Anyone purchased large ticket item online? Need shipping advice...

[MaxDepth]

I've bought from Amazon and Newegg before, but nothing more than $500. (A/V receiver probably most expensive)

But now I've bought a 65" HDTV from a NewEgg Marketplace seller 'Mega Retail Store.' Their ratings are favorable, to a point. You usually get what you pay for; no bait and switch and no delays. However, if the item is broken or not working, they can be a pain to deal with in either returns, replacements or refunds. I'm not too worried about it being broken, except that it will suck, because my credit card gives me a lot of protection against loss.

However, I'd like to know what I can do upfront if the shipper delivers me crap right up front like obviously damaged shipping. What do I do?

Please correct me or add where I might be missing something:

• If shipper delivers item that looks damaged on the outside (holes in box, twisted or dented, too) I need to take pictures with shipper present? Do I refuse shipment? Do I ask them to wait until I open the box to see if TV is damaged?
  
• If the box looks okay and then I unpack it - and it looks visibly damaged - I take pictures and then I call the vendor? NewEgg? Credit Card Company?
• If the box looks okay and unboxing looks okay but I plug it in and it works, sort of -- bad pixels (more than 1,2,3..? Screen moire? defective anything...) I take pictures and...?

Thanks ahead for any and all advice.

 

[louis redfoot]

if you keep proper records (ie save all emails, take pics), you should be covered by the credit card at worst. newegg doesn't handle marketplace transactions, you'll have to deal with the seller, or credit card if that falls out. but industry standard you'll lose out on shipping fees if there's a return.

i had to send back some defective computer speakers recently (they worked for a week), lost $50 in shipping on $200 speakers.

 

[MaxDepth]

Thanks! I wondered if anyone here has had to refuse the item from the shipper?

 

[Scarpozzi]

HDTVs are generally packaged well and shippers know not to drop them. They've been at it for many years, so the boxes are padded well on the corners and the corner blocks give some buffers between the display and the edge of the box (in case it gets crushed). I've ordered a lot of TVs from Dell that were delivered via FedEx....no issues with 5 screens above 40" since 2008.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Ordered a 70" tv from Sam's Club about 2 years ago. Delivery people unpacked it and set it up and made sure it worked with no defects before leaving. They also took all of the packaging. Figured if something went wrong I could always take it to Sam's for a refund.

Place you ordered from do some sort of white glove delivery?

 

[HomerJS]

I ordered a $900 A/V receiver. Scarpozzi is right because items must survive mass shipments to B&M stores. Refuse delivery if significant box damage. Check your CC company. Many will extend the warranty.

 

[MaxDepth]

Thanks again, y'all! So no white glove treatment in shipping and no installation. I did buy with my Chase Sapphire so I get price protection, extra year warranty and buyers insurance.

 

[TXHokie]

I've bought a kitchen stove/oven and bathroom marble sink/cabinet that was $1k+. No tax and free delivery was worth the savings....all arrived pristine and undamaged. I inspect it out in the driveway when it was delivered and had planned to reject it if there's damage. Definitely use a CC that has some additional protection.

 

[shortylickens]

I got a snowblower from Amazon. Turned out to be shit.
Sending it back was a real bastard.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

It's rolling the dice with TVs cause it's a pain in the ass to repackage and reship if you ever need to. I bought a TV from Amazon and they did the whole white glove service but I found a dead pixel about 2 weeks later. I called them and they sent out a replacement and a crew to pick up the old TV even though the box was already trashed.

 

[MrSquished]

Bought some $500 plus stuff from Amazon but all small enough to carry home with me from work - camera bodies, lenses, audio equipment.

But for a 50" TV I could not get that delivered to work and drive it home, wouldn't fit in my car. I worked from home the day the tv arrived and it worked out perfectly. Hassle free.

 

[VirtualLarry]

During BF week or around then, I ordered a 40" Avera UHD TV (4K, baby!) from Newegg on ebay, or maybe the first one was from Newegg themselves. Got it shipped here. I'm only a few states away from their nearest warehouse, so I rarely have an issue.

They didn't double-box (well, the original box is pretty huge as-is), but it got here fine.

I even ordered a second one from Newegg on ebay, and it got shipped coast-to-coast from their Cali warehouse, by Fedex, I think. It had strapping tape around it, and corner protectors running length-wise on all four corners of the box, so it was fairly well protected against corner dings.

Both are still (knock on wood) running flawlessly, although, I think I may have detected a stuck or dead pixel on each of them. Hard to tell. Or maybe it's just a lit pixel on the Win10 background that's all alone in a sea of darker ones.

 

[Elixer]

I've bought from Amazon and Newegg before, but nothing more than $500. (A/V receiver probably most expensive)

But now I've bought a 65" HDTV from a NewEgg Marketplace seller 'Mega Retail Store.' Their ratings are favorable, to a point. You usually get what you pay for; no bait and switch and no delays. However, if the item is broken or not working, they can be a pain to deal with in either returns, replacements or refunds. I'm not too worried about it being broken, except that it will suck, because my credit card gives me a lot of protection against loss.

You ask me, I never shop form 3rd party stores within stores.
It isn't worth the hassle if something goes wrong, especially on expensive items.