I won’t shame the popular European retailer behind this banger of a deal, but at least they are explicit:
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An old topic but something new for me. I have recently got the Sequential OB-6. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the synth, I became very suspicious that I got a B stock as a new one. I bought it from andertons which is one of the most popular in the UK. What makes me suspicious is the packing of the box. It has additional tape in some places. The tape seems to be the same as the genuine one, but it is darker. Also, the nylon packaging was loose and somehow not professional. I have ordered 2 Prophets before and I remember the impeccable packaging. I bought the synth in late September during the Epic Autumn Deals. There were 6 in stock. And that was pretty comforting that there were 6 in stock, at least reducing the chance of getting B stock as a new one. However, something that worries me is that the OB-6s were over after the Epic Autumn Deals, they put a label - Out of stock and soon after (few days after it) again in stock but only 1 in stock. I am only left with the impression that they do not market their B stocks as B stocks but rather as new ones. Here are some pictures of the box:
(IMG-20221110-091727 — ImgBB)
(IMG-20221110-091750 — ImgBB)
Has anyone ever had a similar experience?
Two times with Thomann in just one month. It was modules.
I send an email as soon as i noticed the fact, each time when opening the box, and joined a picture. The same day i received the ticket for return. No apologies when i wrote that it was the 2nd time that hapened.
Seems to be normal behaviour with those big sellers that have to deal with returns because of the 30 days try.
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My experience with Thomann was actually OK. Two times had to return the Prophet 6 due to the dimly leds issue. Anyways, after the return, I didn’t see any Prophet 6 on Thomann listed as B stock. I continued checking for couple of weeks on their site. I think that the Prophets I returned were later sold as new ones. God knows how the new customers wondered if their item was brand new or opened. I am pretty sure this is what happened with my OB-6 from the Andertons. Somebody before me bought it, returned it within 30 days, these guys just packed it again (not even taping the nylon carefully) and just sold it as “brand new”. Is there a way we could hold these guys responsible for what they do? I can’t prove for certain this is what happened but all the indications point to abusing customer rights.
I got a new Strymon Zuma PSU from Thomann a few years ago.
It had 1 faulty output, I discovered it only 4 years later.
Strymon has 5 years warranty. So I sent it to Strymon UK from the EU.
They discovered that the unit was heavily messed with on the inside. There were bad soldering attempts etc., they sent me photos and refused to repair it.
After some back and forth and me accusing Thomann they agreed to repair it and sent it back. I had to pay customs because of brexit. It cost me about 150 in total, including the shipping.
Thomann sold me a new Strymon unit (not B-Stock) that wasn’t only used before but manipulated, tempered with and damaged.
They kept denying everything and refused to refund my costs of repair.
Since then I’m still a Thomann customer, but I have no longer regrets about generously using their 30 day moneyback option for testing gear extensively.
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2 of the last 3 items I bought were not new.
One had the screen cover removed and fingerprints on the screen. I complained and they said it was factory fresh. Untrue. Box sealed with factory tape. I think they may have had a stock of tape in.
They said return or replace? I said replace.
Heard nothing more.
3 last purchases in a row from Thomann was b-stock. All bought as new.
A Jackson 7 string, back of neck was dirty smudgy, had a very noticeable ding in it like it had been dropped. Felt like it had been in a shop for weeks with hands on it. Sent back
DT880 black - clearly opened and put back on top of the papers inside, buckling them in the bottom. Also dust on it. I kept
Typhon - rough box, was dusty and screen dusty too and without cover (if a new one has it?) and 1 rubber foot lower so it doesn’t sit straight and 3 large knobs touch the face plate and rasps a little when turning. I think those were reasons it was sent back. But sold as new and not b-stock. I kept it.
I do not want to order much from them after this to be honest
Oh, i forget to say that less than a week after my first return, a Stock B appears on this product…
Edit : I just return the second one today… wait to see it appearing as Stock B
I thought it was just me but I would say 25% of stuff I buy as new is suspect. Once it was so bad a synth I bought was not only obviously used but was missing the power cord, the manual was dog eared on a bunch of pages etc. I was happy to see the waldorf M I bought came in a box that was stapled closed, no way to fake that.
