First poor experience with Newegg

Like many of you on these forums, I have been a customer of Newegg's for over a decade. My first build is still in their order history from 2004 and I never had a bad experience with them.

Not until just last week when I finally decided to pull the trigger and get my first M.2 Solid State Drive. And not just any off-brand M.2 SSD, but a 512GB Samsung 950 PRO. It was $299.99 with a 15 dollar off promo code. I thought what a great deal! I even went out of my way to renew my premiere membership knowing I'd get free rush processing and free 3-day or faster shipping (and this way I could order a few more things in the next 3 months ). Now, I'm also an Amazon Prime member so I'm pampered when it comes to fast shipping and I absolutely cannot stand waiting a week or longer to get a shipment. I figured Newegg would live up to these standards as they always have in the past.

So I placed the order on 9/23, last Friday Morning nice and early (10AM) knowing the rush processing would get through and they'd at least get the shipment out the door and moving. I'd probably see the M.2 drive on Monday or Tuesday the latest. To my amazement I got the FedEx tracking # a few hours later and the estimated delivery was Saturday (9/24) and the package had been picked up and delivered to FedEx in Indianapolis, IN at 8PM Friday night. Good news! That's 2.5 hours away from Chicago, IL! That shouldn't even take a full day to make it to the distribution center here!

Well, needless to say Saturday came and went with no drive being delivered and zero updates being reflected in the tracking. Oh well, no big deal - I'm sure I'll get it on Monday or Tuesday. However, when checking the tracking information Sunday to see what the projected delivery would be, it reflected that there was "No scheduled delivery date available at this time". This was reflected well into Monday afternoon so I hit up a CSR on Newegg chat while at work to see what might be going on and when I could expect the drive by - mainly so I could leave work to be at home to receive it knowing FedEx requires a signature. The CSR informed it was due to be delivered on Wednesday (9/28) and that I should wait 24-hours to see a change reflected in the tracking information.

24-hours comes and goes - still no change. Just "No scheduled delivery date available at this time". I chat with another CSR who tells me the same thing - to wait until Wednesday. Well Wednesday comes with no change in the tracking information and no sign of the package arriving. No FedEx sticker on the door, no email, nothing.

So I call Newegg this time and the CSR talks to FedEx (who says the package is coming still), but puts in a claim ahead of time. He tells me to contact them back if the package shows up so we can cancel the claim. I asked him specifically about having a replacement shipped with expedited shipping, but he assures me that the package should still arrive. I figure this is standard procedure and that maybe, just maybe, the package will show up or the tracking information will reflect some news soon. Nope. Nothing. I even scoured through hours of surveillance camera footage just to CHECK if FedEx even stopped by my residence.

By this time now I have received TWO other orders from Newegg I placed at the beginning of this week that came via UPS and USPS.

As of yesterday (9/29) I call again. This time the CSR says that the agent on Wednesday (9/28) put the claim in as a refund and that I would not be receiving a shipment at all. I asked again about having a replacement sent with expedited shipping. She informs me that she can change the refund to a replacement. Great! I figure that I'll finally see something before the end of the week with them sending it by 1 day shipping. She tells me I'll receive updates on my claim via email.

Now this is where my patience starts to wear thin. By Friday morning I have zero emails reflecting any sort of update on my claim. Again, I'm at work so I hit up support via chat again to see if I can get an update on the status of my claim.

The agent has both my order # and my claim #. He looks into it and tells me that I need to wait 3-7 business days for the claim to be approved in order to receive the replacement.

Never, have I ever, had this type of issue handled this way by Newegg. I have had lost packages and RMA's shipped immediately without them even receiving as much as shipping information from me. Why on earth do they need to process the claim when clearly FedEx has botched the shipping on this order? The tracking has been inactive since 8PM LAST SATURDAY (9/24)!

Being stuck in this whole debacle I accept my fate and I do what the current CSR suggests. I place another order. He promises they will waive the 1-day shipping fee and will reinstate my promo code. He tells me I will have to wait 3-5 days for the shipping waive and promo funds to be properly reflected on my credit card.

I don't see how this is right. I have to have an additional $300+ outstanding on my credit card now while they figure out who messed up and where. I don't believe that is "premiere" customer service. Not to mention the fact of how much effort I had to go through to get this straightened out. Each time the CSR made me believe that the issue was handled and that I'd see something within a timely manner delivered. I have to take the hit because someone who is a part of their process messed up. That's not how you do business and keep customers happy - not to mention 12 year dedicated customers who have spent thousands of dollars with your company.

