Redditor receives rocks after ordering $1,200 RTX 5080 GPU
RTX 5080 GPU arrives with a tampered box with rocks inside
A Redditor claims their $1,200 ASUS RTX 5080 TUF Gaming GPU from Best Buy arrived as a box of rocks. The buyer ordered their GPU on November 25th, and the card arrived on the 28th. The item arrived as a GPU box with shipping labels attached, making it evident to all couriers that the package was valuable. The GPU was not placed inside a larger box or wrapped in plastic.
Upon receiving the box, the Redditor claimed it was clearly tampered with. Inside the box were four large rocks and no graphics card. The customer said they filed a claim for the GPU on the same day it arrived, and Best Buy confirmed they would send a new GPU. A few days later, the Redditor claims that Best Buy would no longer refund or replace the GPU following an “investigation” of the issue. Below is what the Redditor said about the incident.
I ordered a GPU through BestBuy on 11/25 and when I received it on 11/28 I was blown away by how irresponsibly this thing was shipped. The shipping labels just slapped on the retail packaging, no generic brown box to conceal the item, the seal clearly tampered with…and there they were, four rocks where my GPU should be. I filed a claim through customer service within the hour of receiving the package and was assured a replacement was on the way. Here we are now on Tuesday 12/2 and I receive an email now stating that BestBuy will not be replacing or refunding my $1,200 purchase after their “investigation”.
I have no idea what to do, I don’t make tons of money, this was a pretty big purchase for me. I waited very patiently for this GPU to be relatively affordable. I feel absolutely robbed and defeated, customer service is utterly useless. They just give me the classic “there’s nothing that can be done, is there anything else I can help you with?” in that cold, robotic tone and that’s it. If anyone has any advice on how I should approach this, I’d greatly appreciate any advice.
(Bestbuy shipped the GPU without covering its packaging)
In this case, this graphics card was likely stolen during shipping, though this cannot be confirmed. If retailers fail to cover the packaging of valuable products, that product is more likely to be stolen or tampered with. Expensive products like graphics cards should be placed in larger boxes or covered in opaque plastic to reduce these risks. If this were done, would-be thieves wouldn’t know if specific packages are valuable.
As of now, we cannot verify this Redditor’s claims. If it did happen, Best Buy needs to reconsider its shipping and packaging guidelines. Regardless, this incident should act as a warning to anyone shipping expensive items. Don’t slap a label on the box of an expensive item; cover it up!
You can join the discussion on the Redditor who received rocks instead of an RTX 5080 on the OC3D Forums.
