ALERT: NewEgg Has Changed It's Return Policies

I just noticed this, but NewEgg has recently changed the return policy for many or most of the CD/DVD/BR burners it sells, from the Standard Return Policy to the Limited 30-Day Return Policy or the Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy.

What's the difference, you ask? With the Standard Return Policy, you could exchange a defective or problematic drive by doing a quick, efficient, and no questions asked RMA with NewEgg for up to 1-year after a drive was purchased. In effect, you could avoid hassling with the sometimes nightmarish manufacturer RMA process, which would result in you getting back a repaired or refurbished drive, whereas with NewEgg, you would receive a brand new drive as a replacement. Those days are over.

In particular, for those who had drives which "worked", but worked poorly according to CDFreaks standards, the NewEgg RMA process was a godsend. Noisy drives, poorly burning drives, and other drives which didn't fall under the traditional heading of "broken" could be dealt with via a NewEgg RMA, when the manufacturer would just laugh at you and send the same drive back.

I'm not sure of what other products they've changed the return policy on, but it does mean that one of the things that made NewEgg unique and better than other online retailers is gone. Of course, it's not the end of the world, and you do still have 30-days to get a replacement, but I sure will miss the way things used to be.

Here's a quick breakdown of the differences:

http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/ReturnPolicy.aspx

Standard Return Policy

* Return for refund within: 30 days
* Return for replacement within: 1 year

This is our Detailed Standard Return Policy. Unless another return policy is indicated, products sold by Newegg.com are covered by this Standard Return Policy. Merchandise under this Standard Return Policy may be returned a) within 30 days of the original invoice date for a refund, or b) within one year of the original invoice date for a replacement of the same item. All returns require an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number. All items returned for a refund are subject to a 15% restocking fee.

Many manufacturers offer additional factory coverage. With regard to such, you should contact the manufacturer of your item directly for information regarding eligibility and specific Terms and Conditions.

Limited 30-Day Return Policy

* Return for refund within: 30 days
* Return for replacement within: 30 days

This is our Detailed Limited 30-Day Return Policy. Items covered by this policy (products for which Newegg.com states "This item may be returned for a replacement or refund within 30 days only") must be returned to Newegg.com within 30 days of the invoice date for this policy to apply. Additional coverage, if any, is provided solely by the product's manufacturer (as indicated by such manufacturer).

Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

* Return for refund within: non-refundable
* Return for replacement within: 30 days

This is our Detailed Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy. Products that state "This item is covered by Newegg.com's Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy", or items labeled as “Non-refundable” (or similar labeling) must be returned to Newegg.com within 30 days of the invoice date for this policy to apply. Products covered by this return policy may only be returned for a replacement of the same item.

I already knew this and it has been this way for quite a while and never seen anything different from them. You should still have a manufactures 1 or more year warranty on products though.

Yeah that all changed a while back right after I bought my Samsung 223F it thankfully still has the
standard return policy on it though. I guess so many people were bricking their drives trying different
FW and stuff out on them or they didn't burn just so-so after the 30 days and then sending them back
after 30 days and the Mfg's probably got on to them for taking them back that they got tired of it.
The way prices have fallen on drives now days I would rather just buy another drive then try to RMA
one back anyway after the 30 days have passed at the return shipping prices UPS/FedEx is charging these
days to send a drive back to newegg or the Mfg.

Yo-

I just returned from Newegg-

Of the 62 burners shown - nine had the 'Standard Return Policy' and the balance had the 'Limited 30 Day Return Policy'

Sign of the times... They need to cut costs where they can, and limiting store return policies are a quick way of saving a lot of money.

If you think about the price of them returning the item, it's the shipping + paperwork + employee cost = too much red ink for a sound business practice.

I remember back in 1990 while working for a company that made scanning electron microscopes, anything valued under $50 didn't get RMA'd even if brand new. Entirely due to paperwork costs.

It couldn't have been that long ago. The last drive I purchased from them was an Optiarc AD-7200A several months ago, and it has the Standard Return Policy. They may have been changing things over for certain drives awhile back, but it's only recently been that the overwhelming majority of drives are no longer under the Standard policy.

I ordered my SH-223F on 9/5/08 so I guess it was a short while after that is when
they started changing the return policy on all of the ODD's.

As long it lasts 30 days, it will be fine. The odds only cost about 30 bucks, when you factor in shipping its almost too much trouble to return it.

I know it's not that big of a deal. It was just one of those little things that made NewEgg stand out. I never even had to return a drive to them, but just because they had the policy, I would always order my drives from NewEgg instead of ZipZoomFly or somewhere else.

New Egg never goes out of their way to screw consumers. Our forums would tell you that instantly. The quality of products out of China varies widely sometimes. Bad burners could as easily be badly made media or incompatabilities. Early lightscribe drives have media compatability issues (data side).

What you need to do is educate yourself about how to determine if the drive is defective/not performing correctly within 30 days. If New Egg is smart.. they will post some tips for consumers to figure that out for themselves. (pi/pif scans, DL, and varied brands burned, etc).
On the other hand, maybe 60 day minimum would be better for ODD's or anything with a "motor".