Amazon Xeon fraud! :O

[MajorMaccas]

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

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

 

[MajorMaccas]

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.

 

[MajorMaccas]

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]

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 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

 

[MajorMaccas]

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.

 

[MajorMaccas]

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]

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

 

[MajorMaccas]

Your link is to a 3rd party trader by the name of Trading Empire

Yes, but I got the one on the right from Amazon for a quid more with Prime delivery. Not sure how to link that one directly.

 

[MajorMaccas]

DSR hasnt been a thing in the UK for two years now. It's called Consumer Contracts Regulations and the seller is entitled to reduce the refund if the sales value is affect and that included the breaking of seals.

That's good to know, thanks!

Found this bit on the legislation:

In the case of my keyboards, I actually went into a PC world, and they let me open up the box and take the keyboard out and type away on it before I said I would leave it.

I may be stretching the new legislation with my intended use of this cheap Xeon, but amazon don't seem too bothered what they get sent back to them...

 

[MajorMaccas]

Wow,thats really bad.

I hope you get your money back!

Already got a replacement on the way and they're collecting this onw tomorrow.

 

[MajorMaccas]

Have really gone off 'that place' since they introduced market sellers for electronics. They buy the normal priced items then sell them themselves at massively inflated prices.

OcUK is my first port of call when I'm in the UK.

Normally, me too, but OcUK don't stock this xeon.

 

[MajorMaccas]

Well, they said on the phone that they would launch an investigation, but that's obviously the last I will hear of it. It depends how they label their stock (if). If they have a bin of Widgets in boxes, and get one returned, once it's checked and approved (in the loosest sense) it goes back into the bin. If someone returns a grometsprocket inplace of their widget in the same box, once it goes back into the bin how do they know which box is a return and which is brand new? and how do they know which return came from which person? there's no identifying amazon labels on my box.

Also, in other news, I got the replacement today, and I'm clearly not the first owner:

http://puu.sh/qfn5V/6eab5d0467.JPG
http://puu.sh/qfn9o/4651314084.JPG
http://puu.sh/qfnb7/400c7eb832.JPG
http://puu.sh/qfnce/459e39d2d4.JPG

Note the open "security seal" and generally tatty box.

http://puu.sh/qfncW/b7aacdf337.JPG

Fortunately it is the correct chip so as long as it's not DOA, it should work fine. And since I'm returning what is already a return, I think karma can call this one a wash

 

[MajorMaccas]

Probably from a previous customer who bought it but had no intention of keeping it past the 30 days...

Hence my closing statement

 

[MajorMaccas]

In other news, didn't need this at all and this whole thread could have been avoided - newer Asus motherboards have a BIOS Flashback function where you can update the BIOS from a USB without any CPU/RAM/GPU installed, just motherboard, 24pin + 8pin power and USB. GAH!

 

[MajorMaccas]

on a slightly different note I ordered a cpu cooler from the same place as you last year,

they sent me out a lunchbox

buggers wouldn't even let me keep the lunch box either

Love it!

 

[MajorMaccas]

When I worked in retail just after uni, someone bought an iPod Classic, then returned it as faulty. The person dealing with the return didn't bother to check the item itself and processed the refund, and it was only when I had a look afterwards that it was clear they'd just put their old, scratched, broken iPod in the box instead.

Same thing happened with a PS3; someone bought a new Slim one and returned their old broken fat 40GB one. It didn't even fit in the box properly yet nobody bothered to check.

I blame the companies: minimum wage; minimum work. What does a guy on £7/hour care about a return? He doesn't worry about the bottom line, it won't affect his (meagre) salary, it's upto the companies to either incentivise it, or make it accountable to the person processing the return.

 

[MajorMaccas]

Also, talking of kettles, with the new EU legislation coming in banning kettles over a certain wattage, surely the energy used is the same?

It takes 1 Joule to heat 1ml of water 1*C at 4*C. The metric system doesn't specify time, so for any given volume of water at whatever temperature it is out your tap needs X energy to raise to 100*C, whether you put that energy into the water at 100 Watts or 3000 Watts?

So surely all the EU legislation is doing is slowing down our kettles...