An Amazon customer has taken to Reddit to complain that their package was missing the Aorus Master GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card advertised online and described on the box. Instead, claims Netherlands-based Redditor Ok-Atmosphere7655, the attractively crafted Aorus carton concealed bags of rice and pasta, along with a “random dusty old GPU.” On the surface, this is a very sad tale, with the Redditor informing readers that they had saved up since last year for a precious RTX 5090. However, we understand it is also difficult for retailers who have to be careful to check such claims are genuine.
'A terrible week'
At the time of writing, the results of the Amazon return are in limbo, so Ok-Atmosphere7655 has been “having a terrible week and I have been losing a lot of sleep over this.” That’s understandable, given the substantial amount of money required to acquire this PC add-in card and considering the lengthy timeframe they said was needed to collect enough funds for the purchase.
The returns process began with the Redditor sending photos of the opened package, displaying the incongruous contents. However, Amazon has yet to respond after the whole sorry mess has been returned to them via tracked courier, as subsequently requested.
Responding to the original Reddit post threads, Ok-Atmosphere7655 provided some interesting additional comments about the RTX 5090 purchase process. The ‘new’ Aorus branded product was sold via Amazon.nl for 2,950 Euros (US$3,360). That sum will include a standard VAT of 21%. The Redditor asserts that they chose Amazon Spain (both countries part of the EU) as the purchase source option, as it saved a bit of cash.
It is quite surprising that the parcel from Spain took “over a week with a bunch of stops” just to get to the Netherlands. However, this lengthy transit gave ample opportunity for a GPU switcheroo by the handlers of the package. Actually, there are so many possible scenarios about who switched the RTX 5090 for the carbs and the old GPU that it is hard to draw any conclusion based on what we currently know.
Whodunit?
We'd like to side with the 'afflicted' but admit the missing RTX 5090 hardware is extremely mysterious in this case, and we don't have all the details. There have been some other high-profile premium product switcheroo cases in the news recently, like this one involving Zotac products at Micro Center, and these kinds of shenanigans are, sadly, nothing new.
Parcels also sometimes go through lengthy and convoluted journeys from the original source to their final destination - from factory to retail warehouse, through distribution, to you. At each of these stages, someone could have tampered with the package and completed the switch. Unfortunately, these cases can also inspire copycats and parties elaborately staging their victimhood.
Protect yourself with the power of video
In addition to being cautious about who you buy from, remember to protect yourself with clear video evidence. Please video everything - from answering the door to the delivery operative to parcel opening, and then unboxing in one long continuous take. This now seems like essential advice for receiving any premium goods. Please be careful out there, and if the Ok-Atmosphere7655 case is genuine, we hope they get the RTX 5090 they've been saving for.
On a positive note, while they wait for a resolution to their case via the Amazon returns process, the Redditor thankfully has their existing Zotac RTX 4080 Ti to keep them entertained.
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