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Should retailers be held accountable for recommendations?

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cthorpe:
I bought a D-Link NAS from NewEgg last month.  On the page for the NAS, they recommended that I purchase 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green HDs to install in the NAS.  I went ahead and bought the drives, because they were a good price, low heat production/energy use, I have always had luck with WD drives, and because NewEgg recommended them.

The items arrived yesterday, and I tried in vain to get the thing set up in a RAID 1 configuration.  After multiple failures, I finally found a posting from the manufacturer of the NAS that states that the specific model of hard drive that NewEgg recommended that I purchase along with the NAS is explicitly not supported by the manufacturer.

As NewEgg sold me the drives specifically to use in the NAS I purchased, I have emailed them to ask for a refund so I can purchase compatible drives.  I have yet to hear back from them (nearing 24 hours since I emailed them), but I am worried that their return policy is going to cause problems.  Specifically, their policy states that all refund requests are subject to a 15% restocking fee.  Also, the installation procedure for the drives involves sliding them past metal tabs into the enclosure.  This caused long scratches spanning the entire length of the drive.  As there is clearly physical damage to the metal, label-side of the drives, I am worried that NewEgg will deny any return at all since their policy states that they will not accept products with physical damage.

So, should the retailer refund the purchase since it was made on their faulty recommendation?  What about that 15% restocking fee?  It's not like I changed my mind after using the items.  Since the damage was caused by installing the drives into the enclosure that was part of the recommended package, should they still accept them even though they are scratched?  Does it make a difference that the recommendation came from an automated system rather than a salesperson making an honest mistake?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

mouser:
Newegg is usually good about these things.  This seems like a clear case where they should wave the 15% restocking fee.

superboyac:
My thoughts are this:  it doesn't matter because you are powerless as an individual consumer.  Nobody who can do anything about it cares about what you think.  The only power you wield is the ability to observe the options available to you, and choose the one that is the least painful.  I say painful and not "best" because you are going to be screwed either way.  I know you're trying to reason it out and trying to figure out what's fair or right, but I'm telling you, in the end, it doesn't matter.

The disconnect between consumers and corporations is too big for any bridge.  You can tell from the system you've described that they have set up...they want to make it as difficult as possible for you to be able to communicate with them on anything.  And you can't change that system so you're just stuck.  They've put a system in place that absolutely guarantees them of success and the ONLY risk being taken on is on the side of the consumer.  Buying anything is a gamble...there's a chance that it won't satisfy you the consumer.  In old times, you can go to the maker if you were not satisfied and have a discussion or some kind of communication to resolve the problem at hand.  Of course, you can't do that now.  So you are left with 800 numbers, automated systems, email trouble tickets, restocking fees, shipping fees, extended warranty fees, premium support fees...everything is in place to either defeat the lines of communication and guarantee profit for the big guys WHILE at the same time making sure ALL of the gambling risks is solely on the consumer's side.  Very frustrating.

Stoic Joker:
I'm with mouser ... Newegg is usually really good about returns. Just look at the number of "Open Box" sale items on their site (wanna guess why they were opened... ;)) But I'd run a sharpie marker over the scratches in the black paint to make them a tad less obvious.

steeladept:
I don't know.  I have to disagree with superboyac on this one.  Newegg usually bends over backwards to keep people happy and generally does a good job.  However, if you bought this as a combo pack, they state everywhere that they do not verify compatibility and that they will not be held responsible for any incompatibilities.

Newegg.com cannot guarantee the compatibility of Combo items.

--- End quote ---

Moreover, if this was not a combo and was purchased based on a user suggestion, that is even less within their control other than to eliminate the comments entirely (which would be a great loss in my opinion, even if many of them are not correct/invalid).

I would say that you might be able to talk them into it as long as you offer to purchase the replacements on the spot so they don't really loose out on any money and perhaps even make some (if the new drives are more expensive).  If that doesn't work out, perhaps you can resell them yourself at cost and save the restocking fees.

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