Do not buy Used Meraki Equipment from eBay Or Any Unauthorized Used Equipment reseller

[Jack]

I like to share with you guys my horrible experience buying my one and only used meraki equipment on ebay, MS220-48P POE Switch. 

So i bought this used switch from ebay and purchased a new 3 years license from meraki to go with it. All working fine after 1+ month later that switch fail. I created a ticket with meraki and they verified the switch is defactive and issued a RMA for me. 1 day later they call me back saying that the RMA team found out that the switch belongs to another organization and i told  them i bought it from the other organization thru ebay since they no longer need it. Then Meraki told me that they are not able to sent me a RMA becasue that switch is registerd to original purchaser and that name cannot be change or transfer.  They also told me im not able to return my 3 year license since its over the 30 days return policy. So i end up with a dead switch + 3 years lincense doing nothing. 

Warranties are Non-transferable

Any warranty still valid on a Cisco Meraki device will not be transferred to a new owner if it is sold between third parties. As such, should the device fail, it will not qualify for an RMA. Cisco Meraki Warranty policies can be found here.

[MerakiDave]

Unfortunate situation and sorry to hear this.  To comment on some other points: No, this is not an attempt by Meraki to simply sell more equipment, and yes, this is legal under the California laws where Cisco/Meraki are headquartered.  And there are no 3rd party beneficiaries to the original agreement.  Agreements are honored in the case of company mergers, as there's a clear legal transfer of assets and ownership.

What it really comes down to is that when the equipment was originally purchased, the legally binding agreement is between Cisco/Meraki and the original owner.  That's the part that cannot be transferred, because an eBay seller is not an authorized seller/reseller.  There's a definite risk (regardless of vendor) when buying used equipment on the grey market, because it's completely outside the terms of the original agreement. 

That said, my suggestion would be to do it again!  That is, since you probably spent a couple hundred dollars on the license which is now doing nothing, and the 30-day RMA window has passed, just purchase another MS220-48P on eBay (perhaps for under $100) and apply the license you already have, and hopefully the hardware doesn't fail in the next couple years.  Might be the best way to recover some of what you already spent.

[Jack]

Hi MerakiDave,

Thanks for your explanation. MS220-48P cost $1000 used on ebay the time i bought it ( now it's around $800) . If its only $100 I won't even bother posting this.. I understand everything Meraki does are legal but don't seem to be fair to me. My suggestion to meraki is if there is a change of ownership then meraki could provide a option to transfer the ownership for a premium cost. Thats a win win sutuation. Meraki earn a new customer + profit and the Used equipment don't get wasted in the landfill.

[Bogge]

This whole discussion is rather troublesome...
I see it from an enviromental point of view; does Meraki really want a lot of used equipment just gathering dust on the shelves? This is most disturbing!

[PhilipDAth]

From an environmental view; why not send the old kit to a scrap metal dealer?

That's what we do.

[Jack]

Ideally, we want Meraki to allow us to change of ownership even with a high premium. That's a win-win situation. Meraki earn a new customer + profit and the Used equipment doesn't get wasted in the landfill.

[PhilipDAth]

Meraki does not prevent you changing ownership @Jack.  The old owner has to remove the kit from their dashboard so that the new owner can claim it.

What Meraki does stop stolen kit from being re-used.  If you can't get the "previous" (claimed) owner to remove the kit from their Dashboard then I would say it is pretty dodgy, and should not be allowed by Meraki.

[Jack]

Hi PhilipDAth,

I bought the used Meraki Equipment from the previous owners (Not Stolen) and they did unclaimed it from their dashboard and I claim it on mine without any issue. I was also able to use it for about 5 weeks without noticing any issue. I also bought a full 3-year license which should include "warranty to the device". What I found out is Meraki will not honor the "Lifetime Warranty" part if the equipment if purchased from an unauthorized Meraki seller in this case the owner of the device. I still have the 48 port switch + 2+ years license with me in my office as decoration LOL. Hopefully, Meraki will change some policy and I can RMA the item in the future.

[BlakeRichardson]

@Bogge equipment does have an operational lifespan i.e. you dont hold onto outdated equipment just because it still works, if that was the case I would still be using 10/100 hubs.......

We donate our old equipment where possible and recycle the rest. Anything thats broken or faulty is thrown in the skip. 

