Amazon Xeon fraud! :O

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 12:17

I know the policy on not advertising competitors, but this is far from an advert.

I ordered the cheapest Xeon V3 I could find, so I could flash the BIOS on my nice new Asus X99-m WS I got second hand unused, to use it with a V4 xeon with more cores than I have T-shirts.

Got the E5-2603 V3, it arrived yesterday, I just got back this morning, opened the box and found this:

http://puu.sh/qcBQq/6a783ac4f0.JPG

This scrubbed clean heatspreader on a CPU significantly smaller than an LGA2011-3 xeon. Something very fishy...

So turn it over and found this:

http://puu.sh/qcBJE/fb4a99dcd1.JPG

That is the underside that has 3 globs of SUPERGLUE sticking it to the clamshell, with some still covering the pins. Don't miss the 2 resistors that are stuck in the superglue, that have popped off the top of the column of 6 far right bottom!

Had a look at the Heatspreader again, and could just make out some text:

http://puu.sh/qcC4n/bb5b009018.JPG

------------------ G1840
SR1VK 2.80GHz
VIETNAM

This is a Celeron!
http://ark.intel.com/products/80800/Intel-Celeron-Processor-G1840-2M-Cache-2_80-GHz

So, now to ring Amazon, because someone has bought this and returned it for a refund and given them back a probably dead (certainly now with those missing resistors) Celeron and kept the Xeon!

I find it odd that he would do this with the cheapest, slowest Xeon though :confused:

So, that's your daily dose of Fraud. ONS recently said Fraud accounts for more than half of all crime, ranging from card skimming, to promising the NHS £350m :rolleyes:

mmj_uk · 24 Jul 2016 at 12:51

I recently bought a 4x8GB kit of memory from there and it looked second hand (cellotaped end) and two of the sticks were missing... They need to do better returns checking it seems, if you receive a box saying 4 of something on it and only 2 are present then it's obvious you've been swindled, but no.. Amazon just restock and sell it on to some other poor soul. In fairness though their RMA service is exceptional.

tom_e · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:00

Was it sold by Amazon or a third party but fulfilled by Amazon?

kefan77 · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:01

tom_e said:
Was it sold by Amazon or a third party but fulfilled by Amazon?

this

mmj_uk · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:02

The memory I purchased was Amazon not a trader, clearly some people are cottoning on to the fact that Amazon don't check returns very well.

Were all of the seals intact on the Xeon box?

Rroff · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:04

Was it retail boxed or in some cheapy packaging? retail box have security tape that should show if its been opened and shouldn't be put back into stock as retail if sold by Amazon directly.

MissChief · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:06

Didn't OCuk get a fake batch of CPU's at one point? In fact thinking about it the boxes were empty of a CPU at all?

And Amazon shouldn't be sending out returned items as new.

kefan77 · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:10

maybe you are refering to this:

https://www.engadget.com/2010/03/07/newegg-sells-300-counterfeit-core-i7-920-cpus-is-now-investiga/

mmj_uk · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:11

Rroff said:
Was it retail boxed or in some cheapy packaging? retail box have security tape that should show if its been opened and shouldn't be put back into stock as retail if sold by Amazon directly.

Like I said the memory I bought had cellotape on one end rather than the circular seal Corsair use, so they must be doing it.

BluD · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:14

I've had the same thing happen a few times, one of them i bought from a highstreet shop which sold me a 2200xp maybe 2400xp i cant remember the exact model and it turned out to be a 1800xp with a fake sticker printed and covering the real one, luckily that turned out to be a golden chip so i wasnt fussed there. I also has the same thing happen with a CPU bought from a well known auction site, it had the correct IHS on but when i delidded it there was the wrong chip underneath.

Recently i've been conned through Rainforest also, i saw a cheap 980ti, not cheap enough for me to think thats to good to be true but about about £15-20 below the going rate so i took a chance and it never arrived, the seller wont respond to messages either. Its a bit strange cause the seller has had a shop on there for like 8-9 years with 100% 5star results. I get the feeling the shop has been hacked or summat, Rainforest are looking into it now.

