Caveat emptor, dear reader.
After assurances in an initial phone conversation with an Ace employee that Ace had the refurbished printer in stock, that it came with 4 ink cartridges installed, and that it would ship in 1-3 days -- all as advertised online at their Aceofficemachines.com site -- I went ahead with the purchase of their HP Officejet Pro 8600 Inkjet Printer for a total $320.32 including shipping charges on September 21.
Time went by. More phone conversations with Ace staff "Austin," "Max," and "John," but no printer. Because my card had not yet been charged, I kept my concerns in check.
My card was charged on October 4, and I received an email that a FedEx label was printed, but FedEx had not yet received the item.
October 12, no printer, no communication from Ace, and "label printed" same info but no item yet received by FedEx. Yet Ace had my money for 8 days.
I called Ace on the phone throughout the day of October 12 and spoke to "Austin," "John," and "Max," numerous times to let them know that I believed I was being played, that I believed they were not acting in good faith, that I believed their reassurances were not sincere assistance, that the situation was not acceptable, and that they could prove me wrong by actually shipping me the printer in good working order that I purchased and for which they had already been paid.
John sent me the following email:
Admin <*******@acedepot.com> Tue, Oct 12,2021 at 5:13 PM
" Hi! I just called my local FedEx and they still do have the package. Supposedly the item arrived without a label and because of it the package wasn't able to move forward. I will pick the item back up here in a few and will reinspect it to ensure that the item is okay and I will have it reshipped today with expedited shipping. Again I truly do apologize about this inconvenience and will contact you once it has been dropped off and I make sure they scan it."
October 13, I received a FedEx notice that the item was on the way... from Utah.
October 18, I received an Officejet Pro 8600 Inkjet Printer from B&H Printer, West Valley City, Utah. I never heard of them, and I have no idea how they got involved in this transaction. And the printer I received from them is unusable. Clearly, no one "reinspect[ed] it to ensure that the item is okay."
The delivery box did not include a cable for me to plug the printer into the USB connection on my computer, nor are there any ink cartridges... none. I called Ace to say as much, and I received the same boiler-plate response from "Max" that I was given every other time I called them... "we'll notify our team and get back to you within 24 hours." My experience is that they do not call back... ever.
In the meantime, in order to test the printer I received, I borrowed a cable and ink cartridges from a friend who has this printer. The printer turns on; that is all it does. After 2 attempts to "align" -- as required in the setup process -- I keep getting blurred printouts and a message that the alignment was "unsuccessful" which means the printer heads do not align and most likely need to be replaced which would have been done in a refurbish. I attempted to print some images from my computer, and the printouts are simply smears of ink on the pages. For both the black and color settings. This machine was not "refurbished" at all. With no USB cable, no ink cartridges, and clear malfunctions, this printer is not what I ordered, was not refurbished, and is unusable.
A month into this transaction, and after asking all the right questions upfront before I purchased the printer, after chasing its whereabouts with multiple phone calls on multiple days, and after receiving this unusable machine, I believe I have, in fact, been played, and that all the Ace staff involved knew exactly what they were doing and saying.