Laptop Scam Or Over Zealous Sale Man?

[mrgreen]

bought a "new" laptop the day before yesterday.

when i was paying for the laptop the sales man opened the box and started the laptop.

when i told him part of the fun of buying a new appliance is opening it yourself he smiled.

so far no biggy, when i got to my room and checked the laptop i see a sticker of the shop covering the ram opening in the bottom of the laptop with a date of 1 day before the buy. smelly.

on opening the web i see in history it was used 1 day before buy.

same goes for anti virus program and even a scan was done the night b4 i bought the laptop.

the next day i took the laptop to the shop and told them i want a NEW laptop never opened never used.

now I'm waiting for a new 1 to ship from Bangkok.

this is my first laptop so i don't know what condition it is supposed to be in when you buy it. so pls help me make my mind a scam or not. if it is a scam ill post the shop name and send complaint to the shop main office , to the laptop manufacturer and anywhere else i can think about so it wont happen to other ppl.

thx.

[negreanu]

Welcome to Thailand.

[garyh]

Not that unusual to be open and checked it is working, also to have been opened and demonstrated is not that uncommon. If it is in new condition and your warranty starts the day you bought it you are not being scammed.

[ShopBoy]

Did you ordered the laptop before hand or you just went in the shop and pick it up ?

[pmcd8243]

Most laptops sold in Thailand do not have an operating system installed. Most likely they fired it up and loaded a bootleg copy of Windows. This is standard procedure here.

[JUDAS]

<br />Not that unusual to be open and checked it is working, also to have been opened and demonstrated is not that uncommon. If it is in new condition and your warranty starts the day you bought it you are not being scammed.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Think this is a reasonable statement. I've bought a number of laptops over the years and can't recall if any had been 'used' prior to me switching on for the first time. If it was my purchase I would not be at all concerned.

[mrgreen]

Most laptops sold in Thailand do not have an operating system installed. Most likely they fired it up and loaded a bootleg copy of Windows. This is standard procedure here.

this one comes with a genuine windows os factory installed.

i can understand if they try to help with free programs but why the sticker on the ram cover?

[hawksway]

If there is a sticker over the RAM cover it indicates that an additional RAM upgrade was undertaken as part of the deal. Therefore to save time the Dealer probably did this for the whole batch of machines

[mrgreen]

If there is a sticker over the RAM cover it indicates that an additional RAM upgrade was undertaken as part of the deal. Therefore to save time the Dealer probably did this for the whole batch of machines

the sticker had the date of the day before the buy.

no RAM upgrade, it came with 2 GB ram as it was supposed to.

[wpcoe]

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, they *might* have just written the wrong date on the sticker. I find with most electronics I buy in Thailand, that if they have any type of store-honored warranty, they will put a store sticker in the least conspicuous and least-likely-to-come-off location. In the case of your computer, that might mean putting it internally, someplace like the RAM compartment?

[Tropicalevo]

I would guess that the date sticker is part of the warranty program. It is over the ram opening so that if someone opens the ram cover - warranty might be invalid. ie they changed the chip.

As many previous posters said, there are many reasons as to why this could be. I would not worry unduly. I have bought many computers/laptops here in Thauiland, they have always been 'set up' by the sales staff before I get them. It is normal for the staff here to show everything switched on and 'working' when you buy it.

[asiawatcher]

I for one always buy the box, pull it out and watch them load all. I was scammed in Panthip years ago by catching the vendor (Indian) cleaning the box but failed to clean the dust build up from the fan on the back of the housing. The computer was well used!

These days I buy Mac and gave up PC's as they always give grief, get viruses etc but I for one would never accept a new item from an opened box unless it was a demo and discounted appropriately. I think they have done the wrong thing by you for sure. For what it's worth.

[Tim207]

Wow, you are paranoid. Your computer was checked to make sure everything was working before it was sold and then demonstrated to you that it worked before you purchased. The sticker was probably a signal to the store that the ram was double checked. It is also a safeguard to stop people from changing the ram and claiming the shop cheated them.

In a country where it can be difficult to return items I want to see something powered up before I buy and if someone wants to put a sticker over a compartment door that certifies that they were the last ones in that compartment I am all for it because if something is found amiss both they and you have evidence of who is to blame.

I bought a laptop at Lotus a couple of years ago that was marked WAY down. When they opened the box I saw that the computer was not the model matching the box. They explained that that was why it was marked down so much. Someone along the supply chain had switched 30,000 baht computers with 20,000 baht computers. I was still happy paying 11,000 baht but not as big of a markdown as I first thought.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I too would not accept anything but a sealed box. Fine if they open the sealed box in front of me. Nothing less is acceptable unless I'm getting a discount for an opened box model.

