Scratches & Fingerprints on New/Sealed Intel NUC

[a3s7]

Greetings All.

I purchased a new Intel NUC from a third party retailer on a large online site. It arrived shrink-wrapped, however, upon unboxing I instantly noticed the underside sticker had multiple scratches and three large fingerprints on it. I really was not expecting either of these on a sealed Intel product and I'm not sure what to make of it. Any thoughts on what this might mean?

It looks considerably worse in person as the fingerprints and depth of the scratches were difficult to capture.

 

[Goddess-Bastet]

The fingerprints may be the sellers but the scratches suggest the item is not new.
I would complain to the seller & request a refund. If they don’t reply then complain to the online site as their third party seller have to abide by their rules.

 

[a3s7]

Thanks for the reply! This small computer came well-packaged in a proper Intel box, which was surrounded by shrink-wrap. The item was sold as brand new, so the seller's fingerprints should not have been found on the inner product (unopened when I received it).

My gut tells me that a new Intel product like this should not come with marring and fingerprints like I have found. It was really hard to capture with the equipment I have access to, but it is definitely off-putting when seen in person & looks like something one would expect to see on a used product.

All of that stated, I suppose stranger things have happened, so posting here is part of an effort to be as diligent as possible in seeing if what my instinct is telling me could be wrong as returning a now opened product could affect a small seller's profit margin.

 

[Goddess-Bastet]

The seller may have a shrink-wrap machine so can re-wrap any returns & make items appear new.
It is up to you whether you return the item or not but if I were you I would certainly contact the seller & ask why there’s fingerprints & scratches on a supposedly new item.
Check the sellers feedback for any low marks.
Check too where they claim to be based & which Country the item was shipped from. If the item came from China then ensure the item is genuine. Too many sellers offer supposedly genuine items but are later found to be Chinese copies.

 

[a3s7]

I appreciate your replies Goddess-Bastet.

I'm sure I had checked their feedback before, but I looked again after your post, and sure enough the first review there is negative and from a customer complaining of buying new and receiving a used Intel NUC. The review was posted after my purchase, but that's all I really needed to see. They are US based, and claim a 25% restocking fee. We'll see how this pans out, but I'm not keeping it on principle at this point.

 

[Goddess-Bastet]

I don’t know about US sellers but it’s illegal to charge a restocking fee.
As the item has been mis-sold & they still want to charge a fee then complain directly to the company who hosts the third party seller - Amazon, eBay etc. They have rules which override sellers’ own.
If eBay & you paid via Paypal then you can also claim from them. If you paid by credit card then you can also consider using chargeback.

 

[plodr]

Unfortunately, it is not illegal to charge a restocking fee in the US.
The site probably makes money by selling the same used gear to people and charging a 25% re-stocking fee. They do this enough times and they earn way more than the new equipment would cost.

Tell whomever you purchased this from that you are going to warn people to avoid buying from the site because you will be posting the site at various forums.
Then post the site url here enclosed in code brackets so it is not clickable and include the warning AVOID THIS SITE because they sell supposed new equipment but it is used.

 

[Goddess-Bastet]

I can envision one of several outcomes:
1: If the seller is genuine & honest they should apologise, offer to send another device or offer a full refund upon receipt of the ‘faulty’ version with no restocking fee & no further cost to the buyer.
2: The seller won’t apologise, will offer to send another device upon receipt of the ‘defective’ device but will charge a restocking fee & want further postage charges.
3: Seller blames buyer for scratches & marks & refuses to refund or exchange.

I’m suspecting 3 will be their choice.