Guy buys a 3090ti from Amazon gets Sand instead

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These are no urban legends. People receiving either wrong products or no product at all happen all the time. We just rarely get to see the full unboxing experience. Luckily, Mauricio Takeda posted a video featuring an unpacking of RTX 3090 Ti graphics card, which turned into… sands of time.

The weight distribution of the package was suspicious enough for him to ask his wife to record the video. As it turns out, he was right. He claims to be a calm person, but this time he was in shock. After all this was a very expensive scam.

Mauricio ordered a PALIT GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GameRock from Amazon site during Prime Days. Brazilian market is now seeing a rapid price decrease for RTX 30 cards, but this was still a good deal at the time. This card was sold for 14,500 RBL (2,637 USD). But the package, which was sealed had nothing inside but pots of sand.


https://videocardz.com/newz/brazilian-man-orders-geforce-rtx-3090-ti-from-amazon-gets-sand-instead
 
THis type of nonsense is what has me concerned about things like fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). Who knows what level of inspection / safety the customer gets for things being sent into the Amazon warehouse? /shrug
 
I question the validity of this because I'm sure he easily got his money back and the seller was certainly punished for it. I don't even think you can get away with this on Wish.com. The chances of the sand man getting away with this is absurdly low, which is why I think this is fake.
 
No little window on the box to a unique code? I guess not since they tend to be static bagged.
 
I remember reading something about a guy ordering a Founder's Edition 3080 ( when they were scarce) and low and behold when he opened the box, it was literally a brick.
 
He doesn't seem surprised... Even if the weight seemed off, I wouldn't have expected that. He could have opened the box from the bottom and put the sand in himself. Video never shows the bottom of the box. There is conveniently a sheet of paper underneath the card that blocks the view of any damage to the other side.
 
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And this is why I order from Newegg or go to Microcenter to get my stuff. Even if you have to drive 12 hours to a microcenter if you're making a 2 or 3 year upgrade cycle worth of purchase its worth it. As an American of course. If your le a Brazilian I have no idea what Tech Brick and Mortars you have. New Zealand had Playtech and I forgot what Australia has as its been many years since I have been to Freemantle for work
 
tangoseal said:
And this is why I order from Newegg or go to Microcenter to get my stuff. Even if you have to drive 12 hours to a microcenter if you're making a 2 or 3 year upgrade cycle worth of purchase its worth it. As an American of course. If your le a Brazilian I have no idea what Tech Brick and Mortars you have. New Zealand had Playtech and I forgot what Australia has as its been many years since I have been to Freemantle for work
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Amazon has a very generous policy on the customer side. I'm sure he got a refund for this quite easily, compared to Newegg.

Of course, this is generally why you should never order something from Amazon that isn't marked as ship/sold from Amazon if it's an expensive item. Same goes with Newegg.
 
Mchart said:
...you should never order something from Amazon that isn't marked as ship/sold from Amazon...
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My understanding of Amazon warehouses is that 'sold by Amazon' means nothing as bins from other vendors share Amazon bin locations. Mixing happens.
 
duronboy said:
My understanding of Amazon warehouses is that 'sold by Amazon' means nothing as bins from other vendors share Amazon bin locations. Mixing happens.
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No, if it’s fully shipped and sold, it’s Amazon inventory that isn’t mixed. Each reseller that has products that are SHIPPED by Amazon has them in the Amazon warehouse, but it’s still marked differently and their inventory is their own.
 
That sucks for both receivers, only bad-ish thing I ordered from Amazon was on a wrong colored phone, and a hobby grinder that had less than the claimed part included.
Phone had the same specs, but I ended up liking the color received better, and the hobby grinder seller gave me a more than fair partial refund.
 
One time, long ago, I bought a Nintendo 64 game at walmart and received a box with a roll of pennies taped inside it for weight.
 
I know someone who buys deep 6 figures worth of electronics from Amazon. In the last year he has been having massive issues with them.

-A high percentage of his orders never ship.
-Packages lost or sent to the wrong place.
-Auto refunds to cancelled orders or lost packages not happening
-Broken electronics
-Used electronics (supposed to be new)
-Missing parts (no gpu in new pc, etc)
-Swapped parts (new macbook swapped for old)
-Stolen or locked apple products
-Empty boxes
-Books swapped in for laptops
-etc

Amazon refuses to refund him on most of this stuff (especially the swapped/missing parts orders). Most of their system is automated bots now. He has a pro business account and has had no luck in getting 20k+ of stuff refunded. No amount of videos, pictures, postal inspector notes/letters, refused on delivery, documentation matters. He is chalking it up to the cost of business, but he might sue down the road after he closes his accounts with them.

