WARNING: Micro Center Motherboard Scam

[The-Noid]

This thread and the OP's actions are overreactions to say the least.

OP is as at fault as MC.

Open box items = always open up and make sure serial numbers match and everything is in the box.

You also have to go off the theory that what does the manager have to gain by screwing you? If anything management at most places is always more helpful because they hate their employer. Occasionally you get the one guy that thinks he guards the vault but that is rare.

 

[camo_billbine]

Paid*

Who's wailing on who, now?

Originally Posted by Nebor
#1 Forgot wallet
#2 Called the police
#3 Payed with a mixture of cash & credit

Yeah, I'm sure they're REALLY going to miss you at Microcenter.

LOL, that was some funny wailing.

I know how you feel pcgeek101. I've ordered 2 OEM processors from Fry's over the years and they both arrived with bent pins. I could not believe they had just thrown the processors inside the clear plastic box without the foam insert. The first was a Sempron which only had 2 bent pins on one edge. The second was a Phenom II 805 that had like 16 pins bent all over the bottom of the cpu. Wasted like an hour fixing the thing because I needed it for my main pc build so I couldn't send it back.

 

[kornguy_99_98]

Ok, just giving some input on this,

#1 Microcenter clearly states on their receipts that Motherboards are exchange only.

#2 The OP originally stated (which no one picked up on) that they agreed to split the difference for the higher priced board, so the OP would have had to pay extra money for the higher board either way, which is why he needed his wallet. It's his own fault for leaving it at the store to be tampered with and he's the only one to blame there.

#3 I'm an experienced tech (10 years professionally) and I've bent pins without realizing it so placing the blame solely on MC is just silly. To be fair there is a really good chance that when you removed the CPU you could have bent the pins, not realized it and got surprised when it was pointed out to you at the store so of course it isn't your fault right? No one is perfect so let's be fair IF you did damage the board then how can you expect them to eat the cost for YOUR mistake. As it's been stated it's your word against theirs and because of that the cops nor the BBB will help you out, sorry to be harsh but that's how it is and it's no one fault but your own that you didn't read the return policy on the back of the receipt.

#4 I know from experience that if you are nice enough and patient enough they WILL help you out, if they didn't help you out you had to have been rude. (probably because you caught an attitude by threatening and then calling the cops)

All this aside your still not sitting on a $200 paperweight because like a previous poster said, you can return it to ASUS and have it repaired for a small fee which is still cheaper then replacing the board, oh wait thats right you had to have your board up and running asap. Ok then, replace it, have the board fixed and sell it on ebay/craigslist. Sure that requires more work but whats worse, a little elbow grease and some patience (yes that stuff again) and only being out say $75 bucks or being out $200.

Judging from your responses, your twitter post and overall attitude for not wanting to see things any other way than your own, please be my guest and continue blaming the store but your only fooling yourself and a select few. If MC was literally "scamming" people and causing so many enemies, they wouldn't be growing financially every year and opening a 1 - 2 new stores per year. If they are scamming then they have EVERYONE fooled.

One last topic, as someone else stated as well, check the motherboards or any non-sealed box before you buy it because there could be oh say, some bad people out there who could have f'd up their board, snuck it in the store and swapped it when no ones looking. Which would explain your missing socket cover and your bent pins. Just some food for thought.

Anyway I truly hope you sort this out and find an acceptable conclusion to this but whining about it on the internet won't solve it.

 

[bigbillybear]

Bros,

There is more to the story, being a police officer myself... I view everything through different eyes and normally I find out what I hear first isnt always what happened...

BBB

 

[cherrytwist]

OH crap who called the cops? :0

and welcome

 

[gevorg]

WTF with all these new member posts? Smells fishy.


Hmmmm... Someone REALLY doesn't like MicroCenter deals? /tinfoil

 

[cherrytwist]

So I have my own Microcenter story today.

This morning, I received an email saying that the NXZT case I bought from their website last night was not available (it was an open box item). Pissed, but what are you gonna do. They prolly just didn't update inventory or an employee bought it. Oh well.

Hours later, I receive an email with several coupons that are one time use and only valid if used by recipient. Among them was a coupon for 10% off a case or Antec 300 for $39.99. I'm thinking cool, I can deal with this case as a substitute for what I really wanted. They also had a coupon good for a $49.99 1TB Hitachi drive, along with some other stuff I considered picking up for future builds.