Now, I know Newegg has absolutely no control over FedEx losing a package. However, what they do have control over is shipping a replacement the moment they see the tracking is completely absent of updates. Especially when it has been that way for several days. I didn't know the Egg had fallen so far downward with its customer service. I feel like I was run in circles just like any other company does these days attempting to absolve themselves from accountability. It's been a waste of my time, money, and in general is stress I don't need to go through when I could drive 15 minutes to MicroCenter and pick up the drive physically myself and just price match the drive and eat the 15 dollar promo code. The only reason I bought it from Newegg to begin with was because I had never had issues in the past. The shipping has always been superb and if I had any issues they resolved them pretty much instantly.

But not this time apparently. I can't say I'll ever rely on them to do so in the future. I also can't say I'll ever buy such a small, expensive piece of hardware from them again knowing this is how they handle the process now.

I'm utterly at a loss here. I'm not even mad at any one in particular. Not even FedEx. Losing packages happens. I'm just completely depressed with learning the fact that Newegg is now just like any other company out there, just slightly more polite.

/endrant

Hello TechWizard,

We appreciate your business with us over the years and are sorry to hear about the negative experience with this purchase. We'd like to look into this for you to see what we can do to assist with the claim processing especially since you mentioned FedEx has no transit information available. Please send an email to [email protected] with your order, claim, or tracking number and reference to this post. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

-Rella

Thanks for the reply. I have sent the email and received the automated response.

Update for anyone following.

Rella has been great and been in contact with me keeping me updated on the steps they're taking.

Ironically it looks like my first order was somehow found and FedEx updated the status to be delivered tomorrow. So we'll see what happens with that and if FedEx can get it here since there is no update on the location - just the delivery date.

I dunno. Sounds like you were being impatient? No carrier delivers up here on the weekend and the only time I had something arrive within a few days is stuff from Dazmode in Toronto which is 1.5 hours away and even then it was a 2 day wait.

Either way I'm glad NewEgg is looking into this further.
Keep us posted!

Silver_Pharaoh said:

I dunno. Sounds like you were being impatient?

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I considered that and inquired with my co-workers what they would do. They said they would follow up until someone could physically locate the package.

Which is why I inquired on a daily basis about the status since I was getting anything in email or any sort of status update from the FedEx tracking. I've ordered a lot of parts in my time for myself and from vendors for work and I've never seen tracking information say "No scheduled delivery date available at this time" for an entire week straight. And I'm not one to sit around and just let there be nothing on the record when something looks out of the ordinary. You lose money when you let things go unnoticed, at least in my experience.

A lot of the orders I place with another vendor ship from Texas and make it to the office next day by noon with 3 day shipping via FedEx. Not to mention my other orders from Newegg made it within 2 days of the order being placed. I live in the heart of Chicago so things tend to make it here extremely quick. There are orders I have placed with the Premier membership that have made it to my house on the same day of placing the order. So maybe I've just been conditioned to be impatient!

I'm just glad I finally got contact with them and someone who could explain the situation to me clearly and give me accurate insight as to what is happening - not what "might" happen.

This has so little to do with newegg to me honestly.

I mean is it really a companies responsibility to send you another drive when nobody is sure where the other is at? It was only a couple of days. That leaves 2 units out, someone at newegg needs to make sure they get the other one back...

I dont know... that's an unrealistic expectation for newegg to ship you another instead of refunding it, especially this early in the process. Newegg is going above and beyond in this case... kudos to them from me.

Over the past few uears, I have dealt with hundreds of packages both outgoing and receiving. More often than not, if tracking doesn't update, I still get the package around where I expect it. This took a bit longer, so some question was surely in play, but....can't say I would have ranted about newegg in this case.

Either way, glad fed ex found it, and glad newegg is assisting again where they can.

As I said, my past experience is a replacement is shipped immediately. The customer shouldn't suffer because the shipping vendor they choose had an error.

