Used SSD Drive Bought from PB Tech

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#1735439 12-Mar-2017 21:24

Lias:

TL;DR version, PBTech have a black line graphic referenced in their HTML code as "Nigger Line 780"

my oh my.... good luck with that one PBT :-)

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CamH

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#1735442 12-Mar-2017 21:27

I thought it was common knowledge that PB Tech sold used/opened items as new? We've probably returned upwards of 10-20 items in the past 2 years that have been either opened and used or just opened and demo'ed. I've also seen stock we've returned put nicely back in it's package and then appear on the shelves the next day with no mention of the fact we've returned it as faulty....

To their credit, our account manager is amazing, and he always checks everything for us before we arrive, and our staff have reported a much lower "obviously used" rate when they pickup purchases in the past 6 months.

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#1735446 12-Mar-2017 21:33

CamH:

I thought it was common knowledge that PB Tech sold used/opened items as new? We've probably returned upwards of 10-20 items in the past 2 years that have been either opened and used or just opened and demo'ed. I've also seen stock we've returned put nicely back in it's package and then appear on the shelves the next day with no mention of the fact we've returned it as faulty....

To their credit, our account manager is amazing, and he always checks everything for us before we arrive, and our staff have reported a much lower "obviously used" rate when they pickup purchases in the past 6 months.

Wow. Thanks for mentioning this.

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BMIT

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#1735516 13-Mar-2017 08:10

@nikt
After taking the drive back to pb tech, not only did they replace it, but they allowed me to check the next drive myself. They installed windows on it and apologised for the mistake.

No point getting upset over this, a mistake was found, resolved and their apology was accepted.

Nobody is perfect, and this is the first time I've had a issue with pbtech. Was it intentional? I don't know, but I don't see the benefit of saving a few dollars on selling refurbished drives as "new" for a potential lawsuit. They responded promptly to this matter, went above and beyond to help me and that's all one could ask for.

BMIT

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#1735523 13-Mar-2017 08:27

BMIT: @nikt
After taking the drive back to pb tech, not only did they replace it, but they allowed me to check the next drive myself. They installed windows on it and apologised for the mistake.

No point getting upset over this, a mistake was found, resolved and their apology was accepted.

Nobody is perfect, and this is the first time I've had a issue with pbtech. Was it intentional? I don't know, but I don't see the benefit of saving a few dollars on selling refurbished drives as "new" for a potential lawsuit. They responded promptly to this matter, went above and beyond to help me and that's all one could ask for.

BMIT

I don't know man, carefully packaging hundreds of used drive back into a box to look like brand new is a lot of careful planning and hard work. "genuine mistake" ... cue Tui sign

Rikkitic

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#1735525 13-Mar-2017 08:37

If they are going to go to all the trouble to repackage something to make it seem new, surely they would have the sense to wipe the drive? Otherwise they are just asking for trouble. This looks like a genuine mistake to me.

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#1735528 13-Mar-2017 08:48

Rikkitic:

If they are going to go to all the trouble to repackage something to make it seem new, surely they would have the sense to wipe the drive? Otherwise they are just asking for trouble. This looks like a genuine mistake to me.

Maybe if it was 1 or 2 at most but people are reporting it happening years ago, It's also across more than 1 store and different brands of SSD's. Something is happening and it does not look good for pbtech.

No matter what they do people have purchased SSD's/HD's with other peoples data on it (in a couple of cases it's been school data). It will be interesting if anyone else picks up on what has been said here.

itxtme

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#1735552 13-Mar-2017 09:37

Not a good week for PBtech, this is on Reddit from their latest mailer

I just got PB Tech's latest mailer email this afternoon. I thought there might be an innocent reason for this snafu, but after looking closer, it turned out the broken image link was a solid black line.

1101

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#1735608 13-Mar-2017 11:07

This sort of stuff does happen. Quite common in IT to use a new drive to copy off data, then when finished sell
it off as new . Lets not pretend otherwise .
They should have been sold as "open packet" . Its not a mistake if it gets repackaged to look unused .

Who knows, it may been the supplier . It may have been a return for exchange of seemingly unopened goods.

