Has Newegg gotten too big?

S

Servant of Shodan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2002
Messages
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After being a long-time Newegg customer, I have just experienced my first truly unacceptable disappointment with them. My friend wanted a cheap PCI card to play occasional non-graphic intense games on his main rig – primarily a server – so I ordered a GeForce FX5700LE from Newegg. The card’s description stated twice that the memory interface was 128-bit, but when we got the card, RivaTuner revealed that it was 64-bit. I wrote Newegg an email, did not get a response (but noticed they changed the description the day after I sent the letter), sent a second email, and have still not gotten a response. I have loved using Newegg, but recently they have done some not-so-great things: Raising prices on items that are getting good reviews, raising prices when somebody here says they have a sale, did anybody go checkout their new site when they had the advert at the top of the screen saying “Great sales and giveaways?”, did anybody find a single giveaway or offer to win anything? I sure didn’t. And now, they send a part clearly different from advertised, without any explanation or even apology. How long before they start sending dead junk, and refuse to RMA it? What do you all think?
 
That doesn't sound overly terrible as long as you get a reply and correction to your hardware. Keep us posted on that; supposedly newegg lives on their service rep.
 
Probably. Also I haven't been able to DNS resolve their site in days...*shrug*
 
I still haven't had many complaints...

They are not the cheapest anymore, but usually reasonably near the bottom.

As for RMAs, they are quick and painless just like before, as long as their service continues I do not see a reason not to order from them.

Giveaways are clearly marked state they can be accessed through their sales e-mails that they send out about 3 times a week. I usually give it a try each time.
 
Just yesterday I made an RMA request for a Sempron processor that didn't work in my motherboard. It was Soyo's fault for falsely advertising Sempron support on the motherboard. Anyways, the CPU was purchased after the 7 day grace period for CPU RMAs, and was very close to the 30 day limit for other hardware RMAs. Thanks to NewEgg customer support, they were willing to accomodate my polite request and sent me an RMA number for a full refund.
 
There are lots of threads on this topic. Browse around (or search). We are all aware that...
1. Newegg's prices aren't always lower than everyone else's anymore
2. Newegg charges more for shipping than other places

If you need to resolve a problem with Newegg, the best way to do it is call them up. They are more than willing to help you out if you talk to a live person. And as far as I know, they haven't outsourced their customer service to India yet ;).
 
Even though Newegg isn't the cheapest on everything, I still like to order from them because everytime I buy something I have 100% confidence in them. I don't have to worry about being frauded, them not shipping, or them not helping me with an RMA.

They're like your friendly neighborhood grocer. Only they don't sell groceries. And they're an enourmous company. And they aren't in my neighborhood. But other than that, they're exactly like your friendly neighborhood grocer. :p

/being an idiot
 
Newegg's pricess and shipping = BAD
Newgg's RMA policy and customer support = GOOD

Their prices have been on steady decline for quite some time, unfortunately. I guess they figure if we want that level of service, we ought to pay for it. Anyone remember when 85% of their products came with "FREE FedEx Saver Shipping". I sure do. :(
 
Actually, their shipping on my case was the lowest I found. I actually chose to get it shipped from newegg based solely on the shipping costs. Shipping a case is never cheap, and I wanted it 2nd day air... my case, a motherboard and graphics card shipped second day air for $34. That's pretty good.

As for prices...they still seem nearly the bottom. Sure, there's competition, but I don't think it's because newegg's prices went up so much as everyone else dropped theirs to stay competitive. Then again, I haven't been pricing things over an extended period of time, so I may be wrong on that.

-Nate
 
Is Newegg a non-profit charity?

Because if it isn't, they are in business to earn income. Big suprise here!- prices can and will change!
 
Maybe you guys should check out onsale.com, a technology retailer site just like newegg that I recently heard about. They have, and I'm not kidding, "rock bottom" prices. Most of the things on the site you couldn't get anywhere else for these prices.
 
Newegg may charge more for shipping, but even if that is true, I can set my watch to the timing of deliveries. That is very important considering I needed quick service recently.