Yes, FedEx is at fault for the missing shipment. However, the lack of explanation of how the claim process works is on the CSR's. I had no idea there were two different types of claims (refund/replacement). And I had no idea by changing the claim to replacement would still require me to wait the claim process to receive it. The final CSR I chatted with today explained that to me in full and I'm surprised with that because the two agents I spoke to on the phone were very short with me.

Overall, it was just a lack of communication. I'm not used to that. There are so many things I would have missed out on prior in life if I had just "waited to see what would happen".

If an explanation was unclear, that is a different story than how I understood where the source of frustration was.

The source of frustration really comes from the back and forth when talking to the CSR's and feeling like each time they were taking action to resolve my issue and get me information. When really all they were doing was putting in a claim and telling me to wait 3-5 days or even possibly 5-7 depending on what has happened..

When I'm told I should see a change within 24-hours or receive an email and I don't... I feel like I don't have much of a choice but to inquire further. Not to mention how the first CSR assumed I wanted a refund when I specifically asked about how to get a replacement and was just told I should still receive the order despite the lack of tracking information.

I wasn't really given a clear indication of how the process works or what the process entailed.

Don't get me wrong. Every one I spoke to was super polite and I felt like they really wanted to assist me, there was just a disconnect somewhere along the lines where they didn't understand my urgency. If I had known I could place a re-order I would have just done that. I'll soak up the extra $300 on my credit card for the time being JUST to be sure I get something in a timely manner despite my disagreement with that practice.

The Egg isn't going above and beyond...they're doing what they should have done after the first inquiry as to status of the order.
Stellar CS is what they've been known for these many years not the same service you'd get from "Slick Eddie's Discount Warehouse".
I am happy to see them ultimately step up and do their "Egg" thing (though a lil' belatedly).

I happen to agree with the OP for at least part of this situation.

If a company tells me that I should expect a phone call, email, or some other form of update within 24 hours (or however long they say), I expect them to keep to their word. Although I've been lied to so many times, I tend to err on the side of some skepticism, especially when dealing with a company (be it a company that I'm a customer or patron of, or a company I work for).

I couldn't tell you how many times I got told I'd hear back within 24-48 hours when I did an RMA with Asus 4-5 years ago, and then they never called back of their own volition, ever. What should have been a 7-10 day RMA took 2-3 months if I remember correctly, because they completely lost the package I'd sent in for replacement, sitting in their testing facility; although, they did find it again a month later.

By comparison, it sounds like your one bad experience with Newegg is going better than my experience with Asus. Though you're dealing with a retailer, and I was dealing with a manufacturer.

This reminds me of a time I ordered a CPU (ebay) and it got lost for ~2 weeks by USPS. Seller put in a claim for a lost package, but after a week the package still hadn't been found and the seller shipped out a replacement of the same model. Wouldn't you know, three days after they shipped out the replacement, the original shipment's tracking became active again, and it arrived along with the second package a few days later (both came on the same day, which was somewhat of an odd coincidence). In that case though, it was a low-cost CPU (older model) and they insisted I just keep it since the shipping for it to get back would cost more than the item was worth. So, you may end up receiving two of those SSD's and having to ship one back, or paying for both.

I'd place the blame on FedEx on this one, at least the most part of it anyway.

Hope your item actually works when you receive it.

I hope so too. I just got another FedEx update on the original shipment. Earlier tonight it changed to a status of being the packge set to be delivered tomorrow. Now it just changed to Tuesday October 4th. Seriously what is going on with this package? I have never seen such rapid changes that vary so greatly. This isn't right.

The second order I put in with overnight shipping is still going to beat the original if this is now the true projection, even though I highly doubt it. I'm afraid to find out what kind of condition this drive will be in when I get it. It's small and I assume somewhat fragile. Luckily less fragile than say a motherboard, but still. I just honestly can't believe this is THAT hard to get right.

I'm leaning towards TechWizard's position. I had a similar problem with a monitor from Amazon last week. Lost in transit, confused customer service, then they sent a replacement. Both monitors showed up the next day. I sent back the one in the unopened, crushed box. It's frustrating when CS doesn't know their C from their S. I'm glad to see newegg step up, and do so here, to help. Somebody may have dropped the ball at some point but Newegg Support here jumped right on it. Good for them.

Almost sounds like it was mis-routed. Shipped to the wrong warehouse.

Had that happen with Canada Post and my 3570k. That CPU went all the way to Newfoundland before coming back to Ontario. What a long wait. It was at least 3 weeks and it was shipped from Mandrake in Ney york!!

