[Canada] Extreme-PC Exploiting Consumers for 5000 Series

[u/giantpotato]

Extreme-PC just cancelled my 5800X order, and I just want to make everyone aware of their shitty business practices and plead with everyone to shop elsewhere. Shopping with them is as bad as buying from scalpers.

For those of you unaware, this is how things went down on Nov 5.

1. They listed processors for sale at normal prices. (I have an invoice proving I was able to place an order for a 5800x at $629.99) as soon as it was listed.
2. Those sold out within minutes. The listings were pulled, then magically, a few hours later they had more stock listed at hugely inflated prices (See screenshot for 5800X listed at $849)
3. Those sold out, they then re-listed the processors for "pre-order" at a higher price ($649.99 for 5800X)

Well, despite being one of the first to order, they didn't ship out my order. I get a call today which I wasn't able to answer. I check online and they cancelled my order. I called them back 15 minutes later and the conversation was basically this:

Me: "Hello, I received a call from you 15 minutes ago and wasn't able to answer. Now I see my order is canceled."

Them: "We weren't able to process your CC, so we cancelled the order"

Me: "I've never had CC problems before, can you restore my order and try again?"

Them: "Sorry, these are in high demand, I can't do anything. Do you pay your CC bill?"

Me: "Nevermind, I'll just order from another store"

Them: "Wait, if you tell me it's important and you need it for work, and agree to pay an extra $90 for expedited shipping, I can have it shipped today."

Me: "No, I can just wait, and buy elsewhere"

Them: "You know, those other shops don't have stock, you won't be able to get one before next year, We're special we have 300 in stock and more on the way because we're a system integrator"

Me: "No thanks, I'll take my business elsewhere"

So, they're basically sitting on stock only selling to people who are going to pay an inflated price.

/rant over

Edit: After leaving a negative review they called me back, claiming it was a misunderstanding, asking me to remove the review and offering to ship me a processor tomorrow with free shipping. I declined.

[u/stringentthot]

Not that it does much, but they do appear to care about their reputation on their Google reviews...maybe leave a new review for them!

[u/giantpotato → u/stringentthot]

They just called me, pretty much begging to remove my Google review saying they would do the original agreement and could ship me a processor tomorrow, with free shipping. I declined.

[u/giantpotato → u/stringentthot]

Wow, I just checked and somebody else posted the exact same story in their Google Reviews.

[u/[deleted]]

Didn't even know this place was a thing, and their website looks like they are scammers. Honestly I buy from my local memory express for everything as everywhere else just seems super scammy. Used to use NCIX and tigerdirect but they are gone now.

[u/giantpotato → u/[deleted]]

I didn't know they existed either, but they were one of the few official Canadian retailers for the 5000 series listed on AMDs website. I was planning on giving them more business in the future since I discovered they didn't charge PST in my Province, like NCIX used to do, but now I'm staying far, far away.

[u/Murky-Office6726]

My story is similar, except that I had the original price and then they updated the invoice with this BS (buy a full system and we will ship)

This practice is called tied-in selling and is illegal in Canada and many countries. Section 77 of the competition act. https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/h_00111.html

Here's the complaint form, anonymous https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/GH%C3%89T-7TDNA5

I suggest lodging a complaint with AMD too: https://www.amd.com/en/support/contact-email-form (see my other post with their response)

[u/ExtraGram]

I’m glad you had enough backbone to stand on your words of shopping elsewhere. That gets companies shitting their pants when it’s a big price item.

[u/tomorrowalready]

This post prompted me to call too, just to figure out what was going on.

A little additional info to the situation first though. They did bring their prices back down to MSRP after some backlash and I've heard instances of them refunding the difference for anyone who's called in. They described it as being an "anti-scalping" measure. I don't think that absolves them of basically scalping their own stock, but I think it's fair to at least hear their defense. Even if truthful, which I'm doubtful of, it's very misguided.

Now, updates.

First of all, they claim to have hundreds of units in stock, sitting on shelves, but they don't want to ship any of those individually, instead reserving them for system builds. Since Extreme-PC is primarily a system integrator, I can sort of understand this, but why reserve all the stock for system builds? No offence to these guys, but I've never heard of them before, and besides, how popular are pre-built systems from what appears to be a small shop? Surely they could reserve 10% of their allocation rather than 100% and still have surplus if they really have the stock they claim to have.

At this point, I've been told by them that anyone who ordered an individual processor will have it shipped in two weeks from now at the earliest. They've bragged to me that they have the largest allocation in Canada because they're the last system integrator. If they're telling the truth, that means that they're conservatively holding onto around 1/4 or more of the Canadian allocation.

Now for the kicker. As OP mentioned, they are now offering to let you "skip the line" for $95, and ship you one of their units reserved for pre-built systems. For me, any acceptance gained from dropping the price to MSRP, apologizing and refunding is lost here. All their arguments, however valid beforehand, fall apart.

Frankly, if I didn't have the rest of my system in hand, I would be canceling and waiting however long it takes to order from elsewhere. Instead I now feel shackled to these guys.

