eBay used laptop: Manufacturer refurbished - how to be sure?

Guys! Help me with my issue please!
I've bought a refurbished Sony laptop on eBay.
VGN - FW170
Model is about 2.5 years old

In any mysterious and incredible way this laptop is manufacturer refurbished - as description from a very trusted seller says! Seller is a small eBay dealer with 100% positive feedbacks and 1575 overall feedbacks from 2005! Last 12 months he has 45 feedbacks with 100% positive! Other items from this seller are HP laptop and couple of HP color printers. All are refurbished by manufacturer or even open box! Photos provided.

About my laptop: photos provided. Box opened for making shots. Really looks like new. Box is like yellow manufacturer box. Battery, manuals are kinda sealed in plastic. Laptop opened from plastic to make shots also. There is even an isoprene white soft protection napkin between screen and keyboard panel.

So I payed much higher price considering the specification of this 2 years old laptop than if I bought it in an used condition. I payed for 90-days warranty from manufacturer and Grade A refurbishing. Also for a reputation of the seller.

So people, I have not yet made any payment. I asked seller to provide me evidence that this is a manufacturer refurbished laptop. I asked for a copy of a certificate of refurbishing or suchlike stuff.

So my doubts about this laptop are the next:
1 Grade A refurbishing means that model was returned to seller or manufacturer in 1 year as a maximum [imagine it was a show room or floor model or there was a warranty accident with it in the last day of warranty]. So wattefaak this 2,5 years old laptop was doing all this time [at least one year] before being sent to eBay auction?
2 The photos of open item make me feel nervous because no one will open refurbishing by manufacturer sealed box even to make photos for auction bidding. Right?
3 The photo of a seal on the box isn't provided. I can only see a torn white sticker on the box doors. I also can't see any tag or label on the box with Sony stamp of refurbishing or something. Only a white tag with "Sony Manufacturer Refurbished".

So I asked seller to provide me e refurbishing certificate or suchlike paper. Until this moment I said I won't pay a cent. So now I am waiting for his reply.

So techs guys, give me explanation, please:

1 Why seller or saying exactly Sony gives me only 90 days warranty instead of a 1 year?
2 What is this warranty all about? How it looks like? What kind of stuff is written there?
3 If a laptop is refurbished by manufacturer [Sony] - what kind of evidence of this can I request from seller? Is there any kind of certificate of refurbishing with Serial Number of laptop and offcial Sony stamp or something?
4 What kind of papers do I need to ask seller include in the package so that I can use the warranty in case of something goes wrong with this laptop in the next 90 days? I mean: check of purchase from eBay seller with the date of purchase, warranty certificate, refurbishing evidence, what else?

Please, any advice or opinion is valuable.
Appreciate for help!
Asap!

Link to eBay item I've bought:

http://www.ebay.com:80/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120828179807

 

Guys! Help me with my issue please!
I've bought a refurbished Sony laptop on eBay.
Model is: VGN - FW170.
Model is about 2.5 years old.

In any mysterious and incredible way this laptop is manufacturer refurbished - as description from a very trusted seller says! Seller is a small eBay dealer with 100% positive feedbacks and 1575 overall feedbacks from 2004! Last 12 months he has 45 feedbacks with 100% positive! Other items from this seller are HP laptop and couple of HP color printers. All are refurbished by manufacturer or even open box! Photos provided.

About my laptop: photos provided. Box opened for making shots. Really looks like new. Box is like yellow manufacturer box. Battery, manuals are kinda sealed in plastic. Laptop opened from plastic to make shots also. There is even an isoprene white soft protection napkin between screen and keyboard panel.

So I payed much higher price considering the specification of this 2 years old laptop than if I bought it in an used condition. I payed for 90-days warranty from manufacturer and Grade A refurbishing. I paid for a a new battery. Also for a reputation of the seller.

So people, I have not yet made any payment. I asked seller to provide me evidence that this is a manufacturer refurbished laptop. I asked for a copy of a certificate of refurbishing or suchlike stuff.

