Comment by ejb999 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ejb999 | Hacker News Reader

I once bought a powerful IBM server many years ago at one of the online resellers/liquidators (not eBay) (actually bought 5 of them, but only one was IBM and was the only one that had the problem).

Got the server, plugged it in connected power monitor/keyboards etc - wouldn't boot.

Finally opened up the case and there was no memory, no video card and no motherboard and no drives at all - but there was a note from someone at IBM detailing that the server had been cannablized to use the parts for another machine (with all the required documentation of who took it, when and where the parts went etc.)

When I contacted the company that sold it to me as 'new / surplus' - they said it wasn't their problem, it was a warranty issue I had to take up with IBM, and they washed their hands. After many failed attempts, I resorted to tracking down the officers of the company via public records and harassing each of them personally by phone in the evenings and weekends at their homes until they issued me a refund. I hadn't paid by CC, so couldn't just dispute the charges.

> Finally opened up the case and there was no memory, no video card and no motherboard and no drives at all

In the 90's a fairly popular scam was to buy a computer from a traditional retail store, like JC Penny or Sears, and then remove the hard drive and RAM, exchange the computer saying it didn't work, and then you end up with a computer that has double the storage and RAM for the same price.

It wouldn't at Best Buy or Circuit City because they would open up the computer and test it out. But when some warehouse worker just throws the computer on a dolly and brings you out another, and you pay cash, it's easy to get away with.

Seems like small claims court may have been easier

The harassment route sounds like more fun.

And creepy/illegal

Please explain how it is illegal to call the person that sold you something defective, and refuses to refund your money?

The company that sold it to you is not the same legal entity as the execs, so calling them at home is certainly an illegal form of harassment.

I mean, OP themselves typified their behavior as "harassment", so...

> harassing each of them personally by phone in the evenings and weekends at their homes

In other words, stalking.

In the US, this would not even be close to rising to the level of stalking, in a legal sense. Even harassment could be a stretch (since obviously the legal use of harassment is different than casual conversational use). Stalking laws generally require the a “reasonable person” to fear for their safety and that the accused intended to cause them fear. Calling a business owner at inconvenient times is at best, meant to annoy. Even harassment typically involves things that have “no lawful purpose” and attempting to resolve a legitimate consumer complaint would likely be considered lawful.

Thanks for the info. This is great explanation. I had a feeling I was way off.

Is that company still in business?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com