I'll just chime in here to share my experience with the Davis refurbish program. My 2-year-old VP2 Plus anemometer would frequently show a North wind direction, and when I had high humidity my station would read 1%. I figured the refurbishing program would be more cost-effective than repairing everything myself. I'll outline what I went through and how long everything took, so everyone can get an idea of what to expect. I'll also provide a bullet-point summary at the bottom for anyone who doesn't want to read all this.
I called Davis on Jan 8 to get an RMA number. I went to the Post Office to ship out my weather station on Jan 9. The lowest I was able to get the shipping was USPS Retail Ground for $73.99 ($59.64 shipping and $14.35 for $1,000 worth of insurance, since I really didn't trust my packaging). The weather station was delivered to Davis on Jan 17 (a day late).
Davis sent me an e-mail stating repairs were done on Jan 25, a Friday. I called them on Jan 28 to give them credit card info (they only take Visa and MasterCard). The total cost for the refurbishment was $200, and $30 for return shipping. They shipped the weather station back on Jan 29, and it was delivered to me yesterday, Feb 5, via FedEx.
The invoice said Davis replaced my temperature/humidity sensor, anemometer, and updated my console firmware. They also did a few things that weren't mentioned. They included new mounting hardware and a new ISS battery. They also replaced my tipping bucket rain gauge, because the chrome was peeling off of that. I'm not sure if they did anything else.
Bullet point summary:
- Cost: $75 to ship to Davis, $200 for refurb (VP2 Plus w/ 24 hr FARS), $30 return shipping ($305 total)
- Called Davis on 1/8, sent out on 1/9
- Davis received unit on 1/17, e-mailed me that repairs were completed on 1/25
- Called Davis with credit card info on 1/28, Davis shipped the unit back on 1/29, it was delivered by FedEx 2/5