User Receives A Bunch Of Backpacks Inside GeForce RTX 5090 Box; Micro Center Confirms Over 30 Such Cases

A Reddit user who bought a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 GPU got scammed at Micro Center, as he found a missing GPU inside the box.

Reddit User Receives Backpacks Inside a Sealed Box of ZOTAC RTX 5090; Micro Center Confirmed 31 More Such Cases

Empty boxes or missing GPUs are not uncommon, but this one particular instance is related to the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs. The issue came into the limelight when a Reddit user, u/JamesFerg650, got scammed at Micro Center Santa Clara. The user bought a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 5090 card at the store but found nothing inside the box except for a few backpacks.

Surprisingly, the box was sealed, which means the box was tampered with even before it reached the Micro Center. Thankfully, the user was able to get his card exchanged with no hassles, but this wasn’t the sole incident, as, apparently, the same Micro Center store confirmed more than 30 such cases, all of them related only to ZOTAC RTX 5090 cards. This indicates a deeper issue, as it was unlikely that someone in the middle of the supply chain would have done this, as the GPUs came in properly sealed boxes.

The user got the following statement from Micro Center after the occurrence of this incident:

Our team is aware of these reports and are actively investigating the legitimacy of the issue. At this time, we are still working internally with our Santa Clara team to confirm details they have on their end. We sadly do not have any details to confirm if this is indeed true,  however we are working as quickly as possible with the Santa Clara team on this. While they are aware of these reports, our team in-store will do everything they can in their typical process to check these items before they are purchased. Our best recommendation from here is speaking with the Santa Clara team in-store if you plan on visiting, for any more information they may have at that time.

– Micro Center, Santa Clara

Later, Micro Center confirmed that these GPU boxes were altered at the ZOTAC China factory, as reported by Videocardz. The report had likely reached ZOTAC as the company reached out to the user on the Reddit thread. A thorough investigation is required into these incidents, as the cost of 32 RTX 5090 GPUs is probably over $90,000, which isn’t a small amount by any means. Perhaps it’s best to shoot an unboxing video to be on the safe side, as it helps with easier replacements or returns.