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Bought a GTX 780Ti on Amazon, received a GeForce 8400 >.<

Tags:
  • Gtx
  • Amazon
  • Geforce
Last response: in Opinions and Experiences
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August 5, 2014 9:14:16 PM

I felt the need to vent, so I thought this would be the proper place to do so. You guys will understand the horror I endured :p 

I recently purchased an EVGA GTX 780Ti Classified from Amazon. I picked up the order today from an Amazon Locker here in Seattle and excitedly rode the bus home, eager to tear open the box. I noticed the box seemed a bit light (substantially lighter than my current GTX 580) but I didn't think much of it.

When I got home, I opened the Amazon box, drooling at the GTX 780Ti packaging inside. But to my utter disappointment, when I pulled out the foam and lifted the cover, I saw this dinky little thing:


After looking up the product number on the card, I figured out it was an EVGA GeForce 8400. So I got a card priced at 4% of the one I paid for! ($30 vs $700+) I wouldn't have felt so insulted if it were at least a GTX 680 or something lol.

Needless to say, I immediately called Amazon's customer service and will be shipping the thing back tomorrow. It's a bummer I'll have to wait longer to install this beauty. Note that this was ordered as a brand new item, directly from Amazon (not just fulfilled by Amazon or from one of their "merchants"). Obviously, somewhere along the line, some dickwad did a little swap-a-roo. What concerns me though is that, in all likelihood, someone ordered this card, replaced it with the 8400, returned it to Amazon, and then Amazon sent it to me, claiming it as a new item. Pretty tacky. I only hope they don't send me a bogus (or damaged) card again!

More about : bought gtx 780ti amazon received geforce 8400

August 5, 2014 9:31:20 PM

That would be the last time I so much as looked at Amazon's web page, never mind ordered anything from them. Ever.
The box had no signs of having been opened at all? Was there not shrink wrap around the box? Just wondering.
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August 5, 2014 9:31:50 PM

As long as they are taking it back and confirming to provide the replacement, you should not be worried. Yup a little yell comes due at Amazon. Bad practice | poor management | Poor quality control Process. Any thing could have happened. I've found their customer support service a good one. You should contact them.
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August 5, 2014 9:33:00 PM

Wowo
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August 5, 2014 9:39:30 PM

I've had some nasty surprises from Amazon lately, reminiscent of this. Old gear in a new box with new stickers on it, and sold as new. It's a scummy way to do business, and we should be better protected from such practices. I've also been sold hardware from major tech shops like New Egg and Tiger Direct that was already opened and had major issues, in all likelihood previously RMAed. There is a serious problem in the tech industry with this BS, and I wish some of the major tech news sites would cover the rampant re-selling of RMA goods as new. It's gotten to be ridiculous. It sucks that somebody switched out the GPUs, but you shouldn't ever end up with an RMAed box that wasn't marked as such, and checked to make sure it actually worked. Standards for quality and service today are non-existent.
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August 5, 2014 9:42:36 PM

Normally, I video record the first time unboxing of any purchased product just in case like that to have some concrete evidence.
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August 5, 2014 11:11:18 PM

@ exroofer Nope, no shrink wrap. There was a seal sticker on one end of the box, but not the other. That combined with the light weight made me very suspicious before I even opened it. However, I don't recall the EVGA GTX 580s I got from Newegg back in 2011 being shrink-wrapped either.
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August 5, 2014 11:23:12 PM

@EasyLover They're taking it back and sending me a new one. I've already got it prepared for drop-off at UPS. They sent me a label for Ground shipping, which is a letdown considering I had Prime 2-day delivery on the way here.. They won't send the new one till this one gets back, so my weekend plans are ruined :p  I was excited to try out streaming on my new Shield tablet! Suppose it's for the best. I've got a technical interview with Google to study for.

Anyway, I was very friendly to the customer service lady and she was nice as well. I've always had good experiences with Amazon's customer support. Just sucks these things happen in the first place. I'll probably call back tomorrow and request $100 Amazon credit or $50 and same-day shipping on the replacement. If you play you're cards right, you can usually negotiate with them this way. Just gotta pull the "I'll be much more likely to continue business with you in the future and will spread the story of my positive experience" card lol. Always worth a try.
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August 5, 2014 11:25:06 PM

Also, EasyLover, I wish I had recorded an unboxing, simply because my expression would've been priceless! XD
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August 5, 2014 11:32:22 PM

@PapaCrazy I agree entirely. Must be a difficult situation for these tech retailers. They want to keep their customers happy and accept returns but don't want expensive merchandise to go to waste. It's just not feasible for them to test every item that's returned. Hell, the people in the turns department probably couldn't tell the difference between any two video cards, and I imagine thats' exactly what happened in my situation.
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August 6, 2014 12:55:57 AM

tgbrow said:
@PapaCrazy I agree entirely. Must be a difficult situation for these tech retailers. They want to keep their customers happy and accept returns but don't want expensive merchandise to go to waste. It's just not feasible for them to test every item that's returned. Hell, the people in the turns department probably couldn't tell the difference between any two video cards, and I imagine thats' exactly what happened in my situation.


That clearly shows that there is a room and need for improvement. Customer feedback (honest :)  ) is very important for them to improve their services.
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August 6, 2014 12:57:49 AM

tgbrow said:
@EasyLover They're taking it back and sending me a new one. I've already got it prepared for drop-off at UPS. They sent me a label for Ground shipping, which is a letdown considering I had Prime 2-day delivery on the way here.. They won't send the new one till this one gets back, so my weekend plans are ruined :p  I was excited to try out streaming on my new Shield tablet! Suppose it's for the best. I've got a technical interview with Google to study for.

