Has anyyone ever bought a B-stock waterblock? What was your experience?

Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Audioboxer

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Considering this for a 3080 because the model as new isn't in stock at the moment. I asked a question on the pre-sales forum and got a response accessories included couldn't be checked but any issues and I can happily return.

Not bothered about paste or even the thermal pads, as they can be replaced easily, it's more if essential accessories are missing then that really makes the block "DOA"! I have to say I did think OCUK would check that accessory critical parts were returned lol. Forum support was helpful though, just not sure how B-stock could potentially be sold if the customer cannot even use it :p
 
it would possibly be one of the easiest components to check to see if it was working or not. you woudlnt even need to install it just look and see if there are any cracks and that the orings are in place.

but no i havent ever bought one b grade.

EDIT - screws and stuff isnt something i would even have considered could be missing. you are correct and tbh i reckon that could be part of the reasons for it getting sent back to them.
 
D1craig said:
it would possibly be one of the easiest components to check to see if it was working or not. you woudlnt even need to install it just look and see if there are any cracks and that the orings are in place.

but no i havent ever bought one b grade.

EDIT - screws and stuff isnt something i would even have considered could be missing. you are correct and tbh i reckon that could be part of the reasons for it getting sent back to them.
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Yeah if there are screws or mounting parts missing you can't do much. I've never bought b-stock before, but I would have thought the warehouse would do some sort of check to see if what was returned was in resell condition.

Because there is missing parts/box and then not actually usable lol.

Postage to return to OCUK is on me, so just thought I'd ask before taking a punt.
 
Yeah I have bought 1 b grade block
Everything was there
Guess someone bought it decided they didn't like
The look of it or something
But yeah it's same if buy b grade monitors
They can't tell you if was returned for dead pixels
Though I have also bought b grade monitors
Those were also perfect
Still had plastic on screen surround etc
 
I've had 2 B-Grade CPU blocks and both are still absolutely fine and still in use to this day. All parts were included.
 
Bought quite a few.
Every time all the thermalpads and screws included.
Only once the CPU block had signs of ben opened, but I reopened and cleaned while checking everything was as expected. No issues, at least until now.
 
I recently bought a b grade 3080 EK block and back plate, it was all there, just opened up, however the rgb strip was faulty. OCUK stock the actual EK strip but it took a bit of back and forth to get one out of them, in the meantime EK themselves had agreed to send one out of europe if necessary. Several items of my new build came from the OCUK b grade bin, and overall was very happy with them.
 
Great start, DPD delivered to the wrong house (none of my next door neighbours) and now they're contacting the depot to try and get a hold of the driver to find out where he has left the package.

I don't recognise the front door in the drop off picture (no number visible) and I'm not about to go wandering adjacent streets lol.
 
Fixed, delivered much further down the street... lol. Two shipping parcels today though, so this one wasn't the blocks. Will update when they arrive later about the condition.
 
Bummer, block is in pretty poor condition. Doesn't contain any thermal pads, ok, they can be replaced, but it was still filled with some fluid and looks like someone punted it about lol. Missing quite a bit of the mounting pack as well.

How does OCUK even get these returns? Like, surely they aren't b-stocking stuff returned due to faults? Just 14 day returns or something? This really doesn't look like 14 days use... Companies should be refusing returns if buyers take the mick with accessories as well. Unless we're talking perishables/one time use stuff, all accessories necessary for use should really be getting returned for a refund.

The complexity of these blocks means if some vital accessories are MIA, it's basically a spares and repair sale, not b-stock.

I understand there is a cost saving here (though this was still £100 so not like a bargain basement saving), but in traditional sales b-stock is usually different from spares and repairs! This is likely going to have to be returned at my cost now even though I can't use it properly out of the box and if cycled back into b-stock the same will happen again unless it's clear to someone they're buying a block they'll need to source parts elsewhere to properly use.

Hi ,

It's likely missing accessories, I'm afraid we couldn't tell you what it's actually missing unfortunately.

