Hassam Nasir Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
mevinyavin The article notes that he paid much less than MSRP. The article does not note who the seller is. Many readers may not be aware that Best Buy recently became a marketplace, and as could have been predicted, the website is now an absolute trainwreck. It is possible that Best Buy would not refund the buyer because it wasn't them who sold it to him. Either way, like just about every other marketplace out there, be careful who you buy from. Reply
J4ck1nth3b0x Broken seal and tampered with means not accepting the delivery, just a simple rule. Reply
SkyBill40 If I'm buying at Best Buy, I'm doing so at the store. The package is getting opened while in the store, too. Same goes if it's Micro Center or any other brick-and-mortar vendor. I understand that likely wasn't possible for this consumer and what happened is a shame. Hopefully a chargeback can take place and he'll get his money returned. Reply
txfeinbergs Yep, this article is misleading. SkyBill40 said: If I'm buying at Best Buy, I'm doing so at the store. The package is getting opened while in the store, too. Same goes if it's Micro Center or any other brick-and-mortar vendor. I understand that likely wasn't possible for this consumer and what happened is a shame. Hopefully a chargeback can take place and he'll get his money returned. I have started recording all box openings, but lets face it… even those can be faked so not sure how good they are. My problem has been with incorrect quantities. I order multiple of something and only get one. The idiot at the store can't read or count the invoice. This has happened multiple times with Costco and once at Laderach chocolate. Reply
valthuer Imagine dropping $1,200 on an RTX 5080 and getting… Minecraft IRL edition. When a literal box of rocks gets through a major retailer’s system, it’s not a rare mistake — it’s a giant neon sign that customer protections are broken. Best Buy slapping shipping labels straight onto a tampered retail box is wild enough, but refusing a refund after their own investigation? That’s the part that really deserves the spotlight. If customers have to film every unboxing like it’s a crime scene just to be believed, something’s seriously off. Chargeback it, blast it, and let this be a reminder: big retailers only care when the bad PR hits harder than the missing GPU. Reply
Heat_Fan89 So was it a direct BB purchase because that doesn't look like something BB would sell or ship directly. That's why I never, ever buy 3rd party unless it is less than $20. If I buy from Amazon, I make sure it is fulfilled by Amazon. I have never encountered that with everything that I have purchased from BB, including buying their stuff from their Ebay store. It is always sealed. Reply
JayGau Always buy products sold by Best Buy (or Amazon, Newegg, etc). Those marketplaces are a paradise for scammers, and retailers don't care since they make money with them. The only way to protect yourself is to buy from the retailer itself, not third-party sellers. Reply
Heat_Fan89 JayGau said: Always buy products sold by Best Buy (or Amazon, Newegg, etc). Those marketplaces are a paradise for scammers, and retailers don't care since they make money with them. The only way to protect yourself is to buy from the retailer itself, not third-party sellers. I also want to mention that if you buy 3rd party, you might want to check with the mfg because they may not honor the product warranty. A 3rd party scammer on Amazon was selling an ASRock 9070XT for $100 less than MSRP. I thought it was Amazon and once I saw it was a marketplace seller, I bailed. I contacted ASRock and they informed me of the marketplace seller and told me it was a scam and that they only honor the warranty if it is sold by Amazon. Reply
vandamage chargeback is a sure fire way? surely you jest… Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/customer-buys-rtx-5080-from-best-buy-but-got-rocks-instead-usd1-200-gpu-arrived-in-tampered-box-with-broken-seal#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Samsung touts 96% lower-power NAND design — researchers investigate design based on ferroelectric transistors
- The Largest Digital Zoo: Biology Model Trained on NVIDIA GPUs Identifies Over a Million Species
- Taiwan hits Japanese firm with indictment in TSMC data theft saga — Tokyo Electron charged with failing to prevent its staff from stealing trade secrets
- Save $620 on high-end Core Ultra 9 285K and motherboard bundle with 32GB of RAM — get over $1,500 in gear for less than $800
- Samsung touts 96% lower-power NAND design — researchers investigate design based on ferroelectric transistors
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.