Let them come after me. PLEASE let them come after me. It will cost them buckets of money. I will make them wish they had given me several free replacement laptops instead of going the sleazeball route.
BTW, the first sorta-semi-major on-line Linux journal will have my piece published sometime tomorrow. I'll keep you posted. --Doug On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:56 PM, Nicholas Thompson < [email protected]> wrote: > All, > > I have occasionally been of the mind to take this sort of revenge on a > corporation, but don't have the technical know how (or the--um --guts) to > do so. But that hasn't kept me from worrying about the consequences of > acting with explicit MALICE against any organization with lawyers. > > Is there a hazard here? Should Doug be putting all his assets into an > irrevocable trust for his parrots before he takes on newegg? > > Just wondering. > > Nick > > Nicholas S. Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, > Clark University ([email protected]) > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe] > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Douglas Roberts <[email protected]> > *To: *The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group<[email protected]> > *Sent:* 2/18/2010 4:56:57 PM > *Subject:* [FRIAM] War has been declared > > Dear fellow FRIAMers, > > Please enjoy the opportunity to be the first audience to observe the > opening salvo in my newly-declared war on Newegg.com. I just got off the > phone with their Customer Service Department, after having sent then a > courtesy advance copy of the short article included below. I wanted to give > them one last chance to correct what I believe will be a much larger mistake > than they might have anticipated. Next stop Slashdot, then Linux Today, > then CNET, Wired.com if they will have it as an editorial. Linux Journal, > Linux Journal (Facebook). I'll become a fan & write on their wall for all > 6,384 other fans to read. Linux Magazine Online, Linux Online, Linux > Magazine (different from Linux Magazine Online), etc. > > This might surprise some of you, but I can become a large pain in the ass > when I get pissed off. > > And I am pissed off. > > --Doug > > ______________________________ > > I admit it up front. I want to take $399 out of the hide of Newegg.com. > Here's why: > > I purchased a refurbished Asus K50 Series K50IJ-RX05 laptop from Newegg 4 > weeks ago, for -- you guessed it -- $399. The laptop arrived three days > later, and I installed Kubuntu 9.10 on it. No muss, no fuss, no hitches. > Everything worked, right out of the box: wireless, graphics, the whole > shebang. > > Well, *apparently* everything worked. The laptop was a birthday present > for my wife, you see. So the first thing she asked for was for me to > install Skype on it so she could make video calls to her daughter. > > No problem, says I. Presto, Skype got installed. Oops, the picture is > upside down. This laptop was manufactured/assembled with the webcam > installed 180 degrees out of whack! > > Well, ok. I guess. There's a Video For Linux patch just for this > situation. So I installed the patch (a library to pre-load prior to running > apps that use webcam). Alrighty, the webcam video is no longer upside down > in Skype. I handed the laptop back to my wife. > > Day two: the wife says, "My laptop locked up." I asked her what she had > been doing at the time. "Moving the mouse." > > Oh, oh, this isn't right. The Asus K50 is running an Intel T4200 dual-core > processor and the Intel 4500 graphics chipset. The Linux Intel graphics > drivers are pretty solid. In fact, I've installed Kubuntu 9.10 on several > nearly identical Acer T4200 laptops with the 4500 chipset, and they are all > rock solid under some pretty heavy-duty use. > > So, I installed the very latest Kubuntu update, which brought the kernel > and modules up to version 2.6.31-19, and handed the laptop back to my wife. > Again. > > No go. Three - four times a day the machine just locked up. Randomly. > Hard. Power cycle required to reboot. > > So *now* I go to the intertubes to do some research (I know, I know) and > discover [careful, big surprise coming] that the Asus K50 Series K50IJ-RX05 > machines had the webcam installed upside down at the factory. Oh, and they > randomly lock up several times a day. Linux, Vista, XP. Whatever. They > lock up. There's a reason that so many "refurbished" units of this model > are up for sale. > > Clearly an unsatisfactory situation. So I contacted Newegg and explained > that I was unhappy with the defective laptop they had sold me. After a > brief consultation with her supervisor, the nice lady approved my RMA refund > request and sent me a free UPS return label for me to use to ship the laptop > back. > > Not to shabby, I thought. This kind of service is why I have been a good > Newegg customer for the past 7 years. Spending about $2,000 - $3,000 per > year. For seven years. At Newegg. > > Oops, not so fast. [I bet some of you saw this coming.] See the email I > just received from Newegg: > > > *Dear Valued Customer,* > * > * > *Thanks again for shopping at Newegg.com.* > * > * > *We recently received your RMA and your return was then sent to our > Inspections Department for closer examination.* > * > * > *Incomplete return* > *User changed OS to Linux Kubuntu* > *System has been modified/altered original manufacturers operating system > has been removed cannot access restore partition, this voids Newegg > warranty. Unit cannot be accepted or resold as received.* > * > * > *RMA denied return to customer* > * > * > *Because Newegg would be facing a loss if we were to replace this item, > we are returning the product to you and recommending that you contact the > manufacturer directly to request that they repair or replace the item under > your manufacturer's warranty. Please visit the following link to view a > listing of all the manufacturers whose products we carry: > http://www.newegg.com/app/contactmanufacturer.asp?DEPA=0* > * > * > *Kindest regards,* > * > * > *Newegg.com* > *RMA Inspections Department* > *[email protected]* > *http://www.newegg.com* > * > * > *This email was sent from Newegg's Automated Email System so please do > not reply.* > > > > That's right: I installed Linux on the laptop, and therefore Newegg is not > going to honor my refund. > > Need I say more? Newegg is now on record as a vendor from whom you > purchase at your own risk. They have demonstrated that they will knowingly > sell defective hardware, and not honor refund requests on same. > > A very good way to go out of business, in my opinion. > > Buyer beware. > ______________________________ > > > > -- > Doug Roberts > [email protected] > [email protected] > 505-455-7333 - Office > 505-670-8195 - Cell > >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
