reply to discussion
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 24
  1. #1
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times
    Ok, so this all started a month ago when I wanted to build my own pc. I finally found a shop nearby (PC Factory) where I can get the parts I need, you order the part through them, so I didn't worry about credit cards and stuff. So I started looking around for parts, and I got the motherboard first. A Jetway A210GDMS-Pro. I got it in four days and took pictures of the box, everything in the packageing, the whole thing. Cuz I'm doing a Computer Bulding Guide.

    So, two weeks after that (last Sunday) I ordered the most expensive thing I ever bought with my own money. An AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor. It came in two days ago, and I had to work, he said I could drop it off and he would install everything for me, so I can pick it up the next day. I agreed, dropped my pc off, and picked it up the next morning (This morning).

    So I got my OS up and running, the drivers are fine, I'm good. I tried connecting my phone to the front USB port, but it wouldn't connect. I figured he might of set the wires up wrong, so I opened the case. I looked at it, and got my manual and tried hooking it up, but it wouldn't hook up right, cuz the ground and everything was reveresed. Then I saw it. I noticed one of two things.

    The things I noticed were this. I noticed that my PCI Express slot was black. I could have sworn it was yellow, I was like, wuh? I told my friend, and he said jokinlgy that it must have gotten schorched. Then, the second thing I noticed, the serial number. Well, i kept my case opened, and booted, and checked out the pictures I had taken weeks before, And sure enough, the PCI Express slot was yellow, and the serial was different. The serial on the motherboard i have now, the one in my machine when I picked it up from the shop is A210GDMS . The one I had before, with pictures, was the A210GDMS Pro. Oh crap.

    I was like, *****! So I got very suspicious, so then I checked out my drivers for my CPU. It said I have an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor. Sounds ok, but I wasn't sure whether it was supposed to say Dual Core or X2 or not. So I got this handy little program from AMD that says the clock speed of each core, and sure enough, it said I ony had one core. I had gotten a dual core. The differences. I ordered an AMD Dual Core at 320.00, and a Jetway Mobo at 160.00, wut I got were an AMD Proc that is 120.00 and a Mobo that is 80.00. Yeah, I got cheated out of over 200 dollars.

    That rascal.

    I don't know whether I should just call the police, or I should just call him and tell him I think there might have been a mix up ( a big freakin' mix up) And tell him I want my parts back, installed, ready to use. If he refuses, then I'll tell him that if he doesn't give me my parts bakc, with some compensation (IE free keyboard mouse, or sumthin) then I'll get the police invovled.

    Any advice, stories, tips, wutever, please help me.


    See More: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead




  2. #2
    Abom
    Abom is offline
    Latitude Wireless
    Abom's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    BlackBerry Curve-8300
    Location
    Whitehorse, Yukon Territories - Canada
    Posts
    1,127 - liked 31 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    I'm going to tell you the truth, so take it with a grain of salt please

    This person you were dealing with, is he the owner / manager of the store ?

    Let's assume he's not. In this case, you would go back to the store, in person of course, and ask to speak with the manager. Explain the situation, very politely and calmly, making emphasis that you took pictures of the motherboard you picked up as you were doing a how-to on building a computer. Make clear that you're pretty sure this is just a mix-up, perhaps the sales guy is new and ordered the wrong thing for you, and you just want the items that you paid for. Assuming the whole company isn't a sham, the manager will swap the parts for the correct ones promptly and apologize for the mix-up. Problem solved.

    Now let's assume that the person you were dealing with IS the manager. Go back, and explain the situation to him. It may very well be that he just passed the install onto one of the tech guys, and maybe the tech guy is new, or mixed up orders or something to that effect. Again, be even MORE polite than you would if the manager was someone else, as this is your easiest way to get the stuff you rightfully paid for.

    Now let's assume that the manager, be it this person you dealt with or not, tells you to beat it and go away. You have several options. If you paid for these items with a credit card, you can initiate a chargeback. Return the wrong items you received, getting some sort of proof that you returned them. Your credit card company will credit you no problem.

    Let's assume you paid cash. Is this a bigger company ? If so, they may be listed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). If so, contact the BBB, explain the issue you're having and they will try to help you out.

