Newegg Apologizes for Reselling Faulty 'Open Box' Item

pcmag.com:

Newegg is under fire from PC builders after the electronics retailer was caught reselling a faulty motherboard to a popular YouTube channel and initially denying an attempt to return it. 

Newegg apologized on Monday and pledged to reach out to customers who experienced the same problem. "These were unintentional process errors and isolated incidents," the retailer said in a statement on Twitter. "As a result, we have already changed internal procedures to improve how we manage product returns."

The controversy centers on a $599 Gigabyte motherboard Newegg resold to the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus as an “open box” item. This means another customer bought the item only to return it to Newegg. The company then inspected the PC part, tested that it still works, and decided to resell it at a discount. 

Gamers Nexus bought the motherboard, but never opened up the packaging. After realizing the motherboard was no longer needed, the YouTube channel decided to return it to Newegg, expecting a “hassle free” refund as the retailer had advertised. However, the company ended up denying the return, claiming the CPU socket pins in the motherboard had been damaged, even though Gamer Nexus had never opened up the box.

Newegg then shipped back the motherboard to Gamer Nexus, which discovered something surprising about the PC part: The product actually contained a sticker showing Newegg itself had tried to return the motherboard to Gigabyte at some point. Allegedly, Newegg refused to pay $100 to repair the motherboard, but nevertheless decided to resell it as an open box item.

Although Newegg has since refunded Gamers Nexus, the controversy sparked an outpouring of anger against the electronics retailer, especially among consumers who’ve