also @ TechSpot: AMD A4-5000 Review: the affordable ultraportable APU

Newegg drops supplier over counterfeit Intel processors

By

On March 9, 2010, 9:55 AM

Newegg has issued an official update on the Intel Core i7 processor fiasco that came to light over the weekend. Turns out that IPEX, not D&H Distributing as initially believed, was responsible for supplying the bogus chips and as a result its contract with the online retailer has been revoked. In an initial statement, Newegg had referred to the issue as one of its partners mistakenly sending out "demo boxes" instead of functional units.

You could tell that was obviously not the case just by taking a closer look at the packaging and wording on the boxes containing the 'chips' in question. The news was first reported by HardOCP, which has now apologized to D&H Distributing for naming it as the supplying distributor, and clarified that it was merely reporting what a source from within Newegg's organization had told them.

In a statement issued to CRN, a senior D&H executive ratified his company has never bought anything other than genuine Intel products, sourced directly from Intel, and said they're glad to see the D&H name vindicated. Newegg for its part said it is reaching out to all customers who may have received the fake processors and has already sent out a number of replacement units. It's not often that a reputable retailer is duped into passing on counterfeit products to customers, but it seems that Newegg managed the situation quite well after all.

No tags on this story

User Comments: 51

Got something to say? Post a comment
  1. newegg may have dealt with the situation well, however knowing that Newegg goes to these "no name distributors" lost alot of my trust with them.

    For newegg to just drop IPEX sounds to me like IPEX was not too important to newegg.

  2. this is still a pain for D&H since they got the early blame... i hope it doesn't affect their credibility too much

  3. I like buying locally.If you can go to a MicroCenter or in the good old days CompUSA then that's the way to go.The return policies of the on line store are very strict and everything as to go just right to get any problem that comes up resolved.I will continue shop on line(even from Newegg), but for now I am hesitant.As time goes on I think we will have less choice in the matter.

  4. Been with Newegg for many many years and never had a problem with them before. Hopefully this does not occur again, many other suppliers out there to do business with. As of now they are still my supplier of chioce, but that could change at any minute.

  5. Vrmithrax said:

    I loved how in some other reporting sites, Newegg was being blasted for being fairly quiet about the whole thing, and all sorts of cover-up and conspiracy comments were being thrown around. Turns out, Newegg was just doing the responsible thing and investigating what happened internally, before they made a move. Bravo to them, for both axing the questionable supplier, and for immediately taking steps to rectify the situation with the customers involved. I knew there was a reason I use them for most of my hardware purchases.

    I agree. Newegg acted very professionally, and has had the customer in mind throughout this entire ordeal. They acted swiftly and decisively just as they should have, and will definitely keep me as a customer.

  6. Kudos to Newegg for resolving this so fast!

  7. Well, at least NewEgg owned up to it. There's definitely going to be some jobs lost on this mistake.

  8. "Git 'er done" Newegg!!! That's they way to put forth the effort to demonstrate to others that you expect a particular standard. Don't take lightly to your company name being jeopardized. I love newegg. That's all there is to it!

  9. I am sure there won't be any lawsuit's because it seems that Newegg handled everything perfectly. I am glad that they got everything sorted out and you can't blame Newegg for dropping them as a supplier. If I were running a huge technology business like Newegg, I would have done the same thing.

    It's better that they cut them clean and don't have to worry about it again, but nobody is perfect so mistakes are bound to happen to anyone.

  10. Good thing I haven't bought a thing from Newegg, I guess.

  11. good job newegg! probably one of the BEST online retailers out there. AND they handled this well, respect to them.

  12. I think you ought to tweak the "Related Stories" algorithm -

    Related Story, NewEggs deal of the day..from 2004!

  13. Right decision and glad to hear that D&H's name has been cleanse, this is an amazing customer service response from newegg

  14. Were the conterfeit procs bricks, or were they just cheaply specced imitations in i7 packaging? Were the criminals responsible hoping the counterfeits would not be discovered? Or have they already profited and can't not be found / held responsible?

    Anyway, great job on Newegg's part, catching and resolving the issue.

  15. Glad to see Newegg stepped up and did the right thing. I can't imagine the first phone call that a customer had to make to try and explain what they received in the mail. I'm sure people were like "WHAT??!?!?".