And for my other cent...I agree that Newegg is 100% rock solid...no fraud worries here.
 
1) Selection. You can get everything you need all from one store.
2) Shipping. Yeah, it ain't all free anymore, but it's super quick and still reasonable price-wise.
3) Service. 100% confidence when ordering for them. As for product descriptions... always check the manufacturer site. Newegg has to type up descriptions for EVERY single item, of course mistakes will be made. I don't fault them for it, it's on the consumer to know what he's buying.
3) Prices. They're still pretty damn good, especially considering that they provide the first three things I listed at the quality that they do.
 
jen4950 said:
Is Newegg a non-profit charity?

Because if it isn't, they are in business to earn income. Big suprise here!- prices can and will change!
Click to expand...

Obviously not a charity. But when they start jacking up a price on an item midway through the day because HardForum members point out a good deal, it speaks to me that their desire to "earn income" is more that their desire to play fair.

waddles said:
As for product descriptions... always check the manufacturer site. Newegg has to type up descriptions for EVERY single item, of course mistakes will be made. I don't fault them for it, it's on the consumer to know what he's buying.
Click to expand...

Bull shit, señor. Checking the manufacturer site is certainly important (and something I always do), but as anybody checking out even good sites like BFG Tech will know, the manufacturer site often has almost no info, or maybe just some marketing blurb; that's one of the reasons I've always trusted Newegg -- they have more pictures, more descriptions, and people have felt they can trust Newegg. I knew exactly what I was supposed to be buying -- they just were'nt really selling what they said they were, and now they just ignore me.

Look, I have spent thousands of dollars at Newegg over the past few years, and I could give dozens of glowing examples of their first class service, and how everything has gone right. But this is a very bad situation 180 degrees from what it has been in the past, and it comes at a time when I've been eyeing their recent behavior and business with a critical eye.

This is coming from somebody who actually wants Newegg to stay the best -- I'm not going to give up on them just because they've pissed me off this once. That's what loyalty is about. I would also suggest to others who care about keeping Newegg true to itself, to keep your eyes open, and write to them if you feel something is wrong. Sure, they've ignored me so far (that's mostly why I'm angry), but they can't ignore everybody.

Mod Edit: Ok then, Servant of Shodan ;)
 
I buy a lot of my stuff from Staples now. I bought a couple of AMD cpus and my current MSI K2 Plat mobo from them. I only use newegg or zzf to pricematch nowadays. Just shop around. They aren't as good as they used to be.
 
I bought a digital camcorder a few weeks ago. I found it somewhere for $60 cheaper than Newegg had it. But it was some company on the east coast, and everywhere on the internet you read about east-coast camera companies doing shady things. Even though the company was highly rated, I just didn't feel comfortable ordering from them.

So I bit the bullet and ordered from Newegg, trading $60, for peace of mind. THAT's why I like Newegg. When I buy from them I'm damned near guaranteeing a perfect transaction. It's nice to fall back on that when you're making a large investment.
 
I've been 'egg free for over a year, and saving money every time I order.

I got my mom a digital camera for mothers day, got it for $260 shipped, whereas 'egg wanted $309 for the camera, plus $8 for shipping. Then I ordered a 512MB flash card for it from Zipzoomfly for $36 with free 2nd day shipping, 'egg wanted $41 for the same card and $4 shipping. All total I saved $66 by shopping elsewhere on a <$300 order.

The few times I've had to RMA items, I've had just as much luck everywhere else as I've had with 'egg so customer service won't win me back.
 
S1nF1xx - All those disreputable camera shops are in New York City, and all of them have HORRIBLE ratings on the various ratings sites. If one has good ratings, you can probably trust it. That being said, if a site doesn't have more than like 100 ratings, I'm pretty hesitant to try it out. Someone else can be the guinea pig, thankyouverymuch.

