K2 Plus Combo Refurbished Experience

Flagship K Series Creality Flagship K2 Plus & CFS
1

I bought a K2 Plus Combo + CR-Scan Raptor 3D scanner value set from eBay.

It’s this the one to be exact.

The seller is creality_refurbished, who is the official refurbished division of Creality.

The condition is listed as ‘Certified - Refurbished’, which means the following;

Appearance: Pristine, like-new condition.
Performance: Works like new, meets the manufacturer’s specifications.

Creality also added a note saying, ‘This refurbished product has undergone professional inspection and thorough cleaning by Creality’s certified engineers. Every component has been carefully checked to ensure optimal performance. You may notice minor traces indicating functional testing, which are normal signs of our rigorous quality verification process. Rest assured, all functions operate perfectly, delivering the same reliability as a new unit.’

So, I expected nothing less than a pristine, like-new unit.

However, the 3D printer came with the following issues;

  1. Right side threaded rod bent and wobbles around badly whenever print bed is moved up or down

  2. Bottom door hinge detached from the glass door

  3. The bottom hinge screws completely stripped the screw holes on the printer body that somebody jammed in 2 small springs to secure the screws in the holes. Even then the screws holding the hinge were loose.

  4. One of the 485 cables came with a damaged connector

  5. CFS unit is heavily worn that the silvery paint scratched off exposing bare plastic underneath all over the unit

  6. Missing spare nozzle, USB port silicone cap ripped off, CFS lid lock broke off and the list goes on

I contacted the Creality seller on eBay but they would not respond for 2 days until I wrote an email to Creality customer support directly.

I sent pictures and videos highlighting the issues discovered in just 2 days of ownership and asked to have the printer replaced with one that actually meets the advertised condition, which is Pristine and Like-New.

After a few days of back and forth, they agreed to replace the unit and sent me a pre-paid label but it did not include a pickup service by the courier meaning I would have to haul this 121 lb package to a local UPS store and drop off.

What a pain, but I did that and send them a picture of the return receipt and asked to send a replacement asap, making sure this time they send one that is Pristine and Like-New as advertised.

And I got this reply from them.

We will do our best to ship you a machine that meets standards. Since refurbished machines are shipped randomly from our warehouse, we cannot confirm the exact condition of the machine you receive.

What? Seriously?

The best they can do is to ship some random unit without confirming exact condition?

There should only be one condition, ‘Pristine, Like-New’.

If they are not, don’t advertise as such!

Am I supposed to inspect-return, inspect-return until I come across one that actually meets the advertised condition?

What about this assurance they have on their listing? That reads;

This refurbished product has undergone professional inspection and thorough cleaning by Creality’s certified engineers. Every component has been carefully checked to ensure optimal performance.

I have been 3D printing for over 13 years and I was so much looking forward to owning this flagship unit from one of the leading 3D printer manufacturer Creality and this is what happened.

Granted, a new unit would have been a different experience.

However, when they advertise refurbished units as pristine and like-new, they better mean it.

I asked to ship out a replacement asap, but again there is no response for days now.

I don’t know when they would ship, what condition it would be in this time.

I can’t recommend buying their refurbished units regardless of the condition they are advertised as.

Per the Creality refurbished eBay outlet, you will get some random unit with zero guarantee of the condition it is in even though they advertise as ‘pristine, like-new’.

I will update once I get a replacement.

2 Likes
2

After 4 days of silence, they finally replied and said they will ship replacement ONLY AFTER I confirm my address.

This is going to take another 1~3 more days because now it’s the weekend.

If I moved and address had changed, wouldn’t I have told them about it already?

Come on, if verifying address was part of their process, they had the past 5 days to ask.

Another excuse to delay few more days, but for what?

Just to piss off a customer who is already pissed off?

Fine, if this is the game they want to play, I will play along until I get what was promised however many returns it takes.

3

For those who are considering to buy Creality’s ‘Certified - Refurbished’ printers, here is another update.

Two weeks after shipping back the broken and worn down unit, a replacement unit arrived today.

Yup, it took them 2 weeks.