At first they wouldn't honor the $39.99 price for the antec case and it took them minutes to fumble around with the hitachi drive to get the coupon to work. Not to mention, one of the sales people steered me away from a PSU I was considering (with coupon in hand), indicating that they "probably won't honor the coupon". I didn't care so much about that as I didn't *really* need one and would prefer another brand anyway.

Long story short, it took damn near 30 min to get someone to approve the coupons they had sent me about 8 hours earlier. I actually had to pull up the email on my phone in addition to the coupon to "prove" it was a valid.

Tomfoolery, but at least I got what I wanted for cheap. Like I do at Wal-Mart.

Yeah, their customer service sucks. It's a love/hate thing for me. Love the prices, hate the BS.

 

[bestnotebooks]

Sorry to learn of your experience. Would you mind to do Micro Center a favor and contact custrel@microcenter.com? We would like to apologize to you and find at which store this occurred so we can ensure other customers don't have the same experience.

 

[pcgeek101]

This issue was resolved by Micro Center finally, a little while back. Someone on their Facebook page took notice of the issue and took ownership of it personally. I won't reveal their name here unless they want me to, out of respect for their privacy.

Micro Center took the motherboard back and gave me a full refund. Additionally, they gave me a gift card to compensate me for the huge hassle, and the additional money that I had to pay to go to Fry's to get the same [working] board.

I also suggested to them that they beef up their product security, and they seemed receptive to this. Last I heard from them, they were working on an internal investigation to figure out why this happened.

Be safe out there, folks.

Cheers

 

[HumblePie]

I've never had a problem with the MC in Houston personally.

I actually only had to deal with one exchange period. The original i7 920 I had purchased did not have a level IHS. The heatsinks I kept trying all had the same effect. 2 cores were nice and cool and the other 2 were roasting at idle.

So I took it back and got it exchanged with no hassle.

Glad your issue for resolved at least.

 

[Necrosaro420]

Should of just grabbed a bunch of stuff on the shelves and walked out.

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

 

[Hogan773]

Should of just grabbed a bunch of stuff on the shelves and walked out.

Given the fact that he called in the local Fuzz, I doubt that would have been smart to do right in front of a policeman.....

 

[severus]

the exact same thing happened to me at micro center in New Jersey. I had bought a Gigabyte board for socket 775, I still have it home because I can't use it. The board was dead so I brought it in to exchange, and I got the same excuse you did, the serial number on the box an board did not match up. So if I want to get a new board, or a repaired board, I'd have to RMA it to gigabyte at my own cost. I haven't shopped at microcenter since that incident which was in roughly November of last year.

 

[fourty03]

I <3 microcenter

Wow.. I guess i should be more cautious.. I just bought two 6950's there the other day...

The sales associate opened both boxes for me and made sure everything was in order..
Same thing when I bought a couple mobo's and just recently, they opened up a Phenom for
me to show it didnt have bent pins...

They always let me take back things (reasonably within the return policy)..

 

[al_khud]

im really sorry to bring this forum post up, but this SAME EXACT thing happend to me about a week or so ago! AT WESTMONT IL

I bought a motherboard and used the pc for two days, i went to exchagne it as that one didnt have SLI compatibily (125 bucks and no sli?) so i did exchange it. The next motherboard from them, took it home, and realized the guy that was helping me had pushed me into paying more, through 120 bucks for a power supply that id need to handle it. Had to turn around and get a that powersupply. Both were gigabytes.

So after two days of playing with that computer and motherboard very succesfully, i took it out and went to return it. I asked for my money back as at that time, Frys across the street had the Asus brand which had a better bios, and was quite a bit cheaper.

So im there, returning my stuff. And they take the motherboard to the back. 10 minutes later "sorry broken pins". I asked the associate to show me where, in shock, as im INSANLEY careful with this stuff. After all, i had just exchanged my last motherboard for this one.

They bring out an insanley rude technician, and he points out a bent pin and says see, right there. I ask him how pins break, and he shows me sarcastically by violently putting the socket cover on, and ripping it off. I told him i had read a forums post about this same micro center being suspicious with broken pin accusations. He wouldnt make eye contact with me and shrugged me off rudley, and told the associate (very nice young guy) to get the manager. She comes out, states her name, pretty much yells at us. I was very polite, apologized for being a little of kilter and slightly upset. I explain to her that i did not break that one single pin, that im simply asking for my money back, and have had great experiences with their store.

