NewEgg sold 300 counterfeit Core i7-920 CPUs in "shipping error"

NewEgg has had a fairly good reputation for being a reliable online tech seller with good prices.

Well, everyone makes mistakes, but the one they made by shipping over 300 fake Intel Core i7-920 CPUs is kind of a big one.

[UPDATE 03/09/10 03:17 AM: NewEgg PR reps have sent us a copy of their official statement regarding the Intel investigation. You can read it in full after the jump.]

The problem supposedly roots from their partnership with D&H Distributing, who issued 2,000 copies to NewEgg - 300 of which turned out to be counterfeit.

NewEgg has released a statement and an apology, saying they are "aware of a shipping error" and that their "customer service team has already begun proactively reaching out to the affected customers." I hope that means refunds/replacements, covering shipping costs, etc.

There's also a debate over whether or not these were "demo" copies or actually fabricated lookalikes, and now Intel has started an investigation. Either way, a lot of people screwed up here, and NewEgg can't push off all the blame to another party. Although, I don't think this will hurt their business too badly, so long as they make all of those 300 customers happy real fast.

One lesson to be learned is check all of your package contents for any discrepancies or oddities before tossing them. You might need all that stuff to return a defective/fake/wrong product later.

UPDATE: NewEgg's Official Statement:

“Newegg is currently conducting a thorough investigation surrounding recent  shipments of questionable Intel Core i7-920 CPUs purchased from Newegg.com.

Initial information we received from our supplier, IPEX, stated that they had mistakenly shipped us "demo units."  We have since come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier. Contrary to any speculation, D&H Distributing is not the vendor that supplied us with the Intel Core i7-920 CPUs in question.

Newegg’s top priority is to proactively reach out to all customers who may have been affected to ensure their absolute satisfaction. We have already sent out a number of replacement units and are doing everything in our power to resolve the matter promptly and with the least amount of inconvenience to our customers.

We have always taken pride in providing an exceptional experience for each customer, and we apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers.  We take matters like this extremely seriously, and are working in close cooperation with Intel and the appropriate law enforcement authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident."

There you have it.

[Image via Hardware Canucks]