    The last, and I must stress this, the very last thing you want to do is involve the authorities. Aside from them not really being able to do anything about it, you'll have pissed off the company to the point where they will get the police to serve you with a non-tresspassing warrant. You'll have to file in small claims court, which will take months if not years (depends where you live) to get into court and fight for your money. I know it's hard to hear, but $200 is definately NOT worth it.

    If you start running into problems getting the right stuff, I would simply return the items you paid for and try to get a refund of sorts. Even a partial refund (maybe losing your $200) is better than nothing.

    Also, any time you go in to deal with this issue, always tape what's going on. You know, those tiny little micro-cassette recorders that reporters have, or business professionals to take memos or tape meetings. Get a small one that slips inside your pocket and record everything that goes on. Let's say the company is a sham and they're stupid enough to tell you something like "that's what you're getting whether you paid for something else or not!". Having this on tape will help you greatly if you do decide to go to the BBB or small claims court.

    Good luck !
    Last edited by Abom; 07-09-2006 at 03:05 AM.



  3. #3
    jeaniesing
    jeaniesing is offline
    Momerator
    jeaniesing's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    Motorola W755
    Carrier
    Verizon Wireless
    Location
    only within the confines of imagination
    Posts
    2,968 - liked 55 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Quote Originally Posted by _Abom_
    Also, any time you go in to deal with this issue, always tape what's going on. You know, those tiny little micro-cassette recorders that reporters have, or business professionals to take memos or tape meetings. Get a small one that slips inside your pocket and record everything that goes on. Let's say the company is a sham and they're stupid enough to tell you something like "that's what you're getting whether you paid for something else or not!". Having this on tape will help you greatly if you do decide to go to the BBB or small claims court.

    Good luck !
    but tell them you are recording! Otherwise it is not admissable and is, in fact, illegal in the US



  4. #4
    Mark
    Mark is offline
    Phone Expert
    Mark's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    Samsung Galaxy S II
    Location
    Éire
    Posts
    2,584 - liked 40 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Sneaky one!, Yeah try and get them to spill their own milk jar, and if that doesnt work, steel bar should.



  5. #5
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Well,what we are going to do is we are going to call him and record the phone convo. I have decided that I will tell him it is simply just a mix up and I just want my other parts back and I'll be on my way. I will also tell him that I want him to install the CPU into the Mobo (Becuase I don't have thermal paste) right there in front of me. Then when we go in, I'm having four other people come with me as witnesses, so if he fails to live up, or ends up giving me another incorrect CPU then I will tell him again, to no avail should he fix the problem, then I can get him for some sort of fraud.

    He is the owner/manager and the only guy who works at that store. He said he hooked it up and wired it correctly for me, so He is the one who was with the computer the whole time, and it was the only computer he was working on in the back at the time.



  6. #6
    Brad729
    Brad729 is offline
    Phone Expert
    Brad729's Avatar

    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    Posts
    2,317 - liked 117 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Quote Originally Posted by Rapmastac1
    Well,what we are going to do is we are going to call him and record the phone convo.
    Make sure the guy knows he's being recorded, as Jeanie said it's illegal to record someone's private convo without their knowledge in all but about 11 states, and even in those states, it might not be admissable in court if you don't record them saying they know they are being recorded.



  7. #7
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    I'm only recording if he fails to say he'll fix the problem. If he fails to fix it, then I will tell him I'm coming in and seeing if we can find a solution, and I'm going to record him the entrie time.



  8. #8
    Brad729
    Brad729 is offline
    Phone Expert
    Brad729's Avatar

    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    Posts
    2,317 - liked 117 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Do you have a local news station with investigative reporters that like to go after stuff like this? Where I live we have some local news stations that would love to go stick a camera in that guy's face and ask him why he ripped you off on the 6 o'clock news, that is, if things don't go the way you hope them to and he tries to blow you off.

    I've always wanted a good enough reason to call the "troubleshooter team", this would be it!



  9. #9
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    I'm sure he'll fix the situation. I mean, if I owned my own business. the last thing I would want was an upset customer and the police or new station involved. The thing that gets me tho, is , imagine how many other peolpe he could have ripped off, you know. He repairs and builds pcs, so many opurtunites. All my friends are afraid to open their computer cases, imagine if they took it in to get fixed, he could swap out so many parts, and they wouldn't even know.