You're free to return it if it's missing something critical, however you will need to return at your own expense.
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This was my presale question being answered, so it does seem if something critical is missing OCUK still want you to pay to return.

There was 2 of these in stock so going to return this and maybe risk the other. Poor experience so far with b-stock, will see how CS can help out.

uU8OJ2O.jpg


I think this is just someone using a fluid with colour, but imagine not even cleaning that out before returning it... Of course the fill caps are also missing alongside screws and what not.

Again, fill caps, not the worst things to be missing, but the overall package here is just incredibly poor for like a £30 saving.

Maybe my expectations of thinking I'd get a return instead of a heavily soiled/used product with missing accessories were a bit lofty. Or I'm just really unlucky. Still, I would have hoped OCUK would have higher standards, especially if they've refunded someone the full amount for this purchase.
 
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That's a PITA
I would probably argue the toss about paying to return it
It's non functional
Pretty sure b grade means functional though accessories
May be missing
It's not missing accessories
It's missing parts critical for its use would be
My argument
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
That's a PITA
I would probably argue the toss about paying to return it
It's non functional
Pretty sure b grade means functional though accessories
May be missing
It's not missing accessories
It's missing parts critical for its use would be
My argument
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I found you can actually source some of the accessories https://www.dazmode.com/shop/waterc...sories/ek-fc-mounting-set-hardware-spare-kit/ (OCUK doesn't sell any) but that is an American website and if I'm paying £20+ for accessories to end up with a complete unit, but in rough-ish 2nd hand quality for nearly new price is just :confused:

Hi ,

It's likely missing accessories, I'm afraid we couldn't tell you what it's actually missing unfortunately.

You're free to return it if it's missing something critical, however you will need to return at your own expense.
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That was the message I got on the forum from OCUK, so it seems like even if you can't use something, it's returned at your cost lol. That would be my interpretation of critical. But then I would argue this should be sold as spares and repairs, not b-stock.

Roll of the dice I guess, just my luck my first experience will be quite a poor one! Fair enough if it was like 50~60% off, or at least listed exactly what was missing, but at this price a bit meh. I did try to ask beforehand if it could be checked what was missing, but that can't be done.

This has to be a return after 30 days, so just wondering how it got into b-stock. I guess I could try hooking up the RGB connector just to see if it works or not. I wouldn't like to think OCUK punted returned as faulty goods through b-stock lol (apart from a leak, the RGB is often the next point of failure in a block).
 
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Audioboxer said:
I found you can actually source some of the accessories https://www.dazmode.com/shop/waterc...sories/ek-fc-mounting-set-hardware-spare-kit/ (OCUK doesn't sell any) but that is an American website and if I'm paying £20+ for accessories to end up with a complete unit, but in rough-ish 2nd hand quality for nearly new price is just :confused:

Roll of the dice I guess, just my luck my first experience will be quite a poor one! Fair enough if it was like 50~60% off, or at least listed exactly what was missing, but at this price a bit meh. I did try to ask beforehand if it could be checked what was missing, but that can't be done.

This has to be a return after 30 days, so just wondering how it got into b-stock. I guess I could try hooking up the RGB connector just to see if it works or not. I wouldn't like to think OCUK punted returned as faulty goods through b-stock lol (apart from a leak, the RGB is often the next point of failure in a block).
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Contact ocuk
See if you can get it returned free
Been a while since I returned something
But I did get free return after speaking to them
And because I was isolating due to covid19 restrictions
Ocuk even had dpd pick it up
If you're a regular customer common sense should say
It's less costly to give you a free return
Than to lose your custom on future orders surely
It's not worth messing around with it really
If a new ones only 30 quid more
Postage alone from USA would make that non viable
If it was only place to get the parts
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
Contact ocuk
See if you can get it returned free
Been a while since I returned something
But I did get free return after speaking to them
And because I was isolating due to covid19 restrictions
Ocuk even had dpd pick it up
If you're a regular customer common sense should say
It's less costly to give you a free return
Than to lose your custom on future orders surely
It's not worth messing around with it really
If a new ones only 30 quid more
Postage alone from USA would make that non viable
If it was only place to get the parts
Click to expand...