I've done what i should have done in teh first place and bought new from overclockers now theyre virtually giving them away.

sgavan · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:38

That's terrible thought they would check it better, reminds me of Argos, several times bought items that were clearly second hand but probably assume a lot of people won't notice

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:44

The order was sold and fulfilled by Amazon directly, no other 3rd parties involved.

The box had the label with serial number intact over one side, and the "security tape" had been lifted carefully the first time since there was no sign of tampering. What was odd was the generic circular sticker seal you find on lots of boxes that just hold flaps down etc. I later learned this was off the paper manual inside that had glue residue in a circular shape on the open edge.

kefan77 · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:49

contact amazon, ask for replacement.
receive replacement 2 days later and possibly 5-10 quid voucher for inconvenience.

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:49

I was planning on using the CPU to flash my BIOS so I can use a V4 xeon, then return it for a refund. Technically, this is entirely within your rights with the Distance selling regs, you have 14 days after taking delivery to open it, try it out, and return it so long as the packaging is in a resellable condition - breaking seals is fine, but tearing the whole box across the front isn't.

I did the same thing when I bought a new keyboard. Since they're a subjective thing, I couldn't decide between a Razer blackwidow chroma, or the Corsair K95 something or other. So I bought both, tried them both out for a couple of days, then returned the Corsair, after giving it a nice thorough dust and putting everything back into the box the way I found it, plastic bags and all. Someone else buying it wouldn't know it was a return. I would have no problem buying a return in this manner.

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:53

kefan77 said:
contact amazon, ask for replacement.
receive replacement 2 days later and possibly 5-10 quid voucher for inconvenience.

Exactly what's occurred, though I'm not holding my breath for a voucher. I'm just pleased they didn't accuse me! In their shoes, it could easily look that way.

I did get some RAM for free from them before though, when the order had said handed to resident, but there was no sign of it at my house, so the next day I rang up and complained and they sent out a replacement order. Hour or two later, some guy from another street posted the original through my letterbox :rolleyes:

My village has a lot of streets like "Barleyfields, Cloverfields, Ryefields, Wheatfields" so my guess they took it to my number on a different road :confused:

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:56

Rroff said:
Was it retail boxed or in some cheapy packaging? retail box have security tape that should show if its been opened and shouldn't be put back into stock as retail if sold by Amazon directly.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NFA7P1O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the listing, and it came in the retail box. With "security seal" intact, so I wouldn't trust those seals as infallible.

TheVoice · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:59

MajorMaccas said:
I was planning on using the CPU to flash my BIOS so I can use a V4 xeon, then return it for a refund. Technically, this is entirely within your rights with the Distance selling regs, you have 14 days after taking delivery to open it, try it out, and return it so long as the packaging is in a resellable condition - breaking seals is fine, but tearing the whole box across the front isn't.

It still means they can't then sell that product as a new and have to take a loss on it accordingly. Consumer rights are there for our protection, not for people to abuse when they need to 'borrow' an item for a few days.

Craig321 · 24 Jul 2016 at 14:06

MajorMaccas said:
Exactly what's occurred, though I'm not holding my breath for a voucher. I'm just pleased they didn't accuse me! In their shoes, it could easily look that way.

I did get some RAM for free from them before though, when the order had said handed to resident, but there was no sign of it at my house, so the next day I rang up and complained and they sent out a replacement order. Hour or two later, some guy from another street posted the original through my letterbox My village has a lot of streets like "Barleyfields, Cloverfields, Ryefields, Wheatfields" so my guess they took it to my number on a different road

They'll always give you something for your inconvenience. My latest was an extra free month of Prime

You just have to ask.

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 14:21

TheVoice said:
It still means they can't then sell that product as a new and have to take a loss on it accordingly. Consumer rights are there for our protection, not for people to abuse when they need to 'borrow' an item for a few days.

Yes, I agree, but how do you define the difference? The idea is because you're not there to view it/touch it in the shop, you can get it out, try it, and decide you don't want it. If I happen to get something productive out of this trial, what difference is there to if I just found the CPU to be too slow?

MajorMaccas · 24 Jul 2016 at 14:24

Craig321 said:
They'll always give you something for your inconvenience. My latest was an extra free month of Prime

You just have to ask.

Free month of Prime would have been decent! :rolleyes:

I'm on a student membership of 6 months, with half the normal annual price after that. Good old NUS card