NewEgg Confirms Shipping Fake Core i7s 314
adeelarshad82 writes "After originally rejecting the story, online retailer NewEgg confirmed that a shipment of Core i7s were indeed fake, and apologized for the affair. NewEgg has also broken off its relationship with IPEX, the supplier of the phony lot. The retailer said that it has already contacted affected customers and would continue to reach out and replace the counterfeit parts. We discussed the fake Core i7s over the weekend."
Glad (Score:1, Interesting)
Glad to see NewEgg confirming that the problem exists and that they're fixing it. Now they have to take responsibility for their actions, what will they offer as compensation to those affected? All problems a company encounters are opportunities in customer service.
Yes, I realize you fucked my steak up, but mistakes happen. How are you going to fix it? Replacing the steak, fine, but keep in mind I had to wait for it to be cooked, now I have to wait for it to be cooked again. Free dessert? Sure. In the end, they ended up better off than they started. Because now I know they're willing to make up for their mistakes.
Re:Glad Newegg confirmed they're fake! (Score:5, Interesting)
Depends on the demo.
Chip manufacturers will often give away defective chips as demos to those thinking of using them in circuit boards. Non-functional demo chips are used in the design phase as the boards are laid out and the first parts are placed.
Imagining wasting a working chip just to find out if you're soldering things on correctly.
Partially-functional chips (might work but still failed testing for obscure reasons) are also used as demos for building prototype boards.
Neither case applies for NewEgg, however.
Re:NewEgg handled it well, (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't order parts online that often, but because of this, Newegg is getting put right to the top of the list of places I look at first when I do.
IPEX is not an authorized Intel distributor (Score:1, Interesting)
It looks like Newegg was buying i7's through a grey market channel and got burned. It's good that they ditched IPEX, but why were they buying from them in the first place? Who knows what channels their other stuff is coming through, and who has gotten to handle the equipment (with an opportunity to install malicious firmware, for example) before Newegg gets it and sells it. Is there ANY place to buy equipment with assurance of getting it through a 100% manufacturer authorized supply chain?
Re:Glad (Score:5, Interesting)
The CONTRACTUAL entitlement mindset is a VERY good thing. Commerce depends on it.
Parent is naive. Corporations will try ANY legal argument to get money from consumers and the government. The idea that a citizen should foreswear such BS entitlement arguments while they are exploited by corporations that freely make (and benefit from) them is ridiculous and absurd.
Re:BS (Score:3, Interesting)
No, actually, one of NewEgg's distros threatened to sue the bloggers. And justifiably, since the accusation as made was mistaken.
Oh, in related news, NewEgg threatened to sue YOU for falsely accusing them of suing journalists.
Ok, no, not really.
But it's pretty obvious a LOT of people need to be more careful tossing around accusations.
Re:Why does NewEgg even need a distributor? (Score:5, Interesting)
I get why Intel doesn't want to *retail* them, but what's the point of a wholesaler when you have a retail distributor as huge as Newegg?
And the same is true of other products sold via other retailers.
It almost seems like "we/they" put up with a needless set of middlemen who only mark stuff up.
Re:NewEgg handled it well, (Score:3, Interesting)
Except Newegg reviews are the YouTube comments of the review world.
Re:Glad Newegg confirmed they're fake! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why does NewEgg even need a distributor? (Score:3, Interesting)
They probably do, but I imagine everyone is still on allocation with the i7, so newegg is forced to go to the open market to meet the demand.
Re:Intel Inside... (Score:3, Interesting)
And in the case of newegg, 'somebody' is usually a robot.
Re:Rejecting?? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Caveat Emptor (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Intel Inside... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've worked in an electronics store. Let me tell you - typos on the box? Not a sign of phony merchandise. At least not in and of itself. A surprisingly large number of legitimate items have such errors, and usually the only people who notice are the depot/stock/merchandising/receiving staff.
Half the time the products or packaging in question are made somewhere in southeast asia (china, usually) so the culprit is the language barrier for the QA people. The other half, the problem is they just didn't care. A few thousand boxes get shipped with a minor typo in the fine print, because nobody bothered to check. Usually they'll just sell the ones with the error, since the customers almost never notice, and correct the spelling/grammar/whatever the next time the packaging gets redesigned.
Also, having different packaging for the same SKU isn't unusual, due to the frequency of redesigns. So you have an item, which looks identical out of the box, but which comes in two or three different types of box. This is doubly true of anything going on display, since the packaging is supposed to by eye-catching, and never stays the same for long.
