Online Retailer Fraud? 27
Capt Gerkin asks: "While debugging a hardware problem on my system, I had the opportunity to take a good long look at my RAM chips. The DDR memory, that I purchased online two months ago, had some interesting product codes, and the descriptions didn't match with anything at Micron's website. Although I understand they may not publish all memory on their site, it brought up an interesting question for online retail. With the hard return procedures, no name companies and faceless dealers, how often is the product we think we are purchasing really a fake? It would be interesting to find out how many times others have placed orders for something online, only to get something entirely different, instead."
hmmm.. (Score:2, Insightful)
- buy from reputable distributers with good return policies...
- buy from no-name companies with dodgy return policies, and run the risk of getting screwed.
Sometimes peace of mind is worth the extra couple of bucks you'll have to spend.
(by the way, how come this story never made it to the main page???)
Re:hmmm.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:hmmm.. (Score:1)
Hot button topic... (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm trying to get my boyfriend to stop shopping at these places, but he's gotten lucky and not been screwed the few times he's shopped there, so he continues to do it. I'll stick with the bigger name places for my parts, thankyouverymuch.
Re:Hot button topic... (Score:2, Insightful)
I have a completely different problem.. (Score:1, Insightful)
Last order I placed I got more than I asked for - they ended up sending me about three times the stuff I actually ordered. Thats a double shipment of what I wanted, and an extra shipment of what appears to be someone else's stuff (not sure if it's a dupe of their order or if they're sitting around waiting for it - only name on the packing slip is me on the "ship to" field".
Past experience with returning a double shipment (again from a vendor with a 6.X/7 resellerrating) was barely even a thanks, for about $350 worth of stuff.
So I'll figure out in a month or so if they try to charge my card for it. Then off to Ebay I go.
Re:I have a completely different problem.. (Score:2)
You're a swell guy.
Re:I have a completely different problem.. (Score:1)
They shipped it to him, didn't they?
If anyone ships something to me, it automatically becomes mine!
Re:I have a completely different problem.. (Score:1)
Let me count the rip offs (Score:3, Interesting)
On the positive side, several purchases from Insight [insight.com] were perfect with good support when a video card fried itself. TC Computers [tccomputers.com] was always good for motherboards and what not (and now owned by Insight). Buy.com and Amazon have also been good to me. So on and so on for about two dozen purchases.
I think the summary here is bad experiences with big (and expensive) on line retailers, less than 10%. Bad experiences with small, fly-by-night retailers, more than 70%. Gee, you really do get what you pay for.
Re:Let me count the rip offs (Score:1)
The warranties on hard drives (and almost every other buyable PC part) are covered by the manufacturer. All you need to do is go to the manufacturers home page and start the RMA process. Of course it is probably too late but... Also you sometimes get nice bonsuses like a larger hard drive because they no longer make the smaller size.
Re:warranties count for jack (Score:1)
Well I should have clarified that comment with "if it is a hard drive" as I was thinking about this specific case. If you are thinking of hard drives too - drive manufacturers almost never just disappear. They usually get brought up/merged like Quantum, etc..
not really fraud, but... (Score:1)
It turns out that "in stock" really means "we think one of our vendors can get that to us fast enough that you'll think we really had it in stock", and in the case of my HD, they were wrong. I cancelled the order.
However, I've ordered other stuff from them since then (yeah, I'm a fool), and it's all come through promptly and without a single screwup.
That's why I pay a few bucks more locally (Score:2)
Heck, one time *I* fried some memory. I knew it, they knew it, but they RMA'ed it anyway. Support your local vendor. For an extra 10% or so, it's well worth it.
Re:That's why I pay a few bucks more locally (Score:1)
Buy a Lucent (LT) winmodem. Seriously! There are drivers [linmodems.org] out for Linux. I got one when my Dell laptop (Inspiron 4000) happened to have one built in. In my short testing of it I found that it works exceedingly well with high connect speeds and excellent compression. I too hated winmodems at one point but they can be an excellent solution if your processor is of a recent vintage.
If you definately don't want a winmodem take a look Winmodems are not modems; Linux information page [idir.net].
Re:That's why I pay a few bucks more locally (Score:1)
I actually did dig up an external modem. Turns out that hylafax doesn't like the Sportster line, but I beat it into submission. Now if I can get WHFC to work...
Thanks for the advice though. It'll make shopping for a new motherboard easier (ISA slot is not a MUST have:).
Re:That's why I pay a few bucks more locally (Score:1)
Never a problem. (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, the trick is to know exactly what you are buying. Sure, I could have gotten that 512MB DIMM for $40 less than I paid, but that was a 3 CAS No name brand. You get what you pay for, don't go for the cheapest, go for the deal!
BTW, the only reason that I didn't buy the monitor through price watch is that the prices can't be competitive. Monitors are so big/heavy that shipping is very expensive, so I bought it locally.
Re:Never a problem. (Score:1)
Re:Never a problem. (Score:1)
Re:Never a problem. (Score:1)
Before we found them, we used McDonald and Associates [buymemory.com] out in Iowa. Also a great company worth buying your memory from.
Recommendations... (Score:1)
On the other hand, I tried ordering from ComputerSurplusOutlet.com and was horrified I got a few sticks of RAM basically shoved in an envelope with no padding. Amazingly, they worked and didn't get broken in the mail. (Shipped postal, mind you...) I decided to give them another try, and ordered three used systems for cheap. They all arrived in the same box with insufficient padding. I called to complain and got a whole boatload of attitude from their marketing manager or something. She finally promised to refund my shipping, but it took three calls over three weeks to actually get them to honor it. Avoid them at ALL COSTS.
Summary: All hail ComputerGeeks.com, avoid ComputerSurplusOutlet.com -- and no, I'm not affiliated with either company in any way.
Having worked at a company that did Internet sales, I know there's no way to please everyone and no matter how good a company's service is they'll inadvertantly hose someone's order.
Here's a few tips, though -- never order from a company that won't give you a physical address and phone number to call. If ordering a sufficiently high dollar amount, call their customer service people FIRST and just ask one or two questions -- in other words, find out if a human being answers the phone and if they're helpful. If you get ripped off, call the state's attorney general's office and find out what your options are.
Good luck, and be careful out there...
Re:Recommendations... (Score:1)
The benefit of shop.yahoo.com (Score:2)
You can also see merchants' ratings on Yahoo's service, as entered by other purchasers. And the fact that you're going to have an opportunity to affect their ranking after the sale usually means that sellers bend over backwards to help you if there's been any kind of a problem.
One of the other great things about Yahoo's service is that you can track all your orders (past and present) in one place. This is a godsend if you're like me and you often have 5-6 orders outstanding.