OT: NewEgg needs to be scrambled

Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/4/2005, 4:50 AM

I've seen several posts here regarding the online computer store NewEgg. Recently, just last week actually, I needed to order a new power supply for my editing computer. I went to NewEgg, found what I needed, placed my order (in the morning EDT), and paid for Next Day Air.

As the receipt was printing out for my records, I read that orders take from between 24 to 48 hours to process. How ridiculous!

I immediately called them to find out what the heck was going on. "O, yes, it takes between 24 and 48 hours to fill orders, and we don't fill orders on the week-end." So I asked, "Then what good did it do me to pay for Next Day Air?" The guy says, "Well, you'll get it next day from the day the order is filled, which in this case may not be until Tuesday, so you should get it on Wednesday." How stupid! This was last Thursday we were talking about. It would be nearly a week until I get my order having paid for rush delivery! That's totally asinine.

So I canceled the order. Then I get an e-mail stating that my credit card had been charged for the order after I had canceled it! So I called back and was told it would take at least two weeks to credit the charges back to my card! They can charge my card in a matter of minutes, but it take two days to fill an order and two weeks to issue an credit. What a bunch of jerks! I'll never do business with NewEgg again.

As I promised them, I took my business elsewhere. Got my power supply the next day. On top of that, the company was out of 500w power supplies and upgraded me to a 600w power supply at no charge!


Comments

JJKizak wrote on 7/4/2005, 5:29 AM
Order processing probably in India. Actually the 2 week credit thing is pretty fast. Sony takes one month. They should probably tell you up front like B & H does. CDW is pretty good except for there terrible tangled up website.

JJK
TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/4/2005, 5:30 AM
That's the one thing I don't like about newegg too: they take 24-48 hours to process.

it IS normal for an online company to take a coulpe weeks for a chargeback. I've only gotten instant chargebacks from walk in retailers.

For things I need RIGHT away, I normally use Computer Geeks (www.geeks.com). If you order in the morning, odds are they will have the order shipped THAT day, no matter what shipping you do. I've never had a problem with them.
bjtap wrote on 7/4/2005, 5:51 AM
I use NewEgg all the time. The last 3 orders I made were shipped the same day even though they said it could take 24-48 hours. The worse case scenario I ever had was an order shipped the next day because I ordered late in the day. I never have paid the extra charge they ask for to get quick service because I have always gotten it anyway. In every case my order arrived a day before it was scheduled to arrive. (FedEx Express saver.... CA to AZ).
Barry
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/4/2005, 6:08 AM

Barry, I'm happy for you. All I can say is that when I called and explained that I absolutely needed the item next day, I was told that it would not happen. What else can I say?


Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/4/2005, 6:12 AM

James, every other place I've ever dealt with charges you the day they ship. Plus, why did they charge my credit card after I told them to cancel the order? The guy was looking at my order on his monitor as we were talking!


JohnnyRoy wrote on 7/4/2005, 6:37 AM
NewEgg is one of the finest merchants on the Internet. Don’t believe the “party line”. They have to tell you that. I ordered all the parts for my PC two days before Christmas last year and I received them the day after Christmas. No special shipping. I order from NewEgg all the time and just use the ground shipping and I still received items in two days if they ate at the NJ warehouse (I live in NY). If it has to come from the west coast it takes a bit longer.

I would bet the reason they charged your credit card is because they were going to ship it that same day. Once again, they have to quote you the standard 24 to 48 hrs because that how much time they give themselves but usually if you order in the morning; it gets shipped the same day. NewEgg ROCKS!

~jr
StormCrow wrote on 7/4/2005, 6:44 AM
I remember a few years back when I first started using NewEgg that your order almost always shipped that very same day as long as it was in stock. The 24-48 hr. thing is probably just to cta but I would say that most times the order will ship out that day. Especially if you order in the morning and then pay the extra $1.99 or whatever it is now. I still like NewEgg and will shop from them again because I know I can trust them. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them.
BrianStanding wrote on 7/4/2005, 6:45 AM
I agree with JohnnyRoy. I use NewEgg all the time, and, unless it's out of stock, everything I've ordered has shipped the same day, sometimes even within minutes of my order.

Give 'em another try, Jay. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
rdolishny wrote on 7/4/2005, 7:59 AM
It may be just me an old timer but I found newegg ads offensive back a couple of years ago. It read something to the effect "we have a million showrooms, visit them and talk to the salespeople, but then go home and buy it from us online" (referring to showrooms of their competitors). A colleague owns his own computer shop and my heart sank for him - now the online companies are being so bold to suggest people take up salespeoples time and visit stores they have no intention of supporting.

Of course you can find it cheaper online. But there's something to be said for the local businesses that keep our communities alive.

I guess that qualifies as a rant, but not directed at anyone at all.

- R
TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/4/2005, 12:00 PM
magazines did that too, not just online retailers. Also, it's not always cheaper online. I bought a sound card from new egg a couple years ago. Cost about $35 after shipping, OEM. Found out the next day EB had the SAME soundcard RETAIL for $30 before tax.

