Newegg & the Great Mask Scam

To mask or not to mask?

For weeks the question filled the airwaves…

  • US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Monday that wearing face masks could actually increase a person’s risk of contracting COVID-19, echoing remarks he made on Saturday that called for people to “stop buying masks.”
  • In a similar stance, Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the US coronavirus task force, said on Saturday that the “average American” does not need to “go out and buy” a mask to protect themselves from coronavirus.

 

Yet, then – with no warning – federal and local officials said ‘everyone should wear a mask,’ even to do extraneous activities – such as grocery shopping.

Now, having studied food safety years ago my opinion is that masks ought to be worn – by people making sandwiches at Subway.  Most people didn’t need masks.  Plus, a mask is a great place to store a virus until you have time to take off the mask improperly and contaminate yourself.

Still, having listened to the Surgeon General and the World Health Organization I didn’t buy masks.  Then, I had to buy them.  So did everyone else…

Amazon hosts a bunch of third party mask sellers.  Thankfully, Amazon’s website is pretty honest, noting that many of these sellers first appeared on Amazon in March 2020, that expected delivery dates went into June 2020, and, that 20¢ masks at $1.00 a piece weren’t best buys.

Searching the internet I finally found masks at an outrageous price but in-stock on Newegg.  That’s a company I dealt with before, buying computer do-dads for work.  They’re history goes back most of the century, and, the ad promised “shipping in 3 to 5 business days.’  Boom, I ordered and got e-mails.  My order was confirmed.  My VISA card had been charged.

First surprise:  Newegg took my money but Skyland Store was handling the transaction.  April 12, a few days after I ordered, they e-mailed with my Tracking Number:  “Label Created” the record said.  I should receive my order in “5 to 7 Business Days.”

Wanna guess where this is going?

Several days later I tried Newegg customer service – and got a chatbot which referred me to a site that cost $1.00 a minute ($5.00 minimum) for legal suggestions.

The only phone numbers I could find led to recording about ‘volume’ and patience.  So, I went to the Better Business Bureau website.  They opened a case.  That resulted in an e-mail copied to me between Newegg and Skyland Store…

Hello Skyland Store, 

Tracking # 9400111298370398330092 shows “PreShipment April 12, 2020 at 6:52 am” however there hasn’t been any movement since. Can you please provide the ETA for the delivery of this shipment. Please provide an update as soon as possible. Thank you!


Followed by the reply…

Dear Customer,

Sincerely sorry for any inconvenience caused to you, your package is waiting to be scanned.

During this time, due to insufficient manpower, many packages need to be queued for processing, and the delivery speed of USPS will be slower. Would you wait for couple more days? You will get it in 5-10 business days.

We have contacted USPS and asked them to speed up the shipping

We are really sorry, this is not expected by us either.

“Waiting to be scanned” sounds a lot like “Label Created,” or, “thanks for the money, sucker.”   

Now, USPS (a.k.a. the Post Office) stops by my house six times a week.  Why would they be asked to ‘speed up the shipping’ if the order is still at Skyland ‘waiting to be scanned?’  Oh yes, we’re now past the ;attest ‘5 business day’ promise and closing in on ’10.’

Yes, Newegg and Skyland appear to be scammers.  I don’t believe they have any masks to sell.  When the GOP rules America everyone gets to be a sucker, only toothless tigers like the BBB offering little speed bumps.

At the same time, I won’t forget that most of this mess lands at the feet of Washington and Clayton.  Why didn’t the federal government make provisions for all Americans to have fair access to masks?   Obviously, all government officials have all they need – what about the rest of us?  When the county called for masks I called the health department.  They told me masks were available at area drug stores.  The pharmacist at my local Walgreens found that statement hilarious.

Oh, I did get three reusable fabric masks.  The $30 price included FedEx delivery.  They can be washed several times and are quite well made.  They came from another company I dealt with years ago, Shirtspace.  They’ve been around almost as long as Newegg.

Glenn