A neighbor had asked for assistance in building his new setup. He had purchased a "refurbished' Abit from NewEgg. Everything looked good from the outside, all the packaging was intact and the accessories (ide cables, usb bracket, etc), although open, were included. When I took the motherboard out of the hot pink, anti-static, bubble bag thing, I found a piece of paper stuck to the bottom. Apparently, the original purchaser of the motherboard had reason to believe that Newegg didn't really check or "refurbish" their returns because the paper had a long winded letter on it that read something like:
THIS MOTHERBOARD IS DEAD. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY ABIT. IF YOU ARE READING THIS LETTER AND HAVE PURCHASED THIS MOTHERBOARD, YOU HAVE LIKELY BEEN SCREWED. ENCOURAGE RETAILERS TO ACTUALLY TEST AND REPAIR PRODUCTS BEFORE RESELLING THEM.
The letter went on and on and included a link to a page that had the full rundown of this person's ordeal, including e-mails from Abit support and NewEgg. Sure enough, the motherboard was dead and all of the original problems, including a missing resistor, were still present. We contacted NewEgg and asked if the product had been tested. They assured us that it had. When we mentioned the letter, which included the original order number, and inquired as to why it would still be in the box, we were told it must have been an "oversight". Either way, NewEgg immediately issued an RMA, said they would credit for the return shipping, and sent a new motherboard as a replacement. I assume they were probably a bit embarrassed with the situation.
While I highly recommend them for purchases of new items, I would be extremely weary of buying anything refurbished, especially with a "15 days from purchase date" return window. If you are building a new system with a refurbished motherboard from them, and buying components from various vendors, make sure you buy that mobo last. Sure would suck to be waiting 5 or 6 days for a processor or HSF to arrive, only to find out the refurb is DOA and the 15 days had elapsed.