Thanks for ALL of the response guys.

I'm just such a mess I don't know what I'm going to do. This whole thing has just blindsided me, because I've always just believed in most folks wanting to do the right thing. But most folks I've dealt with in this circus are more worried about their own personal bottoms lines than doing the right thing.

I know that sounds naive, but I just really thought if you packaged something right (and I DID), AND purchased insurance for it (and I DID) AND it got trashed, that it was just a formality to get made whole again.

But I've since learned that this is standard operating procedure for UPS. They almost ALWAYS try to claim it's the shippers fault. It seems to me if something isn't packaged correctly, then they should not have the right to accept the package and insurance money you're paying.

I dunno, sorry, now I'm rambling. It's soon going to be FIVE MONTHS without my machine, and it looks more and more like IF I do get it back, the only thing that will be replaced is the case, and then after FIVE months of stressing over this back and forth circus, I'm going to get to stress out every day after that wondering when some other component is going to fail, and I'll be without it again because I likely won't be able to afford to fix it.

This is just so fucking wrong.

As far as small claims court, I don't think I can afford the cost of travel and food and lodging to do that, even if I did win and would get it back. Round trip from Virginia to California is expensive, and who knows how many days of food and nights of lodging I would have to be there (maybe small claims court cases only take one day??? I dunno).

I had a lawyer who said she was going to help me and get paid by the defendants. But then she bailed. And I have no idea why, and now I'm even wondering about that, because I think it's because she was intimidated by UPS. Fuck the US is just gotten out of control with what corporations can do regular people. Well, actually, I don't think they consider anyone with a bank balance of less than 10 digits a regular person. Someone like me I don't think they consider a person at all.

This sucks on so many levels.

Anyway, it felt good to just get it out again. I had been posting at CyberPowerPC but they closed my last thread about a couple of months ago and I haven't tried since because they'll likely just close it again.

Why would you file in small claims in California? File where you live. I am not a lawyer, but I don't think you have to travel to their location in order to file.

Well, I'm not sure. I do know that if I were to go to court over the warranty, it would have to be in California, so I am just assuming that's where I would have to go with anything else. But no, I don't know. But here's the language concerning the warranty:

"Governing Law - This contract shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of California. Buyer agrees that competent courts in Los Angeles County, California shall have the exclusive jurisdiction over any legal action with respect to this contract. In the event of any dispute related to this contract, the prevailing party shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys' fee and costs."


http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/company/warranty.aspx

Maybe the amount has been increased by now but last I knew the limit on small claims cases was $500. so it wouldn't help you.

The first thing I would recommend that you do is to contact your state's attorney general's office and ask for assistance. You should be able to find the number for that on your state's government Web pages or in the phone book. That office exists in part to aid consumers getting screwed like you are now. So get the law on your side. It doesn't cost you anything for this. With a little luck, the computer company and UPS will both become more active about resolving this fairly once there is some government intervention going for you.

I would try that and expect to get some results there too.

I'm very sorry to hear about all the crap you've been through with this. I have a lot of empathy for you where I am disabled too and the computer is a big deal to me too, like I know it is for you. I wouldn't have a computer and games if it wasn't for the kindness and generosity of my family.

If it was me after all of this I would be asking the attorney general's office if there is any way at this point that you can simply be reimbursed for the total loss (which it is since the computer guys are voiding the warranty based on the transit damage), by the UPS shipping insurance and be done with both of these companies.

After that we could talk some of the many benefits of build your own which is fun, not hard to do and MUCH cheaper for a high quality gaming PC.

A couple things...

This bit on their warranty page works in your favor: "Ship the Product(s) back to Company in their original or equivalent packaging." This is them saying that their packaging is suitable for shipping the product.

The blurb about filing a small claims suit only in CA... I'm not sure I buy that. While it's certainly written in there, it may not be enforceable and I think it comes down to what the statutes of your state and their state actually say. If a company determines that it wants to do business in your state then it's likely bound, in part, by the consumer laws of your state, not by the arbitrary legalese in its own warranty policy. You may want to check with the AG for California (your VA AG website said to do this) to file a complaint. Since UPS has offices in every state, you should be able to file your complaint, or suit, against them in VA.

But IANAL so double-check that.

What I'm reading is that you used the packaging you were told to use, and that you insured the package. You should be able to get your money back from this but it will likely take some persistence.

Oh yeah, any chance you used a credit card to pay for the shipping?

LOL, Are you kidding? LOL I'm such a mess I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Remember how I paid for shipping back in Dec 2011?? I have no clue if I used a CC and if I did which one. What I do know is that if I did, it's paid off now, so I'm not sure you can still contest a charge once you've paid it. But again, I'm not even sure if I used a CC or a check or cash. LOL I DO remember the rough amount, just because it was so much. Over $150 to ship it back even though I still insist it was CP's fault for sending me a defective product to begin with.