[Bogge]

@BlakeRichardson I totally agree with that and old network-equipment doesn´t have any gurantee left anyway. My point is that the guarantee for a product shouldn´t just end because the owner change. You have to buy Enterprise license for your Meraki-equipment anyway. There are many Switches on ebay that you still can bye new from a reseller. I am a full-stack customer and want to exchange my old Cisco with Meraki and one point to reduce the cost is to bye some Switches on ebay for clients and at the same time do something environmentally friendly! I think Cisco Meraki should encourage that instead of skipping the warranty.

[kevinfor]

Jack,

Contact the Ebay Seller and politely explain what happened and for them to request a HW Exchange from Meraki (since they are the original purchaser) & when it arrives you will pay them the shipping to have the new hardware shipped to you...  problem solved.

Now the Ebay seller can 'choose" to be helpful in this or they can tell you to 'go jump in the lake" - if that's the case time to play 'Hardball" and get a 100% Refund on your purchase while also keeping the equipment and the Ebay Seller gets negative feedback..

Ebay & Paypal offer a "resolution" process (which is usually 30 days) but the truth of 'why" it exists is to avoid you contacting your Credit Card company for a 'chargeback" because it raises Paypal merchant fees (or if chargebacks get too high say 25% of all sales Visa/MC/Amex could drop them...)  you can file Chargeback up to 180 days after purchase.. if the purchase was over 6 months ago & you paid using an AMEX Card you have 1year "extended warranty" program you can make a claim with …. what you say in the chargeback matters.. "Meraki has stated (in writing & in this message thread) they have a lifetime warranty and the item qualifies to be fixed/replaced - to the original owner, this was not clearly stated in the ebay posting by the seller.. either a full refund and I'll return the defective item to the Ebay Seller... or get me a new unit from Meraki..  Now Paypal will retaliate by saying you "waved your right to a chargeback" by opening an account with them & close down your Paypal account (VISA/MC/AMEX will disagree and ignore them and continue with the Chargeback process)

One final note Paypal is NOT a Bank/Financial institution (not subject to certain laws/consumer protections a customer receives from the U.S. Treasury occ.treas.gov (banks) or CFPB.gov (credit cards) if your a small business and your sales jump 50%  -Paypal can ask you 'why" and request copies of your internal business documents (wholesale invoices, name of all suppliers etc)  if you don't comply "that's our confidential internal business info.."  they will SEIZE ALL of your money (a 6 month Freeze on your Paypal account) then after 180 days turn the funds over to your local State Government "lost & found /abandon property/accounts dept... - that can put your company "out of business"  A Bank/Financial institution would NEVER do this - they would file something called an SAP (Suspicious Activity Report) to alert the IRS.gov - when you file your tax returns - they say everything is OK... or the IRS audits you...  always have a 2nd backup bank.. never keep your eggs all in one basket..

[Bogge]

Well, dumping fully working equipment in not our company policy, and should not be any companys policy! 

[GaryShainberg]

This is a very interesting topic and I hope "the seniors" at Cisco Meraki are following this thread.

There are many great points raised here including the issue of old equipment and disposing of it in a sustainable way that could also benefit people and organisations that may not be able to buy new.

Also surely every Meraki product in service is one more product in service that is not a competitors and for some people may be the first step on the ladder for an organisation committing to $000's investment.

Yes we all know that Meraki have many ways one can get free kit or try-before-you-buy but some companies either cant or are not allowed to use the routes.

I am at a loss to understand what Cisco Meraki are trying to prevent by this.

On eBay 75% of the Meraki kit is people selling their free NEW unregistered hardware from doing the Webinars about 15% is genuine second hard kit, 5% is stolen (a total guess / assumption and this does not work as its registered to a dashboard) and 5% grey importers, so the true impact of official re-sellers is actually very small.

Again if someone buys a MR or MS on ebay and gets  a 3 year licence from a official re-seller thats 3 years where they will not invest in Ubiquity, Rukus, Netgear etc etc and in my experience will 99% of the time, lead to more Meraki kit being used and licenced.

Surely a win:win for Cisco Meraki ?

[Miketada]

Thanks Jack! Very good to know as we were looking at buying switches and because we already have Meraki firewalls, AP's, and the dashboard, thought it would be a good idea to buy the switches as well. Now that I know this and see the greed involved, I will recommend something more suited for our small business. I guess when you get big enough, businesses will use your products and services unconsciously! Will definitely look for new devices from a business that cares about customers as much as the bottom line when the existing devices die, or the current licenses run out! Even the giants fall when money becomes the only concern!  

[Jack]

Meraki makes great switches. Just don't buy them used. Their MSRP are ridicules priced. Try to work with your rep For a good price and hopefully you can stay with full stack Meraki for a single pane of glass control.