Sorry but I have the need to Rant and Vent.

I have never had an issue like this before.

I ordered a SM X10SLM-F & Xeon E3-1241 combo from NE.

I get the board and com1 port is bent back 45 deg.

Not even out of the anti static bag yet.

I contact NE and got put through the ringer.

Seems like they have to figure out who to blame before they will help the customer.

Finally got an RMA after talking to a Supervisor and "Customer Service" again and again.

Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and their math doesn't add up (actually in my favor).

I had to reorder, via 2day shipping, the combo to get my Backups server running in a reasonable amount of time.

5 days later Fedex arrives again.

2nd board has the same problem as the first.. I'm out 2 combo "Deals" on my CC and hours of my time dealing with them so far.

So now I contact SM and try to get a cross ship over night.

That will add yet another charge to my CC for the replacement MB.

Still waiting on that.

 

I'm beginning to wonder if this was not meant to be..

 

I know this sounds crazy but did they ship you a new MB or send back the same one (com1 port bent at 45°)?  Do you have any paperwork with MB serial number for the first and second shipments?

It was a new MB, I still have the 1st one, due to be shipped back today..

I think they have a bad batch.. It would take a lot of G-force to bend that and yet the VGA port is fine, same type of connector.

I don't think both happened in transit to me, highly unlikely with exactly the same issue.

So either the whole box/crate of them got dropped from some serious height or slammed some how.

There was no damage to the SM box.

SM is willing to cross ship but I may get a refurb, though the person I spoke with said they could send a new one but I do not believe or trust that the next person will honor that. Been there too many times lately.

So I'm not sure if I should try to return to NE again and buy one from Amazon.

 

Got in touch with NE again and this time my experience with NE was much better.

They are shipping a 3rd MB to me. I just hope it's from another batch.

 

Sounds like NE is taking care of you.

 

Not sure why you had the initial bad experience with them ... I've found their Customer Service to be generally very good over the years (well over a decade of ordering from them).    The one lesson I DID learn a long time ago is to always return/buy-again instead of getting a replacement ... just in case of something like you've encountered.  The reason:  they DO tend to enforce their "30 days" policy r.e. returns -- and that 30 days starts from the original order date.  So if you get a defective product, and then return it, and they then ship you a replacement, and the replacement is also defective, the clock is still running.    I once had 2 dead disk drives in a row, and as the drive had arrived before the rest of the components, it was 10 days or so before I realized the initial drive was dead => I returned it, and by the time they got the return and then shipping a replacement I was at ~ 25 days.  I was gone that week, so when I returned and realized the 2nd drive was also dead, I was at 31 days from the original order.    They DID accept it -- after escalating the issue to a supervisor (and pointing out I had spent over $10K that year) ... but ever since then if I get a defective item I return it for a refund and re-buy the product (which starts the 30 day clock over again).

 

The one lesson I DID learn a long time ago is to always return/buy-again instead of getting a replacement ... just in case of something like you've encountered.  The reason:  they DO tend to enforce their "30 days" policy r.e. returns -- and that 30 days starts from the original order date.  So if you get a defective product, and then return it, and they then ship you a replacement, and the replacement is also defective, the clock is still running.

 

I guess, like anywhere else, it's all depends on the person on the other end. Most of the time if I don't like the answer I get I'll call back and get someone else but didn't follow my own rule this time.

Also, good to know about the "clock still running".. The 1st time I did get a refund and buy new but this time they are just sending me a new MB.

I'll note that for the future and hope I don't get 3 in a row.

So I finally got a good MB that wasn't damaged and aside from a problem finding the default PW it's up and running. Doing a parity check now just to make sure I have no issues with HHD connections after ripping the entire server apart. But the return process at NE is slooow and buggy but at least the last CS Rep gave me a 2nd day air for the return and overnight shipping to me for the last MB. Next time, like garycase said, I'll do a refund and new purchase...