You just sound burnt to me

There are some things that I expect a company not to do. One is cover for mistakes of UPS. I don't blame them for wanting to investigate first on your monitor.

UPS should have compensated you for your lost package instead of Newegg.

While you are partially right, Newegg is probably going through some growing pains as I seem to use them as almost everyone else. That and the bots that I used to use such as Pricewatch and Pricegrabber do not seem to be as good at getting prices as they used to be. More times than not, I look for something specific and Newegg has a price lower than both sites.

I still think of Newegg as a vendor for the Computer Enthusiast when you are looking on a great deal on something that normally has a 20 or 30% markup. I never have and probably never will see them as a vendor for the business class.

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

Yeah, I *am* burnt, at least on this one. I think that the real killer here isn't how they handled UPS losing a package (which would have been obnoxious by itself, but after waiting a week just to have it shipped was too much for me), but the 24 - 48 hour gap between placing an order and having it go out the door. That, more than anything else, is why I can't call them "business friendly". It's sad, because as a vendor I generally like them, and I root for them as a company to succeed. I've always hated CDW, and Ingram Micro is a hassle to use in many ways. Newegg is so painless and friendly, so for them to not meet my needs on the product fulfillment end just hurts.

J.Ja

Other Vendors to consider

www.microcenter.com <- Instore prices are a bit high, but they have some great deals on Processors at times, they like to beat Newegg on the Q6600

www.pcconnection.com <- Backup for my company

www.tigerdirect.com <- also used by my company had occasionally has a good deal.

www.zipzoomfly.com <- Occasionally beating newegg and seemingly coming into their own.

The only one that I haven't dealt with personally is Zipzoomfly, but many friends claim they are the new newegg.

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I thought it was just me. I am fortunate to have a local vendor for the most common parts and configurations, but we need these online vendors who have access to all products. Whether you work for a company or are the company, we always have some sort of time constraint. I've gotten to the point that I couch my quotes with "depending on parts availability...". Your observations of Ingram Micro are right on also. If the order process was painless and speedy, we all would gladly pay a little more. The client wants it now, now, now!

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

nucrash -

Thanks for the suggestions! I will have to check them out the next time that I need parts.

bampcs -

Thanks, nice to know it's not just me either!

J.Ja

Tuesday's purchase from Newegg

I ordered an item from Newegg around Tuesday night. From looking at UPS, the item should be here Thursday. I will verify this.

On this particular case, they had what I wanted, the price wasn't the best, but close and there was no 48 hour wait, especially if I have the item by Thursday night which would mean that in under 48 hours the item that I wanted would be in my hands. Not as quick as a trip to Best Buy, but at probably half the cost.

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

One name I haven't seen here is Mwave. I've ordered from them numerous times and have been quite pleased with the service I've received. 50% of the time they've got a better price than Newegg too. I don't know about the amount of time from order to ship, but I just wanted to get their name thrown in the mix.

If only Amazon had the component selection that Newegg has!

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I've almost ordered from MWave a few times, but because I didn't know anyone who had actually ordered from them, I was not sure if they were legit or not. I guess I'll ahve to give them a try too, thanks!

J.Ja

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

They're legit. I purchased all the components from them for my first build in 2000, just did again earlier this year. They do need to advertise, I don't know many other people who are even aware they exist.

Newegg worked

Product is up and running. 72 hours from when the order was placed, but no special fees or anything else.

I have ordered all special and such and had my gear within 48 hours though, I just can't stand to spend that much unless I have a very large quantity of items.

Should New Egg reship without investigating?

I think it depends.

If the package was shipped and it tracking shows it left their local hub (and especially if it got to your state), then they should investigate. the package may be sitting around UPS's warehouse.....I"m sure many in the Dallas area have had the experience of a package sitting in the dallas hub for days (or longer) until a trace is put on the package and they finally go "Oops, guess we should deliver this."

It happened to me many times and a friend had it happen with a Tivo.

OTOH, if it's like a case I had, where Buy.com said the item was shipped, but UPS never got it, they should reship right away.

