Not one to normally complain, but not pleased about NewEgg right now

[dalekphalm]

So my Xbox One S was low on Storage (it only came with a 500GB drive), and I decided since I'm always running low, now is the time to upgrade to a large external drive.

 

I went and looked around the various Canadian retailers, and NewEgg had a Seagate 4TB Expansion USB 3.0 HDD on sale - they actually had two different, seemingly identical ones: One for $120 CAD, the other for $125 CAD. Specs were identical in all ways (product number was different by one digit) - so I figured, well obviously I'll buy the cheaper one.

 

A few days later, it arrives, I rip it open, eager to download a few games in my queue... and it's the fucking European model. It came with a UK and German plug, and no North American Plug:

 

I re-check the product page to ensure I wasn't just being an idiot - and the product page had zero mention of coming with a European plug - it only mentions that it comes with a Power Adapter. Now, considering I ordered this off of NewEgg.ca (and the fact that NewEgg.com is American), I didn't think twice about what plug would come with it - and if unspecified, I would expect the plug to be American.

 

Fuck me. So I contact support, and the Agent doesn't understand a goddamn thing about what I'm trying to explain. I'm polite and calm, but he's not understanding that the Power Adapter brick is interchangeable with different plugs. And as I explain it, he posts some somewhat condescending responses like "I know that" - no - you don't.

 

Anyway I had to email him pictures to finally get him to understand. He said I should contact Seagate for the correct adapter - which isn't a bad idea mind you, but Seagate is going to charge me for that, since it's not their mistake that NewEgg is selling a European product in Canada.

 

So I asked if they would issue a partial refund to cover the cost of whatever Seagate would charge - they said they would issue me a $10 coupon for NewEgg for my next order - fuck that. That means I'm out of pocket for whatever Seagate would charge, and frankly, I don't order much from NewEgg anymore, and that would force me to order from them again.

 

So I opted for a return instead. Once I get the refund, I'll probably just wait for Black Friday sales at this point, and avoid NewEgg entirely (Canada Computers/Amazon, please put a 4TB External HDD on good discount!).

 

Anyway, I'm just pissed, so I needed to rant.

 

Ultimately, the Support Agent wasn't the problem (though the fact that he didn't understand the problem didn't help). The problem is that NewEgg listed a EU product in a NA market with no clarification or disclaimer. After going through this, I checked the reviews of the product, and others have had the same issue - my bad for not checking the NewEgg reviews, but why would I? I already know what I'm getting with a Seagate Expansion brand drive, so NewEgg reviews are (normally) not something I care about.

 

Anyway, anyone else have a similar issue they've gone through? How did you end up solving the problem?

[wANKER]

Obviously because Newegg know that UK plugs are far superior to that US shite. 

 

I get this all the time with suppliers at work though. (normally EU plug when I'm in the UK). Is infuriating as fuck. 

I think it's just that they buy them in cheap, not really knowing/caring it's because it's of a 'different nationality' and then just list it cheaply/quickly - normally things that are quite vague in their description. 

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, wANKER said:

Obviously because Newegg know that UK plugs are far superior to that US shite. 

 I mean I don't necessarily disagree with your sentiment, but holy crap - 99.9% of everything they sell has a NA plug - if you sell 0.1% with an EU plug, you had better specify!

2 minutes ago, wANKER said:

I get this all the time with suppliers at work though. (normally EU plug when I'm in the UK). Is infuriating as fuck. 

I think it's just that they buy them in cheap, not really knowing/caring it's because it's of a 'different nationality' and then just list it cheaply/quickly - normally things that are quite vague in their description. 

Yeah - for sure. This is the first time I've had this issue - the suppliers we use at work are much better than NewEgg. They have product specialists and can reach out to manufacturers to confirm things like plug type, etc.

[dizmo]

I've only ordered from NewEgg once. It was a horrible experience, and I'll never order from them again.

