Motorola Xoom Refurb Woot! Whoops! Recall

Motorola has done a big "Whoops," reminding us how important it is to wipe data with factory reset before returning merchandise. Motorola reported that  100 out of a batch of 6,200 Refurbished Motorola XOOM  Wi-Fi tablets  may not have been completely cleared of the original owner’s data prior to resale.

The affected Xoom tablets were resold by Woot.com between October and December 2011.  To protect the former owners, Motorola suggest they monitor their credit and are given a free  two-year membership o Experian’s ProtectMyID Alert. Original owners who performed a factory data reset prior to returning the device are not impacted. Affected owners can return the tablets to Motorola.

Motorola reported

While this matter likely affects only a small number of refurbished units, Motorola has a strong commitment to its consumers, and is proactively responding to mitigate any risk to its customers. Motorola has confirmed that any refurbished units sold outside the time period in question were properly refurbished.

The information that may be accessible to the purchasers of the impacted refurbished tablets may include any information that the original user elected to store on the tablet. It is possible that users might have stored photographs and documents. They may have also stored user names and passwords for email and social media accounts, as well as other password-protected sites and applications.

Original owners are advised to contact Experian at 1-866-926-9803 to sign up for the credit monitoring service.

Motorola is telling former owners to protect their identity, such as changing their email and social media passwords.

 Customers who purchased a refurbished Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi tablet from Woot.com between October and December 2011 should check motorola.com/xoomreturn or to call Motorola Mobility Customer Support at 1-800-734-5870, select Option 1, in order to determine if their tablet is affected. 

The Motorla Xoom was named one of the best tablets  of 2011 by Wireless and Mobile News.  The Verizon Version of the Motorola Xoom sold-out, earlier this year. Verizon Wireless is still selling refurbished Xoom tablets.

When it was originally launched the Motorola Xoom had a faster processor than the original iPad.  The Motorola Xoom received good reviews and there are some neat tips and tricks for it.

The Wi-Fi Motorola Xoom received and update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. However, the Motorola Xoom is not the first tablet to get an Ice Cream Sandwich update that honor goes to the Asus Transformer Prime.