablist]

yeah pretty interesting. i originally called to ask them what process do they go through in refurbishing their canon body and lenses. i was planning on returning my new 30d for a refurbished 20d and they both immediately told me canon doesn't do such a thing. so i'm puzzled as to why the stores use the name "canon factory refurbished" rather than authorized/certified store refurbished or something like that.

[TeamSpeed]

That doesn't seem to be correct or make sense. The factory refurbishments come with a 90 day Canon warranty. If Canon does not do this, then how do they come with a 90 factory refurbished warranty along with a specially marked Canon refurbished box?

Not to mention Canon themselves have a refurb store. No DSLRs there, but they obviously do handle refurbishing equipment and then selling it to the public. They must have a way to also distribute the refurbs out to retail outlets.

http://estore.usa.canon.com/RefurbList.asp

[B3SEO]

Hmmm...This is really interesting news. I wonder what gives resellers the right to use the "Canon Factory Refurbished" tag. I'm sure that Canon knows that sellers are using that line, unless they are clueless.

I don't think that Canon would work a trade for a 30D for a refurbished 20D anyways.

[Turntablist]

That doesn't seem to be correct or make sense. The factory refurbishments come with a 90 day Canon warranty. If Canon does not do this, then how do they come with a 90 factory refurbished warranty along with a specially marked Canon refurbished box? Not all factory reps are in the know...

Not to mention Canon themselves have a refurb store.

http://estore.usa.canon.com/RefurbList.asp


again, i was only concerned with buying an eos canon body from a specific store. they said they don't carry a canon warranty, only through the store will they have a warranty. so if you bought from company A, you will have a 90 day warranty with company A. not through canon. you maybe right that not all factory reps are in the know, but i just called again just to hear from a third representative to see what another would say. they said the same thing.

[Turntablist]

Hmmm...This is really interesting news. I wonder what gives resellers the right to use the "Canon Factory Refurbished" tag. I'm sure that Canon knows that sellers are using that line, unless they are clueless.

I don't think that Canon would work a trade for a 30D for a refurbished 20D anyways.



haha yah, i wasn't trying to trade it with canon just the store i purchased it from.

[deadpass]

there has to have been a miscommunication somewhere.

[sm1rf]

Canon have a ebay store and this is one of several items on offer for auction
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280142895796&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018
note the 12 month warranty offered on all their products.

[sootyvrs]

Here's the small print from the ebay ad

Refurbished products are 100% OK and therefore we can offer them with a 1 year manufacturer's warranty. There is nothing wrong with these products! All refurbished products are sealed with an authentic Canon seal!

We just can't sell a refurbished item as new because...

- ...it was used as demo product (at trade fairs etc.), or

- ...the outside carton box was slightly damaged during transportation (and then replaced by a neutral brown packaging), or

- ...it was sold and the box was opened. Then the item got returned to Canon.

[Lightstream]

Just buy your refurbs from a reputable place, period. Then everything works just fine.

I have picked up a fair bit of refurb gear from B&H (in fact I learned how to pick out the refurbs specifically for the discount on practically-new equipment), all official Canon tamperproof tape sealed and whatnot. Sharpest 100-400 that I've ever seen was a refurb.. and now it's MINE, MUHUHAHAHHAA! ;)

And as you already know, the vast majority of B&H transactions are hassle free. Those who aren't, they take care of it. I've asked for a full refund once (severe backfocusing 24-70) and gotten it once the lens went back.

[Roy Mathers]

Canon have a ebay store and this is one of several items on offer for auction
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280142895796&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018
note the 12 month warranty offered on all their products.

I don't think this is a Canon store - it is a Canon outlet. It seems to me that it is cleverly designed to make it look like an official Canon site.

[RobKirkwood]

I don't think this is a Canon store - it is a Canon outlet. It seems to me that it is cleverly designed to make it look like an official Canon site.We've bought several items from them over a couple of years - it's Ingram Micro/Digital River trading as the Canon Outlet UK, however the products do come with a 12 month Canon warranty, and they'd only be able to use the full Canon branding with approval from Canon.

Everything we've bought from them has been brand new old stock. We just this week received a 5D from them, and it's a brand new unused item in packaging with offers which ended 31st December 2006. I noticed they were selling a bunch of 5D's and used ebay's bid assistant to bid on them all at the price I wanted to pay - I kept being outbid, and then out of the blue I got a second-chance offer from them at the price I wanted to pay! What arrived was a brand new fully working, fully packaged 5D with old firmware, and out of date offers - brilliant!

Rob

[steve75]

I don't think this is a Canon store - it is a Canon outlet. It seems to me that it is cleverly designed to make it look like an official Canon site.

Not true, The Canon outlet store on ebay is an official Canon outlet opperated by Digital River who also offer services for other big corporations.....

Quote from www.digitalriver.com (http://www.digitalriver.com)

“By working with Digital River, we were able to cost effectively build and launch an online store that generates incremental revenue from the sale of refurbished and end-of-life merchandise,” said Bernard Winterhalter, manager European Web sales at Canon Europe . “Digital River's e-commerce expertise, customer service know-how and solid infrastructure have earned us high marks from our customers while driving more Euros to our bottom line.” Canon is a world leader in imaging products and solutions for the digital home and office.

[Box Brownie]

Re: Canon outlet. Everything currently is "refurbished" but I must say a 5D bidding at £649 is quite something!

The price of the 30D is good & tempting but I wonder just how much will a new one drop when the 40D is announced. Having said that, a 30D at say £100 below street is appealing, anything less than £100 saving does not seem enough IMO.

:)

[RobKirkwood]

In our experience they list everything as "refurbished" regardless of what it actually is. The 5D we just got was also listed as "refurbished" despite it being brand new old stock. If you do an advanced search on ebay you can check completed auctions and see what they generally go for ...the one we bought doesn't appear in those listings as it was a second-chance offer from them - you can check our own feedback and track it back from there ("visibleform" is our ebay ID).

Rob

[Ronnie1055]

I have purchased a 20D Factory refurbished, and (2) Canon EF IS refurbilshed lens that come in sealed Canon Boxes... clearly marked "Refurbished". But I have also heard of some of the larger resellers receiving equipment that is damaged (box not actual contents) and Canon sending it back as refurbished because it had been opened which meant it, according to Canon, was no longer a new item. Go figure...

Anyway, I have had excellent luck with refurb (Canon) bodies and lens.

[Wilt]

Aha, so maybe Canon Wherever offers refurbs (whether directly or thru agents such as Digital River), and someone gray market transports them in for sale thru various selected retailers like Adorama, leaving the legit distributor disavowing any refurbishment process ? ? ?