WARNING: Micro Center Motherboard Scam

[pcgeek101]

Hello,

Micro Center has scammed me for an Asus motherboard, the P8P67-PRO. I went to Micro Center to purchase a new Intel Sandy Bridge CPU that was just released on 1/9/11, and a new motherboard to go with it. On recommendation from a friend of mine, I went to Micro Center because they had a pretty decent discount on the new processors, as well as package deals with a motherboard. I went ahead and got the Intel Core i5-2500K from them, and the Asus P8P67-PRO motherboard, because it has the Intel Gigabit NIC on it rather than the Realtek one on the non-PRO version. I didn't go for the Deluxe Edition because it cost a lot more and I didn't really need the extra features.

So Micro Center sold me the motherboard and CPU, and I wrestled with getting it to work in my computer for a LONG time (at least 6 hours). The issue was that a red light "CPU LED" kept coming on as soon as I would try to boot the system. I wouldn't get any video signal from the system, and the only indication I had that the system was on, was that the fans came on. Since I'm a computer guy, I know my troubleshooting stuff. I disconnected everything I could from the system, except the bare essentials. I even reseated the CPU, memory (even tried individual sticks), and ATX power connectors. Nothing worked ... same result every time. I also removed the motherboard from the case and tried to run it, in case the computer case was shorting it somehow (read this suggestion via Google). Still nothing.

So finally on Monday I took back the CPU and motherboard and asked for a replacement. The sales guy didn't have any of the "PRO" motherboards in stock, so I agreed to split the cost with the store, for a Deluxe edition, even though I didn't really want to pay the extra money for the unnecessary features. I had to run home while Micro Center handled the exchange to get my wallet, because I had forgotten it at home. On the way to the store, I didn't think I'd need it either, since I originally just wanted to do a flat exchange. The manager promised me that they'd have a solution to my problem by the time I got back, and do the exchange for the Deluxe board.

So I got back to the store with my wallet, ready to exchange that board and pay for the Deluxe, but to my horror, the store manager refused to perform the exchange on the grounds that the motherboard serial number didn't match the serial number on the box! I called for the general manager and while I was waiting for him, the Westmont, IL police department also. By the time Kevin got to me, the police had arrived. I explained the situation to them and they said that they couldn't do anything - it was my word against the general manager's word.

Additionally, my Asus board did not have the CPU socket plastic cover that's supposed to be on all new motherboards. Asus explicitly states in the manual that if that cover is not present, they will NOT honor the manufacturer's warranty. On top of THAT, Micro Center claimed that my board had a bent pin - NOT SURPRISING considering that the board has obviously been tampered with! I'm out of luck with both the retailer AND the manufacturer.

They REALLY need to put seals on motherboard boxes, and if they don't, then they NEED to perform some sort of sanity check at the register, AT THE TIME OF SALE. I'm now holding a $200 paperweight, and some employee at Micro Center is most likely gloating that he got a "free" replacement.

Thanks for your time and consideration to my situation.

Kevin Rigsby
Micro Center of Westmont, IL
General Manager
80 East Ogden Avenue
Westmont, IL 60559
Phone: (630) 371-5500
Fax: (630) 371-5504
krigsby@microcenter.com

 

[CurseTheSky]

The problem is just that: it's your word against theirs. For all they know, you took it home, tried to install the CPU and bent a pin in the process, and are now taking it back trying to get a free replacement for your mistake. They have no way of knowing who did it and when it happened.

Always always ALWAYS check products before you leave the store, unless they're completely sealed. If anything seems fishy, call someone over right then and there.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I'd take exactly what you said and email it to Micro Center. See what they say and see if they will work with you.

 

[pcgeek101]

Do you have any contact information for them? I don't see a consumer affairs phone number or e-mail address. Only tech support info and related.

http://www.microcenter.com/customer_support/index.html

I was under the impression that at the very least, the motherboard static bag should have been sealed. Don't mfg's normally do this? I only buy boards once in a great while. My last one was from Fry's and they were perfectly fine ... I am pretty sure it was sealed. It's Gigabyte brand.

 

[JSt0rm]

who called the cops? If it was you I think you probably jumped the gun a bit.

 

[aigomorla]

if the box is says open box, you always open it in front of the cashier after you paid for it and inspect it.

They dont care if you open it in front AFTER you paid for it.

I always do this at frys especially, because a while back ago... serveral years.. not reciently, i bought an open box item and it felt super light.

Paid for it, and then opened it in front of the cashier and guess what?

Inside the box, was another box, and it was totally empty.