The problem is real. I have seen it with my own eyes. I have backed off of buying from amazon. I have also had issues with them, but I have at least been able to get a refund after talking to a rep before hand and arranging a refund on first scan. If you send the stuff back without it, it will sit in a warehouse somewhere for 30+ days and then they will refund you 10% less for a late return assuming they actually get to it. I had a few they never refunded after 50+ days and had to request it via chat.

Buyer beware. All of my stuff is new ships/sold by amazon. Most of his is as well but with some used amazon warehouse deals mixed in.
 
I mean, when you use Amazon marketplace, it's ripe to get screwed with it.

Personally, i'm done with Amazon as well, but not for those reasons. Mostly because Prime is too expensive now, and there are plenty of other websites that offer similar products with free shipping.
 
Mchart said:
I mean, when you use Amazon marketplace, it's ripe to get screwed with it.

Personally, i'm done with Amazon as well, but not for those reasons. Mostly because Prime is too expensive now, and there are plenty of other websites that offer similar products with free shipping.
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Which other sites?
 
vonviener said:
I know someone who buys deep 6 figures worth of electronics from Amazon. In the last year he has been having massive issues with them.

-A high percentage of his orders never ship.
-Packages lost or sent to the wrong place.
-Auto refunds to cancelled orders or lost packages not happening
-Broken electronics
-Used electronics (supposed to be new)
-Missing parts (no gpu in new pc, etc)
-Swapped parts (new macbook swapped for old)
-Stolen or locked apple products
-Empty boxes
-Books swapped in for laptops
-etc

Amazon refuses to refund him on most of this stuff (especially the swapped/missing parts orders). Most of their system is automated bots now. He has a pro business account and has had no luck in getting 20k+ of stuff refunded. No amount of videos, pictures, postal inspector notes/letters, refused on delivery, documentation matters. He is chalking it up to the cost of business, but he might sue down the road after he closes his accounts with them.

The problem is real. I have seen it with my own eyes. I have backed off of buying from amazon. I have also had issues with them, but I have at least been able to get a refund after talking to a rep before hand and arranging a refund on first scan. If you send the stuff back without it, it will sit in a warehouse somewhere for 30+ days and then they will refund you 10% less for a late return assuming they actually get to it. I had a few they never refunded after 50+ days and had to request it via chat.

Buyer beware. All of my stuff is new ships/sold by amazon. Most of his is as well but with some used amazon warehouse deals mixed in.
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I can confirm the same experience almost line for line. It's why I dropped Amazon entirely.

Amazon knows this is a problem for consumers but also knows that it isn't a problem for their business. They now do stuff like changing the URL for their chatbots as well as moving the links required for finding them. Oh, right - chatbots? Yes, chatbots. Amazon now has almost no real humans in their live help. The only way to reach one is to request a phone call - and even some of those end up being bots.
 
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Mchart said:
No, if it’s fully shipped and sold, it’s Amazon inventory that isn’t mixed. Each reseller that has products that are SHIPPED by Amazon has them in the Amazon warehouse, but it’s still marked differently and their inventory is their own.
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Wrong. Most vendors get comingled inventory on Amazon. That sold/shipped by Amazon means nothing then.

I too have basically stopped shopping Scamazon.
 
longblock454 said:
Agreed, but their shipping costs need addressed.
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I've generally found that their lower prices more than makes up for shipping costs, especially on more expensive stuff. Plus RockAuto has the perpetual 5% discount codes.
 
I went through this in 2018 with a 2080Ti. UPS box was fine. The interior box was shrink wrapped and it was only after I opened the box and found a 1070 that I realized that the EVGA seals were definitely lifted and resealed. I immediately contacted Amazon and was told "That's not possible" however after sending pictures they gave me a refund. They were on back order when I initially placed the order and they were still on back order when I had to re-order it a second time so it was a considerable wait until I got my card.

I also had an issue with getting my first NVMe drive from Amazon. I ordered a Samsung 960 pro and two books. The package they sent was exactly large enough for the two books. There was no way the box for an NVMe drive could fit in there even as small as they are. I contacted Amazon and I was told that they looked at the weight for the order and it should have contained all three items. After a bit of back and forth they sent me a new one.

I try not to buy electronics from Amazon anymore. Yes they have always made it right but it's always been their fault. Both items were sold and shipped by Amazon.
 
I only buy stuff from Amazon that I don't care too much about, or things I know for sure aren't being "targeted". Hot electronics? No way. They usually don't even have the best deals on that sort of stuff anyways.
 
They could put in a seperate battery in the back for AC and sealed doors. Plus paint the trucks reflective light brown. Maybe add a buddy system two drivers instead of one.
 
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