
Daniel of Bethesda, MD on Feb. 9, 2012
Satisfaction Rating1/5
I ordered a refurbished HP laptop from ** on 1/31/2012. The laptop arrived a few days later. I found it to have some cosmetic damage to the plastic casing around the monitor. It was a defect that should have been easily noticed, but in good faith, I contacted their RMA department and they agreed that it should be replaced. I was given a shipping label and instructions on how to send it, which I followed. While it was en route to the destination, I saw that Newegg had a one-day sale on an accessory I wanted for the laptop. Before I ordered it, I contacted their customer service again to ask about the status of my RMA, since I did not want to order the accessory if my RMA would take a while. I was told that my RMA would be expedited to facilitate my request.
Today (2/8/2012), I suddenly received an invoice for a partial refund on my laptop purchase. I was refunded the price of the laptop, minus the cost of a supposedly "free" gift that had come with it, and did not receive a refund on the warranty I purchased. When I contacted their customer service again, they wrote that since the item was back ordered, they could not possibly issue a replacement, but would be willing to refund the rest of the order price. On Newegg's status page, under the back order entry, it states "Your Return arrived successfully, but one or more of the items are no longer in stock or have been discontinued. A Customer Service representative will contact you shortly to explain your options."
Obviously, I had not been contacted by any customer service representative before being issued a refund. I understand that it may be hard to get a back ordered item in stock. However, this item has been in and out of stock for the past week, and was out of stock when I spoke to the customer service representative regarding the Solid State Drive. The fact that the person I spoke with did not bother to check on whether or not my RMA would actually result in a replacement product after I expressed my intention to buy an accessory for said product is absurd and shows a gross lack of diligence on the part of Newegg customer service.
There are many ways this could have been handled better. Another computer could have been put aside for me while Newegg was waiting to receive my RMA. I could have been informed that a replacement was not guaranteed before I sent my computer in, as I would have kept it or attempted a manufacturer warranty exchange. Newegg could have at least put in a cursory effort to repair the damage to the computer before issuing a refund. I could have even been informed ahead of time that I might not receive a replacement computer. Instead I was basically told "sorry, tough luck", and shown the door.
I've been a Newegg customer ever since I started building my own computers, and I've always heard great things about the customer service offered by this company. Unfortunately, if this does not end with a replacement laptop at my doorstep. I do not believe I will be able to continue using Newegg any longer.