So, I bought the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet just over a week ago from this deal. Received the item with the original seal was broken and they stick another seal over it. Just recently realized (thanks IceCreamBandit) that some people also had the same experience.
Based on TA's info, email from Sony re claims of refurbished units (1:16pm Oct 24):
None of these products are upgraded or refurbished. Double stickering is part of the normal process and is due to our factory final inspection with random QA checks after production completion (this involves attaching security seal, then over attaching one more security seal for random QA checked units). If needed, software upgrades, insertion of leaflet/warranty card is done at the warehouse for which a re-seal is also required (however not in this case). Due to the volume of units, we would expect a few to be QA checked.
However, it seems that there's more than just a few people having the same issue, so I was just wondering how many ppl in OzB are actually affected..
If we can prove that the proportion of double sealed items that were sent out is significant, then Sony won't be able to back the claim that it's only "a few".
Seems normal for a refurb.