Factory Refurb?

[BigElectricCat]

I'm new to rowing and have decided on Concept2 after a fair amount of research. I found a Model E for a good price in pristine condition from a private seller on Craigslist. It was manufactured in January, 2017 and has 1M meters on the odometer. Clean inside and out and the action is smooth. SN on the frame matches the number recorded in the PM5. What I'm curious about is that above the SN on the left side of the fan housing is printed "Model E - Refurbished". Does the factory have a program that sells refurbished units? I haven't seen anything like that on the C2 website.
Chris

[jackarabit]

Couple of candidates. Product renewal, refresh, or refurbishment is common practise among online sellers of high end electronics, personal devices. At best, that might mean grading of condition, cleaning, maybe a new battery, a missing bolt. A rather clever value added tax imo. So the rower in question may have been damaged and/or original inventory at pack incomplete. Energetic enuf to stamp may mean honest broker or just CYA reseller. Who knows? Ink stamp doesn’t mean the machine is necessarily inferior to a new C2 from Morrisville.

[jackarabit]

I had a closer look at the globalfitness.com biz model. Wholesaler dealing in gym equipment, buying and selling. Odds are your machine is used gym equipment. Gym machines get used and abused. Current owner should be willing to reveal what he knows of its history before he took possession. The million meters on the clock may not be, in fact quite likely is not, the meters on the rower mech.

[BigElectricCat]

The sticker looks pretty "factory" to me. This is my first attempt at attaching an image. Hope it works. In any case, the machine is pristine both inside and out. I have no concerns about misrepresentation. The lady I bought it from used to live in Morrisville.

ETA: Maybe I haven't posted enough to add attachments yet. My quota has been reached?

[Citroen]

Post your photo on https://imgur.com and it gives you a BBCode link you can use on here. Keep it below 1024 * 768 and it should fit OK.

[Ombrax]

ETA: Maybe I haven't posted enough to add attachments yet. My quota has been reached?

I'm not sure about rules for new users, but I do know that for me (i.e. not a new user) this forum has the most restrictive rules for attaching images.

One would think that computer memory today is as expensive as it was back in the 1970's - I would not be surprised at all if the images you tried to upload did not meet one of the image posting criteria rules enforced here.

[BigElectricCat]

Post your photo on https://imgur.com and it gives you a BBCode link you can use on here. Keep it below 1024 * 768 and it should fit OK.

Thanks for that! Image dropped.

[jackarabit]

FWIW:



Rogue Fitness in Columbus OH made a strong appearance as a C2 authorized retailer after 2014. The all black model D was presented as a “special” machine made exclusively for Rogue. The fitters must have ate that up. Scary black machine—ooh ooh. Were they big enuf to have a few retouched units in their way? Of course.

The post by Greg Hammond, presumably a C2 employee, does little to illuminate if (or how) Concept 2 liquidated returns, blems, etc. “C2 Jon” Wilson would almost certainly know.

[c2jonw]

The Concept2 "Factory Seconds" program started decades ago to deal with machines that were not up to full price standards. These machines were always functionally correct and carried the same warranty as a full price machine. FS machines were machines returned by customers to C2 within the 30 day trial period, factory blemishes, race machines, etc. Up until some years ago, factory seconds typically were not reboxed after inspection and were only available for pick up at the factory- the idea being to give locals and visitors a deal. FS rowers were sold for $100-$200 below retail price. Renamed "Factory Refurbished", as far as I know (been retired for 5 years now) the program is still happening with the major difference being the machines are now repackaged and can be shipped anywhere. It's not an advertised program but generally if you ask and machines are available you can get one. From the pic it looks like a C2 label but if you send the pic to C2 customer service they could tell you for sure. C2 Jon WILLIAMS

[jackarabit]

Took a while but we got there. Thanks for posting, Jon. Be thankful I got the first syllable of your surname correct. Enjoy your second-hand Rose, BigCat!

[BigElectricCat]

Thank you so much, Jon! That was informative and reassuring!