GCC Elite XL1208S Not The High-End Solution

We purchased a refurbished GCC Elite XL 1208S Printer directly from the company in order to make laser offset plates for our small printshop in upstate NY. The salesman assured us it was every bit as good as the ** 5000. He told us that since it was a slower printer than the other one he was offering us, it might be an even better solution for our platemaking efforts, giving the fuser more time to dwell upon the surface of the plate.
From the time we received the printer it had a problem with banding and ghosting. At first this only appeared on plates, but then began to appear even on paper. The salesman graciously replaced the toner/drum cartridge at no cost to us. The second one started out alright, but soon exhibited the same problem. When the salesman asked us details about what we were doing with the printer, we mentioned that we were using both sides of the plates. He said not to do this, that unfused toner clumps were being recycled into the toner reservoir. This lack of total fusing, we said, explained the weak image quality and why we could not get more than 2000 imprints on these plates that are rated for 5000. After much runaround, we finally returned the printer to them for a 20 percent restocking fee and got the ** 5000. Ever since then, no problems. The ironic thing is that the ** 5000 cost about 200 dollars less BRAND NEW. I guess the footnote to this review should be: Let the buyer beware!