Okay, everyone together in Moe Szyslak’s voice: 
“Whaaaaa?” We’re just as confused as you are. Newegg, which has one of the most stellar reputations of any retailer, online or b&m, apparently sent a customer a regular PS3 box instead of one with a Blu-ray copy of “Spiderman 3.” Here’s where it gets all evil alternate universe: when the customer called to complain, the CSR told him it wasn’t Newegg’s problem and for him to talk to Sony.
Update-3/7/08: Newegg contacted the OP and resolved the issue—see the OP’s comment below.
I ordered a new 50 inch plasma tv on Sunday march 2nd from Newegg.com. We decided to get a PS3 to go with it so we could watch Blu-Ray movies.
The PS3 was listed as SONY PlayStation 3 w/Spider Man 3 40 GB Black – Retail
What he ordered.
What he got.She said that it is not her problem if Sony does not include the movie anymore. I responded that I did not order a PS3 from Sony I ordered one from NEWEGG.COM and that NEWEGG says i’m getting Spiderman 3. Also, as the box I recieved is different from the box pictured, they should have known that the movie was not included, and not advertised it as such.
She ended with, “Not our problem, call SONY” I ended with “I will call Sony, but it is not thier job to resolve this, and if they do not, I will be calling back and you WILL be making this right!” (At this point I have not yet booted the PS3 and was not 100% certain that the movie was not on the pack-in disk of trailers and such)
I called Sony, and after a 10 minute hold I got a nice guy who listened to the compliant and said “No Problem, I can resolve this for you” So I had to fax Sony my reciept, name, address….. and an Authorization # he gave me, and they said they would mail the movie within 2 days of recieving the info.
I do not believe Newegg.com will be changing their listing to reflect that Spiderman 3 is no longer included (in their inventory anyways), they will just wait for people to call, then say screw you. [Ed. note: well, actually it looks like they already have—see link above.*]
I called Newegg back to let them know that even though they screwed me over, Sony has stepped in to make it right, and that they are false advertising their PS3 w/ Spiderman 3 and that I was letting the Consumerist.com know about it. Her response was to tell me that they could only talk to the account holder (My wife) and goodbye. Funny they didn’t mention having to talk to her last time I called, and before there were complain notes in my case.
Okay, so look, we can see how this happened—and the CSR is right, Newegg can’t control when Sony begins and ends a promotional package for the PS3. But if there was a discrepancy between what was listed online and what was shipped from the warehouse, that seems to fall pretty clearly in Newegg’s lap. Blaming Sony and pushing the problem back to the customer seems like the work of a newbie CSR, or perhaps a bearded Spock.
*Note: Since I began writing this post around 7pm EST, the link referenced above has stopped working. Before 7pm it led to a product page for an ordinary 40 gb PS3 with no mention of Spiderman 3. It now returns the following message: “We apologize for the inconvenience, but the item you are looking for has been deactivated.”
(Thanks to Terry!)
More From Consumerist
-
Installing Windows 8 Will Void Your Newegg Warranty, Too
-
Newegg Still Telling Customers That Installing New OS Violates Return Policy
-
Newegg Refuses To Exchange Defective Laptop That Doesn’t Even Have Linux Installed
-
Newegg: No, We’ll Totally Take Returns After You Install Linux
-
Newegg Loses All Traces Of My Hard Drive Order
Pal, you’re going to be upset that you went through all that trouble to watch that movie.
@IJReilly: Want to know why? Newegg has earned its reputation and so it’s earned the respect of millions. Best Buy and Circuit City consistently and flagrantly screw people over. So guess what? They don’t get the benefit of the doubt; that’s what happens when you’re a grownup (or a company)…past actions dictate future perception.
Overall Newegg rocks! But no business is going to be perfect. But that does suck when you’re the one they aren’t perfect with. Ignore the picture shown on what is included, read the description and especially the feedbacks. I do wonder if he paid more for the PS3 that was supposed to include the Spiderman movie than he would have for one without the movie. If he paid the same and really would have gotten the movie for free, I can see complaining but not get as upset as he seemed to be. CSR at Newegg had to be a new hire.