£3 or £4 to return, not the end of the world, just seems to me that if logistics allow it b-stock would be best sold with a bit more detail. Then again, if OCUK return policy was as strict as some companies, all non-perishable accessories would need to be returned. So it does interest me to know how OCUK get and resell stuff that is in worse condition than your typical "I opened it, maybe used it a few times and then changed my mind within 14 days".

This looks like it's been running for like 6+ months and gone through some tear downs/refills lol. And had a pretty careless owner.

If it's returned due to a fault, then unless it's... not actually faulty, I don't see why those kinds of returns should be ending up as b-stock. I can test the RGB on this, I wouldn't want to test for leaks unless I was planing to keep it. I'd rather return it with the staining as sold so it's going back as I received it. Staining, if that is what I have above, isn't a dealbreaker though if it cleans off, just corrosion you have to keep an eye out for with a used block.

Bigger issue here is if this gets put back up and someone else buys it, they'll probably return it as well at this price. So could be cycling for a while lol.

I'm going from a 2080Ti to a 3080, different company brands as well, so it's not like I have spare screws and parts that are interchangeable.

As you can see from yourself and some other posters in this topic there is some great feedback from b-stock, so I wouldn't say don't buy it, I think I've just been unlucky! If whoever returned this got a full refund, they've stolen that one from OCUK :cry:

I've rarely had to return much at all in all my years but I remember I returned a tablet to Curry's once and as it was open box CS basically had a magnifying glass out in front of me to make sure there wasn't even a fingerprint! Luckily there wasn't, it actually hadn't been used, just box opened.
 
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That should be C grade "significant signs of use" and be about half price, its no better than a second hand one off fleabay. If they checked that when it got returned surely they wouldve only given a partial refund, but if they are checking, one would assume a better description of B grade items condition would be available.
 
vince99 said:
That should be C grade "significant signs of use" and be about half price, its no better than a second hand one off fleabay. If they checked that when it got returned surely they wouldve only given a partial refund, but if they are checking, one would assume a better description of B grade items condition would be available.
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I dare say most on eBay would probably clean it properly due to having to display pictures lol.

Would be an interesting story to find out the history of this. The box while present is quite rough, all the missing accessories and finally it looking fairly heavily used. I know acrylic scratches easily, but this looks like it's been a review sample and 4~8 streamers have installed in and out of systems in a short space of time. I've had my 2080Ti block for a few years now and it looks pristine. It's been involved in a number of drains/refills and tear downs. Then again I have a meltdown if I so as much scuff anything I own, everything gets taken care of :cry:

I know in this world not everyone treats things they spend their own hard earned money on with care, but the 3080/3090 haven't been out that long.

Just hope when this goes back and if it gets inspected I don't get any issues with a refund. Then again, I would ask that question again where did it get returned from in the first place? Why? Was the person offered a full refund? Unfortunately, I can't see too much transparency from OCUK where their b-stock all comes from. I did ask beforehand if it could be reported on what condition it was in and the answer was no, but I dare say that is more to do with logistics of customer support and the warehouse staff being separate people.

One would think it's all customer returns within 30 days, opened or used, RMA's and possibly if the warehouse has damaged any packaging/items that then can't be sold as new. For RMA's though unless OCUK wanted another Newegg situation where they resale open box faulty items, I would like to think most RMA's go back to the manufacturer. Especially for things like blocks where we could be talking leaks or RGB failures. Unless a customer has lied about an RMA just to get a return/refund months down the line (so it's properly tested on return), you can't just risk blindly putting things back up for sale that have been returned as faulty.

They had another listed in stock which I've ordered so whilst waiting on a response from CS about what to do with this one, if the other arrives quickly I'll compare what condition it comes in. Lightning can't strike twice, can it? Prepares for the next to come in even worse condition than this one :cry:
 
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