 

They had SSDs on sale. Great, I ordered two. Before ordering I asked if instead of being delivered to my house, it was held at the UPS/FedEx office as I didn't want the package sitting on my porch all day. They said this wasn't a possibility (which is a lie, but whatever). I asked what would happen if someone stole it, and they said I would have to contact the shipper and work it out with them. Sorry NewEgg, but it'd be on you, not me. You're the insuree. Every other company I've dealt with would simply give me a refund and deal with it themselves.

 

Now on to the drives themselves.They were refurbs, but they stated that the drive health would be perfect. It wasn't. Both drives I got were ~60%. Needless to say I asked for a refund, which took 45 minutes of online arguing, ending with me saying I'll just file a chargeback through my credit card company, and them providing me a return number.

 

Ridiculous. I'm not surprised you had issues.

 

Don't forget Memory Express for your Black Friday needs, they usually have excellent prices on all kinds of HDDs. Their sales start the night before though, so make sure you check it out; they sell out fast (but sometimes restock during the sale). They also take the site offline the day before, and post the upcoming flyer.

[dalekphalm]

23 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I've only ordered from NewEgg once. It was a horrible experience, and I'll never order from them again.

 

They had SSDs on sale. Great, I ordered two. Before ordering I asked if instead of being delivered to my house, it was held at the UPS/FedEx office as I didn't want the package sitting on my porch all day. They said this wasn't a possibility (which is a lie, but whatever). I asked what would happen if someone stole it, and they said I would have to contact the shipper and work it out with them. Sorry NewEgg, but it'd be on you, not me. You're the insuree. Every other company I've dealt with would simply give me a refund and deal with it themselves.

 

Now on to the drives themselves.They were refurbs, but they stated that the drive health would be perfect. It wasn't. Both drives I got were ~60%. Needless to say I asked for a refund, which took 45 minutes of online arguing, ending with me saying I'll just file a chargeback through my credit card company, and them providing me a return number.

 

Ridiculous. I'm not surprised you had issues.

I've ordered from NewEgg before - never had any issues like that. I found tons of reddit posts with the same issue I had - some of them talked to a not-incompetent support agent, and they sent the customer a EU to NA power adapter (like a wall outlet travel adapter) - even if that was an option, I'd say no. I don't need even more bulky shit in my living room - had they been able to send me a proper NA Seagate power adapter, that would have been the ideal solution.

23 minutes ago, dizmo said:

 

Don't forget Memory Express for your Black Friday needs, they usually have excellent prices on all kinds of HDDs. Their sales start the night before though, so make sure you check it out; they sell out fast (but sometimes restock during the sale). They also take the site offline the day before, and post the upcoming flyer.

I actually just ordered a new Seagate 6TB Expansion from CanadaComputers - $120 (same as the EU version of the drive I ordered). I'll be picking it up today or tomorrow.

 

Maybe not the best deal, but it's a lot better than I was expecting, and my Xbox is in dire need of additional storage. Battlefront 2 has been bitching about a 600 MB patch it can't download for days now.

[NinJake]

I do agree with being angry about not listing the power brick adapter type. I'd be pissed as well. I am going to go against the grain however and just say I've almost exclusively ordered computer parts and audio equipment from Newegg (of course a bit of Amazon) and have not had an issue yet.

 

Hopefully there's a way for these "smaller" companies (relative to these other retail giants) to maintain business. It was a sad time when TigerDirect went out of business....While I love my prime membership, I try not to give these giants ALL of my money if there are alternatives out there.

[dizmo]

21 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I've ordered from NewEgg before - never had any issues like that. I found tons of reddit posts with the same issue I had - some of them talked to a not-incompetent support agent, and they sent the customer a EU to NA power adapter (like a wall outlet travel adapter) - even if that was an option, I'd say no. I don't need even more bulky shit in my living room - had they been able to send me a proper NA Seagate power adapter, that would have been the ideal solution.

