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xkcd0137

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This is going to be a long post. Also, don't expect a TL;DR, sorry.

I recently bought a few PC Components from two different sellers from FB marketplace groups like Zoukart, AkExtacy etc. after being member of those groups for atleast a month and after having read many positive (almost impeccable) feedbacks. So I was expecting sth on the same level but what I experienced was a little different. I am not saying that I was intentionally sent faulty products or sth but customer service is much lacking in their dealing. YMMV!

A) bought B450 Pro4 MoBo + Ryzen 3600 + Gammaxx 400v2 from Anang Surve (admin, AkExtacy group)

I ordered these items on 8th May and Anang couriered these the same day. I had asked him to send pics of the components and the bill. I did get a pic of the components but none of the bill. I asked him about the bill to which he said that he has sent the bill with the items.

The components were delivered to me on 16th May but I opened the package and built my PC on 17th May, to find NO bill in the package. I informed him on 17th about this but got no reply till 20th. He even didn't pickup my calls for all these days.

Then I dropped a message to the main Admin of the group Ashish (MSI Employee) about this after which Anang replied to my message. Thereafter, he asked me the serial number of all the components and then, I received a soft copy of the bill on my email id on 21st.

But this bill doesn't have a Sign or Seal of the shop - Karma IT Hub - from where he seems to have procured these items. It does have the GSTIN and Invoice number though. I insisted that he should either send a digitally signed bill or send a hard copy of this bill with sign and seal but to no avail till now. (Is this bill good enough or should I keep insisting for a sign-and-seal bill??)

Now, all this while I was waiting for him to send the bill, I was also facing issues with the MoBo. I just couldn't tell him about it as he hadn't sent the bill either, so there was a trust deficit. Issues -

1) If I keep the RAM in 2nd slot, PC boots up but you can't reboot it again.
2) MoBo isn't supporting XMP comfortably. I have a 3600mhz cl16 Crucial Ballistix ram.
1st or 3rd slot - max 3200mhz
2nd or 4th slot - max 2666mhz
3) Both m.2 slots are running at PCIe 3x2 instead of one slot at PCIe 3x4

So I called him about these issues on 22nd May. He didn't pickup the call thinking I maybe asking for Bill again. Then I messaged him about this issue to which he did reply later. Then he called and asked if all connections were correct, which they were since I was already running my PC for 5 days now. Then he told me that he will make me talk to someone with technical knowledge about these issues. But again, got no calls till 24th May.

So I msgd again and he then arranged a call with some guy from the same shop - Karma IT Hub, who told me to update the BIOS and everything will be okay. Well obviously nothing changed after updating the BIOS either is what I told that guy to which he replied that since the Asrock service centers are closed rn so he can't get anymore technical support. Then I told him that I had found similar posts on XMP and PCIe 3x2 issues of Pro4 on Reddit and Online Forums and they were resolved only by replacing the mobo, so kindly get it replaced. He agreed that MoBo will need replacement and told me to contact Prateek (owner) or Anang for that.

Now, I contacted Anang again on 25th itself and told about replacement. He said that he'll try talking to Asrock people if they consider this MoBo as DOA then he'll send the replacement. Its 29th today and I haven't received any update if I am getting a replacement from him or not.

I can understand that lockdown due to COVID could be affecting their work, but how can one justify sending three items but not a bill with them. These people are selling much expensive GPUs even now, but its taking him 4-5 days to even reply if he can get the MoBo replaced. In the end I'd have to go with RMA procedure with Asrock (Inspirysis) directly ig.

B) Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 1TB NVMe (Yeah, the same one that I have posted on Show-Off thread :D ) from Yash Patel (verified seller on both AkExtacy and Zoukart)

Now, since this B450 Pro4 mobo wasn't working well, I really didn't want to take chance with another budget mobo as I also plan to OC my RAM and CPU. Hence, now I was looking for an upgrade to either B550 or X570. Frankly, I should've researched better before buying B450 but this being my 1st PC build, didn't have much experience and everyone recommends just the barebone components.
While I was looking for a better MoBo, I also wanted to upgrade to a Gen4 NVMe especially since Gen4 nvmes weren't much expensive than gen3 nvmes!