The cashier and i looked at each other and said ummm... so i paid 250 dollars for another white box! AWESOME...

Frys took care of it right away.. gave me a new one with a 15% discount on top of the open box discount as an appology.


The lesson is, because the vendor maybe reputable.. the people handling the RMA's might not.
And you cant always assume every vendor will have A++ Employee's.

 

[Dangerer]

Wow, that's the same MC where I bought my 2500k + P8P67 Pro. Thanks for the heads up, I'll definitely be double checking my stuff before leaving that store from now on.

 

[pcgeek101]

I just wanted to obtain a police report so that I had official documentation of the incident. Yes, it was me that called the cops, but not until I had the ultimatum from the managers at the store.

Regarding the open-boxedness .... there was no sticker that said open box. Of course I would inspect a product had I known that it was previously owned. In this case, the product was being sold to me as "new."

 

[Athadeus]

You think they switched your failed MB with another failed MB? What would the point of that be? Also, I doubt that Asus would not accept an RMA because you did not have the plastic socket cover, and even then you should be able to obtain one fairly easily. You do still have one of the MBs right?

 

[WorldExclusive]

I never heard of leaving a item behind while you go home.
Anything can happen and it did. Never leave anything in the possession of the store.

Also, calling the cops was unnecessary. They can't do anything since there's no crime in progress, a waste of law enforcement resources.

 

[pcgeek101]

I suspect (note: I have no supporting evidence other than the swap itself) that a MicroCenter employee swapped the board and stole the good, working board for himself.

FYI: The Asus manual explicitly states that they do not accept RMAs with the missing socket cover. I don't have any plastic socket covers. ALSO Asus won't cover the bent pin on the socket that [whoever] at MicroCenter or elsewhere, provided me with.

So either way, I'm screwed. Trust me, I've given this a fair amount of thought.

 

[pcgeek101]

I never heard of leaving a item behind while you go home.
Anything can happen and it did. Never leave anything in the possession of the store.

Also, calling the cops is unnecessary. They can't do anything since there's no crime in progress, waste of law enforcement resources.

Yes, that was another enormous mistake on my part. But either way, all things point back to the store. Besides, the bent pin was probably bent already, hence the problem that I had in the FIRST place!

What did I say about the cops? I said I wanted a police report, and I got it. See above.

 

[M1A]

smell of fish, I am some what suprised as my experience with MC was all different the manager was very nice and worked out my problem totally to satisfaction the 1 time I had a problem. I would try to work with them or contact the main office. Asus should take it back as a last resort but may give you some slack with a bent pin. Or last resort take them to the local magistrate, you paid for and should have a working MB and they do have a return policy. Also shame on you for not having your wallet...........But we are all human and make mistakes.

 

[Exeodus]

Even if you had the CPU cover, ASUS would not cover the damage under warranty as bent pins are considered abuse. They will fix it for a cost, usually about 50-75 dollars. Sorry for you situation, I shop at that store all the time and have never had a problem like that.

 

[pcgeek101]

smell of fish, I am some what suprised as my experience with MC was all different the manager was very nice and worked out my problem totally to satisfaction the 1 time I had a problem. I would try to work with them or contact the main office. Asus should take it back as a last resort but may give you some slack with a bent pin. Or last resort take them to the local magistrate, you paid for and should have a working MB and they do have a return policy. Also shame on you for not having your wallet...........But we are all human and make mistakes.

WTF? I shouldn't have even NEEDED my wallet (except my drivers license in case I got pulled over). I had the items and my receipt in-hand, and in order to do a direct exchange, that's all I should need!

Shame on me for what, now?

 

[pcgeek101]

Even if you had the CPU cover, ASUS would not cover the damage under warranty as bent pins are considered abuse. They will fix it for a cost, usually about 50-75 dollars. Sorry for you situation, I shop at that store all the time and have never had a problem like that.

I'm sure that you and others have had good experiences at MC, but this could happen to anyone. I've never had such serious problems like this with any store before. I shop at Fry's occasionally and have purchased several high-ticket items from them, including a 256GB SSD. They've never been a problem and are always nice and helpful. I'm sure that I could find people that disagree with me on Fry's though .... just look at the Google reviews for them!

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Frist OP, I'm sorry to hear about this and hope it gets resolved quickly and fairly.