That was the reason i was buying a second computer from them, one-thousand dollars, and five hundred earler the month prior. She said Sorry, we cant do anything about bent pins, gigabyte wont take it, we wont either. I said mam please work with me here, its two hundred dollars i need to replace, i wouldnt try to walk in here with broken pins knowing im going to have a headache.

I then pulled up this forum post, it was the SAME EXACT STORE after all, Westmont Il. She said ummm we dont go off forums posts. I said well this is a pretty good cooincidence, it the same store, and same issue.

I thanked her and left the store, and have been without the money to get a new motherboard and use the computer since.

Really disheartening, and the worst part is, i JUST read the OP's post about getting a refund. Hes a lucky guy. I wish i could get some help here . what do i do?

 

[al_khud]

oh, and she told me i was being far too rude and accusing her store of breaking my motherboard. I mean all i wanted to be answered was, Why did the motherboard go into the back room? Come on Micro Center!! Why???

 

[Soundmanred]

Why did you try to return a motherboard you messed up?!?
How rude!!

 

[jcniest5]

What I would recommend for anyone who is returning a mobo is to make sure the mobo is NOT out of your sight for whatever reason. Whatever they want to do, whether to inspect or test it, do it in your presence and make sure you see everything they do to the motherboard. That's the only way to not get yourself in such a situation. I can believe that if they simply don't want to return it, they can just break a pin and point it out it's you that did it, if you do not see that they did it, you can't prove otherwise, so you are basically at their mercy. Afterall, this is a cruel world, you know.

 

[winstonweber]

On 04/11/2012, purchased a motherboard, ASUS Sabertooth X79 2011 ATX from the MicroCenter store in Denver. Began installing the motherboard and discovered a large group of pins around the CPU were severely damaged. I have installed dozens of motherboards and would never be careless enough to cause this kind of damage. On 04/20/2012, attempted to exchange the motherboard at the Denver MicroCenter store, but customer service insisted that this was the first time this motherboard had been purchased so we had to have caused this damage. When I informed the customer manager that I would no longer be a MicroCenter customer, he told me to get out of the store and not to come back. ASUS said they were not responsible and that we should contact MicroCenter.

Lesson learned, I should have thoroughly checked the motherboard before completing the purchase, but I think that should be part of MicroCenter&#8217;s quality assurance.

 

[hyrule4927]

It sucks what happened, but that's no reason to condemn Micro Center as a company. I have never had a bad experience with them, and they are certainly miles better than Best Buy and like.

Your bad experience was probably the result of a single bad employee.

Edit: Wow, just realized how old this thread is. My b.

 

[chimaxi83]

Old post here, but I've had no issues with MC and I've been a customer there since maybe 2003. I will say one thing though, their Facebook page has had good results in getting problems solved.

 

[Diogenes2]

....
Lesson learned, I should have thoroughly checked the motherboard before completing the purchase, but I think that should be part of MicroCenter’s quality assurance.

How could they do that without breaking the seals on the packaging and making it appear it was a used item ?

Those pins are easy to damage with just the slightest pressure at the wrong angle, when removing the cover or installing the CPU ..

The 2011 is particularly vulnerable..

 

[philipma1957]

How could they do that without breaking the seals on the packaging and making it appear it was a used item ?

Those pins are easy to damage with just the slightest pressure at the wrong angle, when removing the cover or installing the CPU ..

The 2011 is particularly vulnerable..

NOT defending microcenter or any poster that says micro center was wrong, but I am answering your question not every mobo has tamperproof sealing when new.

I purchased an intel mobo from micro center and it was sealed in a tamper proof package >
{The intel is in my signature below}


I purchased the same gigabyte mobo from superbiiz and from amazon both were new but the packaging was not tamperproof. both work fine.


The gigabyte was this one


http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-LGA1...1JYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334978304&sr=8-1

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-H77MD3H

So if either one of these gigabytes had come with crushed pins I would have a fight on my hands.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Dallas' MC is great. I returned a GA-Z68XP-UD4 to them because of the boot loop issue, and they took my word for it and processed the refund. Didn't even open the box to check that I had put a motherboard in there and not a brick or something.

Also returned a 4850 to them in perfect working condition. They waived the restocking fee.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wow, I see a few more people had problems with "Bent pins", and MC not accepting the return of their boards.

Someone in the CPU forum basically accused me of being nuts for having the fear that MC would do that to me.

I'm glad I got an AMD rig, no worries about "bent pins" in the socket.