USE CODE "PUCKGAMERSNEXUS" for 10% off ANYTHING on the GN store while it lasts: store.gamersnexus.net/ our ability to permanently ban advertisers and stand on principle for a better industry is funded by our audience's support. E-Waste Inductor Dice Set: store.gamersnexus.net/products/inductor-full-tabletop-mtg-dnd-premium-dice-set-7-piece-dice-wooden-box-token-card Snowflake the Cat Dice Set: store.gamersnexus.net/products/snowflake-full-tabletop-mtg-dnd-premium-dice-set-7-piece-dice-wooden-box-cat-card PC Building Anti-Static Modmat & Work Surface: store.gamersnexus.net/products/large-modmat-gn15-anniversary Project & Soldering Mats: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-project-soldering-mat Copper-Plated Stainless Steel Mule Mug: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-copper-plated-stainless-steel-mule-mug-thermal-conductivity-of-copper We have permanently banned NZXT from all future advertising with GamersNexus. Forever. gamers.nexus/ethics-statements/advertising Learn about NZXT's H1 Fire Hazard issues here: ua-cam.com/video/9XIKOSrQdQ0/v-deo.html
Bro, you took my "Punk" phase from my parody 2020 CSGO hacker vid? Ok, so you unintentionally aligned with my parody vid. Yeah-sure, pure coincidence. 😅
You should look into this other PC shady company called starforge, even Linus tech tips had issues with them TWICE with the most recent being the secret shopper but all was resolved once they found out it was LTT behind it the got their special content creator tailored experience after instead of the accurate problematic consumer scam when they was undercover in secret shopper.
Yeah credibility is a currency and it can be absolutely depleted. I have a rule to just hate on anything advertised by YT. Ridge Wallets is right up there lol
I wonder how long influencers will exist. Did they come to stay? Will this be viable in the future? Will people still be scammed by them? Will we never learn?
"Your right to cancel the ad campaign must be made in writing no later than two weeks after the agreement is signed. If the agreement is canceled beyond these two week, you, as the advertiser's agent will be liable for up to ten times of the agreement value, to be delivered as payment no later than two weeks after your notification to us of any intent to break the agreement. So... Did you actually read the terms of your ad deal?
"you can literally get one of these PCs for one month and then win a fortnite tournament or something and have enough money to my your own pc" has got to be the stupidest thing I've heard in ages. Who's going to go from not having to access to a PC to becoming a Fortnite Tournament winner within a month?
its hard to do when youtube acts in a similar way. they actively make normal youtube annoying while constantly asking if you want to go ad free with premium. there was a time when youtube was just funny home videos, guides and more honest reviews. then youtube realized they can make a lot of money on influencers. fastforward to today and we have one of their worst ideas, shorts.
Why is everybody jerking this dude off, as if rental scams haven't targeted desperate poor people since the dawn of man. The English were renting nice shoes to the Irish on Sundays during the potato famine so they could go to church at least look like a dapper victim of scurvy. Show me a rental that doesn't have a sensible reason, like renting a car while traveling, and I'll show you a scam. What a revelation.
Depending on where you live, certain kinds of ad campaigns targeting children are forbidden. It may be worth it for people to notify their government's consumer protection agency if they feel it violates local regulations.
Yup, go into the comments of those influencer videos promoting NZXT and you'll see a bunch of clueless kids asking which pc they should ask their parents to buy, kinda sad
As a small computer repair shop (and content creator), I can't express how thankful I am that GN CONSISTENTLY calls out the BS these companies try to pull, and forces them to be held accountable for their shady actions and practices. ALL OF US that have boots on the ground in the industry feel like we're yelling at clouds when gigantic companies pull predatory or anti-consumer stuff like this, so hearing you unload at 24:00 unleashed a feeling in me that I could only express through buying a shirt on your website, using your code. THANK YOU for always prioritizing the most vulnerable consumers, even if it means going against what's best for your finances. Truly The Greatest Tech Channel That's Ever Lived.
I normally don’t follow these types of channels but I just subscribed after watching this video. Great stuff! Awesome to see honesty and integrity, which is not easy to find these days.
He's normally reviewing pc parts and covering industry news. Usually, these types of spots only show up when a company does something really scummy, like described here.
My cousin who is earning a minimum wage was highly considering the rental program. This video came out and I immediately showed him this. He changed his mind afterwards and decided to keep saving until he could afford one. This might sound nothing but you literally saved a soul who is one step away from a massively terrible financial decision.
That is awesome news and absolutely the right move! He can spend the meantime learning about the hardware he wants to buy outright to get maximum value.
Assuming your cousin is young, it may also very well have saved him from the mindset of renting things you can’t afford to buy, which is more often than not a very bad idea.
No need to buy it all at once get it piece by piece learn about every piece of hardware, just build it yourself. He’ll be better off in the long run and more knowledgeable too.
