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06-05-2021, 07:20 PM   #1
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Shady Amazon Warehouse DA* 50-135mm F2.8

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Wondering if anyone has any insight on this...

I saw a DA* 50-135mm for a good price on Amazon. It was listed as Like new with "box damage" and sold from Amazon warehouse. I've bought box damaged items from Amazon warehouse before and they have arrived looking brand new, so I took a shot on this one.

The lens arrived today. It came in a the standard Ricoh grey box. It looked clean, but there was a bit of wear where the lens hood attaches and marks on the mounting ring. So it wasn't brand new, that's ok. The SDM works, and I've heard the newer DA* lenses have a better SDM mechanism than the earlier runs. So then I came here to check the serial number to see just how new it is. The serial number is 9111328! not only is it older, but it's already in the Serial number database and has an original date of May 2010!! (and it was second hand back then.) The Ricoh warranty card was blank for the model and for the serial number.

I have no idea how Amazon got a 11+ year old lens and it's in the newer ricoh grey box (I believe the lenses of that era still shipped in the Pentax green box).

Any ideas on this? Not sure if it has somehow been refurbished by Ricoh then resold through amazon, or if some other crazy thing has happened!

06-05-2021, 07:37 PM   #2
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That’s wild. Were any issues listed in the database? On Amazon, was it listed as used or refurbished or something else? All very strange. I wonder how the lister in the serial number database got rid of it, are they still here?
06-05-2021, 07:40 PM   #3
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You should contact Amazon and let them know. Tell them the story and that you want to return it and see what they say. It's possible they would refund you AND let you keep the item. Amazon Warehouse is mostly stuff that has already been returned, sometimes they just take the loss. I think they call it something like returnable or refundable item.
06-05-2021, 08:33 PM - 3 Likes   #4
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Simple. Someone bought it, swapped it with their old lens, returned that and kept the new one.

06-05-2021, 11:35 PM - 1 Like   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Simple. Someone bought it, swapped it with their old lens, returned that and kept the new one.
If that's the case, what shocking behaviour Surely that's fraud, or perhaps even theft?

I wonder if folks doing such things realise they're gradually making things more expensive for - and retailers less trusting of - the rest of us?
06-06-2021, 12:31 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Simple. Someone bought it, swapped it with their old lens, returned that and kept the new one.
This is the most likely scenario. Amazon will have taken a cursory glance and won't have spotted the clues. You also need to wonder if it was switched because the old one had issues. Contact Amazon and give them a potted version of the full story. They may decide it isn't worth returning. Stranger things have happened
06-06-2021, 01:16 AM - 1 Like   #7
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Is there a serial number on the box?

06-06-2021, 03:02 AM - 1 Like   #8
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Working at Home Depot this is not an uncommon thing for people to try and sometimes successfully pull off. Checking the serial number registration also shows the member who registered the lens member info. Also it shows that person according to their registration purchased it off Craigslist May 2010. That is not to say they were the ones who swapped it on Amazon but from experience it is strongly a swapped lens.
06-06-2021, 04:16 AM - 1 Like   #9
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Complain to Amazon. They will know who sent the old lens back to them and can deal.with the fraudster as they see fit.

06-06-2021, 06:21 AM - 1 Like   #10
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I’d contact Amazon as suggested. It is possible the lens was fraudulently sent back, it could be refurbished etc. let Amazon offer their suggestions for resolving this.
06-06-2021, 07:23 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
If that's the case, what shocking behaviour Surely that's fraud, or perhaps even theft?

I wonder if folks doing such things realise they're gradually making things more expensive for - and retailers less trusting of - the rest of us?
Of course it is theft, happens all the time. And I can assure you the thieves do not give one iota of a thought about making things worse for the rest of us. A huge percentage of Americans *love* to steal (especially from big companies or the government) -- *if* they can get away with it. They'll brag about it. You'll hear people bragging about stealing something they didn't even steal just to brag about stealing. Sticking it to the man and all that. (And in some circumstances, it is hard to even say that they are wrong, but that's another subject.)
06-06-2021, 07:54 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Simple. Someone bought it, swapped it with their old lens, returned that and kept the new one.
yep

QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
If that's the case, what shocking behaviour Surely that's fraud, or perhaps even theft?I wonder if folks doing such things realise they're gradually making things more expensive for - and retailers less trusting of - the rest of us?
It's rampant, especially on Amazon. People just don't care and have no shame in doing this kind of thing.

QuoteOriginally posted by slartibartfast01 Quote
Complain to Amazon. They will know who sent the old lens back to them and can deal.with the fraudster as they see fit.
Amazon will do exactly nothing. They don't care, it's a cost of doing business. They will probably try to resell it again to some other unsuspecting customer.
06-06-2021, 08:03 AM   #13
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Amazon will in some rare cases bar a customer for abuse if they return a very high percentage of items (and lots of high-ticket items). But they aren't going to open up a "case of the swapped lens" for a single event -- very unlikely. Hopefully an item that is returned more than once or is flagged as "shady" somehow will be demoted and not simply resold. Most lower-ticket items go through the process described in this article (or are just tossed out immediately):

What Happens After Consumers Return Items to Amazon? | Reveel
06-06-2021, 08:34 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Amazon will in some rare cases bar a customer for abuse if they return a very high percentage of items (and lots of high-ticket items). But they aren't going to open up a "case of the swapped lens" for a single event -- very unlikely. Hopefully an item that is returned more than once or is flagged as "shady" somehow will be demoted and not simply resold. Most lower-ticket items go through the process described in this article (or are just tossed out immediately):

What Happens After Consumers Return Items to Amazon? | Reveel
That article suggests the customer pays for return shipping costs. That isn't the case in the UK.
Here is an extreme example of fraudulent returns.
https://tamebay.com/2019/08/biggest-amazon-fraud-ever-in-eu-discovered.html

06-06-2021, 08:51 AM   #15
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I've never had to pay return shipping, but then all my returns are either specified as "free returns" or because of a defect where I shouldn't have to. (Also I'm a Prime member.) You don't even have to box things up anymore for return shipping -- most things you can just take to a local UPS store and flash your return bar code and you'll get a credit almost immediately. The overall percentage of returns from online shopping is staggering -- something like 30% of all items I think. (If I didn't know that, I'd guess something like 10% at most.)
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