New kit delivered already opened

I’ve ordered a number of new bits of kit from online retailers only to find the item has already been opening (and shoddily resealed) and possibly used prior to delivery. There has never been any damage but for some reason this really annoys me, especially when it was an expensive purchase. Not sure if I am being sent returned items or if the item had simply been opened for inspection prior to dispatch.

I suppose it is just part of buying from retailers that offer free returns.

I’m not sure if I am being a bit too picky here. Does anyone else have similar experience or thoughts on this?

If it was a high value item I was buying as new - say, an Octatrack - then I’d be expecting a sealed and untouched unit to arrive.

For other stuff, I don’t think it’d bother me all that much. If I was planning a splurge of purchases I might moan to get a discount voucher for buying open box when sold as new though!

I had my novation peak arrive open and used and missing the power plug and had some shoddy midi cable thrown in…No usb cable, the protective stickers removed, an covered in dust and finger prints. Promptly returned and wrote a stern email… all was well with the next but i now have to specify that i want an unopened item when buying from them again.

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I actually recently had the opposite happen: bought as open box, clearly was never opened. downside is the receipt says open box so not sure the manufacturer’s warranty is still 100% valid…

yeah depending on the item and cost my response would vary from “meh” to “I want a partial refund” to “you’re taking this back and giving me a new one.” complete with letting them know you’ll notate this in the review of the item and a review of their business.

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id be fuming, no problems with an opened box if its as new but theres a line and thats far beyond it

I would kindly ask for a discount.

There are some shops which sell previously returned items at a slightly lower price. Since your shop didn’t mark the item as such, you now have some ‘leverage’ to make the deal fair again.

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I got a minibrute 2s that was opened. Turned out it was the demo unit sent to the retailer for promo photos etc. and arturia wanted it back as it was not the finalised build. Had to send it back and wait for a production model. The retailer then sent me the keyboard version and I had to return that too! I got a sweet discount for all the hassle though so not all bad.

Used/open-box sold as “new” is something I have zero tolerance for. I had it happen TWICE from a major retailer a couple of weeks ago.

A “new” electronic drum kit that they had on special had a broken frame inside when I opened the box at home. Could have been a shipping thing, but I kind of doubt it, considering the way the box had been taped. So I went back to exchange it for a replacement. I got the replacement home and the kit was NOT new, nor even “open box”. It had obviously been used and returned. The pads and cables and such were just thrown back in, plus it was missing parts.

The crazy thing was, this was the retailer’s own sub-brand of electronic drums and they seemed to care so little about QC and customer experience. I thought it was weird that they were trying EXTRA hard to upsell me on their 3-year warranty with kind of a “wink wink, these things might break, wink wink”.

So I went back to the music store for a complete refund, as I was finished with that nonsense. When I left my house, I was furious at all the the nonsense and heavy lifting that had come with this debacle. It wasn’t exactly a broken harmonica we were dealing with here. But by the time I reached the store, I was laughing at the absurdity of it all, so I went in with complaints intact, but without the anger that wouldn’t have been productive anyway.

The guy at the register was processing my refund when a manager walked by and overheard my calm, reasonable complaints. He asked a couple of questions, then immediately offered to give me a larger/better/more expensive kit from a better brand at no extra cost. I mean, they outright admitted that the other brand, not their own, was better.

I opened the box of the new kit in the store to verify that yes, it was indeed new, untouched by human hands outside of the factory. Got the kit home and it was perfect.

Funny thing is, when I went back to the same store the following week, they had moved their “bad” brand boxes off to a corner and the “good” brand boxes were moved to the front of the store in a prominent display. I wonder if I had anything to do with that? :wink:

TL;DR? The squeaky wheel gets the grease and sometimes complaints can put you in a better position than when you started.

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Just had this happen on Amazon Prime for a new camera… $1k and it looks like a got a floor model from a showroom with badly done re-wrap of the plastic and the box was trashed. Guitar Center is notorious for this kind of crap as well. You gotta make them take it back and replace at their cost with a new one.

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Yes, Amazon was one of the culprits for me too

This has happened to me, tell them you want an exchange for an unopened item, a partial refund (say 15%) or a full refund. Make sure they pay for return fees etc. No reason you should ever pay new price for a used item.

I bought an opened OB6 from Juno a couple of years ago. Came factory sealed. I was very happy

But you never know if the item send to you is from the actual seller, the way Amazon works is that they might send you “same item” from someone elses inventory with Amazon. They just optimize their inventory and shipping that way.

I only buy high-end items in-store for this very reason, and I always ask to see the purchase history on the computer beforehand. On top of that, if I have to return something because of a defect, I make a note of the serial number, to be sure they’re not peddling me the same kit upon my return; which has absolutely happened to me before. Frankly, it’s infuriating.

I personally know way too many studios and YouTubers who purchase brand new gear with no intention whatsoever of keeping it: i.e. they simply use it for a week or a month, and return it once they’re done with it, as a matter of course. It’s deplorable on so many levels. Regardless, the bottom line is, I refuse to shoulder the burden of a retailer’s absurdly generous return policy. As far as I’m concerned, that’s their problem. If I’m paying full price, I’d damn well better be the only person to have ever opened the box.

Cheers!

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This type of thing has become a problem for me - not specifically with synths but other ‘hobby’ items which are often expensive.

I think people more and more buy stuff and return it. And the ‘review’ culture on YouTube and other ‘social media’ is fuelling the mass of returns.

That’s my theory anyway.

EDIT: Oh the person above said the same!

What constitutes open for a piece of gear? For instance, A lot of synths don’t come with plastic wrap around the boxes to signify the item is sealed.

That is a personal pet peeve of mine, when I see YouTubers KNOWINGLY buy gear (often lighting and camera equipment too) that they absolutely intend to return after a shoot. It is a skeezy practice and contributes to higher prices for those of us who are LEGITIMATELY buying gear to keep, or leads to “new” gear getting foisted on us that isn’t new at all.

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See, this sort of behaviour bothers me so much, now I can’t stop venting about it. Seriously, I’ve seen guys buy new gear, go play a GIG with it, even take it on a short tour for crying out loud, then return it. It’s maddening. I once asked to see the purchase history of a synth I was set to purchase from Long & McQuade, and the computer showed that it had been bought and returned six times, for a month at a time, over the course of a year. And they were fixing to sell it to me at full retail… Argh! How is that new anymore? They do the same thing with their demo models, which get abused, day after day, often for a year or more.

As far as I’m concerned, if you drive it off the lot, unless there’s something legitimately wrong with it, it’s should be yours to keep. Period.

Serenity now… End rant. :wink:

Cheers!

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That would make me curious too and asking myself, whether it was a “new” or “used” item.

I had it in the past that a retailer opened the package to check the content and re-packed and re-sealed it after the inspection professionally, but without hiding that it was opened for inspection. If I trust the retailer, I can live with that …

Many retailers do not offer open box prices.