Can someone help with a shipping delima

[tripod264]

Recently a computer illiterate friend of mine at the direction of a computer technician bid on and won a opteron 144 cpu from a large computer parts company through ebay. Upon the delivery of the cpu my friend gave the cpu to the computer technician to install in the new computer that he was assembling for my friend. That same day the tech called my friend and informed him that the cpu that he had given him was what appeared to be a amd fx60 and not the opteron 144 originally advertised by the company. My friend emailed the company telling them of the descrepancy but the company did not respond for three days. During that time the technician proposed that he would trade my friend for the cpu for one that was very simular opteron 146. My friend beleiving that the company had sent a faxcilimity instead of the original due to some unforseen problem went ahead and agreed with the trade. Three days later the company emailed my friend informing that they were sending another cpu and that my friend should pay for sending back to them the one that they had originally sent. First my friend does not have the original cpu, second he does not feel that he should be held responsible for the shipping charges for the original cpu. But we were hoping that someone could possably add their input as to the problem that my friend has. So please could we have some opinions and theories on the whats and whos in this delima. Thanks so much for your help! Where is an emoticon when you need one?:roll:

 

[krnmastersgt]

So has the technician already put the fx60 into a different system that he no longer has? In any case, my experience with shipping things back is that you pay the shipping there and, 50/50, they refund the money to you after they receive the package. Of course certain companies will not cover shipping back to them but with the size and weight of a cpu it's not too bad is it? Did your friend realize the difference in price when he traded? He traded a pricy dual core for an old single core. Hard to say what to do, chances are if he cares about the money the technician won't trade back.

 

[tripod264]

Well, not my friend did not know the difference between the pricey cpu that the company first sent and the one that was advertised and was supposed to receive. But now he has two cpus and the company emailed instructions to ship the first (fx60) back to them using his own money and although the second cpu has not arrived it will have been sent back from another costomer. Who was probably pretty unhappy about receiving a 144 instead of an FX60. So there is a question as to the integrity of the 144 wouldnt you say?

 

[krnmastersgt]

Well assuming it's a trust worthy company, which I hope it is since your friend trusted them with credit card info, or paypal etc. then if the chip doesn't work they should be able to replace it, if your friend doesn't want to take these risks or deal with the hassle of shipping back and forth (wasting money in the process if they don't refund the shipping costs), he could always request a full refund and buy the chip from somewhere else.

 

[Mondoman]

A lot depends on the *exact* wording of the email your friend (we'll call him YF) sent to the ebay company. Did he actually ask for a replacement to be shipped? If not, he is under no obligation to ship back a CPU and should "refuse delivery" of the replacement CPU the company sent him. He should promptly send an email to that company saying that his business with that company is satisfactorily completed, and that he will refuse delivery of any items the company tries to send to him; similarly, he will not be sending anything to the company.
On the other hand, if YF *did* ask for a replacement CPU, then it is his obligation to send the FX-60 back to the company in exchange for the promised CPU. Of course, he can talk/email the company to try to get out of it, if they agree.
Remember that shipping a CPU only costs about $2 via First Class Mail, even with Delivery Confirmation, since the CPU only weighs a few ounces.

PS - not to disparage you in any way, but the Firefox browser has built-in spell checking that works on all text you type in it, even forum posts. It's not such a big deal here, but when dealing with a company, incorrect spelling may reduce the level of respect they give you.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Indeed, I'd rather keep the FX60, sell it to someone and buy another Opty 144 and keep the extra money. From the sounds of the second post by the OP, I think his friend did already say he didn't get his opty so he probably is required to return the FX60, assuming he can get it back from the technician. In any case, mind posting the emails (without names of course) that your friend and the company exchanged?

 

[tripod264]

Thanks so much for the help. You don't know how much your input has helped. Both of us as well thought that sending another cpu without asking was not the thing to do. Just recently I found myself in a simular situation. It just so happened that I purchased a wrong auto part while using ebay. I pleaded and apoligized to the seller to take back and exchange (if possable) the the wrong auto part which I was well aware that they were not obligated to do but did agree upon. However they did include the stipulations that they first would have to receive back the wrong auto part (at my expense) and would send the replacement part only after my check for the difference in the two auto parts and return shipping on the correct replacement part had cleared the seller's bank. I feel sure that if I had demanded the seller to ship me another auto part using their funds before I sent the first back or paid for the second part and it's shipping charges they would have given me a big hell no. Additionally, we are both pleased that you are in agreement in thinking it rather impolite for the seller to not ask but demand a costomer to pay for return shipping within an exchange that the costomer could not possably be deemed to be at fault. The customer never asked for an exchange nor for the sending of an additional cpu. As well it can be seen that this seller's demands are at odds with the policies that they ask of their costomers when they stipulate that the buyer pay $10.00 shipping in advance then they demand the costomer pay for shipping charges that are clearly the seller's responsibility. That having been said it has been our experience that being truthful and polite will usually invoke the same in others. Again thanks for any further input that you may be able to offer.