Newegg Mistakenly Sends Emails About Settlements On AMD, Nvidia GPUs

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Earlier this week some Newegg customers, including some of our own staff, received an email from the company about a settlement from a lawsuit over several GPUs. The email listed AMD’s R9 280 and Nvidia’s GTX 960, 970 and 980 GPUs. As it turns out, Newegg sent most of the emails in error, which left customers confused for a few days.

The emails started on Monday and continued Tuesday. Newegg Customer Support sent out an email (in my case) with the subject, “AMD R9 Class Action Lawsuit Settlement” along with the following message:

We have been informed about a class action lawsuit settlement with AMD regarding the R9 graphics card. Newegg is currently awaiting details about the settlement claims process (instructions, website). Once we have this important information, we will send you a follow-up email with the specifics on how you can submit your claim.If you have any questions regarding the information provided in this email, please don't hesitate to contact Newegg Customer Service through one of the convenient contact methods provided here.Sincerely,Your Newegg Customer Support Team

There weren't any recent lawsuits that involved AMD and the R9 GPUs, so we contacted AMD to determine if there was any truth to the matter. Antal Tungler, AMD’s senior manager of public relations, said that there wasn't a lawsuit or settlement in regards to the R9 graphics cards.

However, the emails weren't limited to AMD GPU customers. Nvidia customers, including our own Derek Forrest, received a similar email for the GTX 960, 970 and 980. Last week, there was news of a settlement on Nvidia’s GTX 970 cards, but there was no mention of the other two models.

It didn't take long for Newegg to realize the mistake. Early today the company sent a second wave of emails stating that there was no lawsuit or settlement for most of the graphics cards and that, “the email was sent in error and was not accurate.”

It's likely that Newegg sent the messages due to the recent settlement regarding Nvidia’s GTX 970 GPU. Last week, a settlement was reached that would have Nvidia, EVGA, Gigabyte and Asus give GTX 970 customers a cash payment of $30 with no cap. The four companies have until October 23 to notify customers of the settlement and inform them how to make a claim (if the settlement is approved). It seems that Newegg was already thinking one step ahead and notified its customers, most of whom weren't even part of the settlement.

We contacted Newegg to find out why it sent the emails, but the company hasn't responded to our email. For now, those with a GTX 970 will have to wait for the four companies in the settlement to send out instructions on how to redeem the cash payment. As for everyone else who received an email, don't worry about it. 

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Rexly Peñaflorida
24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • eklipz330
    yeah someone needs to get fired for this. this is the kinda FUD that AMD can't have right now.
    Reply
  • 3ogdy
    I agree. It can't possibly be just a mistake. The title of the email certainly went against the R9 GPUs (“AMD R9 Class Action Lawsuit Settlement”) and there clearly hasn't been any news regarding a lawsuit against those cards.
    Somebody should bite the dust for this, toes to head.
    Reply
  • JakeWearingKhakis
    Makes no sense how it would even be typed into an email by someone who doesn't know about graphics cards or the latest news with graphics cards. Keep the R9 Line out of it! My 290X was and still is one of the soundest investments I've made, and dumb stuff like this has the potential to influence uneducated graphics card owners into thinking that AMD has a lawsuit.

    You know that in a month or so, someone out there will be like "Hey remember that class action lawsuit with AMD?..."
    Reply
  • junkeymonkey
    Dang it, I was hoping they would mistakenly send me a 30 buck gift card for my settlement . oh well
    Reply
  • uglyduckling81
    Fired? You guys are unbelievable. It's probably a practical joke gone wrong. It hardly warrants being fired.
    People are always so fast to call for people to have their lives ruined.
    Who knows you might already have your wish, it might of been some angry employee leaving the company as his last act.
    Fired though... Come on.
    Reply
  • ddpruitt
    18386175 said:
    Fired? You guys are unbelievable. It's probably a practical joke gone wrong. It hardly warrants being fired.
    People are always so fast to call for people to have their lives ruined.
    Who knows you might already have your wish, it might of been some angry employee leaving the company as his last act.
    Fired though... Come on.

    Actually I've known people at minimum wage jobs that have been fired for less. For two sets of mass emails to get sent out this would have been approved by at least two levels of management and likely by legal as well. Listing a different company as part of a settlement? Several people really dropped the ball here. Someone in management should definitely be fired or at the very least demoted for this. We expect our McDonald's orders and our Heart Surgeon's to be perfect. No reason to hold Newegg to different standards.
    Reply
  • clonazepam
    Well... you need to establish that there was malice involved. As we all know, being negligent, grossly negligent, or just plain ignorant is not enough to face real repercussions for one's actions, especially related to emails. There's got to be at least one pretty clear example of this somewhere to set some sort of precedent.

    Ok in all seriousness, I can not think of a situation where this happens accidentally. Somebody somewhere should have their access to customer email database revoked.

    This is also a great example of why people should be concerned about who has their personal information and how its handled at various companies. This situation shows that companies have some lack of protections against bad actors within a company. How many people hold the keys, and can use them?
    Reply
  • 3ogdy
    18386175 said:
    Fired? You guys are unbelievable. It's probably a practical joke gone wrong. It hardly warrants being fired.
    People are always so fast to call for people to have their lives ruined.
    Who knows you might already have your wish, it might of been some angry employee leaving the company as his last act.
    Fired though... Come on.

    Yes, more than fired, if possible. There are many competent people out there looking for jobs who don't get their chance to shine because prostitutes keep warming the wrong seats. Requirements and expectations are higher today - as hard as some people make it to get a job, it should be just as easy to throw incompetents out the window.
    Also, it's funny how a couple blowjobs equate university studies nowadays, don't you think?
    Dumb copulations get paid the right way, while graduates work at McDonald's or wander around LinkedIn.
    And then you're the one saying we are UNBELIEVABLE? Open your eyes.

    Having somebody talk you in even skips the job interview and voilà! You're getting paid in no time! All that while people who deserve to get there keep applying for jobs living off mom and dad till they're 30.
    Welcome to the 30nager era. All thanks to this POS mentality.

    Let's clean corporate buildings, fill the trash cans with the trash and get to work with the right ones.
    Justice for all. Karma's always done something about it, but it's getting too slow for the times and this calls upon the ones in the right positions to make the right dog gamn choices.
    Reply
  • Karadjgne
    You are all assuming it wasn't a disgruntled employee with 1/2way decent hacking skills and the second email was actually sent by newegg to cover it's butt. Since newegg hasn't disclosed exactly what caused the original email, its all just speculation anyways.
    Reply
  • anbello262
    It is auite strange to be an 'accident', but I would attribute it to plain ignorance.

    And about the comment above mine: I don't live in USA, so things might work differently, but I believe that most people with degree who lose a spot against someone with connections deserve it. I don't mean it as something bad, as 'you deserve to suffer', no. I say it because connections are very important, and being able to make your own is more useful for a company that pure technical knowmedge, most of the times.
    I know that some of the people getting hired didn't make their own connections, but just family relations. But that also has merits. If I work really hard and make a name for myself, I would like for my children to reap the benefits too. Not because of their effort, but because of mine. 'The deserve it in my place'.
    Reply