 

I actually just ordered a new Seagate 6TB Expansion from CanadaComputers - $120 (same as the EU version of the drive I ordered). I'll be picking it up today or tomorrow.

Maybe not the best deal, but it's a lot better than I was expecting, and my Xbox is in dire need of additional storage. Battlefront 2 has been bitching about a 600 MB patch it can't download for days now.

I find it odd that they'd even stock the EU SKU....like surely that just causes more headaches on their end than anything else. I mean, it's not like the buyer will say "oh well, I saved $5 off the other one, so I'll just use this plug..." It just seems like really poor sourcing by their stock team.

 

I always find it weird how external drives can cost less than internal...I mean, you have to pay for more manufacturing. So. I don't get it.

Haha I feel ya, the CoD install took up the majority of the free space I have left on my drive. I'll definitely have to put a 2TB SSD into my Cyberpunk build.

[circeseye]

funny, when something like that would happen i would pull out my huge container of power adapters and find a match to replace it with lol.

[Drak3]

On 11/4/2019 at 12:47 PM, wANKER said:

Obviously because Newegg know that UK plugs are far superior to that US shite. 

The UK plug (and just about everything else UK) is superior in only one way:

 

Being absolutely inferior.

[amdorintel]

shit happens

 

not your fault

 

buy local next time?

 

[Andreas Lilja]

33 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

shit happens

 

not your fault

 

buy local next time?

 

Even better directly from an external drive farmer.

[Roswell]

8 hours ago, dizmo said:

I've only ordered from NewEgg once. It was a horrible experience, and I'll never order from them again.

 

They had SSDs on sale. Great, I ordered two. Before ordering I asked if instead of being delivered to my house, it was held at the UPS/FedEx office as I didn't want the package sitting on my porch all day. They said this wasn't a possibility (which is a lie, but whatever). I asked what would happen if someone stole it, and they said I would have to contact the shipper and work it out with them. Sorry NewEgg, but it'd be on you, not me. You're the insuree. Every other company I've dealt with would simply give me a refund and deal with it themselves.

 

Now on to the drives themselves.They were refurbs, but they stated that the drive health would be perfect. It wasn't. Both drives I got were ~60%. Needless to say I asked for a refund, which took 45 minutes of online arguing, ending with me saying I'll just file a chargeback through my credit card company, and them providing me a return number.

 

Ridiculous. I'm not surprised you had issues.

This has nothing to do with Newegg. They need an address to deliver to, once you give it to them that's it. If you want it held at a shipment center, you contact the shipper not the retailer. There are laws surrounding this. As far as if something is stolen off your porch, yeah, that's on you, you need to file with the shipper. If Newegg started issuing replacements for stolen items, it would be abused to all hell.

On 11/4/2019 at 2:37 PM, dalekphalm said:

So my Xbox One S was low on Storage (it only came with a 500GB drive), and I decided since I'm always running low, now is the time to upgrade to a large external drive.

 

I went and looked around the various Canadian retailers, and NewEgg had a Seagate 4TB Expansion USB 3.0 HDD on sale - they actually had two different, seemingly identical ones: One for $120 CAD, the other for $125 CAD. Specs were identical in all ways (product number was different by one digit) - so I figured, well obviously I'll buy the cheaper one.

 

A few days later, it arrives, I rip it open, eager to download a few games in my queue... and it's the fucking European model. It came with a UK and German plug, and no North American Plug:

 

I re-check the product page to ensure I wasn't just being an idiot - and the product page had zero mention of coming with a European plug - it only mentions that it comes with a Power Adapter. Now, considering I ordered this off of NewEgg.ca (and the fact that NewEgg.com is American), I didn't think twice about what plug would come with it - and if unspecified, I would expect the plug to be American.

 

Fuck me. So I contact support, and the Agent doesn't understand a goddamn thing about what I'm trying to explain. I'm polite and calm, but he's not understanding that the Power Adapter brick is interchangeable with different plugs. And as I explain it, he posts some somewhat condescending responses like "I know that" - no - you don't.

