How to avoid paying for refurbished laptops instead of brand new

It could be very disheartening when you purchase what should be a brand new laptop only to discover what you have indeed paid a big chunk of money for is nothing but a refurbished PC.

Buying a new laptop recently showed that many laptop dealers at the computer village in Ikeja, have absolutely no scruples when it comes to playing ‘this scam’ on unsuspecting buyers. It is especially rampant for laptops one could consider expensive, from the N150,000 range upwards. It was observed that with refurbished laptops, sellers will be making a kill. One vendor even said “more than 80 percent of laptops in that range are refurbished.”

While refurbished computers are not technically faulty, the bottom-line is, they had gone back to the factory at some point and had to undergo some ‘re-working’ to come back into the market. The standard practise is for these refurbished laptops (and even other devices) to be sold 30- 40 percent less the market price. But then, greedy retailers want to cash in all they can, and damning ethics in the process. In essence, a N200,000 laptop in refurbished value should not sell more than N140,000 and can in fact go as low as N120,000. But the retailers still want to sell it at N200,000 by misleading the buyer to think what is being sold is brand new.

Before making payment for your next laptop, inspect the carton. On the side, the laptop specifications are printed, often on a white stick-on paper. Check the portion where product ID is written and ensure it is not blurred out; either completely or partially. What some dubious computer sellers now do is to blur out either part or all of the Product ID, since without it, you will not be able to see at first glance if a computer has been refurbished or not.

So, if you detect any alteration or erasing in the product ID, activate your FBI mode. Also, since some sellers are trying to get smarter, completely false labels that do not exactly match the product could be placed on the carton or other packaging material. The main objective with doing this is to put a product ID that would not easily give them away.

Before we proceed, please take note that whatever product ID is written on the carton MUST be the same as what you find inside the laptop itself in the next few steps that will be described. In addition, check underneath the laptop, where the product name, model, and other information are written. If that place has somehow been blurred out, that should be an important red flag to also note.

For a laptop you’re yet to take out of the store, before paying, confirm the authenticity of its Product ID and warranty information online.

From this url; https://support.hp.com/us-en/checkwarranty you can input the product number and be sure it returns with a valid response that corresponds with what you have with you.

Equally important is the warranty that should come with it. First, if the warranty information shows 30 days, that laptop is refurbished because this is what manufacturers provide for such. For New PCs, it is One year. You should at that point also check the product ID showing online does not denote refurbished, which will be explained shortly for you identify.

For HP, the Product ID is written like this; 4GV82UA#ABA. Note that: there CANNOT be “R” before the # symbol. For instance, if the product number reads; 4GV82UAR#ABA (note the R before # symbol), in this case it will certainly be a refurbished laptop.

If you already have the laptop with you, bought as new but want to be sure if it is refurbished, you can still check.

1. Click on the windows icon to display start menu or click on search
2. Type run, and this will open a dialog box for you to search
3. Type msinfo32 and click ‘Ok’
4. In the dialog box that will be shown, locate where ‘System SKU’ is written. This is the Product ID.

Here, you are to ensure what is shown matches the Product ID printed on the carton, and more importantly, does not have the refurbished denotation.

This practise of selling refurbished products as new is common in at least computer village, Ikeja where TeckTalk had quite a lot to witness recently. It is wrong, and buyers need to be informed. Hope you have.