My son bought and received a defective laptop yesterday.

[AtomicKitten]

My son ordered and was delivered a several hundred dollar laptap from Newegg yesterday. It arrived and is completely, utterly, and hopelessly broken. Wouldn't even turn on. Now they are telling him he has to return it to the manufacturer. It seems Newegg should just replace it.

Has anybody had a similar situation occur or know of a better remedy? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[johnd83]

1. I think unless you buy the NewEgg warranty you have to send it to the manufacturer

Unfortunately it tends to take a week or two at the minimum to get it fixed...

[Kali]

2. are you sure it wasn't the shipper?

does it matter where you send it? seems like you will have to do something if it is defective...is that their standard policy or are they being weird? was it a refurbished?

I bought one from tiger direct last year and it seems hp the original builder was the refurbisher as well, but now I can't remember where I would have had to send it if it was messed up.

[HopeHoops]

3. Order directly from the manufacturer. You usually get more for the money anyway.

Places like NewEgg get the shitstock the companies want to get rid of. The warranties are useless.

[AtomicKitten]

4. thanks for the replies

It's an ASUS and I don't think can be purchased directly from the manufacturer.

Since it arrived broken, my son will be pushing the 'broken in shipping' angle. He just started school again and it is really frustrating having to sort this out when he needs it immediately.

Thanks again.

[ohiosmith]

5. How was it paid for? If credit card, some will rescind payment if the seller does not resolve the

issue. Good luck!

[AtomicKitten]

6. By debit unfortunately.

Thanks for the good wishes. I'll pass them on to my son. Cheers.

[Honeycombe8]

8. I'm so sorry to hear this. We've all had bad breaks from time to time, but...

you have learned a big lesson, Grasshopper. Wise man say....never pay cash (debit) for unwarranted products sent to you through the mail.

Some credit cards include some sort of warranty on products you buy, and others will accept your rejection of the charges if the item is defective.

There is a difference between defective and broken, I believe. Newegg has the right not to warrant that the item won't be damaged in delivery, but if I'm not mistaken, law (federal law?) provides that NO RETAILER HAS THE RIGHT TO SELL DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS AND CLAIM NO WARRANTY. The grounds for that is...a boat is not a boat if it sinks. Capiche? You buy a boat. A boat floats. If the boat you receive doesn't float, that seller didn't deliver a boat. Sale void.

So Newegg wouldn't have the right to pass off a defective computer to you, and wash its hands of it, saying "no warranty." If it doesn't turn on or otherwise work at all, it's not really a computer, could be one way of looking at it.

But teh reality is, when you deal with internet businesses, what can you really do about it? I'd still try talking to someone in authority over there.

Even if it was damaged in shipping, (was it insured?), it's possible it wasn't packaged properly, which is Newegg's duty.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

7. I order all my stuff from Tiger Direct

Never had a problem. On the rare occasions that something arrives damaged, they send a call tag with no fuss.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

[AtomicKitten]

10. Good site but they only carried a refurbished model of the one he wanted, apparently.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

14. Refurbished can mean a lot of things

Often it means it's a leftover Vista computer which has been upgraded to Windows 7.

[Honeycombe8]

9. When buying internet electronics, I prefer those with stores in my area.

That way, you have a place to return it to, or deal with, if there's a problem.

I've not had issues buying electronics online from Best Buy or Walmart. I've purchased TVs, DVR, portable DVD player, and things like that. No problems. I bought two computers from dell.com; they arrived expertly packaged and working properly. (But I don't recommend buying from dell.com; they are hell to deal with once you pay them.)

[AtomicKitten]

12. My son bought an upscale Dell for his desktop PC.

Last edited Sun Sep 2, 2012, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

which died within warranty, and they replaced it with a top of the line AlienWare model which he loves.

I was so impressed when he bought two pairs of shoes from Zappos (Doc Martens) on-line. Their entire customer care philosophy is nothing short of spectacular.

[Honeycombe8]

15. What place gave him an Alien pc? AlienWare is HP, isn't it? I love Zappos.

I don't buy many shoes, but my first go-to place is Zappos. I would buy locally, but it's hard to find shoe places that have the models AND the sizes you want! They just don't stock much inventory these days.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Dell bought AlienWare.

So when his Dell passed away, they replaced it with a top of the line model from AlienWare.

I didn't think it was possible to purchase shoes online. Their pre-purchase measurement instructions are dead-on plus they guarantee their shoes for an entire year, no questions asked. Wow!

[MrsBrady]

11. here is some more info

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro03.shtm

[AtomicKitten]

13. good stuff

sent to my son

[ohiosmith]

17. Another avenue is to contact a local TV station that has a consumer affairs department. They will

contact the seller on your behalf. Usually the seller will settle the case rather than having a negative story broadcast about them.

[AtomicKitten]

18. Good news. Newegg decided to replace the laptop.

Which is what I thought should be done all along.

Thanks for all the tips, info, and good wishes. All's well that ends well. Cheers.

[OriginalGeek]

19. I'm glad this got worked out

I buy a lot of stuff from Newegg and have never had a problem. Never bought a whole computer though - just parts.