I bought a Sonos system recently. I order 2 Play 1s for my rears. One of them was open box. The best bit though was that box was empty 
Phoned them and at first they were suspicious of me. Think they thought I was trying on. They got a very polite roasting. Thankfully Sonos boxes have the serial number on so they could check there system and I provided photo evidence of where that had resealed the box.
Who would reseal and send out an empty box. Muppets.
Wooof, thanks for all the anecdotes, folks.
With a lot of supply chain issues I’ve been stuck finding things outside of the US and I’ll be more careful about testing function immediately on receipt with Thomann.
I’ve had good experience so far, but I’ll be as careful as I am with anything from Guitar Center.
I also believe they have plenty of unsealed power supplies and owners’ manuals in handy. After somebody returns an item, he/she had previously used the power supply and opened the owner’s manuals. No problem - from Thomann, or Andertons, or whoever the seller is, use a soft cloth to clean the keyboard, the guitar whatever from the fingerprints, give the new patsy an unsealed power supply and owner manual, then pack the item carefully, make sure to tape the box carefully. Should there be any damages on the box (since the serial number on the synth is also stuck on the box itself), justify that with the transport damages unrelated to you and that’s it. I am pretty sure this is how they do it in most cases. The only way they could not avoid listing an item as a B stock is when there are some unrepairable traces or damages on the instrument. In that case, it is just way too useless to spend much time trying to conceal the defects.
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I ordered a Maschine+ from guitar center to pick up in store. I got there and all they had were open box units, despite listing them as new. They tell me I can go 40 minutes away to pick up another, which I do. I get there, pick it up and get home to find a maschine MK3 in the Maschine+ box. I call and tell them what happened, let them know I’m on the way to return it and they’d give me another they are positive is new. I pick it up, drive home and go to register it and it had been previously registered. Looked new, but wasn’t. I spent 6 hours in the car back and forth to guitar centers that day. At the end they overnighted me one well below cost.
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This happened to me a few years ago when I was buying my Digitone Keys from American Musical Supply. It had these smudges/marks and fingerprints all over the unit, and there were other signs, like handled manual and not properly wound up usb cable, which was unlike any other “brand new” Elektron I had bought. I returned it and did get a brand new one in return.
And to be honest, had I gotten a good b-stock deal on it knowingly from the get-go, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But when you buy “brand new” you want “brand new”. And in the end, they lost out, because I know what the shipping cost them.
I’d never ordered from Sam Ash before (US) but they had something listed that had been recently discontinued. I called them up on the phone and talked to the sales guy, and he was very friendly and said he’d pack it up himself.
No original box or packaging, or manual, or anything … clearly a floor model, sold at full price with no disclosure whatsoever… just the unit and power supply, wrapped up in bubble wrap and thrown in a plain cardboard box for transit…
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I think yours wins. Holy heck.
I once called a store first about a digital piano I was buying asking specifically if it was brand new. The lady sounded appalled that I would even ask the question, of course it was brand new. It arrived and of course it was not brand new, but a damaged floor model.
I think I am starting to see a problem here.
I will say Sweetwater 100% has never sent me anything as brand new that wasn’t brand new. Also, I’m not 100% sure about perfect circuit, but I can’t remember off the top of my head anything too suspect. Don’t think I can say the same of anywhere else.
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you guys made me anxious about ordering from thomann, is that US or EU thomann with all the horror stories? or both? 
I’m in the US and have ordered from thomann a few times (I think some jaspers synth stands, some decksavers, and a waldorf m). Never had any issues.
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Surprised to see Thomann coming up a couple of times… I order almost exclusively from them (EU) specifically because shit like this has never been an issue. They also have plenty of B-stock listed, which gives me the impression they’re handling returns properly. And the B-stock I’ve ordered has always been unrecognizable as being B-stock at all. A friend near me has said the same, for what it’s worth.
I guess any business can have a careless or unscrupulous employee at any given time. Or maybe things are going downhill… I haven’t ordered from them in a year or so. Interested if others have had bad experiences.
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yeah, I suppose “shit happens” with every vendor, matter of luck probably… just seeing thomann mentioned so much made me anxious as I want to order some things from them, just waiting to see if there’s gonna be some sales at the end of the month…
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