Again, I purchased ‘Certified - Refurbished’, which is described as ‘Pristine, like-new condition’.

This time, the replacement came with the following issues.

  1. Bottom hinge detached from the glass door.

  2. Left-side lead screw (ie. threaded rod) bent.

  3. Lead screw top cover bent upwards on both sides and plastic washers holding the lead screws in place are lost.

  4. One of the 3 air vent covers is missing

  5. CFS clear lid has huge scuffs on top and front sides

  6. USB port silicone cover ripped off

  7. Print bed damaged

  8. Nicks, dings and scuffs all over the printer body itself

If the printer was listed and sold as ‘Used’, I can understand.

But this was and still being sold as ‘Pristine, like-new condition’, just one level below ‘New’.

I’ve requested to have it replaced again.

Let’s see what they have to say this time and how long it takes.

When the next replacement unit arrives, I plan on shooting an unboxing video and post it on YouTube.

I don’t understand why the Creality eBay seller is keep saying that refurbished printers are sent randomly from the factory that they cannot guarantee condition of the unit, yet they advertise these printers as ‘Certified - Refurbished’ and ‘Pristine, Like-New’ condition.

There should not be anything random about the condition, it should be ‘Pristine, Like-New’, period.

Anyways, I will update again once I receive the 3rd unit from them, this time with an unboxing video.

Be about 2 weeks+.

1 Like
4

In Creality’s eBay product description, they wrote; This refurbished product has undergone professional inspection and thorough cleaning by Creality’s certified engineers. Every component has been carefully checked to ensure optimal performance.

But I found this to be not true at all because when I look at the print log, there is no test print done by their engineers.

Both printers only contained print logs from their respective previous owners, one from April of this year for 1 week and the other from June of this year for 2 weeks respectively and nothing outside those short periods.

Creality did not even bother to reset the printers such that the printers still had the names and IDs of the previous owners!

Basically, when Creality receives customer return printers, they ship them right back out as ‘Certified - Refurbished’ without even resetting the printers or clearing the logs, let alone inspect/test/refurbish.

That is why these refurbished printers are in such horrible conditions, and Creality can only tell me that these printers are randomly shipped and cannot guarantee their exact condition. What a joke!

Creality offered to send me replacement parts to fix all the issues I identified.

Basically, they want us to fix these customer return units rather than using their own engineers.

According to eBay, the ‘Certified’ condition carries the highest rating for a refurbished product that per eBay’s own words, they should be ‘Pristine, like-new’ with ‘no visible wear’.

But the actual quality of the printers they ship is more like ‘Used’ or ‘For parts or not working’.

When I point out the difference between what’s promised on their listing and what’s delivered, they told me ‘Certified - Refurbished’ does not mean ‘brand new’.

Seriously? Is that all they can come back with? But sorry, I never asked for a ‘brand new’ unit.

I only ask for what was promised on their listing that reads ‘Pristine, like-new’ with ‘no visible wear’.

Anyways, they are offering like $15 or $50 partial refund to keep the broken and worn down unit along with some replacement parts to self-repair.

What a joke.

1 Like
5

Finally, Creality agreed to send me all replacement parts I asked for with a small partial refund as a good-will gesture.

They tried to convince me that ‘some scratches’ are allowed for ‘Certified - Refurbished’ units that carries an eBay quality guarantee that reads ‘Pristine, like-new’ and ‘no visible wear’.

But after some back and forth, they finally agreed to replace not only functionally defective parts but most of the cosmetically defective parts as well.

I specifically asked that they send ‘new’ replacement parts and not some ‘refurbished’ parts with potential quality issues.

Let’s see if the replacement parts they send are actually quality new parts.

It has been 26 days since I made my purchase and I still don’t have a fully working printer.

Definitely not the experience I was hoping for, but with a bit of patience and convincing, it is getting there.

I will update again once I receive the replacement parts and see if the printer can finally be restored to a good working condition.

1 Like
6

45 days later, here is another update.

All of the parts they agreed to replace have finally arrived, except the CFS top cover.

There have been 5 separate shipments from China and their warehouse in US to get me those parts.

Why so many shipments?

