Used Spirits being sold as new?

[wherehouse]

Hi all. Has anyone else received an obviously used Steinberger Spirit, sold as new from an authorized Gibson reseller? I thought it was a fluke the first time. My exchange was pretty much the same. In both cases they were not at all like this gentleman's experience, which looked properly packed:

 

Here's photos of both. This is how they arrived, with the inner foam bag and outer plastic bag wadded up around the gig bag. In both cases the guitar was loose in the gig bag, with no protective material and a dirty sawdust / newsprint type material all over the guitar and bag. The vibrato bar and tools were in the gig bag pocket in the first one, and loose in the box in the second one.

 

I was told by the Zzounds rep that "the replacement will likely be the same thing," meaning a weird packing job. I tried to register the second guitar on Gibson's website and it went through, so it didn't seem like a scam. Maybe these are factory seconds being sold as new? I did email Gibson but got no response. Maybe they are just clearing out returned products? It feels really sketchy but I have no basis for comparison other than that fellow's video - and what seems like common sense that they were obviously used.

 

One thing for sure, I would never ever buy a Gibson as a gift for someone if this is their factory's "quality" packing job. Like a second rate eBay purchase. Really weird. I did email Gibson but got no reply, which makes me think they are closing them out or something. If I knew I was going to get used product I would have just gone to a guitar store.