@ omerhi – hear, hear! I always hear, in customer complaints, “i’ve been shopping here for eleventy billion years” – the way i see it, Newegg has built up a reserve of goodwill. If they completely screwed up my next order, horribly, I’d still not hesitate to order from them again, because over the years i trust them and they have earned my loyalty. Best Buy et al have already long ago lost it, and are my last avenue for any sort of purchase – especially anything that might need to be returned. Frankly, the only thing I get from Best Buy is blank DVD’s and such – they sometimes have them on sale for the same price as newegg, and no shipping, and no wait, and it’s on the way home. Anything that might be defective or require a return (so essentially anything other then consumables) i would never get from best buy. Because they earned THAT, too.
I know that newegg has a stellar service reputation, but 4 out of the 5 times I’ve used them, they’ve screwed something up. Fortunately, after enough hassling (including one case where they failed to ship something I’d asked to have overnighted for about a month), they ended up pulling through. The trick for me was to hit up [www.resellerratings.com] with an appropriate comment. Their executive support team takes their reputation on sites like that seriously, and I was able to get my issues resolved in a very timely and professional manner.
Probably the best experience I’ve had with Newegg was when I ordered something off of Amazon for Christmas. Amazon told me on the 22nd that the order I placed that was guaranteed to be shipped on time was going to be shipped 7 January. Oops.
I checked Newegg on a whim, and found that their absolute last deadline for orders had passed. Seeing that I had already cancelled the order with Amazon, I figured I’d order from Newegg so I’d at least get the item; I then called their customer service, as it was worth a shot. The CSR said she couldn’t make any promises, but she would see what she could do …
The item was reported as shipped about an hour after I placed the order. It arrived before the Amazon package would have if it had shipped. Needless to say, I was quite impressed – they earned what little word of mouth advertising I could provide.
I’ve also bought a bunch of memory cards and HDD paraphernalia from them both before and after. I like dealing with the company; it sucks that they would risk their public image like this …
NewEgg fails? Next there’s going to be a story about a bad experience at Costco!
If that happens, we’re doomed…doomed I say!
@dorianh49: That’s with Spidey 3 allright…
“The PLAYSTATION 3 Spider-Man 3 Movie Pack includes:
High-Definition Spider-Man 3 movie on Blu-ray Disc
PlayStation 3 Console
Internal 40 GB HDD
Built-in Blu-ray player
SIXAXIS wireless controller
Power Cord
AV cable”
If it were just in the image, I would side with the Egg (they have a disclaimer for that). But, sorry guys: you’ve been busted by Google Cache.
“What did he want Newegg to do, go buy a Spiderman DVD and send it to him?”
YES. They could have done many things to make this right. Go call Sony was not one of them.
They could have gave me a credit, game…. I checked when I was ordering the TV and already knew they do not sell Blu-Ray movies.
So I just dropped $2000 on a TV and PS3 and Remote and HDMI cable.
Now before I can even experiance Blu-Ray I have to go but a movie when I was soposed to be getting one free?
As for ignoring the pictures, I was not going by the pictures.
I was going by the Item Discription.
That said With Spiderman 3. I was not sure it that mean the movie or the game.
The picture confiremd it was the movie (Good, cause I heard the game sucked)
The product Sku is confirmed to be WITH SPIDERMAN.
I understand things happen. No problem. I also expect them to be taken care of when pointed out.
What would it cost them to get me a game/movie/credit… and then fix the issue on the website?
I want to see some of this fanatical attention to customer service they are so proud of.
For the record, as upset as I am at how they handled the situation, I still ordered 2 gigs of ram and a new phone from there afterwards for $170
This just in. Newegg just called my wife and went above and beyond to resolve this.
Newegg rocks again!