Because they have been kept sending the wrong parts and/or parts arrived damaged due to poor packaging.

For example, the CFS top cover was first sent the wrong part (CFS bottom gray shell instead of the top cover) from China.

The second time they sent the correct CFS top cover but the packaging was some minimal amount of bubble wrap that the corner of the clear acrylic top cover broke off during transit.

Then I asked to resend the CFS top cover inside a box to avoid damage but they still shipped the next CFS cover in exactly the same bubble wrap and it came broke just like the previous one.

Now I am waiting for them to ship the CFS top cover for the 3rd time and I don’t know if they would listen and ship it in a box this time or not.

Every time something goes wrong with the shipment, I have to send them pictures/videos of the package received and problems identified.

Had I not taken pictures of the package as they have arrived, I might not have received replacements.

Anyways, 45 days later, the case still has not closed.

The printer however after replacing all the damaged parts, works like champ.

There have been issues of nozzle clogging and stuff, but that’s just part of the getting to know the machine and there has not been a single issue that I could not find a solution for yet.

So, let’s see if they could finally send me the dreadful CFS top cover in one piece to complete this refurbished purchase experience once and for all.

2 Likes
7

Finally, CFS top cover, the last replacement item arrived in a box this time (as opposed to some minimal bubble warp) and in one piece.

53 days after purchase, I finally received all replacement parts to restore the refurbished unit back to mint condition.

It took a lot of patience and back and forth, but eventually, Creality made it right.

Was it worth the trouble?

Well, unlike the K2 plus combo unit that came with a lot of issues initially, the Raptor 3D scanner received was brand new, not even an open-box, but unopened, brand new unit.

No complaint there.

The K2 plus combo unit had some issues identified in the OP and took 53 days and 1 return trip to drop off 126 lb package to UPS before receiving all replacement parts, now it is restored to the advertised condition of Pristine and Like-New condition.

For both the printer and scanner, I ended up paying just under $1300 including tax.

That’s less than half of buying new units would cost.

I had to pull hair at times, but when you look at the savings I’m thinking it was worth the trouble.

So, if you are thinking of buying a Creality refurbished printer from their eBay outlet, be prepared to fix it yourself after get them to agree to send you replacement parts you need.

Despite their eBay claim, the printers would not be in pristine, like-new condition.

Expect broken pieces, bent rods, scratches and dings.

Don’t expect Creality will send you all the right parts the first time.

There will be wrong/damaged parts received and you’d have to show them the problems before they would resend the correct parts again.

If you don’t mind all that, you are in for a great savings.

2 Likes
8

I had a similar experience with Creality E-bay Refurb store.
I bought a K2 Plus Combo. It arrived and I had to lug it up to the third 3 of my apartment.
The box had Micro center return instructiuons on it. ( Must have been a MC return) I opened up the box and found; That the CFS unit was placed inside of the unit with broken shipping supports. Not sure if they were damaged in shipping or not…. The CFS had 3 x 1kg open spools of filament in it. Plus for me.
I unpacked it, went to install the touch screen, powered on the unit and found that the touch screen does not work. I tried rebooting, re-attaching the cable; I could get it to display but no responce from touch.
I contacted the Creality Ebay store they were slow to repsond thorugh ebay messaging… I reched out to Creality through their app and their Creality support FB page. They asked for info; serial# pictures / video of problem. it took a few days and they sent a replacement screen and cable. hooked it up and now it works!

2 Likes
9

Glad to hear you got it all working now.

It’s wrong for Creality to advertise and sell customer return units as Factory Refurbished, Pristine, Like-New units.

They don’t even bother to open up customer returned packages to assess condition of the units, let along do any repair work.

They ship it right back out as Factory Refurbished, which carries Pristine and Like-New guarantee per eBay.

Creality’s math is that if customer accepts, that’s a win for Creality.

If they don’t, Creality will offer replacement parts for the problems reported and expect the customer to fix the unit with their time and effort.

That’s still a win for Creality because they didn’t have to hire technicians to inspect and repair these printers.

But then that is also how some handy customers like you and I could get these awesome printers at steep discounts.

It’s wrong, but I’m not complaining.