Are "NEW" Lens really "NEW"?

Hey Guys... about a month ago during class, I talked to a classmate about renting a 70-200f/2.8 IS just to try it out... He told me "never rent a lens dude" I asked why? and He said "Just buy it from BH or amazon, use it for a while and return it; that's what my friends and I do." I asked, shouldn't BH/AMAZON re-list them as used? And he told me he sends them a message requesting a RMA saying that they realized they didn't need the lens after all and have never used it and other BS"

I saw a thread on here, Canon Service... ? (Your experiences?) and have read nothing but good results... so I figured that I've been shooting a lot with a film camera that I borrow from school for class and haven't used my Digital for a while, why not send it to Irvine's repair center to see if theres anything wrong with it. I sent in the 24-70L and 501.4 with the UPS label that Canon provided me since it's under warranty. The lens were purchased New from BH and have never abused, dropped, damaged them so far (knocks on wood).

The lens came back from the service center within a week and results show:
24-70

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

So your classmates rent the lens, play with it for 2 weeks and then send it back? (i assume amazon is similar to BH and has a 15 day return policy) As retarded as that is, under normal conditions i don't think two weeks of normal use is going to damage a well built L lens. In addition the 24-70 is known to have issues straight from the factory.

It may happen, but I doubt that it happens enough to justify a public outcry. Also the restocking fee and your bad karma generation is more then enough to justify the purchase of a lens

djthemac wrote in post #5589828
So your classmates rent the lens, play with it for 2 weeks and then send it back? (i assume amazon is similar to BH and has a 15 day return policy) As retarded as that is, under normal conditions i don't think two weeks of normal use is going to damage a well built L lens. In addition the 24-70 is known to have issues straight from the factory.

It may happen, but I doubt that it happens enough to justify a public outcry. Also the restocking fee and your bad karma generation is more then enough to justify the purchase of a lens

That's what he says... he also told me there is no re-stocking fee or what not. He'd get back 100% of whatever he spent "buying" the lens. Not something I'm very fond of so thats why I ignored him when he told me that and never talked to him again.

So some lens are known to have issues straight from the factory? That's weird. One of the reason why I posted this thread is because I've seen and heard a few guys purchasing a new lens from a reputable retailer (BH, amazon etc... ) and have found scratches on the lens, AF wouldn't work... and so on.

There is no restocking fee. That is the risk you take buying from sellers that compete on price; like shopping at Fry's in California. I bought a P&S there once that had some guy's family pictures still on the internal memory. Fry's has a super-lenient return policy just like the NYC camera shops.

Besides the free "rentals" you may be buying, you'll also get the lenses that people return for being soft or having focus alignment issues. Do you think the returns that have a reason such as "soft" get put back on the shelf or returned to Canon by the retailer?

Part of it is bad QC, and part of it is a few obsessives buying five copies and keeping the sharpest one.

What's funny is all of my lenses I have bought have had to be repaired except for the two cheapest ones:

The kit lens and the nifty fifty. Go figure.

I wouldn't worry too much, I doubt what that kid was doing is very widely practiced. Honestly, those kinds of people irk me, that is people who take advantage of companies with good customer service.

Unless I get a smoking deal on a new one this is why I'd rather buy a well taken care of lens or newly used lens from this site. A new one has just as good a likelihood of having issues as a used one. At least the used one has sample photos. Either way, your classmate is a tool. Instead of renting, buying and selling is legit. Knowingly buying to test and return is bothersome.

That said, I still wouldn't sweat buying new. I was under the impression that returned goods can't (and shouldn't) be sold as new. Rather sent back to Canon for inspection and sold as refurb.