Posted by Campy Happer on July 7, 2008, 5:07 pm
Hi folks,
Recently I bought a Toshiba that was on sale
at Office Depot.
Toshiba has been a good brand for me in the past.
They have great keyboards, touchpads, and screens
and they are fast enough for me.
When I got the laptop home I found a few strange signs that it
might have been owned before:
1. The sticker that identifies the unit that is normally
on the wrist rest was missing. These stickers are normally
on every laptop, even display units at stores. But not this one.
2. The included items (power adaptor, cable etc)
seemed to be just thrown into the box, and the plastic bags
they came in appeared crumpled as if pre-used.
They definitely did not have that crisp factory-new look.
3. The computer has a Hitachi hard drive in it, which is
unusual for a Toshiba -- as far as I know, I could be wrong.
The drive is a little noisy, but I think this is normal for a Hitachi.
Nevertheless, the laptop was in a sealed bag & the box itself was
sealed as well. And the computer appears to function
perfectly as of Day 2 of ownership.
My question is, has anyone heard of Toshiba re-selling
briefly-owned laptops after re-sealing them?
If so, is there an industry term for such a practice?
This laptop seems to have the usual 1 year warranty.
Thanks.
Posted by Rod Speed on July 7, 2008, 7:04 pm
> Hi folks,
> Recently I bought a Toshiba that was on sale
> at Office Depot.
> Toshiba has been a good brand for me in the past.
> They have great keyboards, touchpads, and screens
> and they are fast enough for me.
> When I got the laptop home I found a few strange signs that it
> might have been owned before:
> 1. The sticker that identifies the unit that is normally
> on the wrist rest was missing. These stickers are normally
> on every laptop, even display units at stores. But not this one.
> 2. The included items (power adaptor, cable etc)
> seemed to be just thrown into the box, and the plastic bags
> they came in appeared crumpled as if pre-used.
> They definitely did not have that crisp factory-new look.
> 3. The computer has a Hitachi hard drive in it, which is
> unusual for a Toshiba -- as far as I know, I could be wrong.
> The drive is a little noisy, but I think this is normal for a Hitachi.
> Nevertheless, the laptop was in a sealed bag & the box itself was
> sealed as well. And the computer appears to function
> perfectly as of Day 2 of ownership.
> My question is, has anyone heard of Toshiba re-selling
> briefly-owned laptops after re-sealing them?
Nope, it would have been Office Depot.
> If so, is there an industry term for such a practice?
Yep, ripping off the customer.
> This laptop seems to have the usual 1 year warranty.
I'd demand action from Office Depot since they deliberately sealed it again.
Posted by Campy Happer on July 8, 2008, 2:39 pm
> I'd demand action from Office Depot since they deliberately sealed it again.
But in order for them to do that, they would need Toshiba's
sealing tape as well as plastic Toshiba laptop bags and
the Toshiba factory sticker.
Is Toshiba actually handing such things out?
Posted by sarge137 on July 8, 2008, 12:08 pm
> Hi folks,
> Recently I bought a Toshiba that was on sale
> at Office Depot.
> Toshiba has been a good brand for me in the past.
> They have great keyboards, touchpads, and screens
> and they are fast enough for me.
> When I got the laptop home I found a few strange signs that it
> might have been owned before:
> 1. The sticker that identifies the unit that is normally
> on the wrist rest was missing. These stickers are normally
> on every laptop, even display units at stores. But not this one.
> 2. The included items (power adaptor, cable etc)
> seemed to be just thrown into the box, and the plastic bags
> they came in appeared crumpled as if pre-used.
> They definitely did not have that crisp factory-new look.
> 3. The computer has a Hitachi hard drive in it, which is
> unusual for a Toshiba -- as far as I know, I could be wrong.
> The drive is a little noisy, but I think this is normal for a Hitachi.
> Nevertheless, the laptop was in a sealed bag & the box itself was
> sealed as well. And the computer appears to function
> perfectly as of Day 2 of ownership.
> My question is, has anyone heard of Toshiba re-selling
> briefly-owned laptops after re-sealing them?
> If so, is there an industry term for such a practice?
> This laptop seems to have the usual 1 year warranty.
> Thanks.
If it were me, I'd take it back for an exchange. It may be working
perfectly well, but if you didn't buy it as an open box or refurb item
(with an appropriate discount) yours should have been the first hands
in the box. You paid for brand new and apparently didn't get it.
I had a similar experience with a Sony laptop I bought at Circuit City
several years ago. By all appearances it had never been opened. But
once I got it home, like you, I found that the included accessories
had been opened. Didn't even take the laptop out of the box - took it
right back to the store, and they exchanged it for me with profuse
apologies.
Regards,
Sarge
Posted by sarge137 on July 8, 2008, 12:08 pm
> Hi folks,
> Recently I bought a Toshiba that was on sale
> at Office Depot.
> Toshiba has been a good brand for me in the past.
> They have great keyboards, touchpads, and screens
> and they are fast enough for me.
> When I got the laptop home I found a few strange signs that it
> might have been owned before:
> 1. The sticker that identifies the unit that is normally
> on the wrist rest was missing. These stickers are normally
> on every laptop, even display units at stores. But not this one.
> 2. The included items (power adaptor, cable etc)
> seemed to be just thrown into the box, and the plastic bags
> they came in appeared crumpled as if pre-used.
> They definitely did not have that crisp factory-new look.
> 3. The computer has a Hitachi hard drive in it, which is
> unusual for a Toshiba -- as far as I know, I could be wrong.
> The drive is a little noisy, but I think this is normal for a Hitachi.
> Nevertheless, the laptop was in a sealed bag & the box itself was
> sealed as well. And the computer appears to function
> perfectly as of Day 2 of ownership.
> My question is, has anyone heard of Toshiba re-selling
> briefly-owned laptops after re-sealing them?
> If so, is there an industry term for such a practice?
> This laptop seems to have the usual 1 year warranty.
> Thanks.
If it were me, I'd take it back for an exchange. It may be working
perfectly well, but if you didn't buy it as an open box or refurb item
(with an appropriate discount) yours should have been the first hands
in the box. You paid for brand new and apparently didn't get it.
I had a similar experience with a Sony laptop I bought at Circuit City
several years ago. By all appearances it had never been opened. But
once I got it home, like you, I found that the included accessories
had been opened. Didn't even take the laptop out of the box - took it
right back to the store, and they exchanged it for me with profuse
apologies.
Regards,
Sarge
XML site map
> Recently I bought a Toshiba that was on sale
> at Office Depot.
> Toshiba has been a good brand for me in the past.
> They have great keyboards, touchpads, and screens
> and they are fast enough for me.
> When I got the laptop home I found a few strange signs that it
> might have been owned before:
> 1. The sticker that identifies the unit that is normally
> on the wrist rest was missing. These stickers are normally
> on every laptop, even display units at stores. But not this one.
> 2. The included items (power adaptor, cable etc)
> seemed to be just thrown into the box, and the plastic bags
> they came in appeared crumpled as if pre-used.
> They definitely did not have that crisp factory-new look.
> 3. The computer has a Hitachi hard drive in it, which is
> unusual for a Toshiba -- as far as I know, I could be wrong.
> The drive is a little noisy, but I think this is normal for a Hitachi.
> Nevertheless, the laptop was in a sealed bag & the box itself was
> sealed as well. And the computer appears to function
> perfectly as of Day 2 of ownership.
> My question is, has anyone heard of Toshiba re-selling
> briefly-owned laptops after re-sealing them?