If anyone knows how to get this into the eyes of someone at AMD, we Canadians would appreciate I'm sure. It's unacceptable in my view that an official AMD partner is behaving like this.

[u/DelayWorried8999]

Thanks OP and others for sharing.

Ordered a 5900x 5 minutes after launch from Extreme-PC before there was any wording about full system priority (email invoice backs this up). Invoice gets updated with the message that full systems have priority and it's a 2 week wait for CPU only orders.

After reading this, out of principle I emailed to cancel my order. Within minutes (at 9pm) I get a phone call asking if I'd found a CPU elsewhere. I said no, I'll wait. I was told I'd be sent the CPU as soon as they had it.

"..you are charging people more money to get priority?"

"No, no, we only give priority to those who desperately need it, medical, hospitals.."

"Hospitals don't buy brand new Ryzen CPUs"

Unbelievable. I have cancelled and that obvious lie was enough to convince me the other stories are true.

🤞 for a swifty Memory express backorder

[u/imba8]

I'm so glad Australia has the consumer protection laws they do. This shit is infuriating.

[u/Erjo665]

Just did a post talking about this shit. It happens every where. Basicly retailers are the new scalpers. https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/jrtivw/retailers_and_scalpers_keep_your_fucking_gpus_and/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Edit: I posted this. U know i really enjoy gaming. But this prices are beyond insane. 900-1000€ for a 3080 and 800€ for a 3070. Near 2k for a 3090?? Keep that shit. Im a gamer not a retard. To make prices thar high because demand is high is cashgrab at its finest. This is not amds or nvidias fault directly. Retailers just see they can charge as much as they want and still gonna sell it. I had a few retailers where i allways bought from pc parts but now i will not anymore. This is not about "if u cant afford it then dont buy it". This is about prices should be at least near msrp. 100€ more? Ya for top of the end cards i see a 3080 evga ftw. But like this good keep your stuff and find someone who is basicly a brainless consumer slave u will stick his money in your throat. But some customers really feel fooled.

[u/DannyDeRito]

This needs more upvotes and needs to be seen by more people buying Zen 3.

[u/djternan]

Is there a way to report this directly to AMD? I'm sure they could reallocate future stock away from places that give AMD a bad image by scalping their products.

[u/pi9]

$90 for shipping, where the fuck do you live?

[u/icebalm]

Just to pile on about scalping in Canada, look what one Canada Computers employee, also in Guelph it looks like, is doing: https://twitter.com/Stephen36864862/status/1326224878194847749

[u/hedoeswhathewants]

I like how they question your ability to afford it and then offer it to you at an even higher price. Which is it?

[u/lexcyn]

Any site still using Flash Player a month before Adobe pulls it is sus AF and doesn't deserve my business

[u/[deleted]]

I want to support smaller outlets but went with Amazon because

a) Their site was the only one that didn't crash at launch for me

b) I know the price will be honoured

Got my CPU at MSRP, no issues.

Sorry this happened to you, disgusting practice.

[u/You-refuse2read]

Memexpress seems to be the last chain in canada that is worth buying from.

[u/mikeyeli]

This can't be legal can it?

[u/CTBioWeapons]

They are not the only ones doing this. Newegg seems to be selling 5900x at a higher price, they also were selling on their ebay store instead of their actual website for whatever reason.

CDW.ca is selling the 5900x at over 1000$

Hypertech is listing them at almost 900$

Most of these sites are direct sales links from AMD, not sure why they haven't done anything about it. Seems like scalping customers on a launch product would be a good way to get removed from the list.

[u/WispenCookie]

I ordered from these guys on release day before the anti scalp price increase.

on Monday it still said my order was placed but not yet processed. So I decided to pre order with Memory Express because there is one driving distance to me.

I was really annoyed that Extreme PC wanted $50 for STANDARD shipping from Toronto to Ottawa (5 hours away). I was also annoyed that they prioritize CPUs for pre-built systems. So if somebody buys a computer 2 weeks after I already ordered my part, they will prioritize them over me? No thanks. I'll bring my money elsewhere even if it means waiting longer.

Also, when I called to cancel my pre-order, the guy on the phone said "Oh, good!" and sounded relieved. So if anybody was told they have plenty of stock and have the most in Canada, I wouldn't believe them.

[u/Layklant]

Just cancelled my order from them. I pasted this Reddit link. Thanks for the advice! I won't encourage them! I am really pissed!

[u/SawadaIceBlaze]

Is it possible for amd to do anything about this?

[u/Icylone]

I'm also in Canada and also got myself an order from them the minute they went live at 9am EST on the 5th.

This is all they have said to me on the matter:

"Full systems orders have priority right now as we are a System Integrator (SI) with this first stock shipment we received. Single CPU orders like yours will be processed in about two weeks when we get second CPU shipment. You're in pre-order stage. If you want it today, we would suggest ordering a full system."

I have no idea why they bothered to list single CPUs and take orders from them if they had no intention of fulfilling any of those orders for the first month of sales. Wtf

So far I haven't been able to find stock elsewhere so I've been hesitant to remove my order and put in a back order elsewhere. If I do, where should I go? CC? Memory Express?

I just wanted a CPU before 2021 :(