** Resolved: 5/25/2012 ** Beware: Newegg denies RMA for damaged open boxed motherboards! *PICS...

UPDATE 5/25/2012:

The Newegg representative called me back today and she said the company is allowing me to return the motherboard with a pre-paid label for store-credit! There is a 15% restocking fee because it's passed the return period but I don't care at this point. It's better than having a useless motherboard. They took awhile but they finally are taking care of me. They are regaining my trust which is good for them because I used to defend them and recommend them almost all the time! Unfortunately, my Silverstone FT03 has a battle scar. It will remind me not to buy any open-box motherboards.

Are the open-box motherboards on Newegg actually refurbished?

The representative said that the motherboards are actually given to ASUS to inspect before it is sold. This is the reason she believes the motherboard boxes says "manufacturer's reconditioned parts." According to the representative, they are not refurbished. However, please note that by buying open-box items from Newegg, the manufacturers are not required to honor any kind of warranty for those items.

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Please note, I didn't mind that I had to send back the items because they were defective. I understand the risks with buying open-boxed motherboards. However, I am frustrated that I cannot get my money back because of damage done to both the motherboards before it arrived at my doorstep.

I'm awaiting an E-mail from the representative after she contacts her supervisor. Hopefully everything gets resolved properly. I used to praise Newegg but I can't say I can recommend them at this moment. I'm afraid they're going to deny my 3rd return because of the damage that was already there when it was sent to me!

I bought three ASUS Gene IV motherboards one after another.

1. The first motherboard was improperly packaged and bent when it arrived so I returned it. Everything went smoothly.
2. The second motherboard went up in smokes the second I powered it on. I sent it back to Newegg. They claim that I damaged the motherboard and denies the return.
3. I received the third motherboard in the mail at the same time I got the E-mail that stated I was denied the second return because of damage. The Newegg rep says that they don't send out motherboards with damage. This is completely untrue because this is what I received 3 hours ago.

This is how the 3rd motherboard looked when I took it out of the anti-static bag. There is also a very slightly bent pin but I can't get a good photo of it.

Update 5/16/2012:

I just received the motherboard they denied for a return. This time they actually put the white box in a bigger brown Newegg box with cushion. Here are photos of the 2nd motherboard I received that released smoke when I powered it on.

This is a photo of how an opened box motherboard would look like when it comes in the mail.

When you buy an open-box motherboard from Newegg, they ship you a opened box refurbished item instead.

There are three layers of rubber foam cushion to "protect" the motherboard.

As you can see, the two layers covering the motherboard is not sufficient enough to prevent the motherboard from moving inside the box.

Whaaaaaaaaat? Did Newegg really ship me a motherboard with the anti-static bag UNDER the motherboard?
Please note: When I received the motherboard the first time, it was actually inside the bag. But I guess since they believe the motherboard is damaged, they don't care about it anymore.
 

I assume that this was where the smoke was coming from.

Please note: The motherboard did not look like this before I powered on the system. This is how it looked like right afterwards.

This is the damage to my FT03 case.

These are the bent pins that caused Newegg to deny my return. Although they did not specifically say that I caused the damage, they inferred it by saying that they sell motherboards that are damaged. This is proven untrue (see the photos above of the 3rd motherboard I received).

Please note: I read enough threads on this forum to know that retailers will deny returns if the pins are bent or missing. I MADE sure I checked the pins to see if they were damaged before and after disassembling the system. I don't know what happened to these pins but I know for sure that when it left my hands, it did not look like this.

I returned the motherboard because of the burnt area not because of the pins. I have NO clue how the pins got damaged.


I bought a New Asus Maximus Gene V from Newegg.com during this whole fiasco to show how loyal I was to them. They couldn't refund the $127 I spent on the opened box IV but  to be fair, they did give me a $20 discount on the Gene V.  I'm still not too happy about the situation because I'm stuck with a useless Asus Gene IV motherboard.

Found a video about Newegg:

"Newegg RMA FAIL, Gigabyte Board Bent Pins CPU Socket"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrjuEXYWito

This guy got his return though.


Here's another thread about Newegg:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1261259/dear-mr-newegg/0_50#post_17328204

Quote:

Originally Posted by mingqi53 

Yeah, Newegg has been pulling more shenanigans lately (it seems) to satisfy their bottom line. My 560ti 448-core that I purchased "new" was clearly used/refunded. The plastic that lines the shroud of the cooler was gone, and there was no tape sealing the anti-static bag that contained the card. Box didn't have stamped sticker seals either!
But because I got the card at an awesome price, I gave Newegg the benefit of the doubt so I wouldn't have to deal with shipping costs from my end
Fortunately the card is great!

I heard about them taking stock photos of some cards and selling them as new a couple of times before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivymaxwell 

looks like they kept sending you back open boxed/refurbished boards.

I expected opened boxed boards b/c that's what I bought BUT I did not expect them to be bent, go up in smokes, and have scuffs, scratches, and boogers(?) on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angrybutcher 

Is that a booger or a fingernail in that last pic? lol

It looks like a booger but I think it's glue. I'm not sure but there is also a tiny bit of it on the chip on the left.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richie_2010 

I would want to speak to someone higher up like the manager that is outrageous and so out of order, we keep them in business n that's how some get treated

I am waiting on a response from a supervisor through E-mail.

Sigh* What's happening to Newegg?!