And no, Buy.com didn't do that...they took a week to "Investigate" a package that they clearly never sent (though they did create a tracking number)."

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I agree that some sort of investigation is needed before reshipping, otherwise, people would be scamming the system left and right. But 7 - 10 days is far too much time. It took me under 2 minutes on the phone with UPS for them to declare the package lost. It had been scanned as "on the truck" and 24 hours later, it still had not be scanned again and the truck had been emptied. Anothing thing which bothered me here, which I forgot to mention in the blog post, is that I asked UPS why I had to be doing all of this follow up, not Newegg. They told me that they offer shippers the option of being notified automatically when a package "falls off the radar", is declared missing, etc. and that Newegg does not use this. So Newegg has made the concious decision to not be proactive about shipping problems, but instead, force their customers to not just act as the

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I think "conscious decision" is a bit too strong. Until UPS lost a package (and dragged their feet for almost a month, before deciding they'd pay me the insurance money), I used them regularly, and I never saw an option where they'd notify me if they lost a package. I don't think they know. In fact, 2-3 days after they agreed to pay me for my loss, another UPS agent told me they were going to deliver it (they didn't).

Bottom line is that unless this is a fairly new option, newegg probably doesn't know it exists.

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

Yeah, that does make sense. :)

I think I'll be experimenting with a few of the other reader-recommended vendors, but Newegg is definitely on my "OK list" for items that are not time-sensitive.

J.Ja

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I'll add a thumbs-up for Mwave. I'm a PC Technician for a large company and I also do freelance PC repair. I've been ordering from Mwave on a regular basis since 2000 and have always gotten great service and fast shipping. I only look elsewhere if Mwave doesn't have it or the price difference is substantial (rare).

Mike Fields

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I agree 1,000%! It is impossible for me to order anything from them, due to the fact that 4 years ago I was the victim of identity theft and someone placed a NewEgg order using my credit card number. As soon as I saw the charge on my statement, I notified them of the fraud. Since the person used my name and address as the billing address, anytime I place an order they run it through their verification process. Apparently they have my address tagged as one associated with "fraud", even though I was the innocent victim. So any order I place, the verification process cancels. I have been on the phone with them countless times to no avail. There is no way to get them to correct this error; believe me I have tried. I usually end up having to go with ChiefValue (a NewEgg competitor), or good old trusty Amazon (if they have what I need - their selection of tech items is limited).

Dave Persinger

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

I think you need to keep in mind that newegg is a consumer company 1st. If you need business service, than you should consider a company like CDW. They understand business and the SLA's they require and can deliver accordingly. you just can't expect that from Newegg..

Online vendors...

For the most part, online vendors do have good prices and ship quick. BUT, the problem with most online vendors is when you RETURN an item. They make you go through hoops, and some add a restocking fee (Buy.com). They will take their time to credit you account. Thus, for pricey electronic items, I go with bricks and mortals, saves me some headaches.

For parts that are easy to return (CPUS, memory chips, etc.), i'll shop online. Sometimes the price between a bricks and mortal shop and online are very similar. I shopped for a Dlink Modem model 655 and most places sold them for around $100. Best buy's price more expensive by less than $10.00.

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

Ironically, I ordered some parts for personal use from Newegg, and they shipped the next day (despite *not* choosing "Rush Processing") and arrived quicker than I expected, even with the cheapo shipping. Odd, eh?

J.Ja

Re: I think Newegg has gone rotten

Honestly, I only deal with Microcenter and Tiger Direct. Microcenter gives me a choice between shipping and in-store pickup (depending on when I need something or if it's cheaper on taxes than shipping) and Tiger generally has lower prices on some of the other stuff thanks to refurbs.

While I won't get refurb system components, like RAM and hard drives, I don't mind cases, HDTVs/displays, and most non-critical peripherals as refurbished because of the price difference to new. For example, I bought a Olevia 537H for $500 while it was retailing for $850 brand new (and the lesser model, the 237T/V, retailed for $750) several months ago. The only problem I've had with it is figuring out how to work PIP/split screen on game day.