What's your experience buying refurbished from Canon Direct USA?

[JonAustin]

I've purchased new items from Canon USA in the past, and have generally been satisfied with their fulfillment processes.

I just bought my first refurbished lens from them last week (January 22nd), however, and the status has been "Order received and ready for processing" ever since.

I have an order number, so -- even though my credit card hasn't been charged yet -- I presume that I actually have an order in place for this lens (which now is shown as "out of stock" in their web store).

Does anyone care to share his experience with or knowledge about this process? Doesn't Canon prep the refurb product for sale and shipping before listing it in their inventory? Any reason why fulfillment of an in-stock refurb product should take any longer than a new one?

 

[Edge476]

I have bought a lens as well as a refurb 5D lll and have had no issues. They charged my card once the items were shipped on both purchases. The 5D had less than 3K on the shutter and it saved me over $1K. Not to mention you get the same warranty as you would if you bought new. Be patient and I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[JonAustin]

I have bought a lens as well as a refurb 5D lll and have had no issues. They charged my card once the items were shipped on both purchases. The 5D had less than 3K on the shutter and it saved me over $1K. Not to mention you get the same warranty as you would if you bought new. Be patient and I'm sure it will be fine.

And how (if you recall) were the intervals between your order dates and the corresponding ship dates?

 

[Edge476]

I Just realized I never answered the question, the body I purchased had the same status. When I called to confirm I would receive the item, they stated that the items that are sometimes coming into the refurb store are listed on expected inventory based on logged returns/repair status/release from quality inspections/etc. I think it took about 2 weeks to receive the shipping information for the body but the lens was shipped in about a week. If you are in a pinch just call and they can give you the detailed status.

 

[Ryan708]

Both my 60D and 70-200 are refurbs. Both looked BRAND new when I got them, except the generic box they come in. I cant remember about my 60D but my lens only took 2 days to ship out.

 

[BJK]

I have an order number, so -- even though my credit card hasn't been charged yet -- I presume that I actually have an order in place for this lens (which now is shown as "out of stock" in their web store).

Does anyone care to share his experience with or knowledge about this process? Doesn't Canon prep the refurb product for sale and shipping before listing it in their inventory? Any reason why fulfillment of an in-stock refurb product should take any longer than a new one?

It took them about 3 business days to ship my 200mm f/2.8L lens back in June. I very much doubt your order has been cancelled. Can't really explain why it took that long; they shipped out my refurb 70D on the same day I ordered it this past November. If you don't see a shipment confirmation e-mail in the next few days, maybe contact customer service.

 

[wtlloyd]

First purchased refurb 5 or 6 years ago. Took a couple days to ship, and I was disappointed that they charged sales tax.

Many refurb purchases since then, has always taken a couple days to ship.
In your case, you purchased sometime on a Thursday, so at the pace they move at, I wouldn't have expected to get a shipping notice until Monday.
Monday was "Snowpocalypse 2015!OMG!"
Just hang in there.

For the record, last 3 refurb purchases were new items. Zero shutter counts on a 6D in Nov 2013, same on a 5D3 (that one was ordered Dec 23 2014, shipped Jan 5 2015) and a 400 f/5.6 was unmarked with unblemished contacts, I don't think it had ever been mounted. Oh ya, just received a 100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro in same condition.

I got in on a 15% off refurb sale and paid $660 shipped for that 100 L macro.
Why buy used?

 

[JonAustin]

I Just realized I never answered the question, the body I purchased had the same status. When I called to confirm I would receive the item, they stated that the items that are sometimes coming into the refurb store are listed on expected inventory based on logged returns/repair status/release from quality inspections/etc. I think it took about 2 weeks to receive the shipping information for the body but the lens was shipped in about a week. If you are in a pinch just call and they can give you the detailed status.

Thanks for all for your responses. Edge476's explanation of inventory sometimes listed before ready to ship makes sense.

I'm not "in a pinch," and can wait for the product (35/2 IS) to ship and be delivered. I didn't want to call Canon and upset the apple cart if my experience is par for the course. (How's that for a set of mixed metaphors?)

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I have bought lenses and bodies, and all were fine. I bought a SX 50 in early January for $200, it was not working right. I had a hassle from them about replacing it. Finally, I got thru to someone who issued a RMA, and ordered a replacement with free overnight shipping, and the price had dropped to $180, so I'm happy with it.

 

[mpetersheim]

I've purchased multiple refurbs from the Canon Direct USA store, usually without a problem. The last purchase had some complications... I tired of waiting for the status to change (I don't think I lasted quite a week, since previous orders were fulfilled within a day or two) so I gave them a call, and apparently my order was in some abnormal state such that it was just sitting there unfulfilled. It required several phone calls over the course of a few days to get the order cancelled and re-placed, then cancelled and re-placed again, but I did eventually get it (with free overnight shipping as a gesture).

As an aside, I'm consistently amazed at the customer support experience I receive from them; can anyone else relate? It's never more than two rings before a native-English-speaking representative picks up, and they're always very agreeable, knowledgeable and helpful...

 

[JonAustin]

I've purchased multiple refurbs from the Canon Direct USA store, usually without a problem. The last purchase had some complications... I tired of waiting for the status to change (I don't think I lasted quite a week, since previous orders were fulfilled within a day or two) so I gave them a call, and apparently my order was in some abnormal state such that it was just sitting there unfulfilled. It required several phone calls over the course of a few days to get the order cancelled and re-placed, then cancelled and re-placed again, but I did eventually get it (with free overnight shipping as a gesture).