@@chrisjordan2918 But if he does not need it immediatelly, its good way to go as prices for most items will go down. So if he wait, he will save some dime.
Partly, but in some ways this is also the return of the bad old days: rental and hire-purchase schemes for appliances were quite a big thing back in around, roughly, the 1970s or even early 1980s, and some of those were notoriously bad deals, too.
It doesn't have to stay this way. The more this crap surfaces the more we have to spread awareness until laws are passed to combat this anti consumer behavior.
@@leocomerford Like here in Australia we used to have service called "radio rentals" which you could rent white goods and electronics, some have rent-to-own too .
I mean, IMO they never stopped being bad, since day one was always all overpriced bs just because they gave it their look, with such shitty support, they give more attention to posting memes in socials.
@@thezimra9429 imagine thinking LTT is even in the same ballpark. I myself have issues with LTT as a company and how Linus runs it, but calling them a scam company is complete bs. One of the few things I do like about them is the high quality of the products they produce.
I am normally a lurker in all digital media i consume, but sir, i must bow to your integrity and journalism skill, you make this earth genuinely a better place, cheers.
All their youtube videos with nzxt sponsored ads at the start of the video is going to be an awkward ethics conversation, people will still watch those old videos, are they going to go through their entire youtube channel and remove nzxt audio/video ads?
@@GamersNexus I bought another pint glass to contain all of the drinking of beer and other various alcohols I am going to do to deal with our ever sliding decent into hyper neo-feudal capitalist society. Thanks Steve!
@@Mavendow They could use the annotations to add a message on top of the video saying "Do not buy NZXT, link to why in the video description" and a description link to this video.
I'm an old crippled dude from Spain, but I really appreciate the simple fact that you guys don't let the fact that someone is a sponsor get in the way of real journalism .The simple fact that you do all of this for people you've never met on the internet over companies paying your wages is just simply mind blowing to me. Keep up the great work.
Flicking a lit cigarette over your shoulder as you walk away in slow motion from an ad campaign you thuroughly doused in gasoline. Truly impressive display of ethical integrity. Respect!
@@terpinkov8770Because at least gambling would be cheaper overall if you have good impulse control, compared to paying $250 a MONTH for multiple YEARS, lmao...
Having a lawyer come in and break this down was awesome. Thank you. Consumers are constantly screwed over by companies like this. This spreads awareness that just because a company writes something in a contract, it doesn't necessarily mean it can be enforced legally.
@GamersNexus Please check the simulation speed with different cpus if so, on a big city (at least 300k pop, or 1 million). Thats the important part, not graphics :)
This absolute horseshit is why the market NEEDS independent media such as GN. Fuck the corporations that ruin well-intentioned and previously reputable brands, at the expense of the consumer and the employees.
I mean, it’s the brands choice to sell out to the corpos in the first place. You realize they don’t just magically get these cash injections and ownership changes by itself yes?
@@SahiPie Yes, you're right. I would just like to see an example of a company *not* going to shit as soon as some corporate conglomerate gets their hands on it. I find it hard to blame somebody for wanting to cash out when presented with so much money, as much as we wish they wouldn't.
As stupid as it may sound I have ADHD & OCD You made an good & intriguing video that kept me invested, to pay attention longer than I expected without my meds I even listened to this when picking up my little brothers from their school Thank you for posting this video, because it was very educational & I honestly needed it (I’ve been wanting a PC)
@@GamersNexus I always got the ick any time someone had a sponsorspot for NZXT bld featuring the rental shit. Not gonna name names, but I truly hope within 24h we've got several big creators dropping them...
@@GamersNexusSteve I was a mod in their discord and they would ban anyone that spoke against there nonsense. Some of there mods would lie and say they officials from Microsoft when they were not. I stated what they were doing is wrong I got removed. I knew this would happen because they were anti consumer before
This is a deep rooted issue in our modern society, mostly in the west. Not just about pc obviously. Heck, loans with interest rates should basically never be taken at all, but at least for a home I can understand. Car is excessive. Smaller loans should be banned all together, or at least state regulated to a low maximum amount of interest (then all would dissapear anyways).
No, but the computer enthusiasts that make up the majority of their business will, and I guarantee you this video will put a dent in their corporate wallet
Renting any hardware in any industry for any kind of long term use you are getting ripped off. I mean even blockbuster did you know for that $4 for the weekend you could save up for 4 weekends and buy the disc and keep it?!
The track record of the same private investment firm proving to run both Corsair and NZXT into the ground after a substantial cash injection, then selling them off seems to really show that newer PC companies should be extremely wary of sudden, large investments.
Not a lawyer here, but with some knowledge of legal systems: in Europe this would not only be unenforcable and violation of a multitude of consumer protection laws (and personal data protection laws), but also most likely criminal on multiple levels. Also, great job, youtubers are now doing better investigative journalism then most of media that should be doing investigative journalism. Respect and thanks.