Re:Counterfits are everywhere (Score:3, Interesting)
or, try buying Windows 2003 Server from any seller on feeBay or Amazon. There is a good chance every single Windows 2003 product on either site is counterfeit. I bought from six different sellers and every single one was counterfeit (same exact style packaging, etc.) and I reported each instance in detail (including detailed descriptions of the media, packaging, the COA decals, what software was actually on the media, etc. and even tested the product keys with a known-legitimate system builder kit. Each amazon storefront/ebay seller has since been shut down/disabled). I've since turned to buying Windows 2008 and installing Windows 2003 via downgrade rights with our last remaining system builder kit for the install. Right now I consider that media to be worth its weight in gold.
Counterfeits abound. The sad reality is people and vendors who "pirate"[sic] cracked torrents have a superior experience from beginning to end.
Re:Glad (Score:1, Interesting)
no, flat wrong. once the merchant has put you right with the original purchase agreement, contract over. no need to go over and above. in the restaurant, they have no obligation to bring you a free desert or offer a free entree next time, or even bring you the steak properly repaired while refunding the cost. as per the contract, cook it right and bring it to you is all that is required. anything beyond is an attempt to have you leave happy and come back again.
as far as the newegg.com incident, ship the proper item, no charge for the extra shipping and the deal is done. newegg didn't put fake chips in the boxes. their only obligation is to put the proper item in the customers hands.
expecting extra things has nothing to do with a contractual obligation.
Re:Counterfits are everywhere (Score:1, Interesting)
Your story does not seem logical. Why did you keep buying from questionable places? Did it take you 6 times to realize there was a problem?
I don't even see him making an apology (Score:2, Interesting)
Yeah it did - it didn't have hard proof. At best it had hearsay.
A source whom he will not name, no doubt. How convenient. I have no reason to believe this source is real - I don't know why Kyle thinks it is.
No - he believed the information to be plausible based on the idea that D&H were known suppliers of Newegg. His 'source' could have named -any- of them, and he would have taken that as 'accurate'.
Note the subtle "they say this, we say that" stance there...
Probably because one 'source' is supposedly somebody 'within Newegg's organization', and the other -IS- the official Newegg response. Unless he's alleging further supposed coverup efforts, I'd put my money on Newegg's official statement - which is subject to major legal ramifications if -they- are wrong.
Quite unlike Kyle, who...
( by the way - what's with the identity crisis? Is he representing himself (I) or HardOCP (we)? )
From a questionable source - if there was even a source.
Too late - he already did.
Sure there is - being (one of) the first with the news. Getting linked to by a hundreds of bloggers and others news sites as a result (instead of a competing website who might manage to get the news out 30 minutes earlier if he'd spent that time following up leads). Which, in turn, means potential ad clicks, new steady readership, etc.
HardOCP has lots to gain from posting any story - even if it's a blatant lie. Heck, some sites thrive on posting stories about alien abductions and "Bigfoot impregnated me" stories.
Please, by all means. he should make some heads roll in his investigation's conclusions. With any luck, it's his own if D&H pushes through instead of accepting the absolutely laughable 'apology' post and shrugging it off.
No it isn't. It hasn't been ever since a published article can be edited, or rectified in a new post just hours later, and news sites have hidden behind that as an excuse for poor publishing standards to begin with. That has been the case at least since the GeForce 3 Tech article snafu; the apology for which was also rather weak and ended with an off-color joke.
The goal has been drawing in readership (and thus ad impressions, clicks, etc. - or even just a boosting of his ego) - if pushing an article through early, or ill-researched, then so be it.
( This is not unique to HardOCP )
Grow up and own up, Kyle.
Re:Why does NewEgg even need a distributor? (Score:2, Interesting)
Believe me, Newegg has plenty of inventory. Most of the stuff I order from them ships from their NJ warehouse and arrives at my employer's loading dock in upstate NY before the email with the tracking number hits my mailbox. The UPS truck usually arrives around 10 AM Eastern, and the email seems to be batched at 8 AM Pacific. This is with the standard 3-day shipping.
Re:New Egg (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:A guess about what happened: (Score:4, Interesting)
"You have to realize that these chips are made in china, malaysia and taiwan."
Not one single of my processor packages has any of those countries you mention - All of them say Singapore or Israel.
COUNTERFEITS might be made in Malaysia, Taiwan, and China. Intel's fab plants are NOT located in those countries. They are located in places like Ireland, and the United States.