EDITED IN: BTW, you wouldn't believe my family on this. I shit you not, they have come up with the money to replace it. Mind you, I didn't, and won't take it, but IMO that is both beautiful and messed up. Beautiful because they seem to think that much about an old loser like me, messed up because they seem that resigned to the reality of me not getting anything close to justice in this matter. I don't know if it's just me and this local area, but I was born when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President and it's never FELT like this before. The people, my family included, are getting so beat down by the corporations that own everything including the government, that I fear for the future.

Because inevitably when this happens to a society, they eventually turn violent as their only recourse. Our forefathers had the wisdom to create a system that could make needed changes without the violence, but that system has become completely corrupted, at every level and every branch.

I can't help but dwell on how WRONG this is, and it's that WRONGNESS, that INJUSTICE, that drives people over the edge. I guess I'm glad I don't have many years left on this rock because if it does come to that again this time, then this is going to be ugly because this time those in power have access to tools that are far more scary than when this played out every time in history.

I wish all the young folks of the USA, actually the world because it seems to be spreading worldwide, all the best of luck. I fear your generation is going to have a tough row to hoe. Good luck.

He's asking because your credit card company may offer insurance on your purchase. It may be worth looking up. They may also be willing to go to bat for you against UPS and/or CyberPowerPC. They do this because Visa makes them do it. When Visa says jump, CEOs of major banks ask, "How high?"

I am sorry to read about what happened to you. I am not going to say that I know and feel your pain, but I can definitely relate to your statement above. So, I sincerely hope in the end things will work out for you. Wish you all the best, man.

Really unfortunate. And yeah, so hopefully anyone thinking about buying a PC from CP will think twice after reading this.

OFG,

I too, am disabled and rely on gaming and networking with friends online to get me through the days. Some days are better than others, but as you well know, there are no easy days when it comes to having a disability.

I would follow up with your CC company regarding the shipment and/or if you used a CC to pay for the computer you can reverse the payment, the timeframe varies from institute to institute. All you need to reverse the original payment on the PC is the correspondence showing UPS admits fault and CP admits it needs fixed as well as the correspondence that neither will do anything to help you.

Us consumers do still have rights, they just don't make them common knowledge ;) Good luck and let us know what comes of this.
-Cym

Just a couple of things: first off, you are not an old loser. You are a very nice guy. I can tell from the things you say in the posts you write. I like you. It's easy to like a nice guy like you. So get that loser stuff out of your head.

As for your family, that is really wonderful. There must be some good reasons they are so fond of you I bet. If this turns out badly in the end, don't be proud. Let them help you. They want to and will feel good about doing it. Everybody wins. If the roles were reversed, it would be you insisting you be allowed to help so don't deny them that. Thank God you have such a great family. It makes such a difference when other things go to shit doesn't it? It makes all the difference.

Please do try my suggestion to call your local attorney general's office and take whatever advice they give you and act upon it. Maybe you will need to contact the attorney general in the state where the company is, maybe they can help you directly but begin there. It is their job and responsibility to help consumers who have been shafted and you certainly have here.

I agree with the others too who encourage you to also call your credit card company and see if they can back you up in any way on this purchase, the terms of which are not being faithfully honored. I am of course not sure how far you'll get with that but it doesn't hurt to try. It might actually help.

In the case of both suggestions above, you'll never know if you don't give them a shot so I hope you will try them both and get some results as well.

Try not to lose faith in humanity even though you are justifiably upset. The people you've been dealing with are assholes to be sure but there is still good people like yourself in this world too. Hopefully, you will meet one of them by calling your AG's office and get some real help to fix this.

Oh by the way, I have a little story for you. My dad worked as a member of President Eisenhower's helicopter crew when he was a young man in the Marine Corps. He has a framed thank you from the President for his service to him during that time which still hangs in his office. I was born the eldest son of three while President Eisenhower was still in office myself. :-)

That's so enervating ... I can only add my best wishes to what everyone else has said and the suggestions that have been made.

/Phil Hartman voice on

That is CORRECT, sir!

/Phil Hartman voice off

If you still have the receipt from shipping the thing, it should tell you how you paid. Also, your old CC statements should show a charge, along with a transaction number.

You're going through a process. It sucks but companies set up this stuff to avoid getting screwed over by every Tom, Dick, and Harriet out there who won't take responsibility for their own goofs (like warranty for overclocking a video card until it borks). Unfortunately, that puts you in the frustrating situation that you're now dealing with. PITA, but don't be surprised if you eventually get this resolved satisfactorily.

I found the receipt for shipping, and I paid cash. :(

I did use a credit card for my computer (my American Express). But that was well over a year ago, almost 1 year and a half. I've gotta believe that's past some point where I can make a claim on it, especially since it's been paid off for that long too (you have to pay the whole amount every month on American Express).

You can go back that far and make a claim with the CC company?