anyone purchase ANY NEW Motu hardware lately...question

[HARDDRlVER]

Hello, and thank you for reading my post.

A few years ago I purchased the new MIDI express XT usb. When I opened the box, I could swear the unit was wrapped in plastic, inside the styrofoam. Furthermore, I also believe like many hardware manufacturers, there was that thin film covering the window.
Well yesterday, I received my supposedly new 828mk3 hybrid and...no, it was not inside a plastic bag, but it was inside the styrofoam... and no, there was no plastic film on the window. How can I tell if this is 'b' stock or a fixed return?
These bags/covers and window stickies would be industry wide, that's why I'm asking anyone who has nought a new motu product
There's also manufacture date on the serial number stickers. With 2 letters indicating date it was made. Anyone know the code breakdown?
Gonna shoot this to the windows side as well.
Thank you for ANY input.

[mdee]

Yeah it does seem unusual. Usually there's a round disc of tape you need to peel away before opening the box. Was there any tape on the box? If the unit is new looking with no visual or other defects I wouldn't worry about it. But I get it... We all want new stuff. "B" Stock and Open Box items should come at a discount.

[stubbsonic]

You could ask the seller for an explanation. There's a reason we have definitions for "brand new" "new in box" "open box" "blemished" "A stock" "B stock" "returned", etc.

And sellers should disclose all of those conditions.

I bought an item that I assumed was new, that a couple years later I discovered was repaired prior to purchase, a knob was badly glued on, and a solder repair had made it impossible to repair again later. Grrrrr.

[HCMarkus]

Call MOTU and inquire.