Mistakes do happen, but you did make a few mistakes and no single one is entirely to blame. First, pin based sockets (775, 1366, 1156, 1155) are VERY fragile and prone to bending/breaking (much more so than a pin on CPU based socket). The bent pin could have been a manufacturing defect, or it could have been accidently done during installation/removal of the CPU. Having had a bent pin on a mobo I got at MC before, I have experience with this. They were very helpful and I switched the bad board for a different slightly upgraded model (I paid the difference entirely).

Now, when you're going deal with anything like this (purchase/sales/etc, or just driving) you should always have your wallet. First off, if you're driving you need your license. Second you should have proof of insurance in it if you don't carry it in your car. Third, depending on the specifics you could need ID, the credit card used in the purchase, and/or cash. This way if something happens, as happened in your situation, you are prepared.

Next, if you are there without $ and need to leave to go get it, always take your product and receipt with you. Never leave this with anybody you can't trust. It's just asking for trouble as you found out.

We all make mistakes though, and I hope that you get a working board soon without having to buy a complete new one. Learn from this though so you don't make these mistakes in the future.

PS the cops did not need contacted, as nothing criminal happened. I understand the police report aspect, but really it won't do much for you. Also, MC is not "scamming" you. An employee there might be scamming you or screwing with you, but it's not the company.

 

[namtran512]

I open all my products right after I purchase them just in case anything silly happened. After many defective items, I learned the easiest way is to check right after you purchase as there is no way they can deny you a refund / exchange then.

 

[gevorg]

Did you pay with a credit card? Some credit cards have additional warranties, plus there is always a chargeback option if you want to take that path.

 

[OCGuy]

Hopefully you paid with a credit card and can do a chargeback.

 

[classy]

You think they switched your failed MB with another failed MB? What would the point of that be? Also, I doubt that Asus would not accept an RMA because you did not have the plastic socket cover, and even then you should be able to obtain one fairly easily. You do still have one of the MBs right?

Yea I agree. Just RMA the board to Asus. I would not relay to them the issue with Microcenter, just RMA with them.

 

[Fallengod]

Humm. Ya that sucks. So essentially it was an open box item you purchased? Yeah, you have to be careful with that. I guess someone previously screwed with it then returned it?

Anyways. That sucks, unfortunately since they did not catch it with the previous return, you get stuck with it. I guess you can blame dishonest assholes that do stuff like that.

There was a story a while ago I read from someone else at target or maybe best buy, I cant remember, but I guess they purchased an open boxed hard drive. Well, when they got home and opened it, there was a BRICK placed in the box.... Someone actually bought the HDD, replaced it with a brick(kind of has the same weight I guess?), then returned it to the store......Some people are just low down, just another aspect of our society you have to cope with. Of course, the stupid employees at the store should be checking the contents briefly as well.

 

[ImDonly1]

Do a chargeback on your CC. How can they not accept it? I am sure that the board was bought before and someone else stuck a broken MB back in there and returned it. The returns people didn't even bother to look at it.

Also sucks that this Microcenter is the one by me. Too bad I don't buy anything from there anyway. Frys usually has the same combo deals or buying online is even better.

 

[pcgeek101]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1036685520

http://twitpic.com/3oy3f1

Just picked up an Asus P8P67-PRO from Fry's.

http://twitter.com/pcgeek86/status/24629545617330176

http://twitter.com/pcgeek86/status/24629227030585344

http://twitter.com/pcgeek86/status/24628860591022081

http://twitter.com/pcgeek86/status/24626174416130048

The "second form of physical" security besides the security sticker is the 4-way box wrap that they put around it to prevent tampering. No picture of that one, sorry.

 

[bankster55]

I have purchased both a pro and deluxe
The plastic mobo bags had no seals
The main boxes had no seal
They both of course had the plastic CPU pin protector
And i would say not having the I/O and HS sticker is a dead giveaway someone else had the board and made an attempt to use it.
However I am still unclear - was it sold to you as an open box but not used mobo, or as new?

 

[pcgeek101]

The board was sold to me as new. I looked in the box before I purchased it for any obvious signs, but didn't see anything major. I probably should have noticed that the CPU cover was missing, but I guess I don't do enough builds to know if those are necessarily included 100% of the time. I only upgrade my motherboard once or twice a year at most.

The last time I upgraded, I just bought a new Gigabyte board for my Core 2 Quad Q9300 .... no proc upgrade. I couldn't tell you if that one had a CPU socket cover, but it most likely did now that you mention it. I also purchased that Gigabyte board from Fry's.

Given the security measures that Fry's puts in place, and the good track record I have with them, there's really no need for me to shop at Micro Center anyway ... I just wanted to take advantage of the package deal they had for Sandy Bridge.