I contacted his sales guy Rahat Qamar regarding this Gen4 ssd and he quoted me a good price. I had been talking to this guy for some time since I was asking for deals on Ryzen 3600 etc. His response time is much better than any other seller (especially Anang :p ) and seemed like a reasonable guy.

Now when on 19th May, I informed that I want to order the ssd, he made a chat group with Yash Patel. Here, Yash clearly told me that since he has backlog of lot of stuff to be shipped so he will book the pickup on 20th and hence will only be able to ship on/after 21st May. I made the payment and told him to ship as soon as possible.

Now by 20th May evening, due to some personal reasons, my plans for spending so much cash on upgrading to a B550 + Gen4 system got changed and I messaged Rahat on 20th night to cancel my order. He replied on 21st morning that he has informed Yash to do it and I should inform Yash directly as well. (Till then I didn't know that Yash was the main guy). Hence, around 9am I messaged Yash to cancel the order, to which Mr. Yash **LIED** to me that SSD was picked up yesterday (20th May) by the courier guy.

I told him that I haven't received the message (sms/email) from Shiprocket so it is not possible that it was picked up yesterday. He replied that the item was picked up but may not have been processed yet. To which I requested him to get it cancelled. Imo it would be easier to cancel the shipment if it wasn't processed/shipped yet. But he was adamant that he can't do anything about it. And I knew he was lying so I kept on requesting him time and again to refund my own money.

Not to be surprised, I received a message from Shiprocket at 5:25 pm (evening) on 21st May that an item was picked up and as I could see in the tracking details, it was very clear that the pickup request was made on 21st May 10:16 am only i.e. after I had asked him to cancel.

When I confronted (on FB messenger obviously) him with this, he replied that they don't have a Refund policy + some extra bullshittery about their shop policy and what not. Then as last resort I asked him if I return the item. I also offered that he can charge me for shipping + cancellation charges and I will not accept the shipment so that there is no chance of defrauding from my side. He didn't agree to that as well.

So basically once your money is in their accounts, you don't have anyway to get the order cancelled, even if the item hasn't been shipped. And conveniently enough, they don't advertise their No Refund Policy on the groups at all.

I don't expect Amazon level customer service from them that they refund me my money and don't even take back the item but cancelling the order before it was shipped is basic human decency imo.

And let me tell you, these sellers seemed to be the better ones. Few others are even worse. Most of them are busy selling GPUs for inflated prices and (good for me) don't even reply for cheaper Components lol.

Anyways, I am back to my spending spree as the ssd order didn't cancel and didn't want my PC build experience to leave a bad taste, so will upgrade to a B550 nonetheless. :D

So basically bois, all the Positive rep posts on FB are visible since Negative rep posts don't make it through the admin's approval only, who are sellers themselves. Phew!

I can share screenshots of conversations (or their scarcity in case of Anang :p) or courier tracking if anyone wants.
 
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Sad to hear..
Thats the reason I do not trust these fb sales/ people which are just next to olx though a bit better yet come with their own set of headaches and uncertainties..
No doubt such groups are found/formed by popular forum members and even banned members but there is no way to track activities there publicly or personally.

At least on forums things are moderated, 98% transparent and public and we can even get hold of the person without drama.

And its true that these guys dont pay any heed for nominal components as it yield no big monies/profits (as these guys operate in chain everyone seems to have their own share) while when you ping them for something too demanding and costly they will bug you with offers and so their counterparts/representatives.

I also heard that maximum major stakeholders there are involved in mining etc. and have upward edge in service centers etc. Kinda setting. Scalpers!

In short nothing is organized there and traceability is a huge issue.

Guys mostly chat in hindi and cheap lingo in discussions as well so decency cant be expected.