So my doubts about this laptop are the next:
1 Grade A refurbishing means that model was returned to seller or manufacturer in 1 year as a maximum [imagine it was a show room or floor model or there was a warranty accident with it in the last day of warranty]. So wattefaak this 2,5 years old laptop was doing all this time [at least one year] before being sent to eBay auction?
2 The photos of open item make me feel nervous because no one will open refurbishing by manufacturer sealed box even to make photos for auction bidding. Right?
3 The photo of a seal on the box isn't provided. I can only see a torn white sticker on the box doors. I also can't see any tag or label on the box with Sony stamp of refurbishing or something with model number, serial number of laptop, date of refurbishing, etc. Only a white tag with "Sony Manufacturer Refurbished".

So I asked seller to provide me e refurbishing certificate or suchlike paper. Until this moment I said I won't pay a cent. So now I am waiting for his reply.

So techs guys, give me explanation, please:

1 Why seller or saying exactly Sony gives me only 90 days warranty instead of a 1 year?
2 What is this warranty all about? How it looks like? What kind of stuff is written there?
3 If a laptop is refurbished by manufacturer [Sony] - what kind of evidence of this can I request from seller? Is there any kind of certificate of refurbishing with Serial Number of laptop and offcial Sony stamp or something?
4 What kind of papers do I need to ask seller include in the package so that I can use the warranty in case of something goes wrong with this laptop in the next 90 days? I mean: check of purchase from eBay seller with the date of purchase, warranty certificate, refurbishing evidence, what else?

Please, any advice or opinion is valuable.
Appreciate for help!
Asap!

Link to eBay item I've bought:

SEALED Sony VAIO VGN-FW170 Laptop Core 2 Duo P8400 4GB 320GB BLU-RAY WHITE (0027242745346) | eBay

 

All I want to be sure that:
- this laptop is refurbished by Sony [or authorized vendor] but not by seller or reseller
- this warranty is a real Sony warranty. How it must look like?

I don't want to pay much price for a garage assembled laptop even if it will work flawlessy and has somehow an official warranty from Sony... If I wanted that I would buy VGN FW170 for $200 plus bezel and cover +$50 + new battery+$75 and make my way to the nearest comp service shop. It would save me some money I guess.....

 

The good news is, from the pictures it looks exactly like a Sony refurb, down to the way they shrink-wrap the unit in the box. 90 days is the standard wtty for a Sony refurb. You can buy extended wttys from them within the 90 days, or you can buy a Square Trade warranty, which I actually trust more than Sony's own. Sony refurbs carry a 30 day full refund return privilege; you too can decide you just don't like it, no reason is necessary - though they may charge for shipping if you don't state a problem with it.

You should ask for the serial number and call Sony to verify that this is a Sony refurb and how much time is left to return it for refund and how much time left on the 90 day wtty (both timers kick in when the first buyer (your seller) receives the product.

If it is confirmed a Sony refurb and still under wtty, but past the 30 day return period, I might pass on it. Not because it's a bad computer (you can check old reviews, but I believe the NW had a good reputation, especially for the screen), but because it is about to be 3 years old technology and I think you can do as well or better with a "budget" new laptop with current technology (eg, HP G6) or one of many sales of outgoing models that will occur as the newest cpu units ("Ivy Bridge") start coming out in Feb.

If you can't find a good enough deal and you can't afford to spend more (at $500-$550 there are many excellent laptops available these days), I don't see a huge risk in this transaction. I've rarely if ever seen a Sony refurb not be in excellent shape, and i have owned a few in the past year, just none quite this old.

good luck.

 

Are you serious???? You bring up all these issues to the seller AFTER you bid and win??? You should ask these types of questions BEFORE you place a bid. Once you bid, you have accepted all the terms and description. You need to pay for this unit.

Once you receive it, you have the right to examine it and make sure it meets the standards as described. There is no special "certificate of refurbishment" from Sony. It usually says it on the box with a simple sticker. You can call Sony and verify if this is under Sony Warranty. By the way, Sony doesn't warranty any product that was purchased from an un-authorized dealer. Most e-bay sellers are NOT authorized dealers.

And although Sony has a 30 day refund period, this only applies if you purchase the product from Sony directly. Not from a 3rd party.