[lopburi3]

It is opened and checked in your presence and you try it. That is normal everywhere. Acer, and I believe most, will have a factory sticker covering RAM access but not sure of others. If it is only a store sticker I would make sure factory service center will accept for any potential repairs.

[Pria]

Sounds like a great case of paranoia to me.

You're bitching and moaning about not being the first person to open the box? Geeze.

You want a warranty or not? You want to know the thing works before you pay your money or not?

You want to stand there for an hour or more while they load up any applications, perform an OS upgrade/check for upgrades ?

You sound like the same sort of person who complains that a new car odometer has a reading of 000006 on it - expecting the vehicle builder and showroom to carry the vehicle around.

Totally ridiculous post and bordering on trolling IMO

[nikster]

It really depends on the circumstances:

1 - If you ordered the laptop beforehand, and if it didn't come with an official Windows, then that's exactly what I would expect, they installed stuff for you, saving you time.

2 - If you didn't order the laptop - e.g. you just wandered in the store and picked one up - and if it came with original Windows - then you're right to demand a brand new, unopened one.

If the laptop comes with original Windows, I wouldn't want anyone screw around with it beforehand. Not to "help", not for anything.

By the way, only buy machines with original (genuine in Microsoft speak) Windows. Saving $50 - Windows OEM price - simply isn't worth the hassle of dealing with a pirated copy.

Oh - about the thread title - no it's certainly not a scam. Nothing sinister going on here.

[garyh]

If you buy a car do you know that it has been started and driven before you get it.

[Pib]

It really common in Thailand for a store to open the box to physically check the item, possibly turn the item on, and even stamp the warranty card before selling it to the customer...and they usually do this while the customer is watching. And if the customer has a change of heart before reaching the checkout/payment counter, the item just goes back on the shelf waiting for a buyer. The item is still new.

Regarding opening the box, turning the item on, and stamping the warranty card, this has happened to me many times especially when buying any electrical-type appliance. Recent Example: I bought a portable DVD from Lotus about a month ago and they did what I just mentioned, to include giving me the phone number/address of their repair center and making sure I understood I could bring the item back within 7 days pretty much no questions asked.

[givenall]

Welcome to Thailand.

Many times, the sales person opens the box very quickly so you don’t see the second tape over the box because it was already opened before. This could be for may reason, sold and return, some problem, etc etc.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Sounds like a great case of paranoia to me.

You're bitching and moaning about not being the first person to open the box? Geeze.

You want a warranty or not? You want to know the thing works before you pay your money or not?

You want to stand there for an hour or more while they load up any applications, perform an OS upgrade/check for upgrades ?

You sound like the same sort of person who complains that a new car odometer has a reading of 000006 on it - expecting the vehicle builder and showroom to carry the vehicle around.

Totally ridiculous post and bordering on trolling IMO

I think that most aptly describes your post.

[mightyharriss]

Sounds like a great case of paranoia to me.

You're bitching and moaning about not being the first person to open the box? Geeze.

You want a warranty or not? You want to know the thing works before you pay your money or not?

You want to stand there for an hour or more while they load up any applications, perform an OS upgrade/check for upgrades ?

You sound like the same sort of person who complains that a new car odometer has a reading of 000006 on it - expecting the vehicle builder and showroom to carry the vehicle around.

Totally ridiculous post and bordering on trolling IMO

I think that most aptly describes your post.

agreed

[PattayaParent]

I too would not accept anything but a sealed box. Fine if they open the sealed box in front of me. Nothing less is acceptable unless I'm getting a discount for an opened box model.

Is it only me that gets told, sorry sir last one in the shop, and I get the display model?

[mrgreen]

I too would not accept anything but a sealed box. Fine if they open the sealed box in front of me. Nothing less is acceptable unless I'm getting a discount for an opened box model.

Is it only me that gets told, sorry sir last one in the shop, and I get the display model?

no its not only you,

came back to the shop to get my "new" sent from bangkok laptop.

but again the box was not factory sealed and missing items.

so im waiting again till Friday when hopefully ill get the factory sealed box.

for all you good ppl out there that think to get your laptop factory sealed is paranoia send me a massage.

i know where you can get 2 "new" laptops 1 of them at least was tasted by me for the 22 hrs i had it and it worked great.

i even registered it with the company warranty program and downloaded the Microsoft security updates and saved you the time to do it yourselves.

great bargain at no extra cost for you.

[mrgreen]

finely i got my laptop factory sealed with all the items and even a surprize as it came with another outer box. im happy with my new laptop also its a pity i had to refuse 2 laptops till they went and got me a new laptop from the importers.

[wpcoe]

Is it only me that gets told, sorry sir last one in the shop, and I get the display model?

I've had limited success with saying: "Oh, only one? I was thinking of buying two of them." And, then changing my mind, and only wanting one.