 

Anyway I had to email him pictures to finally get him to understand. He said I should contact Seagate for the correct adapter - which isn't a bad idea mind you, but Seagate is going to charge me for that, since it's not their mistake that NewEgg is selling a European product in Canada.

 

So I asked if they would issue a partial refund to cover the cost of whatever Seagate would charge - they said they would issue me a $10 coupon for NewEgg for my next order - fuck that. That means I'm out of pocket for whatever Seagate would charge, and frankly, I don't order much from NewEgg anymore, and that would force me to order from them again.

 

So I opted for a return instead. Once I get the refund, I'll probably just wait for Black Friday sales at this point, and avoid NewEgg entirely (Canada Computers/Amazon, please put a 4TB External HDD on good discount!).

 

Anyway, I'm just pissed, so I needed to rant.

 

Ultimately, the Support Agent wasn't the problem (though the fact that he didn't understand the problem didn't help). The problem is that NewEgg listed a EU product in a NA market with no clarification or disclaimer. After going through this, I checked the reviews of the product, and others have had the same issue - my bad for not checking the NewEgg reviews, but why would I? I already know what I'm getting with a Seagate Expansion brand drive, so NewEgg reviews are (normally) not something I care about.

 

Anyway, anyone else have a similar issue they've gone through? How did you end up solving the problem?

Sounds like this came from a third-party seller. Just like Amazon, be wary of third-party sellers.

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

This has nothing to do with Newegg. They need an address to deliver to, once you give it to them that's it. If you want it held at a shipment center, you contact the shipper not the retailer. There are laws surrounding this. As far as if something is stolen off your porch, yeah, that's on you, you need to file with the shipper. If Newegg started issuing replacements for stolen items, it would be abused to all hell.

Might be how it works in the US, not in Canada. Every other company I order from, if I have issues, they handle it. As they should. They choose the shipper, they've paid for the insurance on the shipped item, therefore the onus is on them.

[dalekphalm]

26 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

This has nothing to do with Newegg. They need an address to deliver to, once you give it to them that's it. If you want it held at a shipment center, you contact the shipper not the retailer. There are laws surrounding this. As far as if something is stolen off your porch, yeah, that's on you, you need to file with the shipper. If Newegg started issuing replacements for stolen items, it would be abused to all hell.

Sounds like this came from a third-party seller. Just like Amazon, be wary of third-party sellers.

Was 100% definitely not a third party seller. I never buy from third party sellers on NewEgg (or Best Buy, which does that now too). 

[kirashi]

On 11/4/2019 at 11:37 AM, dalekphalm said:

So my Xbox One S was low on Storage (it only came with a 500GB drive), and I decided since I'm always running low, now is the time to upgrade to a large external drive.

 

--SNIP--

 

A few days later, it arrives, I rip it open, eager to download a few games in my queue... and it's the fucking European model. It came with a UK and German plug, and no North American Plug:

 

--SNIP--

 

Anyway, anyone else have a similar issue they've gone through? How did you end up solving the problem?

Was it Seagate model STEB4000200 by chance? (As opposed to the STEB4000100 model?)

• Why they're selling it on Newegg.ca is beyond me, but if this was the one you bought...
  • ...the pictures clearly show a different plug type Seagate's own data sheet PDF indicates that STEB4000200 is for the EMEA region.
  • ...the reviews tell you other people received a UK power supply, and some even received a universal plug converter, too.
  • ...Seagate's own Data Sheet clearly indicates that STEB4000200 is intended for the EMEA market, not the AMERicas.
• If you purchased STEB4000100 but received STEB4000200 instead, then that sucks, and you'll need to contact them to see about fixing that.

