First-Time Newegg Customer, Last-Time Newegg Customer

Full Review
I ordered a single Radeon 6970 graphics card for $389.99 USD from Newegg last Saturday.

When I placed my order, their site said it would take 2-3 business days to receive.  The following Wednesday, I checked the order status on their web site and it showed "Order Verification" as the status.  I contacted their live online customer support (I wasn't able to find a published phone number) and got Mario.  Mario stated "Our relevant department need to manual verify the order with your card-issuing bank for security reasons.  Unfortunately, we are updating our system and most of orders are delayed currently. The package should be delivered on next Monday or Tuesday."

Since this was the third business day after the order was placed, I asked Mario when Newegg contacted my bank to verify the transaction's legitimacy.  Mario stated "We will contact your bank today, and package should be shipped out by today or tomorrow."  When I asked if they would consider shipping the item overnight at no cost for the inconvenience as this was the first time I had done business with them and would not likely do so again, I was told "We cannot modify it. But we can cancel it for you. I would like to honor $10 Newegg gift card for you."  This seems to contradict the definition described on their web site for "order verification."  It states "Order verification and payment processing. Changes may be made to an order during this step and up to when the credit card is charged."

I was able to talk Mario into refunding my credit card the $10 in lieu of the gift card (a 2.5% discount, what an insult!) however Mario said "Please contact me back at mailto:xxxxxxxxxx@newegg.com with the order # once the package is shipped out."

It’s clear that building long-term customer relationships is not part of Newegg’s strategy.  It appears the idea of notifying customers of processing delays is not someting they consider valuable.  If I could find the item on another site I would have cancelled the order and purchased it elsewhere. Newegg got the sale but at what cost?

Prior to ending our live chat, Mario said “I want to invite you to take our Customer Satisfaction Survey to let me know how I did today. We want to make sure every customer has a chance to voice their opinion of our service. To take the survey, all you have to do is click the "Exit" button at the top of the chat window. Thank you for contacting Newegg. I hope you have an Eggcellent day!”

I thought great!  I can give them feedback on their awful service.  The joke was on me though, the exit button didn’t work.