NikT

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#1735828 13-Mar-2017 15:43

Hey guys,

Had some updates:

The service team were able to trace the movements of the two Apacer units which were sold from the Henderson branch using the serial numbers. Turns out these two were received in this state from the local supplier(!). We're in the process of chasing the supplier up for an explanation as well as getting hold of the school to figure out where in the supply chain this happened. Meanwhile Henderson have pulled back and inspected all Apacer SSDs on hand to confirm there are no further examples. We're tracking down all the units that were in that shipment to check if there are any more in a similar state.

The Intel unit sold in Christchurch, on the other hand, was reportedly a mislabelled customer return. How it ended up back on the shelf without being A. nuked, & B. clearly labelled as an open-box returned unit at a discount is currently being investigated by the store manager. Not cool.

Thanks all. More info as I get it.

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tripp

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#1735861 13-Mar-2017 16:41

NikT:

Hey guys,

Had some updates:

The service team were able to trace the movements of the two Apacer units which were sold from the Henderson branch using the serial numbers. Turns out these two were received in this state from the local supplier(!). We're in the process of chasing the supplier up for an explanation as well as getting hold of the school to figure out where in the supply chain this happened. Meanwhile Henderson have pulled back and inspected all Apacer SSDs on hand to confirm there are no further examples. We're tracking down all the units that were in that shipment to check if there are any more in a similar state.

The Intel unit sold in Christchurch, on the other hand, was reportedly a mislabelled customer return. How it ended up back on the shelf without being A. nuked, & B. clearly labelled as an open-box returned unit at a discount is currently being investigated by the store manager. Not cool.

Thanks all. More info as I get it.

Will there be spot checks of other products from the local supplier? Also do these Apacer units match everything that is on the box (serial numbers etc). Almost sounds like someone (3rd party tech) did a swap out of units and then charged the new units to the school and returned the old ones to supplier for credit/refund (like they pulled a fast one).

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#1735876 13-Mar-2017 16:53

CamH:

To their credit, our account manager is amazing, and he always checks everything for us before we arrive, and our staff have reported a much lower "obviously used" rate when they pickup purchases in the past 6 months.

+1 on this my account manager at the Christchurch store (Anthony) goes out of his way whenever I place an order to make sure everything is as it should be and either is ready to be picked up when I want or sent out asap.

Sad to see a couple of mistakes happen but they do happen. I am sure the number of sales compared to the number of mistakes would be pretty low.

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#1735882 13-Mar-2017 17:12

itxtme:

Not a good week for PBtech, this is on Reddit from their latest mailer

This issue was already posted earlier in the topic:

Lias:

PB Tech not having a good week lol.

Thread blowing up over on Reddit / GPForums / Twitter

https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/5yw51a/really_pb_tech/?st=j067ah9c&sh=48b71a54

http://www.gpforums.co.nz/threads/517735-PB-Tech-is-being-racshist

TL;DR version, PBTech have a black line graphic referenced in their HTML code as "Nigger Line 780"

"Niger" means black and "Nigger" is a corruption of the same (Nigra is the Latin feminine form of niger (black)). It appears historically (e.g. in the KJV Bible http://bibliaparalela.com/multi/acts/13-1.htm) and I've often seen it used in graphics. That's why I think that the PBTech graphic may have been a typo, ie. spell check translation or someone who wasn't familiar with the term and changed it to a term they knew.

Rikkitic

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#1735884 13-Mar-2017 17:19

I don't know if you are right but that is certainly possible. It makes sense. People are quick to think the worst, especially those lacking Latin in their education, but I have doubts about someone going out of their way to be so obscurely insulting.

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richms

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#1735897 13-Mar-2017 17:38

Mspec:

+1 on this my account manager at the Christchurch store (Anthony) goes out of his way whenever I place an order to make sure everything is as it should be and either is ready to be picked up when I want or sent out asap.

Sad to see a couple of mistakes happen but they do happen. I am sure the number of sales compared to the number of mistakes would be pretty low.

Anthony was my manager when he was at north shore.

Good guy, very helpful.

Richard rich.ms

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