You're right to be wary, I've seen literally dozens of stories about those camera shops, and they're probably all the same fly-by-night place. You can't go wrong with a little piece of mind. I did the same thing when I bought my last camera... could have gotten it for 20% less, but I knew it would be 200% more hassle.

-Nate
 
Here's an update:
After three emails, and a 30 minute phone call, things are kind of settled, more or less the way it should be. Here's my result:
Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting us.

We apologize if your email was not received. We will definitely look into this matter further and make sure the proper steps are taken to ensure that all our customer's concerns are received and addressed in a timely manner.

We apologize for the discrepancy on our website. We put forth our best efforts everyday to ensure that our website is accurate and truthful. As human beings mistakes sometimes do happen. This is the reason why we have a whole entire department dedicated to scouring our website looking for errors and correcting them. I have contacted them directly and inquired about this particular item to see if your email was the cause of the correction. They noted that it was a phone call from a customer which prompted the change. Due to the shear number of customers we have viewing the webpage a day, this is how most of our website errors are usually detected.

When situations where a customer has purchased the item under false pretences, we here at Newegg will make sure to do whatever it takes to rectify the situation, and ensure your complete satisfaction.

I'd be more than happy to assist you with creating a RMA refund for the item and of course the restocking fees will be waived. We understand this situation could not have been prevented by you, so as an exception we'll credit you an additional $10 for the return shipping cost of this item. Your RMA number is XXXXXXXXX. The $10 credit has been submitted and will be paid out to your credit card account when the RMA process is completed.

We really appreciate the patience and understanding you've shown us, if you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us again.

Well, this is more like the Newegg that I remember. It makes me happy that this was resolved, but I guess the lesson is that we just have to fight a lot harder from now on -- keep 'em on their toes for their own good.
 
I've made my last few computer related purchases through different companies, so yeah, I've noticed enough of a drop in quality from Newegg to take my business elseware. That drop in quality being, longer waiting times for items to ship, longer shipping times, more expencive shipping costs, shipping small and cheap seperate items from different warehouses in different parts of the country making shipping costs even higher, and price gouging. The last thing I bought from them was my 6800GT, at a highly inflated price I might add. I know it was my own decision to buy it at that price but it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
 
Hey, they're even paying you for shipping and handling, that's damned nice of them, I haven't seen anyone do that before.

Glad to see they're helping. Makes me feel even better for the next time I order from them.
 
waddles said:
1) Selection. You can get everything you need all from one store.
2) Shipping. Yeah, it ain't all free anymore, but it's super quick and still reasonable price-wise.
3) Service. 100% confidence when ordering for them. As for product descriptions... always check the manufacturer site. Newegg has to type up descriptions for EVERY single item, of course mistakes will be made. I don't fault them for it, it's on the consumer to know what he's buying.
3) Prices. They're still pretty damn good, especially considering that they provide the first three things I listed at the quality that they do.
Click to expand...
Agreed 100% ;) Newegg Rocks!!!!
 
ive only had the opportunity to send a few things back....but the last time I was irked. Had a bad RAM stick...RMA'd it (which is quick and painless!) but they sent me the same damn RAM stick back....sigh.

I made a new RMA, and sent a little comment saying "I took pictures of this thing, DONT send me the same one back, thanks" and they didn't. It just sucked to be out of 2 X shipping, and all the time involved.
 
peacetilence said:
I've made my last few computer related purchases through different companies, so yeah, I've noticed enough of a drop in quality from Newegg to take my business elseware. That drop in quality being, longer waiting times for items to ship, longer shipping times, more expencive shipping costs, shipping small and cheap seperate items from different warehouses in different parts of the country making shipping costs even higher, and price gouging. The last thing I bought from them was my 6800GT, at a highly inflated price I might add. I know it was my own decision to buy it at that price but it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Before they stood up their warehouses in Tennesee and New Jersey (ugh.... used to live there), I would get my stuff in two days, using FEDEX Saver shipping. It was ALWAYS two days, coming from City of Indusrty CA, down here to San Diego.

I can't figure out their logic in them sending items to me from New Jersey.
 
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