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#21
I think you're right. The last used Mac vendor I used claimed to be testing the machines before re-sale, but once they shipped me three broken machines in a row with very easily discovered problems, it became clear the testing claim was an explicit lie. In other words, the machines weren't "refurbished" at all, but only resold. I might as well have been buying them off Ebay.
It became hilarious in the end. Machine #2 came with a major problem (won't bore you with it) which couldn't be resolved by the vendor. So they tried to play the role of hero and said, we'll send you another even better machine as a replacement! Machine #3 arrived with a dead monitor. Obviously they hadn't turned it on even once.
They then said, no problem, just return the machine. I said, sure no problem, my fee for shipping your broken untested junk around the country is $100 plus shipping. They balked for a couple weeks, but in the end paid that fee.
I've been a big advocate of used machines for some time, but have basically grown somewhat suspicious of vendors who sell them.
Well, chances aren't really the same, because the original buyer presumably returned the machine for some reason. If that reason was found and fixed, ok, that could work. The problem is, how do we know the vendor actually really did find and fix the problem? Because they say so? You basically have to buy a number of used machines from a vendor before you'll know what the deal really is.
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