My 40D was damaged recently and insurance is working to replace it. I have been looking into the refurbished models at Adorama. Anyone have experience or opinion on a refurbished piece of equipment?
A refurb may be an ex-store demo, possibly used in field tests or sales displays, or it may have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can't then sell it as 'new' so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment). A refurb can also have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if it hasn't passed the final inspection.
Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used.
A refurbished item will have been checked over by the manufacturer by hand, inspected very thoroughly, diagnosed, and calibrated by experienced technicians, and could therefore turn out to be more dependable than a new item - which will only have been checked by a process of systematic quality control protocol (ie by random sampling as it comes off the conveyor belt).
In the past Adorama warranted Canon refurbished for 90 days; since 1st May, all Canon refurbished products from Adorama come with a 1 year return-to-Adorama warranty; 14 days from date of receipt for a full refund, and the balance for repair or replacement.
Sincerely
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador[email protected]www.adorama.com
