Now it’s like, well, what else can I do? I guess I’m boycotting Amazon, but is it really boycotting when their store is “here’s a random electronic device, maybe it is what you ordered,” I mean, why would I place an order for that in the first place?
I’m also boycotting gun store that only sells footguns.
so you can sign up for the free trial every time you want some counterfeit tat shipped cheaply
then immediately cancel it
one was obviously a return by someone else, it was in completely different unofficial packaging and was DOA
getting the bot like staff to accept that it wasn't me that had broken it was such fun I ended up deleting my 20 year amazon account
and haven't bought anything since
Had this exact thing happen... with a septic pump [gross!].
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About one year ago, after terrible customer service from a major UPS vendor, I decided that I was now only ever purchasing backup batteries from CostCo: their "lifetime satisfaction warranty" means I don't have to deal with OEM return processes (IMHO) designed to prevent claims submissions (e.g. return shipping fees; questions designed to invalidate your warranty).
I am very uncomfortable buying electronics and hygiene products from many places because of this problem. For example, years ago, on what became my final Amazon purchase, I received used underwear (yuck!). Knowing that Amazon tends to sell returned products as new, I had explicitly bought a brand that is sealed, shrink wrapped, and promises to dispose returned items, but that wasn't enough.
Recently, I was reading a newspaper article where they described how a criminal gang bought Google Pixel and high-end Samsung phones from reputable online and department stores. They opened them, installed malware, returned the product, and you can guess what happened next. Lots of stolen bank credentials. People tend to buy stuff, test drive it for a few days and return it as new abusing pro-customer regulations. Many shops are unwilling to take a loss and resell these things as new. Very dishonest, should be better regulated.
Absolutely terrifying.
Could you say which you've had luck with?
For hard drives, I usually wait for OfficeMax sales/coupons, and then stock up.
Sometimes I have to drive to Atlanta (about three hours, round trip) but there are some incredible electronic parts stores in huge cities.
Regardless of what/where I purchase, I always open items inside the store (before leaving, near the customer service desk) because I have literally had "new" items contain hazmat returns (e.g. a "new" septic pump, a la feces).
"Sorry, this Western Digital 7200rpm 2TB drive is a WD72002048-AMZN, and we sell the WD72002048-BBY, so we can't price match."
They got busted for having different prices if they detected you were hitting the website from a store (Wifi or terminal)... "I know you thought it was $109 when you looked online, but you must be mistaken, here, let's pull up the website, yup, $159".
There was a brief loophole for a while when Amazon allowed ad-hoc Marketplace items from users - find what you wanted on Best Buy's site, create a listing to sell it on Amazon for $x cheaper, and then show them that as the price match. Then they moved to "must be fulfilled by Amazon to be eligible".
It works well. They are competitive in pricing, and have a good lookup system to make sure you get the correct type of RAM( and SDD). Free shipping USA and Canada. (Been using that for over a decide.)