Used vs. Refurbished

[helen_oster]

<p>No, we don't send anything anywhere specifically to be refurbished. We do return faulty goods, but after that, we have no knowledge of what happens to them.<br />The manufacturers contact us when they have a batch of refurbs to sell.</p>

<p>As I said above:</p>

<p>A refurb can have simply been pulled from the production line if it hasn't passed the final inspection. ...so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used, but as to the individual history of a single item, the honest answer is we have absolutely no way at all of knowing.<br />The refurbished equipment that we receive is typically less than a year old, and based on the regularity with which we receive batches, it all appears to be relatively new.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Well, you're missing the point of my question: <strong>Is the factory refurbishing done in Japan or the USA?</strong> I ask for a reason. I know there are some very good techs at the two Canon service centers. But with all due respect to American labor, which I feel is generally underappreciated, I realize there are also some dumb clods at the Canon US service centers who can overlook some glaringly obvious problems. I might be wrong, but I imagine the Japanese Canon factory techs are more uniformly good. That's why I ask.</p>

<p>But I'm still looking forward to getting my G11, irrespective of where it was refurbished! :-)</p>

[helen_oster]

<p>It isn't done in a service center. It is done by the manufacturer <strong>in the Canon factory</strong>, which is why they are sold as <strong>factory refurbished</strong>. Many refurbished items have never even left the factory.</p>

<p>BTW not all units are actually manufactured in Japan.</p>