The Ebay marketplace has many Harmony controllers for sale. But, there are some risks.....

Sometimes, customers tell me that they are thinking about purchasing a Harmony remote on Ebay. “Sure”, I tell them, “you can probably find a Harmony Remote on Ebay that will meet your needs” But, before you press the trigger on a purchase over in the ‘Wild West’, there are a few things you should know:

• Harmony units are often sold by large electronics recyclers and auction houses and these sellers typically do not have the time, expertise or incentive to do the rigorous testing that we do here. Worse yet, these sellers will sometimes open these units to ‘fix’ them and this will not be disclosed. The work that we have found is frequently shoddy and unprofessional. I can’t count the number of times  that units, purchased on the ‘bay, have been sent to us to correct deficiencies.

  

•  Large consumer electronics re-sellers are typically not Harmony experts, even though they may sell many units. We know – they often contact us for advice and send units to us for refurbishment. They are unfamiliar with the differences between hardware versions and often package the units with incompatible batteries, power adapters, etc. Many of these units are ‘seconds’, though you won’t be told this.   

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• Although there is less risk purchasing from an individual who is simply upgrading, you still won’t know what you’re getting. Sometimes, sellers don’t even know that something is wrong! For example, we have customers who did not realize that the Harmony One has a tilt-sensor (aka ‘motion sensor’), because it never worked, even when new out of the box! Sometimes, a seller has had their Harmony replaced under warranty and Logitech has disabled it so it can no longer be programmed. Even honest sellers may not realize this.

 

• Finally, and probably most importantly - these sellers are typically not interested in developing a relationship with you. It’s ‘Buy and Good-Bye’. If you need after-sale support, or have any questions or concerns, you are usually out of luck. On the other hand, we here at HRR are dedicated to the Harmony community and we will always do our best to ensure that every unit we sell, every repair we do, and every part we provide exceeds your expectations. That’s just who we are, (and our 90-day warranty on unit sales is not too shabby either). I hope you will consider doing business with us!