And yes, I would open a refurbished product to take pictures and examine it before selling. I would want to make sure of it's condition before selling it and provide pictures and a good description. For example, refurbished products may have some blemishes and I don't want to surprise the buyer. If it was brand new, I wouldn't open it for pictures.

Once you get it and examine it, you may request a refund if it doesn't meet the seller's description. Paypal and E-bay always back the buyer. But I think it's very unfair that you are making all these demands AFTER you bid and win. You accepted what he told you in the description and must now take delivery. If he didn't say there was a certificate of refurbishment, you can't ask for one now.

Just my thoughts.....

 

+1 for being a poor ebayer. You bid on it, you won, you buy it. Plain and simple. If I was the seller, I'd be filing a complaint with ebay against you. This research should've been done PRIOR to you bidding.

 

I was asking seller about it the whole week long before auction ended every freaky day. All the same questions when all of a sudden he answered me the last morning when there was the auction day:
- grade a or grade b refurb
- warranty is from Sony and if active
- arrange the delivery options

Every freaky day....

Since I payed only for this Grade A refurb and warranty - I dare to ask him after auction about the refurb evidence. And there was where the mess began...

Here is his anwer to me tonight:


Hello,
I am not sure what paper are you looking for. You have all the pictures of the actual product. This was purchased for much more then this price. Anyway that is not. I will gladly put that again in the auction. We sell thousands of laptops a year and only put overstock and clearanced merchandize on ebay. Honest seller and we work hard thats all.
I will put that auction again today, you may bid up to you what you want to pay for.
Happy Hoidays
thanks

That's what I wrote to him he answered me:
Dear gotopars,

Dear Sir or Madam! I'll explain my POV: I have bought this laptop knowing that it's price overestimated in terms of price/specification. There was also some kind of shill bidding during the auction. Let's put it aside, it's Ur right as a seller. Ur item is worthy this money if we think over the brand new condition of this laptop [Grade A refurbishment], warranty from manufacturer [Sony or authorized vendor], Ur 100% reputation on eBay. Considering these things, I'm ready to pay the whole sum of money the next second I'll be provided with evidence of the Manufacturer refurbishment. It's such a tiny little thing i'm asking U should not be a hitch in our pleasant and quick transaction. Only a copy of refurbishment certificate with Serial Number to my email [#%[email protected]] will solve all my doubts and I'll be pleased to make a quick payment. I don't think my request can cause any difficulties from Ur side. Please notify me asap possible when U provide me this evidence. Thank U.

 

So I can have a SN of laptop, call Sony and asked them if warranty is still active? And I need to ask seller if he is a Sony authorized dealer? How can I check this out if seller is authorized by Sony? Do I need to ask him a check of purchase?

Thank U.

 

Unless I missed something in that posting, he claims it has a 90 day warranty. But he doesn't say "Sony Warranty". Many unauthorized dealers offer their own warranty, so he may mean warranty through his own company.

And you should call Sony to ask if he is an authorized dealer. You can try to run the serial number through Sony and see what they say about refurbish status. But as I said above, this should have all been done before bidding. If he didn't get back to your questions in time, then you should not bid.

 

I couldn't agree more (and I misunderstood the timing of the OP's questions relative to when he made a commitment to buy the item!)...except a few points of fact:

1) Sony will generally allow both the 30 day refund and the 90 day refurb wtty to be transferred between private parties (such as from a non-Sony eBay reseller and an eBay buyer.

2) The outside of the box of a Sony refurb is, as you say, marked as such by a white sticker, just as is shown in the eBay listing. The bottom of the computer, however, has a replacement of the original model sticker with one indicating it has been refurbished by Sony. That's how you distinguish the fakes, though I suppose one could fake those stickers too. (Everything about this listing looks on the up and up. Who would go to so much trouble to make packing look exactly as Sony would, just to sell a $300 used computer (what surprises me is that Sony would have refurbed it anytime in the past year or more. It was likely purchased as a refurb a year or more ago, never taken out of its originaly Sony refurb pkg.

Isn't that a double-negative? Clearly, this OP has well earned his title, "Newbie," in more ways than one. I read right past the timing of whether he bought this or was considering buying it.