Always check around. :)
HHaynes wrote on 7/4/2005, 1:12 PM
I always shop NewEgg, Geeks, and Output (Fry's online) and then compare it to how much it will cost to just drive over to Best Buy or Fry's to walk out the door with it. I have NEVER been disappointed with NewEgg in terms of shipping and deliver (most things received the next day even with ground service) but then again I've not put a heavy burden of proof on them either. Sometimes the pain-factor of dealing with online ordering and shipping is not worth the few bucks saved when compared to driving down the street and picking it up - especially when divided out over the service life of the appliance/part.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/4/2005, 2:47 PM

Johnny, I don't go in for playing games. I tell people straight up how things are, and I expect no less from them. If they want my business, then tell me what's what and don't jerk me around, don't play games. Treat people the way you want to be treated, especially your customers!


filmy wrote on 7/4/2005, 5:06 PM
>>>So I called back and was told it would take at least two weeks to credit the charges back to my card!<<<

Unless something changed that is total BS. It only takes a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Having dones CC orders I know all I had to do was pick up the phone, enter in our number, enter in the CC # , punch credit or debit and the amount and than write down the confirmation number. That was it. On and off the phone in less than 5 minutes. And doing it via direct connection takes even less time - walking into a WalMart for example to return something. They take your card, slide it through. You sign the receipt and the credit is back on. The "2 week" line sounds like a high volume, one person operation who won't have the time to "get around to doing it for a few weeks" rather than "it takes at least 2 weeks...".
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/5/2005, 5:02 AM

Unless something changed that is total BS. It only takes a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

Exactly! That's one of the things that really frosts my socks about this whole episode. They brag about what great customer service they have... That only applies to those customers that don't require any "service."


JJKizak wrote on 7/5/2005, 5:23 AM
Everybody does that and the industry standard is 30 days. They get the use of your money and that's the way capitolism works. Until a law is passed it will continue. Same thing as when you make a deposit at a bank there is a 2-3 day float. Also when you deposit a large check there is a 10 day float. Credit card limit 29% interest? Pay 300% interest on a 30 year home loan? (100k mortgage you pay 300k) It's all legal but if your a loan shark it isn't. Those rich people have to have
legal ways to screw you out of money to become richer.

JJK
busterkeaton wrote on 7/5/2005, 6:12 AM
Jay,

You may want to try zipzoomfly.com as an alternative to newegg. Your luck may not be better, but they also stock tons of parts and are highly regarded.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/5/2005, 7:04 AM

Those rich people have to have legal ways to screw you out of money to become richer.

James, you're absolutely right. That's pretty much what French economist and patriot Frédéric Bastiat said his book The Law, which I highly recommend to all (you can read it online for free). He referred to this as "legal plunder," pretty apt description, huh?

"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter — by peaceful or revolutionary means — into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it."



Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/5/2005, 7:06 AM

I'll try them next time, Buster. Thanks!


Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/5/2005, 7:44 AM

Tom, that's a good idea! How about I send you the bill for the expense of all those back-ups?


Steve Mann wrote on 7/6/2005, 3:31 PM
They are just protecting themselves from a scam that works like this: The buyer places then cancels a large order and gets credit on his CC, THEN they call the credit card company for a chargeback. By the time the mail order company gets around to inquiring about the chargeback, the scammer has had extra funds in the CC account to spend elsewhere.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/6/2005, 5:38 PM

Bull, they had no reason to bill the card in the first place, after I canceled the order.


B.Verlik wrote on 7/6/2005, 5:42 PM
The great thing about credit cards is that nobody ever says what they truly pay for anything. Just what the price tag said when they made the purchase.
Can you even figure it out? I can get out a calculater and calculate all night and my figures hardly ever add up to what I see on paper from Visa and Mastercharge. If you can figure it out, I hope you were smart enough to chop those cards up and get rid of them. What? You don't mind 17-20% compounded over and over again? Of course not. You're still using them, aren't you? In fact, I bet you can't live without them. Truth be told, most of you don't have a clue what you spent on most of those CC items by the time they were paid off. (another great American rip-off that we can't live without.)
That's all right, you'll get back at everyone when you hit 65 and start racking up the expenses on every credit card you can get your hands on until you croak.
(no need getting worked up about my comments, as usual, it's more tongue in cheek than anything. I am kind of curious though, How much would you end up paying for a $699. item (like Vegas), added to an outstanding $10,000. Visa account? Be exact. Luckily, were not adding anything else, like you would in real life. Any takers? Don't forget to keep compounding everything.)
rstein wrote on 7/6/2005, 10:30 PM
I've spent zero on credit card interest in the last five years, so yes, I know I paid exactly what the price tag/receipt said. However, I happily pay $75/yr for the privilege of getting free airline miles while using this card. I just pay the full balance off every month. So I'm technically using the bank's money to float up to 30 days of interest. That vindicates me when I see the lousy 0.3% my bank pays on my savings account. :-)

I can't believe the "spread" between what banks pay and what they charge for consumer credit. Back in the day (70's), the spread between these was never more than 7% or so (at least in my experience). The interest rate on my worst card back then was 12%. In the 80's and 90's, however, it seems that usury laws were "reformed" so that 22% APR became the norm (while the Prime was at 4% or less). The interest rate on my BEST card (and I've got very good credit scores) is 22%. Again, since I never let the b*stards charge me interest, it doesn't matter to me, but if I had to dip into credit card debt, I'd be looking for the best APR rate card pronto.

Bob.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 7/7/2005, 6:23 AM
What? You don't mind 17-20% compounded over and over again? Of course not. You're still using them, aren't you? In fact, I bet you can't live without them.

Steve, you're assuming an awful lot, and we all know what the the word "assume" makes out of you and me, when we assume anything.

For your information, I've got one credit. I never pay interest because I pay the balance before the interest is applied. I have $0.00 credit card debt.