“Newegg doesn’t deliver PS3 with Spiderman 3, Blames Sony”
Dear Terry,
On behalf of Newegg, we greatly apologize for this uncommon situation and we thank you for all of your patience and understanding.
After checking inventory and with Sony, we find that we will no longer offer the PS3 with the Spiderman 3 movie. Since this is the case, we had no choice but to remove the Spiderman 3 description, and take the pictures off as well. We do regret that the movie was still advertised when you placed your order, and we are very thankful that Sony was able to send you the movie; however, we are very embarrassed and disappointed with the level of customer service that you described. It is true…we do pride ourselves on the customer service that we are capable of offering with each and every customer interaction, and this is why we are very disappointed that the issue wasn’t handle accordingly when brought to our attention the first time. We have sent you a private email for further resolution, and we can only hope to have another opportunity to provide you with the level of service that you deserve.
Best regards,
Newegg.com
Hello Angela and Terry,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you regarding your recent shopping experience. Words cannot express how disappointed we are with the entire situation, and I assure you that we will work very hard to ensure our advertised items are 100% accurate on the site. In regards to the customer service provided, there are only two words that describe it: Very Unacceptable. The mentioned agents should have taken a more proactive approach to resolve the situation, and we will make sure the entire department is reminded of the level of service we are capable of providing, and that will be provided to each and every one of beloved customers. We are very thankful that Sony will be sending you the movie, but still saddened that you had to take that route to get your movie.
As per our phone conversation, we truly appreciate that even after you had this experience you decided to continue ordering through our site. To make up for the movie, we have refunded your Preferred Account for the amount of $85.00; please allow a few days for the refund to fully process. This is the least we can do to make up for the missing movie from your order. We are aware that there is always some room for improvement, which is why we appreciate your feedback. Rest assured that this will receive the attention it deserves and Newegg will continue striving to offer high quality products at low, affordable prices and only the finest in customer service.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding. As our valued customer, our main goal is to have your complete and total satisfaction. So, if we can assist you in any further way, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Jason Salinas
Eggxpert Admin
Very nice.
Newegg rocks. I had a hard time believing that they screwed up like that. As someone said though, everyone screws up once in a while. Glad to see they’ve gone above and beyond to keep another customer happy.
Airhed13 is absolutely correct. Over the years I’ve spent thousands of dollars at Newegg and have generally been very pleased. I order, they ship, I get it. On three past occasions I did have issues. Items either weren’t shipped for extended periods of time, were the wrong item entirely, or were broken.
_All_three_times_ newegg failed to assist in any way. They wouldn’t refund shipping charges and tried to get me to pay to ship the wrong item and the DOA item back to them for a RMA. Even when contacted on the phone they were entirely intransigent and wanted me to just go away.
_All_three_times_, I posted to resellerratings and newegg absolutely bent over backwards. They would do _anything_ to get me to retract my negative review. Not only did they apologize, but they called me to do so and offered large refunds (over fifty dollars) for me to do so.
I truly don’t feel that newegg has good service overall– they have that reputation because anyone who complains in public gets an EXTREMELY swift, public, and generous response.
@Newegg:
As always, you come through for your customers.
Could Consumerist please include update in the title of the post and move the update to the beginning of the post since Newegg has gone to such great extent to resolve this issue? It is the more interesting aspect of the story anyways.
Damn, I love Newegg. I’ve very possibly spent thousands with ‘em.
Newegg is AWESOME!! I’ve learned to RELY on them for anything PC related. Their customer service can NOT be beaten, plus NO TAX if you don’t get delivery in CA.
@Rodalpho: You don’t get what you need 100% of the time. I’ve had several issues over the years with Newegg, and never had to “go public” with any. A short phone call cleared it up each time.
If that doesn’t do it, then, by all means, give them a negative RR, send it to the Consumerist, etc.. However, they don’t keep that 9.8 or 9.9 or whatever it is right now by only doing right by people complaining on the internet.