I wish that this report had existed before I bought from MicroMagic. Other similar stories can be found elsewhere and the Better Business Bureau Report (Surprise!!! It's an "F")
I have worked in retail for several years, and understand that miscommunications or accidents sometimes occur. That is not the case with MicroMagic.US. Their operation is a bait and switch scam through and through.
On December 28th, I visited the site, as I was looking to purchase 1GB of PC3200 DDR. They had Samsung and Micron memory (both very reputable names) at EXTREMELY low prices (yes, I know, too good to be true). When clicking on the Samsung memory, there was an offer to upgrade to Crucial memory for an additional $6.99. As Crucial is one of the best names in the business, I purchased 1GB of Samsung DDR, upgraded to Crucial Memory.
Pro: The memory arrived very quickly (now on to the bad)
It was not Crucial memory, just a generic piece of memory. I had paid for the upgrade! Oh well; if it worked, I was going just live with it. In my first computer, it would not boot with the new memory at all. Just get a little bit into the process and reboot. I put in my original DIMM, no problems. Put the MicroMagic DIMM back in, went into the BIOS, where the computer froze. Rebooted, and quickly changed the memory settings to the most compatible (slowest) timings. Computer would still not boot, but the memory was recognized as 512MB and not the 1GB I had purchased. I tried in two other computers, and it was only recognized as 512MB in both.
I wrote Micromagic, and reached our good friend LEO GUILLEN. He explained:
I GOT YOUR E-MAIL AND HAVE READ IT” THE MEMORY THAT YOU BOUGHT IS HIGH DENSITY MEMORY SAMSUNG THAT IS WHY YOUR
MOTHER BOARD IS ONLY SHOWING HALF OF THE RAM. I DO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TELLING ME, SO FROM WHAT I KNOW. YOU NEED LOW DENSITY/ALL COMPATIBLE RAM. PLEASE MAIL IT BACK TO US THE UPGRADE FEE IS $30.00 FOR THE INDUSTRY
STANDARD LOW DENSITY (64x8) TYPE.
PLEASE MAIL A PERSONAL CHECK TO..
I wrote back and explained that I had upgraded to Corsair Memory, which would definitely work with my motherboard, and requested that he send me the correct memory. His response FLOORED me:
CORSAIR IS THE SAME ONLY WE FORGOT TO ADD THE STICKER, PLEASE CHECK THERE WEB SITE AND YOU'LL SEE.
PS: CORSAIR USES SAMSUNG CHIP'S/YOU ORDERED HIGH DENSITY MEMORY.
FYI, Corsair does NOT EQUAL generic memory. This was BLATANT false advertising. Micromagic charged me an upgrade fee for CORSAIR STICKERS?!? I emailed Corsair and confirmed that they do not sell generic high density memory.
Note: I see I am not the only one that has recieved generic memory purporting to be a major name brand. From the MicroMagic review at Pricewatch -
"09Dec05 I ordered 2 sticks of Micron brand RAM ($115.50 Order Total). They shipped NCP brand with a bogus Micron Technology label over the NCP label. I confirmed w/Micron that it was fraudulently relabeled."
Back to my story. I forwarded the response from Crucial to Leo, and received (this will look familiar. I wonder how many people he has sent it to)
I GOT YOUR E-MAIL AND HAVE READ IT” THE MEMORY THAT YOU BOUGHT IS HIGH DENSITY MEMORY/SAMSUNG 0R MICRON THAT IS
WHY YOUR MOTHER BOARD IS ONLY SHOWING HALF OF THE RAM. I DO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TELLING ME, SO FROM WHAT I KNOW/ YOU NEED LOW DENSITY/ALL COMPATIBLE RAM, PLEASE MAIL IT BACK TO US THE UPGRADE FEE IS $20.00 FOR THE INDUSTRY STANDARD LOW DENSITY (64x8) TYPE.
PLEASE MAIL A PERSONAL CHECK TO
At that point, I asked for a refund, and he said to send it back. I did so (Certified Mail), and it was received on 1/19. I emailed him on the 17th, and was told that a credit would take:
SHOOD BE A FEW BUSINESS DAYS.
So it is now January 31st. No Credit. Follow-up emails are not replied to. I am glad that I used American Express. They are working on the dispute as we speak.
MicroMagic.US = SCAM SCAM SCAM!
Sean
Renton, Washington
U.S.A.
STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about “consumer confidence” when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, it's paid for!
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