Jopty: if you don't want to develop a poor reputation on eBay, which could harm your ability to make future purchases, I suggest you throw yourself on the mercy of the seller, admit that you now realize the time for those questions had long since past, and ask point-blank if he is willing to give you a pass this once or is going to report you. If you sense that he is, better save the documentation of this "sincere" apology to use in your defense if eBay sends you a letter that you are on probation.

It's not the end of the world. There is no "eBay jail," lol. But the whole market functions on trust and rules and, whether you meant to or not, you really breached trust and broke a bunch of rules. Be humble. Learn. Ask all the questions you want - here and of eBay sellers - but ask them before you buy something whenever possible. Save the post-sale questions for when you think you have been misled. That's my $2.50.

 

The seller seems to move a lot of laptops, and that does look like a Sony factory refurb. What worries me is if the warranty would apply to him and not you.

However,
You bid, you bought. So long as it works, you are pretty much stuck with it. If the Sony warranty is worthless it's more a situation of buyer beware in this case because you bought on Ebay.

Sony has stipulations in the warranty that will allow them to void your warranty, and getting satisfaction from the seller may be impossible so long as the item worked when you bought it.



If you can't take the risk, stay away from Ebay.
Laptops have long been a known problem there with bad batteries and outright scams. That being said, I have purchased half a dozen laptops there and only had one I had a minor problem with them (sound was bad), but I know what to look when buying and accept what comes with it.

Considering the age of the laptop, if anything is bad, you can probably repair it yourself for a minimal amount and effort, which honestly, I would trust more to do myself than call Sony for anyhow. Sony support is terrible and their on site techs are not always good and their prices are always high.

MY advice, check it over thoroughly asap and then live with it. If it works today, odds are it will work 30 or 90 days from now. If not, fix it yourself and be happy you have a nice laptop.



Oh, and accusing the seller of shill bidding while questioning what they state in an auction is certainly only going to anger them. Verifying a warranty is one thing, questing the warranty while questioning their ethics at the same time means you are accusing them of lying. If you truly think there was shill bidding going on, you should have stopped long ago.

You question the warranty, you think there was shill bidding and you believe you overpayed, could YOU have done anything else wrong on this auction? You are a bad Ebayer who makes the whole system look bad.

 

I got in the afternoon:

For refurbished they don't include warranty papers, they only go by my serial number and our receipt date ( we are authorized Sony retailers). We never had any problems with any warranties with Sony.

Dear al%##74,

Hello, I am sorry it didn't work out but certain information cant be revealed. We do guarantee what we write in eBay auction and about warranty full 90 day will eve provided as we are authorized reseller of Sony products. We provide legal invoice for warranty purpose as well.

Thanks and have a very happy holidays.

 

My last ebaY message to the seller:
Dear gotopars,

Dear Sir or Madam!

I still aimed to make a print payment as soon as I am provided with Serial Number, receipt date from Sony [but better Sony 90 day warranty copy], Ur Authorization by Sony.
I am a trusted buyer and I am assure U that my bid is active and I willingly pay the whole amount for the item I won.
It's up to U, sir, to decide if we can collaborate this transaction.

Thank U.

 

TU very very much.
I cancelled transaction.
No SD no money.
And all this bulls#%*t stuff "...we can't reveal....some information...." Common man, it looks ridiculous.

Hey, guys accusing me, thank U too. I love the fact U exist. Good eBay purchases to everybody!
And think twice!
And don't care about probation period.
It's a myth while U have Ur POV and eBay unanswered messages to a seller before auction.
And if U have no reply from seller before auction ends don't worry buy an item and press him till he begins collaborate or dump him off.

PS
I was not provided with SD and any other documents I am legible to ask.
About shilling: look at the sellers ended auctions and try find logical bidding activity, tendency and similiar bidders.
And... Ok. Enough.

 

Personal opinion: This thread needn't continue as to the OP's purchase. Leslieann said it all and said it right. But this is not to simply criticize you, Jopty; you made a mistake and should learn by it. Sounds like the seller is willing to let you out of the deal (though you may face eBay consequences, I'm guessing you won't) but either way there's nothing more to be discussed here. You've heard from quite a few of us who are "veterans" of eBay and you're not going to get a different point of view. Either way, it's not the end of the world. Make a decision, move on.