  10. #10
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Another question, are there more ways to tell if a processor is dual core? Does it say X2 on the processor it self, physically? Will it say it is dual core in the Drivers. I have that program from AMD and it shows I only have one core, but I"m afraid he is going to give me another bad proc, and I have no real way of telling. If I were to somehow get the thermal paste off (how todo that would be nice to know too...anyone???) and will it say AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2 on it?



  11. #11
    Abom
    Abom is offline
    Latitude Wireless
    Abom's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    BlackBerry Curve-8300
    Location
    Whitehorse, Yukon Territories - Canada
    Posts
    1,127 - liked 31 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    It's illegal in the USA to record someone without their knowledge ? Really ?

    It must be a weird grey area, as, take for example, the beating of Rodney King some 15 years ago. It was video taped and that used as evidence, but naturally I'm sure the person who taped it didn't yell "hey you're on camera!". So I assume it's only admissable if a crime is being commited and it's caught on tape ?

    If that's the case and he says something like "hey too bad I screwed you, learn for next time!" is that not an admission of illegal activity ?
    Last edited by Abom; 07-09-2006 at 06:39 PM.



  12. #12
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Ok... First off about the illegal recording. Usually where there are survellance cameras, it will tell you somewhere. Go to any bank, it will say cameras are survelling the area, so you have been warned...to some extent.

    Second. I called the PC Factory today, and told him about my situation. Apparently he has a techniction do all the work and he must have gotten the parts messed up (seeing as the part numbers were so very close, he got faxed about what to do. So I bring my computer in on Wed morn, and he is gonna look at it, I will come in on Thursday morning to pick it up. And when I'm there, he said he is going to run some diagnostic software, and go over all the hardware to make sure what I ordered. He apologized the for the situation, and hopefully I'm on the right track. But, I am using a pretty good Processor and Motherboard right now (even though none of my USB ports work, so no way to back up, or get files to or from my external, and I can't charge my iPod . So the situation has been solved, I will post back later on when I have my pc up and running and I'm good, and tell you how the new hardware works.

    Would anyone know why my usb ports wont' work. I installed the drivers from the Motherboard Disc, but it says "For better performance, you might want to connect this device to a high speed USB connection, Click here to see all available connections" and it shows all my USB ports???



  13. #13
    Abom
    Abom is offline
    Latitude Wireless
    Abom's Avatar

    Cell Phone
    BlackBerry Curve-8300
    Location
    Whitehorse, Yukon Territories - Canada
    Posts
    1,127 - liked 31 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Quote Originally Posted by Rapmastac1
    Would anyone know why my usb ports wont' work. I installed the drivers from the Motherboard Disc, but it says "For better performance, you might want to connect this device to a high speed USB connection, Click here to see all available connections" and it shows all my USB ports???
    Are your USB ports USB 1.1, or USB 2.x ? It'll say that if you only have USB 1.1 ports, cause 2.x are faster and better to use.

    It's still usable though.



  14. #14
    Rapmastac1
    Rapmastac1 is offline
    Sr. Member
    Rapmastac1's Avatar

    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    121 - liked 1 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Yeah, it has four USB 2.0 ports. But, so far, only one of them actually connect. This may be a hardware error, in which will be fixed when I get my original motherboard back. But the drivers for this motherboard and my new one are the same, and if this doesn't work, then what doest tat telll me bout my new one,,,,it wont' work either. So it should (i hope) be a hardware failure of some sort. But I was lucky enough to be able to charge my ipod, and I can back files up to it for now, but my external won't connect at all.



  15. #15
    secrecyguy
    secrecyguy is offline
    Sr. Member
    secrecyguy's Avatar

    Location
    Southern California, USA
    Posts
    247 - liked 3 times

    Re: You Could Cook an Egg on my Angered Forehead

    Quote Originally Posted by jeaniesing
    but tell them you are recording! Otherwise it is not admissable and is, in fact, illegal in the US
    That's true. You can NOT record the conversation. There are some exemptions though but for this case you can not do it.

    In fact, it will be thrown out of court.



  • Similar Threads







  • Quick Reply Quick Reply

    If you are already a member, please login above.