If you’re planning a major GPU upgrade for your next Rhino rendering PC or Workstation, be extremely careful with Amazon “fulfilled by Amazon” can be a hidden third-party seller and bad actor!
Traditional Outlook:
There was a time when buying directly from Amazon, or even just seeing “Fulfilled by Amazon,” was a guarantee of safety. Their customer service was legendary, and if anything went wrong, you were protected.
Today 2025:
That trust has cracked and gone. With the explosion of third-party sellers, scams have gotten sophisticated, and Amazon is worse than eBay:
Seller names and prices change days after you order.
UPS and “last-mile” partners claim you refused delivery when you never saw the package. I make 50 calls. And one supervisor saved me.
But if you do get a package, it might be a “heavy fake” (mine was a chicken door, not an RTX 5090 in substitution for my 3090).
Customer support loops you endlessly I talk to 30 people, special teams, and supervisors, no real email support, just infinite loops between bots and unhelpful reps, draining your time and energy. Lesson for 2025:
Screenshot every!
Record every unboxing on video and be prepared with JPG photos.
Double-check seller names and Amazon’s “fulfilled by” details (they can change).
Demand real tracking updates—not promises.
If things go wrong, escalate and document everything. Video and Photos jpg!
Do not consider trusted specialty retailers for high-value parts, Even if it costs a little more.
Consider shopping in a store.
**Stay sharp, protect your investment, and don’t let a fake GPU ruin your workflow or your week. I lost $2,800 in the “Prime Week” sale, which was way over MSRP and could have been better invested. gpu#Amazonrhino3d#ScamAlert#ProTip
In the UK, I have bought most of my desktop stuff from Scan PCs.
It’s a bit harder and tempting to always go for the good and sometimes cheaper deals on Amazon. My 4070 Super came from Amazon directly, but it was the only place I could get a triple fan version at the time.
Amazon is becoming a massive joke; regularly pushing what is very clearly bad quality product from shady retailers. It seems to be trying to desperately replicate Temu.
If you can, always do as Alan stated, and check that the underlying retailer does check out. I just see whatever the retailer is and see if they have a direct website. If not, I steer clear.
For PC stuff, there are often good partners put there for parts that, though you pay maybe a bit over Amazon, give you far better, reliable, and traceable service.
If someone wants to sue Amazon, I’m all in. I did not get the GPU or the money. Amazon as a “predator” of customers.
When you purchase on Amazon, it does not show you the real seller.
Only after making the purchase, you will find in small print the seller “Sold By: bo160301”
If you go to the seller page, you can find Reviews with 4.5 out of 5 stars94% positive lifetime (464 total ratings). Switch from Lifetime to the last 12 months to get an honest sense of the active seller’s actual status (100% negative and 1 star only).
At that point, cancel your purchase. Because if it arrives, you’ll need to pay to ship the package back. And you need to cover all export and import tax & duty fees, which on a GPU is a lot!
Your refund will be issued once the return is processed at an Amazon Return Center. Most returns are processed within 14 days after we receive your returns, but may take up to 30 days in some cases. If Amazon or the seller does not receive the expected product(s), in the correct quantity, and in the original condition with all parts/accessories/manuals, you may receive a partial or no refund as per our policy.
You will need to ship back to Las Vegas, Nevada, using an international shipping company.
You need to cover all export tax and import tax & duty fees, That, in my case, is almost 1000 USD for a Chicken door i recibe instead of a GPU.
It also needs to pass through aduana, but I don’t always get through in my country.
In some countries, exporting something so expensive requires special skills.
150usd is the maximum they give you as refund for shopping
This may not help you specifically, but you could always email GamersNexus. They are really interested in stories like this, and have a specific Consumer Advocacy channel for such stories.
I’m still caught in the Amazon scam trap and don’t know how to get out of it. They keep asking me for more information, and if I don’t respond, they threaten to drop the case. Whenever I do reply with the requested info, they either say it’s not enough or claim they’re still investigating and will get back to me in a few days. It’s a constant loop.
I’ve been trying to find a GM on Discord, but haven’t had any luck. Unfortunately, they already made a video about the situation. It was the first in a series on a new channel name: GNCA - GamersNexus Consumer Advocacy. I’ve sent them two emails, including a draft of my book about the incident.
We are writing to inform you that we have reviewed your account and we have noticed that you recently experienced issues with your orders.
Why did this happen?
You have requested refunds claiming to have experienced problems with your orders. We know that occasional problems with orders are expected in the normal course of business. However, the number of refunds in your account exceed the expectation and is in violation of our Conditions of Use.
On which orders were refunds issued in the past?
The following list shows the details of some of your orders where refunds were issued:
Has this message been sent in error?
If you believe that there has been an error, reply to this email to reach an Account Specialist. Our Customer Service team cannot reverse this decision or share more details on this matter. They can only confirm that this message was sent to you and they can help you with technical issues.
The internet is walking backwards, when it first started, was a very nice place to be scammed, them it became safer because bigger companies that could be trusted started getting bigger and providing awesome service, and now, those same companies started working with untrusted third parties and became the scammers themselves
Did you do this? The context makes it sound like an “Account Specialist” is different from the “Customer Service Team”. The lack of the details list is pretty suspicious. Are you even sure the email is actually from Amazon and not from one of the fraudsters?
An account specialist is different from a customer service rep, is notoriously difficult to get a positive resolution from (according to Reddit), and can only be contacted by email (according to Reddit).
Alan should be able to confirm the legitimacy of the email with Customer Services (follow the link from the Amazon site, not any link in the email) even if they cannot deal with the content.
In their last email, they admitted that they received the package, but they ask for a GPU (I received a chicken door).
10/9/2025, 3:28:22 a.m.
Hello,
Thank you for writing to us.Your comments and suggestions will help us improve our store and offer better service to our customers.
Why are we writing?
We are contacting you so we can better understand the activity on your account and learn how to improve your shopping experience. In this process, your account remains open and available for your use.
Your return for the order 114-4738398-0288264 contained an incorrect item instead of the original GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5090 Gaming OC 32G Graphics Card, WINDFORCE Cooling System, 32GB 512-bit GDDR7, GV-N5090GAMING OC-32GD Video Card.
We cannot issue a refund for this order until we receive the correct item. Please return it to us if you want to receive the refund.
We are sorry that we have not been able to resolve this matter to your satisfaction and that you feel the need to contact Argentina’s Consumer Protection in relation to the refund. We will not be able to comment further on this issue.
Once we receive notification of the issue from your Legal Counsel, we will respond to them directly.
Please note that our emails are monitored. Rest assured that we are trained to look into all customer issues and that we will do our best to resolve them.
Has this message been sent in error?
Contact us if you believe that there has been an error with this action. To reach an Account Specialist, go to the appeal form: https://account-status.amazon.com/customer-appeal-form
The “wrong item” is what Amazon and its fraudulent seller sent me. I can’t return a GPU I never received. Beyond frustration. I feel a little empty. Bye bye, my money and the ability to trust Amazon 2025.
I honestly don’t know what to say anymore (what to answer). Any suggestions?
It is so strange.
I discovered that Amazon is doing the same with others here in Argentina. I’m not an isolated case.
”Sold by Amazon, Ship by Amazon,” but it is not. After making the purchase, we have not been refunded. And you end up in an infinite chat loop.