Best is to wait for decent deals on trusted platforms or get it from decent trusted people or forums.

Experiences: I have personally pinged to people and also posted in discussions sections. Technical friends as well got weird answers both on fb and whatsapp.

Others might be having a good time with such sales but I will anyday avoid such platforms for deals. Joined just to get pricing idea in this tough time..
So it all goes about everyone's own experiences..
 
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So sorry to hear your pain xkcd. I joined these groups and quit in exactly around a weeks time. These guys are all scammers. All their admin method BS etc. With used electronics, especially computer hardware, there are always b@stards ready to scam people out of their hard earned and saved up money. If an offer sounds too good to be true, or is even good, stay away; good things don't come cheap.
 
Wow. That's actually traumatizing. And yes, it always felt like the positive reps posts were shady and only served to impress gullible/impressionable people (sorry).

Were the price savings significant that you didn't go through a reputed seller with an established online store? Like was it in a 1k to 2k range or 5k to 10k range?

As a rule, I've only purchased used or rma items through FB, so bills weren't a priority. I've dealt with only Suraj Agarwal, and he has an account here.

To be fair about refunds, none of the local physical stores here would give you a refund once payment is made. If you want to return something, they'll say you can only buy something else instead (and only if the item is unopened) and if you want cash, then to try selling it to the refurbishing stores nearby. For DOA items, they would direct me to RMA even if it failed testing on their premises before I even took the parts home! It's actually pretty infuriating. They say service isn't part of their job, they're just middlemen that source components for others to buy. I remember I would have to stand outside the store and offer what I have to other buyers at 100 or 150 less because I wanted a 2tb drive instead of the 1tb I was holding in my hands with a one day old bill. I do not miss those days at all.

Even big places online like Vedant Computers, MD Computers and PrimeABGB drag their feet with refunds, if you happen to buy something that's not in stock. They'd rather have you wait for weeks for the item or they'll insist that you to buy something else. I haven't read their terms of service recently, but at least one of them has a no cancellation policy, so once your money is in their accounts, there's no getting it back.

In this regard, Amazon is pretty far and above in their service. It's not sustainable what they're doing, but at least for the moment they can be trusted.
 
90% of them are kids on fb. I wanted to buy a gpu, so o thought let me explore fb. Iwas told buy whole pc. Seller Rahim Ansari . I thoughthim to be one of the genuine seller (as compared to others)
He toldme i can give card at 38k blah blah . Obviously this quote is over priced by 10 to 15k.
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Were the price savings significant that you didn't go through a reputed seller with an established online store? Like was it in a 1k to 2k range or 5k to 10k range?
It was a bit complicated like Pro4 wasn't available on Amazon but was available on Vedant but Ryzen 3600 was bit more expensive on Vedant. Whereas Anang was offering pretty good prices on all the components and as you mentioned I was naive enough to go for this due to so many positive rep posts. Numeratively, it was a difference of around ₹2.5-3k.

For SSD, it wasn't available on Vedant when I ordered from him but later came back in stock for ₹2k more.
To be fair about refunds, none of the local physical stores here would give you a refund once payment is made.
I don't mind that at all but imo Customer should be informed about their No Refund Policy beforehand.
In this regard, Amazon is pretty far and above in their service. It's not sustainable what they're doing, but at least for the moment they can be trusted.
True. I had ordered many components from Amazon initially but ****ers cancelled everything due to lockdown lol.
 
I have that motherboard, it was 16.4k from Amazon. I would have expected a higher end motherboard for a 127k system or maybe I'm out of touch with the market.
When he said card for 38k if we but whole pc and here the excess is approximately 18k . Lets assume 2 3k price variations in ram cabinet ans stuff. 15k justification " we will assemble pc for you"
Lmao, i was assembling pc when these kids were born
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Damn. How did you cope with all this with such calmness and patience?

