This evening I went to the Fry's Electronics in Phoenix, Arizona to purchase a CD-ROM/DVD drive. I noticed several of the boxes have a sticker proclaiming that the item has been previously purchased and returned. The product may or may not have been opened and used.
How can Fry's legally sell previously used/installed merchandise just like new merchandise and for the same price?
I decided to purchase an EPO 16X DVD-ROM. There were no stickers on the box and it appeared to be brand new. On the side there is a yellow sticker announcing that WinDVD MPEG II Software Decoder is included.
When I got the drive home and opened it:
1. It appeared that the drive was previously used and made to look new. It was obvious that underneath the sticker stating a manufacture date of a few months ago, an older sticker had been torn away. Underneath the model number sticker was glue residue from another old sticker.
2. Upon closer inspection of the included software CD, I discovered that instead of the WinDVD as stated on the outside of the package, I had been given a lesser known program called PowerDVD.
3. Then after installing the drive and hitting the eject button for the first time, out came another PowerDVD CD! An obvious example of how this drive had been previously used, repacked and never even tested!
Who knows how long this unit was used and how much it was abused before being returned to the store.
I strongly recommend avoiding the purchase of hardware from Fry's Electronics!
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