- Oct 2, 2005
- 33
- 1
- 18,535
On the 18th of December I purchased a new Asus motherboard (A88X-Pro) and a new AMD APU (A10-7850K) for my little brother Josh who plans on building a new PC when his tax check comes in next month. The new items arrived the last week of December, but I have no spare anything to test said parts with, so I just glanced at the items (the APU is an unopened product), everything looked brand new to me (the Asus box is in pristine condition) so I put it in the closet safely until a few hours ago. Now he informs me it will be a while before he can finish his build, maybe even as late as March (He just now submitted his Tax return claims).
So that will be way out of Newegg's return period (17 days left I think). I never did look closely at the motherboard box, not for more then a few seconds anyway as I just assumed it was brand new retail item and sealed. But today when looking closer it appears to be a open box item, I think. The box does NOT have one of them tamper proof stickers on it (appears to never have had one to begin with) and the static bag has no yellow static warning sticker on it like what I remember back in the day (also appears to never have had one to begin with). The bag looks new to me though, but just completely open with nothing preventing me from reaching in and pulling it out to inspect it which I have NOT yet done. Anyway, is this how all Motherboards come these days? Its been 5 years since I last purchased a Motherboard so not sure if this is normal practice these days (instinct tells me NO), but I clearly remember them having stickers on the box that you had to tear or use a knife or razor on to get into the box or static bag. This Asus motherboard has none of that, so hence why I am here asking if this is now normal. I do realize that you should never accept a motherboard if it appears to be a used item, or possibly a previously returned item. Again the box looks pristine.
So, my questions are.
1. Should I pull the board from the static bag and inspect it closer, thus touching it and possibly putting evidence on it that its been in my hands? I'm curious if there are any sort of mounting marks or evidence it is a used item. If not, then I may be over reacting to the box not having tamper stickers on it.
2. Should I just send it back immediately for refund and purchase it again when he is ready? (this is what Newegg told me to do)
3. Or should I not worry about it and this packaging is normal practice these days and we will just get another one exactly the same way?
I already spoke with Newegg instant chat and they said I should return it and then purchase it again when he is ready with the remaining parts (about 30 days from now). I did not tell Newegg chat it appeared to be an open box product, but I did not know when I spoke to them. However, they also mentioned to me, if the box has been opened they will be testing the item and if its bad they will be returning it. Now that I see it closer it appears to be a pre-opened box, and I am worried about it.
What should I do at this point, or what would you guys do at this point? Am I just over reacting to missing stickers? I don't ever in my 20 years of building PC's remember getting a unsealed tamper proof sticker on the box, this is the first one, but like I said its also been 5 years since my last build (still on x58 myself). Thanks for any advice.
Best regards
Rod
EDIT WITH MORE INFO BELOW!
OK, a few hours later now and I just pulled the board out of the static bag and it looks extremely clean, not a smudge, a finger print or any marks of any kind what so ever and all pins are perfect (I even inspected with my magnifying glass). The mounting "screw" hole rings have pristine solder pads around them, nothing has ever touched them, so this has definitely never been mounted into a case. So, I am now "near" confident this has never been fired up. However, there is NO APU socket protector plastic thing like I have seen on all my Intel boards. Is that normal for an AMD based board? That still kinda suggests this has been used before... NO?
So that will be way out of Newegg's return period (17 days left I think). I never did look closely at the motherboard box, not for more then a few seconds anyway as I just assumed it was brand new retail item and sealed. But today when looking closer it appears to be a open box item, I think. The box does NOT have one of them tamper proof stickers on it (appears to never have had one to begin with) and the static bag has no yellow static warning sticker on it like what I remember back in the day (also appears to never have had one to begin with). The bag looks new to me though, but just completely open with nothing preventing me from reaching in and pulling it out to inspect it which I have NOT yet done. Anyway, is this how all Motherboards come these days? Its been 5 years since I last purchased a Motherboard so not sure if this is normal practice these days (instinct tells me NO), but I clearly remember them having stickers on the box that you had to tear or use a knife or razor on to get into the box or static bag. This Asus motherboard has none of that, so hence why I am here asking if this is now normal. I do realize that you should never accept a motherboard if it appears to be a used item, or possibly a previously returned item. Again the box looks pristine.
So, my questions are.
1. Should I pull the board from the static bag and inspect it closer, thus touching it and possibly putting evidence on it that its been in my hands? I'm curious if there are any sort of mounting marks or evidence it is a used item. If not, then I may be over reacting to the box not having tamper stickers on it.
2. Should I just send it back immediately for refund and purchase it again when he is ready? (this is what Newegg told me to do)
3. Or should I not worry about it and this packaging is normal practice these days and we will just get another one exactly the same way?
I already spoke with Newegg instant chat and they said I should return it and then purchase it again when he is ready with the remaining parts (about 30 days from now). I did not tell Newegg chat it appeared to be an open box product, but I did not know when I spoke to them. However, they also mentioned to me, if the box has been opened they will be testing the item and if its bad they will be returning it. Now that I see it closer it appears to be a pre-opened box, and I am worried about it.
What should I do at this point, or what would you guys do at this point? Am I just over reacting to missing stickers? I don't ever in my 20 years of building PC's remember getting a unsealed tamper proof sticker on the box, this is the first one, but like I said its also been 5 years since my last build (still on x58 myself). Thanks for any advice.
Best regards
Rod
EDIT WITH MORE INFO BELOW!
OK, a few hours later now and I just pulled the board out of the static bag and it looks extremely clean, not a smudge, a finger print or any marks of any kind what so ever and all pins are perfect (I even inspected with my magnifying glass). The mounting "screw" hole rings have pristine solder pads around them, nothing has ever touched them, so this has definitely never been mounted into a case. So, I am now "near" confident this has never been fired up. However, there is NO APU socket protector plastic thing like I have seen on all my Intel boards. Is that normal for an AMD based board? That still kinda suggests this has been used before... NO?
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