I'd never use these groups to buy a new product. With the quick look I took when Zoukart was suggested for used GPUs, I decided I won't buy any used product too. Maybe last year when things were normal there might have been some decent sellers (can notice this from old GPU sale posts), but right now with the market going crazy, things have changed and is not worth it.

How much cheaper was the SSD? It's 13K on Prime now. Just for peace of mind, I'd stick to the regular retailers or get it from local electronics market stores even if slightly more expensive. Or wait for a sale.

@chetansha Even established system integrators outside of FB do that. I was given a full 'gaming' PC quote which included a 1070ti priced at 23K (which was a great deal). But noticing how the rest of the components were overpriced (I could easily save 20K if not more) I asked if he will sell me the GPU alone. He got back to me after a day with: if buying the GPU separately then it'll cost 55K.
This was someone I had bought products from before.
 
Amey Gokhale or GTek is good guy, many of the forum folks dealt with him and you will find his posts on FB in regards to overclock or high end workstations.
Yes he is genuine I have his no. But what sellers here do is source parts form a single/multi sellers and kinda resell on their own bills with their share incl. No harm for a minor stake its plain biz eod. but then no refunds and delays in services and trust issues is where all this ends. End buyer is pissed off and takes his own rma route ultimately unsatisfied.
What matters is service which one expects and deserves. But per exp. around, service sucks and as op highlighted they ignore, make excuses etc. This shouldn't happen. Trust goes for a toss and transparency is dim.

Stepping into such sales calls for a bit of study and risk will always be there. Such groups are good efforts and sellers across are linked but just one-two sellers wont make the groups great as there are others who might create a bad impact.

Wish there was some authority on fb as well which will link sale etc. to paypal and make it far genuine.
 
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Damn. How did you cope with all this with such calmness and patience?
Grown old ig. :D jk, i was stressed for a few days but had to put it behind me. Also received the ssd today so relieved a bit ig.
Just for peace of mind, I'd stick to the regular retailers or get it from local electronics market stores even if slightly more expensive. Or wait for a sale.
Yeah, me too.
 
I've had a good experience with the actual sellers on FB, like Elitehubs and TlgGaming. But I'd never make a deal in any of those other Akextacy and Zoukart groups.
Half the members there are just kids who are resellers. They just dropship, if you ever have a problem with the product you cannot expect any sort of assistance from them.

Iirc a few months ago some reseller kid had sold some GPUs for about 1 lakh, the cards had an issue but the actual seller said he won't refund the entire amount because he mentioned that to the reseller. So the admins called the kid's parents up and told them they had to pay for it, they had no idea he was doing such a thing and just said they couldn't pay it. The buyer ended up losing his money just cause of this guy's ignorance.
Funny thing is the guy is still selling in all the groups, wasn't even banned
 
TechBooze is a sham, I know for a fact he sells products that are not sourced ethically.
Do you mind elaborating on this if possible? I ask because I've seen it being reviewed well in other places, and almost ordered from them as well.
 
But what sellers here do is source parts form a single/multi sellers and kinda resell on their own bills with their share incl. No harm for a minor stake its plain biz eod. but then no refunds and delays in services and trust issues is where all this ends. End buyer is pissed off and takes his own rma route ultimately unsatisfied.
This is true with all the distis at national level too, if Rashi doesn't have stock of particular item; they will buy it from another disti. This is B2B practice and regarding the purchase or seeking refund - we can work the same way we threatened any company (using consumer law's). For delays, their is nothing can be done.
 
I was thinking of buying a PSU from EliteHub, had been tracking their FB community for a while. Glad I didn't go through.
Amazon has jacked up prices when no "sale" is going on, when compared with SP Road prices, with lockdown in place in most cities local sellers are not shipping anything.
 
main Admin of the group Ashish (MSI Employee)

Really? How did you verify the guy is an actual MSI employee? MSI has reps on social media, I know there's one on reddit in /indiangaming, but I highly doubt they'd let one of their employees be an admin for these groups.
 
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