 

https://www.newegg.ca/black-seagate-expansion-4tb/p/N82E16822184784

 

https://www.seagate.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/expansion-desk-8tbDS1843-9-1902-AMER-WW-en_CA.pdf

 

Newegg Reviews from the same product page also indicate it's not a North American plug...

 

[Polyvalent]

I haven't bought anything from newegg in years.  A similarly garbage support experience caused me to take all my business elsewhere.  Sorry to hear this happened to you.

[amdorintel]

6 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Was 100% definitely not a third party seller. I never buy from third party sellers on NewEgg (or Best Buy, which does that now too). 

Walmart too

[wANKER]

16 hours ago, Drak3 said:

The UK plug (and just about everything else UK) is superior in only one way:

 

Being absolutely inferior.

[dalekphalm]

16 hours ago, kirashi said:

Was it Seagate model STEB4000200 by chance? (As opposed to the STEB4000100 model?)

It was definitely the STEB4000200 that I ordered and received.

Quote

• Why they're selling it on Newegg.ca is beyond me, but if this was the one you bought...
  • ...the pictures clearly show a different plug type Seagate's own data sheet PDF indicates that STEB4000200 is for the EMEA region.
  • ...the reviews tell you other people received a UK power supply, and some even received a universal plug converter, too.
  • ...Seagate's own Data Sheet clearly indicates that STEB4000200 is intended for the EMEA market, not the AMERicas.

The picture only shows up if I click on the images and look at every single one - it's the last of 5 images, and they only preview 4 on the product page. I'm buying a HDD from a Canadian retailer, I would not expect to need to look at every single picture, let alone confirm that the plug isn't European.

 

Why would I check NewEgg reviews at all? I know the specs of the HDD and the relative quality and performance I'm getting from third party reviews. I wouldn't even think to check NewEgg reviews, nor would I trust reviews on a retailer site regardless (the score on many retailer sites is a useless indicator, because plenty of people give low review scores for stupid reasons).

 

You can say I didn't do my due diligence, but I would disagree with that.

 

If I walked into the store, and picked up the box, and bought it in person, I would have the exact same issue. The box doesn't say anything clearly about it being a UK drive. Nor does the product description.

 

If I walk into a Canadian retailer, pick up a HDD, and buy it, I have the rightful expectation that it'll be compatible with Canadian hardware, and Canadian electrical outlets, unless clearly labeled otherwise.

 

And yes in the reviews, some mentioned they got a universal adapter. I didn't. Nor did the Product Title or Description indicate I would (or would need one).

 

Quote

• If you purchased STEB4000100 but received STEB4000200 instead, then that sucks, and you'll need to contact them to see about fixing that.

 

https://www.newegg.ca/black-seagate-expansion-4tb/p/N82E16822184784

-product image snip-

 

https://www.seagate.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/expansion-desk-8tbDS1843-9-1902-AMER-WW-en_CA.pdf

-seagate datasheet snip-

 

Newegg Reviews from the same product page also indicate it's not a North American plug...

 

-review snip-

Point being, I shouldn't need to dig into those kinds of details when buying a HDD on a Canadian Website for a Canadian Market just to confirm it'll work with a Canadian electrical outlet.

 

I certainly would have saved myself some time and annoyance had I read the NewEgg reviews - I'll give you that.

 

But, all that does is prove that NewEgg is being incompetent with that product listing. It should clearly indicate it's the EU model in the Product Title. And in the Description (especially package contents), it should clearly indicate that it comes with the UK and German plugs, and does not come with an NA plug.

 

At worst, you could say that NewEgg and myself were both wrong - but under no circumstances is what NewEgg did okay.

 

in fact, I just checked the product listing again, and it still doesn't list the fact that it comes with the UK/German plugs and not an NA plug - that's unacceptable, because I guarantee other customers are going to make the same "mistake" that I did.

 

I also noticed that my review never went live, even after I submitted it... I wasn't kind to NewEgg, so maybe it got reviewed and they didn't publish it.