  16. So, my theory that I presented in the original story is confirmed. Working one on one with D&H for a few years when I manged a retail shop led me to have a hard time believing NewEgg's story that D&H was to blame. I dealt with many distributors and IPEX was never one of them, there is proably a reason for that. D&H will have a nice liable suit against NewEgg after this past weekend.

  17. Response to CodePhoenix RE: Newegg

    newegg may have dealt with the situation well, however knowing that Newegg goes to these "no name distributors" lost alot of my trust with them.

    For newegg to just drop IPEX sounds to me like IPEX was not too important to newegg.

    CodePhoenix- it isn't entirely fair to Newegg to say that IPEX was dropped b/c they weren't important to them. The distributor made a critical mistake and that had to be dealt with. IPEX obviously had some type of stability for Newegg to even consider having them as part of their process. Maybe this will teach IPEX a lesson to have more verify what they are shipping is correct. You can't blame that on Newegg. I have even more faith in the company now that they have handled their business this way. I guess it all comes down to opinions, they're like noses everyone has one.

  18. So, my theory that I presented in the original story is confirmed. Working one on one with D&H for a few years when I manged a retail shop led me to have a hard time believing NewEgg's story that D&H was to blame. I dealt with many distributors and IPEX was never one of them, there is proably a reason for that. D&H will have a nice liable suit against NewEgg after this past weekend.
    Yes, you were quite correct with your initial assessment. However, Newegg stated the "CPUs" in question were demo boxes. That's a bit different from flatly stating that, ""we received counterfeit CPU s from D & H". I suspect that feathers were ruffled, but with an account the size of Newegg, they might be "ready to make nice". Some of the other sites that had a bit more "adventurous" approach to reporting this fiasco might not fare so well.

    "There was >> proably << a reason for this", is really an ambiguous statement. It's sort of like saying that you're prescient, but not even committing to that. Something that a lawyer / fortune teller would swear to, but not with a real bible.

    I would suspect that all three business establishments were victimized, by a fourth party, "to be named later"! (We can hope right)?

  19. Oh Newegg, if only other business could be like you. Newegg has to be the best example of good business practice. I mean yeah, their video blog on youtube isn't really the best (sometimes not worth watching) but the way they handle business just seems flawless. Always quick to respond and quick with RMA's and here they are apologizing for putting the blame on D&H...this is great PR for Newegg, lol.

    If the "demo boxes" really were just a mistake, then someone needs to go back to school for missing spelling errors on at least 1 of 300 boxes. Do they not inspect everything before it gets sent out to big companies? I bet they will now, lol. I still think someone made fakes and took off with 300 i7 processors.

  20. CaptainCranky- they will probably behave like our politicians do and stand around and point fingers at one another. I had not looked at the situation like you did until I read your post. Then I can see where fingers could get pointed in several directions. You have great insight in sharing your perspective.

  21. Wow. That is quite a price to pay over an error. One strike and you're out.

  22. Wow. That is quite a price to pay over an error. One strike and you're out.

  23. Bad bad bad HardOCP, bad bad bad bad bad IPEX. Newegg can and should handle this as I said before.

  24. Wow. That is quite a price to pay over an error. One strike and you're out.
    Wow. That is quite a price to pay over an error. One strike and you're out.
    That's nice buttus, but-us dun heard you the first time. Is there an echo in here...here.....?

    I would venture a guess that during the course of a year, Newegg eats way more losses than this one CPU incident. It's more of a trickle, trickle situation. People send back product that they broke, and claim defective product. People return stuff because they bought the wrong thing, People send back product because they're too stupid to make it work. And you know what? Newegg is really good about it, although I personally can't figure out why.

  25. My son only orders from New Egg. He says they have the best return policy he has found -- and he is a tech.

    I have also dealt with them and found them to be everything he said.

    Viva New Egg!

Recently commented stories

Post a new comment

Social Login & Guest Posting TechSpot Members
Login here or sign up for free,
it takes about a minute.
Get complete access to the TechSpot community. Join thousands of technology enthusiasts that contribute and share knowledge in our forum. Get a private inbox, upload your own photo gallery and more.
TechSpot on:

Subscribe to TechSpot

Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and breaking tech news.