Getting refurbished uner warranty

I bought a Razer Lachesis 5600 on December 2011. Its was doing well until the middle button required some force to get it working and right button was getting effy too. It was under warranty (2 years) so Razer agreed to send me a new one. So I sent my broken mouse on January 28 and received the replacement today morning (2.5 weeks....). And I got a refurbished (previously used) one. All the buttons are working fine but I thought I was supposed to get a new one. So I was thinking about having another chat with Razer. Is complaining about getting a refurbished one instead of new one a bad idea? (ie. am I being too picky?)

Another thing is the I had to pay for sending in my old broken one, which kinda pissed me off. Though it was less $10 but I mean, why do I need to pay for anything when it's under warranty.

 

Receiving a refurbished replacement is standard practice in the electronics industry, whether it's a mouse (I got a refurbished Performance MX replacement), keyboard, monitor, or even an entire laptop. If you look closely at the terms of warranty, you'll notice that it never explicitly says you'll receive a new replacement.

As for paying for return shipping, that varies with manufacturer. For Logitech, it was free, but I guess Razer makes you pay.

 

What I'm worried about is its longevity. Since it's a refurb, it might not last as long as a new one would have. The previous one I had was a new one and it lasted just over a year. So who knows how long it will last. I'm gonna ask if at least extension on the remaining warranty is possible.

 

Unlike new products, refurbished products tend to be tested better than new. As in, maybe one in every 10,000 of a new product is quality-control tested (if that one passes the tests, then it's assumed that the other 9,999 will too), whereas each and every refurbished product has to be tested. On top of that, most refurbished stuff typically comes from canceled orders, returns within 30 days, that sort of thing.

Your refurbished product won't be any more likely to break than a brand-new version.

 

That's not necessarily true.

Anyway, OP, unless the warranty expressly states that you are guaranteed a new product, refurbed replacements are standard practice for a lot of companies. I know for sure, though, that Logitech ships new products as warranty replacements, though I would bet they're not the only ones. If this is a concern for you, I recommend buying from a different company next time.

 

Not always true, but it's generally the case. I'd imagine people would get really angry if they were sent an untested factory refurbished unit that flat out doesn't work. Wouldn't be good for the brand name.