Source
r/PFSENSE•
anothermonth

Bad experience with Netgate: got old scratched unit instead of a new one

I ordered XG-7100 1U on Cybermonday's 20% off sale. It arrived all scratched up looking like it was used for years in multiple racks. Here are some pics. Notice, not just scratches, but how even some internal pin header peeking out through front vents looks significantly worn out as if it was plugged and unplugged multiple times.

I started a support ticket about this, they responded that I should return the unit and that they'll try to get "the same day turnaround" shipping a new unit as soon as that one arrives. So I shipped it back.

They got the unit more than two weeks ago (Dec 16) and only today I got the response that they checked the unit, it works and they are shipping it back without doing anything to it.

I tried calling them, chose "support" on their phone menu and for some reason got to a sales person (Bob, I think). Conversation with Bob felt like talking to a used car salesman. While he kept telling me that he's just "sales", he was able to lookup the support ticket pretty fast, read my initial message there and unloaded onto me a lot of stuff without letting me speak much. Among other things he said that used unit sale is impossible with them and that their database would "crash" if it received duplicate unit ID a second time. He asked me if I saw any "logs from previous usage" on the unit, as if a simple factory reset wouldn't take care of them. He kept saying that he's sales and he can transfer me to "manufacturing" for some reason.

Anyway, I felt the conversation was becoming more and more useless and once he told me to keep messaging via their support system I just said okay bye. I left one more message with the ticket that following all of the above I wasn't expecting to get the same unit back and if they can't ship me a new one, to refund the credit card.

This is it for now. I'm hoping they see my message before shipping this unit, otherwise it's going to be a waste of another month.

TLDR: purchased new unit, got old and abused one. After two weeks+ Netgate is shipping the same unit back to me.

EDIT: got response from u/DennisMSmith and according to him they are shipping me a new unit. What do you know, power of social media in action. I will update this post.

Posted Dec 31, 2019, 5:45 PM UTC · edited

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DennisMSmithMODNetgate•

Hi u/anothermonth I can assure you we do not sell refurbished equipment. The unit itself ships with a plastic cover over it to protect from scratches that will be peeled off by you the customer. The bottom of the chassis is bare metal and small scratches will keep showing up. During the build process, they are put into a rack to load and test. All of our stations have mats to protect the cases from scratches.

The unit that you sent back was inspected and it looks like the black streaks that showed in your picture were from shipping foam (easily wiped away) but by looking at other areas of the photos you submitted we can see why you wanted a replacement.

As I understand it now, the original unit was shipped back and a refund has been initiated.

If you would like I will talk to our manufacturing team now and have them stop the refund and handpick a 7100 that will be damage-free and get it shipped to you. Just let me know which option you prefer.

I apologize for this happening as we always ensure that products going out will meet our high standards as well as our customers.

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anothermonthOP•

Thanks for the prompt response! If you can find a damage-free unit, please ship it. Otherwise, just refund me.

In any case, please don't ship the previous unit.

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DennisMSmithNetgate•

No problem, I assure you will not get the same unit. I will relay the message to the team now and get it shipped today. We'll make sure you get the unit you are expecting!

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anothermonthOP•

Sounds good. Hope to get a different unit soon.

I'll update this post in any case.

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julietscause•

u/dennismsmith would love to get your eyes on this!

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DennisMSmithNetgate•

Looks like we responded at the same time....but appreciate the heads up anyway :)

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julietscause•

You da real MVP.gif

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DTKT•

It doesn't look good. Just the front panel itself looks somewhat abused. Glad the Netgate was able to address the issue.

I'm a bit surprised it actually happened in the first place though.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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anothermonthOP•

I agree, it won't be hard to convince anyone that this was a used unit and this is a bait and switch. But I still want to see how they respond to my last messages or whether they'll ship the old unit back.

In worst case, I can always just start a dispute with credit card. And AMEX tends to be on their client side in cases like this. I hope it doesn't get to that though.

2
iLLNiSS•

There isn’t much of a need to escalate this to a court.

Just follow through with the demand of send me a new one or refund me. If they don’t do a refund initiate a chargeback with the CC company. Make sure to keep any communication between you and netgate to give to the CC company and proof the unit is used. They will want to see that you have attempted to resolve this prior doing a chargeback.

That being said, from what I can see in the pics these marks could just be normal wear and tear from being tested prior to sending it to you.

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anothermonthOP•

That being said, from what I can see in the pics these marks could just be normal wear and tear from being tested prior to sending it to you.

The pictures don't fully convey how it looked. I've had equipment working 15 years and surviving three office relocations looking much fresher. I realize, they need to mount it in a rack to test it, but such damage cannot be done by one or two or five installations. The last part that pushed me to start return process was some internal pin header (I didn't open the case, I only saw it through a front vent) that looked like it was plugged and unplugged so many times that it started loosing shape.

I don't insist that this unit was sold before. Perhaps, it was used as a display model or in teaching lab. In either case they should not sell it as new.

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