This was my concern. Orders can occasionally fall into limbo. I'll give it a few more days before calling in.

As an aside, I'm consistently amazed at the customer support experience I receive from them; can anyone else relate? It's never more than two rings before a native-English-speaking representative picks up, and they're always very agreeable, knowledgeable and helpful...

That's good to know! If I do decide to call in, I won't have to "prep" myself for a frustrating or adversarial experience.

 

[old-pr-pix]

I have only had good experiences with Canon refurbs... at least so far! Product arrives in great, essentially new condition, and shipping times seem reasonable. I have noticed shipments don't always seem to come from the same place; although it's possible that was because of infrequency of ordering and they just changed locations in-between.

 

[JonAustin]

Since it's been a week, I decided to go ahead and call in. I spoke with a very polite and professional lady named Ellen, but the bad news is that the lens I thought I had ordered is no longer in stock, so they can't fulfill the order.

She was unable to tell me exactly why my order didn't process, but conjectured that their system will process multiple order requests concurrently against any quantity of in-stock merchandise, and that the number of order requests in process often exceeds the available inventory. What she couldn't explain is why the system doesn't respond with a "Sorry, we're out of stock now" message to those order requests in process that don't complete before stock is exhausted, like mine. Consequently, I've been sitting on a useless order number with the status "Order received and ready for processing" for a week.

Of course, she had no idea when they'll get another such lens in stock. However, she did say that my order will stay in the system (since I haven't cancelled it) and will fulfill when they receive more inventory. We'll see.

 

[JonAustin]

Just one last chapter (hopefully) to wrap up this weird little story

After posting my previous observation, I went browsing through the Canon online store, just out of morbid curiosity. To my surprise, the refurb lens I had ordered (35/2 IS) was now showing as in stock!

So I checked my order status again; no change. I called Canon back, spoke with another polite and professional lady, who listened patiently, checked their inventory, confirmed they now have 7 of these lenses in stock, and "unblocked" my order so that it would ship out today.

What's weird is that there was no discussion of my order being "blocked" in my earlier conversation with Canon today; the term never even came up. So I have little confidence that my order would have fulfilled today, had I not seen the lens listed as in stock and called in a second time.

The moral of this little story for me is to CALL Canon whenever I want to buy a refurb item, rather than relying on their online store. Shouldn't be a problem, since they're open from 8:00 am to midnight every day of the week, except holidays.

 

[Deleted member 7828]

Only one experience - the 24-70 f4 IS, got it refurbished shortly after the price drop from $1500 - the refurb went from $11xx to $800, jumped on that.

If used, it would be considered mint so it wasn't a bad deal. There was one medium-sized speck of dust inside the lens but other than that I think it turned out pretty well.

 

[setterguy]

I have purchased both lens and body and the experience has been excellent!

 

[dexstrose]

It's great deal if you don't have to pay sales tax. Everything I bought refurbished was a two hundred and under close to getting a brand one. But I still saved a few bucks on purchasing refurbished items.

Refurbished lenses and flash I purchased came through with no problems, looked brand new. I'm surprise the flash is still strong after a year of heavy use and over heating it a few times. I also called for price adjustment and they gave me one. So overall I had a good experience with canon refurbs.

 

[dcm]

Purchased a body and some lenses refurb. Same experience as buying new items from Canon. No problems to report on the purchase process or the items I received - all looked and functioned like brand new. I usually double dip and wait for the refurb sale (15%) or other $ off promotions to make it really worthwhile.

Popular items go fast so its best to sign up with Canon Price Watch to get notified when an item appears. Even then they can be gone before you get there. I once got an item in the cart, but took a few minutes to get out the credit card and it was gone before I could complete the purchase.

 

[mpetersheim]

Re: Just one last chapter (hopefully) to wrap up this weird little story

After posting my previous observation, I went browsing through the Canon online store, just out of morbid curiosity. To my surprise, the refurb lens I had ordered (35/2 IS) was now showing as in stock!

So I checked my order status again; no change. I called Canon back, spoke with another polite and professional lady, who listened patiently, checked their inventory, confirmed they now have 7 of these lenses in stock, and "unblocked" my order so that it would ship out today.

What's weird is that there was no discussion of my order being "blocked" in my earlier conversation with Canon today; the term never even came up. So I have little confidence that my order would have fulfilled today, had I not seen the lens listed as in stock and called in a second time.

The moral of this little story for me is to CALL Canon whenever I want to buy a refurb item, rather than relying on their online store. Shouldn't be a problem, since they're open from 8:00 am to midnight every day of the week, except holidays.

Sounds like (one of) the same thing that happened to me in the epxerience I related. Glad you got it ordered!

 

[studeb]

<EDIT> Now posted a a new thread.

I would start a new topic for this, but as i am a noob, i cant.

This is my second refurb purchase and I have a question about what condition you would accept for a refurbed product. i bought a 70-200mm 2.8 IS II on the Black Friday sale, i know i am lucky. It arrived, i unpacked it, and all looks okay except for the black hood mount ring. It was clearly scratched and the scratches had been painted over in a less than elegant fashion. i will try for pics later, but black on black aint easy to show up. The painting is not obvious, and from a few feet it is not noticeable. It occurred to me that i should try to mount a filter. i haven't used the lens yet, AFMA checks out fine and a few test pattern shots show improved performance over the non-IS version i have.

Would you accept this re-painting as a refurbed product?