ICT Refurbishment LTD - Anybody Dealt with them?

[glennda]

This post isn't for me its actually for somebody else who works in a school in London.

Has anybody dealt with this company? It was sent through to the Business manager who is a little skeptical as am I. A copy of the email is below (with names removed). I think the more worrying part it allowing it out to parents/getting the rebate rather then getting the re-used hardware from the blue chip companies.

What do people think.

I am already in talks with <schoolname> and five universities in Central London, who are all very excited About what we are doing.

The company is called ICT Refurbishment Ltd and we acquire IT assets from large blue-chip companies, securely wipe them to triple Blanco standard, then refurbish them. After the whole refurbishment process, Windows 7 gets installed onto the machine (desktops or laptops) and we remarket them.

Some of the assets are only a year or so old, so it's imperative that we increase their lifespan and therefore reduce their carbon footprint, or we will soon run out of resources in this country.

We can also help you to fulfil your WEEE obligations.

What we're doing is really exciting and I'd really welcome the opportunity to have a chat to you and your Business Manager or Bursar about your ICT suite. I'd also like to propose the possibility of putting together some kind of PTA consortium whereby we can offer parents the opportunity to purchase these hi-spec desktops and laptops with an 80% saving over a brand new one.

We are hoping to roll this programme out to all schools in the UK and thought what better place to start than at home in the borough of Wandsworth where we already have the MP for Battersea, Jane Ellison coming to visit our premises to see how she can get involved.

ICT would take care of all the administration and would like to donate back to the PTA fund, 5% of the total revenue made.

Please would you let me know when might be a convenient time to pop in and have a quick chat to you about this in a bit more detail?

[Earthling]

Without looking any further or Googling anything, reading it as is.............the Welshman in me regards it as highly suspicious.

I may be, and am willing to be proved, wrong.

[pete]

My 419-scam sense is being triggered by the grammar, word choice and sentence construction, but it might just be that the tea boy wrote it.

i.e "The company is called", "imperative", "or we will soon run out of resources in this country".

How many of those parents are going to be calling you regarding problems with bought computers rather than the company? Bear in mind you will be recommending this company to parents if you pass the info on.

My (possibly unfair) take on it is they're after the captive audience the parents represent to offload second-hand kit and they want to use the school's reputation / OK so they appear legit to parents.

[plexer]

So they byu redundant pc's, refurbish them, allow parents to buy them and then give the school 5% from what parents have purchased?

Seems reasonable to me.

One thing to check with refurbishers is what windows coa is on them as they should have the original and a special refurbished one from MS.

Ben

[victory2012]

http://www.thebrokersite.com/members/ICT-Refurbishment/
Welcome | ICT Refurbishment

is this the company? they seem to me just a new company trying the establish themselves with new clients.

[X-13]

They say they offer laptops, but don't have any on their site... [If that site is accurate.]

I want a high spec laptop with 80% off of the price.

[Earthling]

<SNIP>

I want a high spec laptop with 80% off of the price.

Don't we all?

[X-13]

Don't we all?

TBH, I think [if this is a scam] that mentality is their aim.

Something expensive with 80% off? DONE!

[I've been looking at proper gaming laptops... 80% off puts it in the range of casual-use ones.]

[mrb-solutions]

Their website doesn't load...

Welcome | ICT Refurbishment

Unless i'm having problems.

EDIT

Scratch that must be on a rubbish server. Loaded after 5 reloads. It says its a Microsoft registered refurbisher. If you are worried contact them and ask if they are affiliated with the company?

[achedgy]

Anything which describes itself as 'exciting' in reference to second hand computers - alarm bells ringing

[dgsmith]

Just seen their desktop offerings, then the spec, then the price.

Wouldn't go anywhere near that. Better off sticking to the likes of Schtrade, ICT-Direct and Tier1Online. Any company that thinks they can market a DC7600 Pentium 4 unit for £100 is in a dreamworld.

[AngryTechnician]

It says its a Microsoft registered refurbisher. If you are worried contact them and ask if they are affiliated with the company?

They are in the Microsoft directory: https://www.msregrefurb.com/RRPSite/...ryDetails.aspx

More on what that means here: Microsoft Registered Refurbisher

[stevenc]

Hi, I came across this forum when I was actually googling something else. I would like to introduce myself as Steven Coates, the CEO of ICT Refurbishment. I am pleased that we have generated a bit of a discussion and I would like the opportunity to address some of the concerns raised.

Firstly, we are a new company however I can assure you that we are a legitimate company. I established the company 4 months ago after I discovered how corrupt this industry is when attempting to launch a CSR programme at my old company Gazprom Marketing and Trading. If it helps establish credibility you can view my profile on Linkedin.

You can also find out more about my background and why I set the company up in my blog post ICT Refurbishment | fulfilment of WEEE obligations


I am pleased that there is a healthy degree of scepticism, after seeing some of the horror stories and scams in this industry (e.g. the BBC Panorama programme BBC News - Bank forgives debt for school technology lease rip-off) I share your scepticism, which is why I gave up my career to set up ICTR. However I can assure you that ICT Refurbishment has been set up as a legitimate business. Our clients, whose computers we refurbish, are all Bluechip companies (I have signed confidential contracts and so unfortunately I am not allowed to reveal who they are.)

We have actually launched this scheme at the school where both my children attend. We are genuine in our objective to provide low cost computers for parents.

The point about support for the computers is a valid one. Whilst we are not staffed up to provide a direct support line we are offering a 3 month warranty with all equipment (with the option to extend to 12 months for a small fee of £30, which I believe is standard for this industry.) Our warranty is simple, if it does not work and we can't repair it then we will replace with a model of a similar spec.

Before we release the computers we perform a full data wipe (which has a digital certification from our wiping software Blanco) we clean the computer inside (removing dust and particles) and outside removing scuffs and scratches where possible. We also use specialist software to perform over 150 hardware tests on the computer, screen and peripherals to ensure the all work.

We have included on all the marketing material email addresses and phone numbers of the relevant person within ICTR so the parents can contact us directly with issues.

I must state that we are a commercial business and have not been set up as a charity. However we want to develop a commercial proposition that delivers both quality and value for money.

The programme we are establishing with schools is one of our strategies for establishing new sales channels. Whilst we recognise we are targeting a captive audience with parents, as a parent myself, I recognise that we must do this responsibly and with the utmost respect for the reputation of the school. However I do believe we have a valuable proposition to share and I hope that many parents, children and schools will benefit from it.


Thanks to dgsmith for pointing out our error on the DC7600, this should not have been on the website for that price and I have removed it.

If anyone has any further concerns (or indeed advice on what you would like us to be doing) please feel free to contact me directly at steven.coates@ictrefurb.com.


Kind Regards
Steve