"Gamestop Refurbished" lol wut?

[Raduque]

What exactly does "Gamestop Refurbished" mean"? I very seriously doubt they have the facilities in place to actually check and REPAIR incoming broken system. Do they send these back to the manufacturer for repair? Do they contract it out? Or simply format the drive/erase the memory and call it done?

I'm looking at a PS3, and "gamestop refurbished" ones are $70 cheaper than new.

 

[gorcorps]

They have places they send it to to repair, but they are still gamestop facilities from what I've read.

 

[Beev]

Gamestop has their own warehouses they send them too.

 

[JTsyo]

maybe Bob takes it home and messes with until it works.

 

[bullbert]

What exactly does "Gamestop Refurbished" mean"? I very seriously doubt they have the facilities in place to actually check and REPAIR incoming broken system. Do they send these back to the manufacturer for repair? Do they contract it out? Or simply format the drive/erase the memory and call it done?

I'm looking at a PS3, and "gamestop refurbished" ones are $70 cheaper than new.

In the past, it meant the customer had 5? days to test it and return it if was malfunctioning. So by that methodology, Gamestop has thousands of refurb facilities.

Do yourself a favor, and at their minuscule "discount" just buy new FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. Keep checking Hot Deals forums and you can probably even get a new system for the same price as their "refurb" price.

 

[MStele]

Are the "Gamestop refurbished" machines the same as their used trade-ins or are those different? It sounds to me like this is a marketing gimic. I bet they are just the trade-ins that happened to have the original packing materials with them lmao.

 

[mmntech]

Are the "Gamestop refurbished" machines the same as their used trade-ins or are those different? It sounds to me like this is a marketing gimic. I bet they are just the trade-ins that happened to have the original packing materials with them lmao.

Same thing AFAIK. In the case of portables, they test them out and put new batteries in them. I bought a refurb DS Lite from them and other than it being a little scuffed up, it's fine.

 

[Beev]

Are the "Gamestop refurbished" machines the same as their used trade-ins or are those different? It sounds to me like this is a marketing gimic. I bet they are just the trade-ins that happened to have the original packing materials with them lmao.

No. They were broken systems that stores took in an then shipped to the warehouse to get repaired. Historically, Gamestop took in RROD machines for a minimal amount (maybe $30 credit?) as a way for people to offload their broken systems. Now they don't take RROD's anymore.

 

[Q]

Spend the extra $ for new.

 

[Beev]

Agreed. ALWAYS buy systems new. No exceptions.

 

[u3laptoper]

The answer is "NO."

I will give you a simple comparison, Americans are rough people and their detail to attention is non-existent. If the refurbished process is by Germans or Japanese, then the answer is a resounding "Yes."

 

[Raduque]

OK, Great. Now I just have to figure out where the extra $70-100 is going to come from. Maybe one of you wonderful people want to donate?

 

[bullbert]

OK, Great. Now I just have to figure out where the extra $70-100 is going to come from. Maybe one of you wonderful people want to donate?

Reading Hot Deals sites is "free".

 

[Raduque]

Reading Hot Deals sites is "free".

"Hot Deals" are usually only "Hot Deals" if you have the means to purchase the item full price - relying on Mail-in Rebates, credit card discounts, and so forth. I need a "Hot Deal" that's a straight up "cheaper-than-retail" deal.

You could then make the argument that I have no business buying it, and you'd probably be right - but that's neither here nor there.

 

[bullbert]

"Hot Deals" are usually only "Hot Deals" if you have the means to purchase the item full price - relying on Mail-in Rebates, credit card discounts, and so forth. I need a "Hot Deal" that's a straight up "cheaper-than-retail" deal.

You could then make the argument that I have no business buying it, and you'd probably be right - but that's neither here nor there.

At least you are coherent enough to recognize that you have that option. NOT A PC thread, but... Limited PC gaming is another still-cheaper option. (i.e. never play the $60 release price but wait for $5 clearance deals, and survive on only those games that run on older cheaper rigs).

Seriously though. There are SEVERAL Hot Deals sites better than AT (but then again none of them have HW sites even close to AT). ALL of them have/have_had "cheaper-than-retail" deals. One of them even foreshadowed an upcoming PS3 clearance at Target.

 

[bob4432]

The answer is "NO."

I will give you a simple comparison, Americans are rough people and their detail to attention is non-existent. If the refurbished process is by Germans or Japanese, then the answer is a resounding "Yes."

what a joke of a comment. take the 360 for example - i don't care who you have look @ it - if it rrod it will again regardless of who looked at it.

 

[Raduque]

At least you are coherent enough to recognize that you have that option. NOT A PC thread, but... Limited PC gaming is another still-cheaper option. (i.e. never play the $60 release price but wait for $5 clearance deals, and survive on only those games that run on older cheaper rigs).

Seriously though. There are SEVERAL Hot Deals sites better than AT (but then again none of them have HW sites even close to AT). ALL of them have/have_had "cheaper-than-retail" deals. One of them even foreshadowed an upcoming PS3 clearance at Target.

I have a PC that's quite capable of gaming and I do try to buy when PC games are on sale (i live on steam and impulse weekend deals), so I'm covered there. I also have an Xbox360. I simply wanted to get in on the PS3 so I am ready for PS3 exclusives that are worth playing. GT5, Heavy Rain, Resistance 2, and even FFXIII (i know the last isn't exclusive, it just wouldn't feel right playing it on a non-sony console!)

The Target deal looked really awesome ($250 for a 250gb PS3!) but I'm 99% sure I missed the boat on that one.

Edit: I may look at RTO. I've done that in the past, and while you end up paying much more in the long run, you feel the impact a lot less in the short term, plus you get your item immediately, which is always a win.

 

[bullbert]

IEdit: I may look at RTO. I've done that in the past, and while you end up paying much more in the long run, you feel the impact a lot less in the short term, plus you get your item immediately, which is always a win.

Ouch! I would avoid Rent-to-Own.

Except:
a) 1 week rental of stereo/video gear for a large group road trip (i.e. ski trip, 10 people, 1 LARGE house).
b) LONG off-site work assignment, where employer covers expenses (not as a stipend, but only an reimbursement of expenditures), and rental of electronics is allowed. Just don't tell employer about the "to-own" part of the Rent-to-Own.

 

[Raduque]

I know that RTO is expensive. I paid probably $800 more than I needed to for my first HDTV (52" rear projection 1080i), but if I would've tried saving to buy it outright cheaper, I would've saved probably half the price, gotten antsy and spent it on something else.

I'm one of those people that can't save money.