4 ms·

I've seen a similar situation about five years ago when I was testing USB pendrives for a local paper. It turned out it was close to impossible to get two piece

by fridek 12y ago

I've seen a similar situation about five years ago when I was testing USB pendrives for a local paper. It turned out it was close to impossible to get two pieces with the same specs and performance, even though they were branded with the same name. I've heard similar stories about HDDs having different controllers, number of discs and so on. Luckily in EU one can return within two weeks anything ordered online, so a simple solution is to order, test and return if it doesn't match expectations.

ciupicri 12y ago
Return something that was taken out of the box and used?!
- maaaats 12y ago
  In my country (Norway in Europe, but not EU member): Yes. But you cannot "use the product as your own", just open it and test that it meets your expectations.
- atopal 12y ago
  Yes, indeed, with certain limitations, but it's quite common to order things online and send them back within two weeks – if you change your mind – usually without any penalties.
  - ciupicri 12y ago
    So the seller can impose some penalties if it wants to for example a restocking fee.
    - morsch 12y ago
      Not really, no. For the most part, you don't even pay for shipping.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- DanBC 12y ago
  Here are the English laws - the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesse... http://www.out-law.com/page-430 http://www.out-law.com/page-430
- barrkel 12y ago
  Yes; in UK, it's Distance Selling Regulations (DSR). You're better protected if you buy online than in a store, ironically. PS: I looked it up, and actually the DSR has been superseded as of yesterday (!) by Consumer Contracts Regulations, which ups the UK protection from 7 days to 14 days, bringing it into line with EU directives.
  - tomp 12y ago
    > You're better protected if you buy online than in a store, ironically. It's the only thing that makes sense, particularly if you want to instil trust in customers that buying online is "safe" and not prone to scams.
- SpaceRaccoon 12y ago
  Those damn socialists, amirite?
  - briandh 12y ago
    I'm not sure about online purchases -- except on Amazon, which is very liberal in what it accepts, in my experience -- but brick and mortar retailers in the US are often very open to accepting open goods for returns (and the Target I usually go to, for instance, often has returned, opened electronics in the clearance section). In my experience, it's not particularly unusual for grocery stores to take back open food, even. I have heard personally once, and online many times, from foreigners marvelling at how readily many US retailers will take returns, even for silly reasons. I am not aware of any regulations mandating such practices, though I suppose they could exist.
    - mikeash 12y ago
      I don't think it's required by law, since there are sellers with much less friendly return policies. But some sellers have learned that liberal return policies earn more business than the money they cost. Some just sort of unofficially try to keep customers happy, but some are up-front about it. Costco, for example, lets you return almost anything almost any time for any reason, or no reason. Electronics are limited to 90 days, but others have no limit. Bought some fruit that doesn't taste quite right, possibly because you left it in your car for two weeks? Just bring the moldy remains back. In the world of clothing, LL Bean and Lands' End are two examples where they take pretty much anything, any time. Lands' End even has an amusing story that they use to promote their crazy return policy, about a man who bought a collectible car from them as part of some promotion, and his widow returned it 20 years later after he died. (Two decades of inflation no doubt ate away at the true value of the refund, but still.) LL Bean will go out of their way to remind you of their policy. I had a button break on some pants and when I asked if I could get a replacement button somehow, they told me nope, just return them and we'll send you a new pair.
- fridek 12y ago
  Indeed, as long as it doesn't show any signs of usage. And as someone has mentioned, it works only when ordered and delievered - picking up something at the store makes return impossible (since one had a chance to see and evaluate the item).
  - judk 12y ago
    But for electronics you can't test the item in store.
agumonkey 12y ago
I've heard about HDD by recovery professionals trying to swap internals with hard time. But, even though it could look like some kind of voluntary lock in, to me it was normal production practice. Some batches of hdd with certain chipsets and later switching suppliers because of life means different chips.
- DanBC 12y ago
  They should give it a different model number.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    well, model numbers are fairly large, it's probably the case, but it's hard to infer what mean the last X digits.

by fridek 12y ago

ciupicri 12y ago

Return something that was taken out of the box and used?!

maaaats 12y ago
In my country (Norway in Europe, but not EU member): Yes. But you cannot "use the product as your own", just open it and test that it meets your expectations.
atopal 12y ago
Yes, indeed, with certain limitations, but it's quite common to order things online and send them back within two weeks – if you change your mind – usually without any penalties.
- ciupicri 12y ago
  So the seller can impose some penalties if it wants to for example a restocking fee.
  - morsch 12y ago
    Not really, no. For the most part, you don't even pay for shipping.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
DanBC 12y ago
Here are the English laws - the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesse... http://www.out-law.com/page-430 http://www.out-law.com/page-430
barrkel 12y ago
Yes; in UK, it's Distance Selling Regulations (DSR). You're better protected if you buy online than in a store, ironically. PS: I looked it up, and actually the DSR has been superseded as of yesterday (!) by Consumer Contracts Regulations, which ups the UK protection from 7 days to 14 days, bringing it into line with EU directives.
- tomp 12y ago
  > You're better protected if you buy online than in a store, ironically. It's the only thing that makes sense, particularly if you want to instil trust in customers that buying online is "safe" and not prone to scams.
SpaceRaccoon 12y ago
Those damn socialists, amirite?
- briandh 12y ago
  I'm not sure about online purchases -- except on Amazon, which is very liberal in what it accepts, in my experience -- but brick and mortar retailers in the US are often very open to accepting open goods for returns (and the Target I usually go to, for instance, often has returned, opened electronics in the clearance section). In my experience, it's not particularly unusual for grocery stores to take back open food, even. I have heard personally once, and online many times, from foreigners marvelling at how readily many US retailers will take returns, even for silly reasons. I am not aware of any regulations mandating such practices, though I suppose they could exist.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    I don't think it's required by law, since there are sellers with much less friendly return policies. But some sellers have learned that liberal return policies earn more business than the money they cost. Some just sort of unofficially try to keep customers happy, but some are up-front about it. Costco, for example, lets you return almost anything almost any time for any reason, or no reason. Electronics are limited to 90 days, but others have no limit. Bought some fruit that doesn't taste quite right, possibly because you left it in your car for two weeks? Just bring the moldy remains back. In the world of clothing, LL Bean and Lands' End are two examples where they take pretty much anything, any time. Lands' End even has an amusing story that they use to promote their crazy return policy, about a man who bought a collectible car from them as part of some promotion, and his widow returned it 20 years later after he died. (Two decades of inflation no doubt ate away at the true value of the refund, but still.) LL Bean will go out of their way to remind you of their policy. I had a button break on some pants and when I asked if I could get a replacement button somehow, they told me nope, just return them and we'll send you a new pair.
fridek 12y ago
Indeed, as long as it doesn't show any signs of usage. And as someone has mentioned, it works only when ordered and delievered - picking up something at the store makes return impossible (since one had a chance to see and evaluate the item).
- judk 12y ago
  But for electronics you can't test the item in store.

agumonkey 12y ago

I've heard about HDD by recovery professionals trying to swap internals with hard time. But, even though it could look like some kind of voluntary lock in, to me it was normal production practice. Some batches of hdd with certain chipsets and later switching suppliers because of life means different chips.

DanBC 12y ago
They should give it a different model number.
- agumonkey 12y ago
  well, model numbers are fairly large, it's probably the case, but it's hard to infer what mean the last X digits.