I don't know how much credit I'd give them for a mis-route. Seems more like to me the size of package let it go unnoticed lost somewhere. I've gotten 4 tracking updates (on the primary order) since 6:10PM last night when the Egg finally got involved from here. They still had it posted in Indianapolis until it finally made it to a facility in Chicago at 6:34 AM. This was most likely just negligence and unwillingness to investigate into where the package may be.

The tracking updates I've gotten are as follows...

6:10PM - Your delivery schedule has been updated to Saturday, 10/1/2016. - E-Mail

11:39PM - Your delivery schedule has been updated to Tuesday, 10/4/2016. - E-Mail

(3:15 AM - Left FedEx origin facility INDIANAPOLIS, IN)

(6:34 AM At local FedEx facility CHICAGO, IL)

6:49AM - Your delivery schedule has been updated to Saturday, 10/1/2016. E-Mail

(8:34 AM - On FedEx vehicle for delivery CHICAGO, IL)

8:40AM - Your delivery is scheduled for today, 10/01 - E-Mail

I knew it only took FedEx one short route to bring packages from Indianapolis to Chicago. I've seen many packages come from NewEgg from this location. That's just another reason why I jumped on this so fast. I'm just still amazed I had to get the Rep here involved to get any sort of real inquiry going. I guarantee you if I hadn't been so adamant about locating this package it would still be sitting somewhere for another week.

Just got the first order. Let's see if it's still in good shape. It's in a typical mailer so I can't see what kind of condition the box is in until I open it.

--update--

So far so good. Updating BIOS and then cloning my current OS over.

--update--

Drive has been working well since Saturday night. Configured everything properly and CrystalMark is showing good tests.

To be honest I never think of "newegg" together with "good service". Years ago I used to buy everything from them, but more than a few bad experiences soured me on them so I only use them if I pretty much have to. Like Amazon, you have to pay them for good service - join and pay for Premier on Newegg, and join and pay for Prime on Amazon. I'm surprised so many are so happy to have to pay for these companies to do the right thing when issues arise.

DaveB said:

Like Amazon, you have to pay them for good service

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I actually cancelled my Premier service a month or so ago after getting a defective product and having to wait almost 3 weeks until I had a functional product back in my hands.
Even as a Premier member, the return shipping label was the cheapest service that took three days to get to them. Then a week for them to 'receive it and check it over', another five days until it was approved to send my replacement, and then another three days to get the replacement. In the end, it took 13 business days to resolve an issue that could have been done in a week (not what I'd consider 'Premier' service). I'll still order from them from time to time, I just won't pay for the Premier service or expect my order to arrive in less than two weeks. Pretty much the same as my thoughts towards Amazon (which often takes over a week to just process my order). I'm not impatient, and I don't need anything RIGHT NOW at any point, so I just deal with it and save my monthly fees.

Yeah I know what you guys mean - it has sadly become the norm. Deceptive business practices are rampant and the masses allow them to get away with it because they simply don't understand or don't care. I honestly think that since the majority of the population is extremely apathetic when it comes to "service" that companies know they can get away with subpar service as very few will actually hold them to an acceptable standard.

I'm -still- waiting for my refund. I'm in the same type of process you were in Jeff. I'm going on the 3rd business week here without the refund. They used the cheapest shipping to ship the second drive from Chicago to California where their refund department is located and it took the entire week for it to make it to the west coast. So I'm sitting here still out 300 without any from of certainty of ever seeing that money. I just have to keep HOPING the package made it there unscathed.

I'm definitely not renewing my Premier service. I'll pay the extra $10-15 dollars on whatever the product is to get it from another vendor I find more reliable or just go pick it up in store.

The phone/chat/email tag gets old and it's still rattling my brain that it took getting a 3rd party involved in order to get them to actually investigate what happened to the original package. It's uncanny how quickly FedEx found and updated the tracking in mere hours after Rella looked into the issue.

Seriously, I went through 5 other reps before resorting to posting here and each rep at the time felt like they had the answer to my problem when in reality they were just resetting the claim process clock. They put forth zero effort to get FedEx to just LOCATE the package and update where it is. It's a good thing you have a rep here who actually pays attention and knows how to get things moving... getting put in the loop of the reps before was just plain frustrating.