Company "upgraded" computer with used, defective SSD and replaced with fake SSD
TL;DR Lured in by their positive Amazon rating, I purchased an HP Laptop 17 computer from Techno Intelligence, who "upgraded" with a used 2TB drive and, when it failed, replaced that with a counterfeit drive. Too late, I discovered many of their seller reviews seem to be fake -- as many as 16 reviews by the same person on the same day, dozens of reviews by that reviewer, all 5-star.
EDIT: Since I posted this review, they appear to be padding other review sites with five-star reviews, too.
After exchanging several messages, they stopped communicating with me. My experience with them has been the worst in 42 years of buying and using computers. I wasted about 40 hours with troubleshooting the problems they created.
Details:
The computer was advertised by the seller as having a 2TB SSD + 2TB HDD configuration. Instead, they shipped it with two 2TB SSDs, which I assumed was due to an error in the listing.
A week after receiving the computer, I discovered that the substituted 2TB SSD had more than 1200 hours of prior use on it. I called the company. They apologized and claimed that their supplier must have inadvertently shipped them the used drive. They offered either to exchange it for a new one or rebate me $69.00, which they said was their cost for the drive. I had no experience installing drives in laptops, so I accepted the rebate rather than risk harming the computer or violating the warranty. They said I could keep the SSD and assured me it would last far longer than the 1200 hours of prior use. I took this to be a good-will gesture for charging me for a new drive but selling me a used one.
Four months later, over the course of a week that included many hours of troubleshooting, the used SSD failed. They replaced the failed SSD with another 2TB SSD, which also immediately failed, causing further issues and more wasted troubleshooting time. The AC adapter also failed to charge the computer during this time.
I sent them the computer and adapter. They replaced the adapter and said there was nothing wrong with the computer. They wanted to wipe my boot drive because their technician figured the problem was with Windows. I told them the errors also occurred outside Windows, at boot time. They agreed to install the original drives, prior to their upgrade, so I could send it back to HP for warranty repair.
Before I did that, I tested the computer with the stock drives and found that the second drive they sent me was counterfeit -- a fake, no-name Chinese drive with a real capacity of only 111GB, modified to appear to be 2TB.
I requested, as a way to get my computer running again with a trustworthy drive and to restore my faith in their company (which offered a two-year warranty), that they refund me the cost of a new, name-brand 2TB SSD. Instead, after more discussion, they offered me a 2TB HDD. I replied that I could not count on them to ship me a reliable, genuine, new drive after they had already sent me two bad ones. I reiterated my request for a refund to cover the cost of a name-brand 2TB SSD. At that point, they stopped communicating with me.
I've since ordered a Samsung SSD at my own expense. The whole experience has been stressful, has denied me the use of my computer, has cost me about 40 hours of wasted time troubleshooting, and I'm also out the cost of the new SSD drive.