Anyway, I was very friendly to the customer service lady and she was nice as well. I've always had good experiences with Amazon's customer support. Just sucks these things happen in the first place. I'll probably call back tomorrow and request $100 Amazon credit or $50 and same-day shipping on the replacement. If you play you're cards right, you can usually negotiate with them this way. Just gotta pull the "I'll be much more likely to continue business with you in the future and will spread the story of my positive experience" card lol. Always worth a try.


That is definitely a nice way to go and besides, their customer support providers are always that much courteous and polite. Things can go wrong but then again, "Word of Mouth" matters and it can really hurt r make the day for the business community. :) 
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August 6, 2014 2:36:56 PM

you said the box only had a seal on it at one end..

what most likely happened is that someone involved in shipping the package did the swapparoo on you.

honestly it wouldnt be hard to do if you worked in the right position.

i've dealt with amazon for a long time (but arguably i never orderd pc parts) and i've never had them screw up an order once. i have however had multiple instances of a shipper screwing up.

--

i would be pretty upset if that happened to me...

i recently bought myself a new asus dcii gtx770oc for $260 at a local microcenter open box ($350 retail) and i may have had a cow if inside there was a little dinky card :lol: 
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August 6, 2014 5:13:28 PM

@ssddx I should've been more clear. The cardboard, Amazon shipping box was completely "sealed," i.e. there were no signs of tampering with the packaging tape, etc. The inner-box (the one shown in the picture) was missing a sticker-seal on one end. At least I think it was missing.. Seems strange to put only put a sticker on one end but not the other. Anyhow, I suppose it's possible the Amazon employee who put the GPU box in the Amazon shipping box could have done it. (Maybe that's what you meant :p  ) But he/she would've had to bring the GeForcee 8400 card to work with himself/herself to do so. Seems unlikely to me, but certainly not out of the question.
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August 6, 2014 6:21:17 PM

perhaps.

i used to work in a warehouse about 8 years ago and i can tell you that such things are not as hard to do as you can imagine.

however, ive never had such issues with amazon.
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August 6, 2014 7:33:36 PM

Update: Turns out this issue isn't nearly as uncommon as I initially believed. It even has its own category on Amazon's customer service page.



Also, I wrote a nice little essay to Amazon's customer service team voicing my concerns and suggesting actions that would reassure me of Amazon's quality as a retailer (i.e. give me money and fast shipping lol). I'll let you all know what their response is ;) 
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August 6, 2014 11:22:22 PM

Good Luck. Btw which brand and model of 780Ti you are buying.
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August 7, 2014 8:11:34 AM

Some great news! Gotta say that Amazon's customer service is really freakin' great. I got a response email this morning, and they're giving me $100 in Amazon credit and shipping out my replacement today with one-day shipping! (I.e. they aren't making me wait until my return gets to them before sending out the replacement.) Anyway, felt the need to commend them for "making things right." Here's the message I sent them last night, if anyone's interested. Amazing what a little negotiation can do ;) 

"Hello,

I already spoke with a customer service agent yesterday, so this issue should be on file. I've already packaged the item for return and have dropped it off with UPS. However, I still have some concerns.

First of all, the return label I received via email was marked for ground shipping, which is a rather disappointing considering I chose 2-day shipping for the initial shipment. I was told the replacement won't be shipped until the returns department receives my original item and gets a chance to process it. Factoring in the delivery time for the replacement, that means I'll get my product a week or more later than what I originally expected at checkout. Furthermore, since I commute by bus, getting down to both the Amazon Locker and the UPS Store took a good deal of time, which is precious resource for me on weekday evenings.

Secondly, I've been left to ponder how the improper item found its way into the correct product box. These seem to be the two most likely cases:

(1) Another Amazon member purchased this exact item, removed the valuable item from the box, kept it, replaced it with the cheap incorrect one, and returned the product box with the incorrect item to Amazon. The returns department then didn't realize this switch had been made and went on to sell me this item as if it were brand new (which would be alarming even if the correct product were in the box).
(2) Someone in Amazon's packaging/shipping department replaced the items, looking to make a profit or keep the item for himself/herself.

Neither of these two scenarios reflect kindly on Amazon's quality control. This being the case, I'm hesitant to make expensive purchases from Amazon in the future. Paying for a $700+ GPU and receiving a $30 GPU in its place isn't something I take lightly. I've also spread this story among my friends and through online forums; many were shocked.

Having explained my concerns, I'd like to propose some possible actions which I feel would compensate for this negative experience and would restore my trust in and opinion of Amazon:

(a) Award me $150 in Amazon credit
(b) Award me $100 in Amazon credit and promote my replacement to Next-Day Air shipping

Should such actions be taken, I would certainly be reassured of Amazon's quality as a retailer that truly cares about it's customers. I would also be sure to share with my friends how well Amazon's customer service handled this unfortunate incident.

Thank you for your time. "
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August 7, 2014 8:17:47 AM

@EasyLover : I bought the EVGA GTX 780Ti Dual Classified. Here's the link to the Amazon page, and here's the EVGA page.
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August 7, 2014 8:33:09 AM

its certainly amazing what you can get when you speak up without getting all nasty about it.
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August 7, 2014 8:40:44 AM

Great bro! Good work. Ahhhh! Classified one. A very good card indeed. Nicely done in the end. Good luck
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