@@termiterasinbro in the netherlands its law that waranty does not mean sh*t by law the waranty should be what you can expect for the price so if you buy a computer worth 1500 and it breaks out of warranty lets say 120 days in they dont have the right to stop your refund or legal proceedings they also need to refund any damage the product caused when lets say a fire starts
i don't typically donate to creators on UA-cam. However when i see a channel like yours or Louis Rossman I'm compelled to out of the sheer ethical practices that you stand behind. Heres a thank you for calling out the bullshit in this Industry and for helping me build and continue upgrade/s of my pc! alot of younger or inexperienced people will not understand how these compounding cost can hinder them not to mention that if they get behind or miss a payment their credit score will most likely be hit. These type of payment plans are just as predatory as RentACenter and or the pawn shop loans. Please don't do it to yourself people. Also what is the best way to support the channel?
For those commenting, there's an upside to this if they're sending a comment donation on purpose. It reaches more people this way, and also the donation is proof itself that they donated, instead of just stating it. There might be better ways, but these are some upsides of their chosen way of donating.
Nice to see that at least one of the influencers (ZTT) cited in this video issued a full apology, privated all NZXT ads, and promised to not to accept sponsorships from them in the future. Unfortunately in the social media space the level of care required to vet all your business partners is something we see rarely. Thank you Steve and GN for upholding that level of attention on behalf of consumers everywhere!
Zach definitely doesn't do as much vetting for his sponsors as he really should, however, the fact he had the accountability to cancel all future deals, private all NZXT promotions, and issue a formal apology to his fans is accountability that is also rarely seen in the content creator space.
I have found out from a few people who have posted about their experiences with shady sponsor spots in the past that a lot of the scummier ones will stipulate in the contract that your ad has to be up either indefinitely or for a certain duration, so they can put themselves in legal precarity by doing that. Just something to remember when somebody won't take down their old ads after a sponsor gets outed as doing scummy stuff. It's also worth noting that ad copy as a concept was not covered at all here. The reason all these creators were saying the same phrases is because they are required to go over certain things in their wording. NZXT wrote that wording and that'll be an important feature of any legal case that gets brought against this, tho tbh it's toeing the line enough that I don't expect much to happen.
Thanks for hiring Vincent Agosta, the second half of this video is basically a clear and chill chat with a lawyer and like an accessible lesson in consumer protection
I wish he had talked about North Carolina's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA) under NC Gen. Stat. 75. That's a powerful consumer tool that gives you access to treble damages or attorney's fees for matters that 'have a tendency to deceive.'
@@spencercarruth9706 Yes, but attorney Agosta. I'm an attorney in NC myself, and my first instinct was "UDTPA!" But Agosta did mention the UCC this time around, so I was happy with that.
Huge props to the lawyer you guys work with for actually going on camera and breaking down this stuff in a way that's easier to understand. Such an important part of the segment and I love it whenever he comes in because I feel like I learn so much.
This hit really close to home as growing up my mom fell victim the Rent-to-own trap repeatedly. I would always show here how if she just saved her "payment" for 6 months, she would own it outright, but was never able to convince her. she would pay 2x to 2.5x for everything from TV's to VHS players and Vacuums. At least in that case you owned it after...this is just criminal.
I hate this predatory business models that goes after poor ppl who are bad with money by trapping them into long expensive services cos they don't realize what getting into. It's so scummy.
Reminds me of people that fall for every damn Facebook myth/misinformation post. You show them in black and white that it's clearly untrue and they even agree with you, but then they go and fall for another post tomorrow. Some people simply never develop critical thinking skills.
Yea that would drive me insane if I see my mother being taken advantage of. I will say your mom seems very sweet. And thats who these losers target. Struggling parents that just want to give their kids something to find joy in. ❤
Dude, I love you guys so much. I work in the finance industry and it blows my mind how many people dont understand the terms of what they're agreeing to and honestly I don't blame them either. Half of the information they need to make a sound decision is buried and hidden with flashy text and long wordy contracts. The financial literacy is so low in the United States and these predatory programs, I believe, specifically target individuals who have low income / low financial literacy. Its disgusting. Thanks for raising awareness. Awareness saves me the heartbreak of delivering hard truths to people down the road.
Greed continues to destroy our civilization. Anyone preying on the most vulnerable in society: you've failed at life spectacularly; how about making your life meaningful before its short run is over. Yes, you can stand up against your a**hole tech bosses... but will you??? TY GN for yet another beautiful, transparent tech journalism piece into the unfortunately growing greedy cesspool of PC gaming profit-taking orgs and scammers. NZXT isn't the only big player that completely pukes all over decency and some measure of morality, but somehow no one in the company is coming forward as a whistleblower?? Are employees scared to come forward? If so, why!? And all those lame UA-camrs that can't make a video without screaming "I GOT PAID BY NZXT... oh and they will revolution your life!!" Your failure of due diligence into the legal matters that you, well, clearly don't understand as superficial and wanna-be "influencers" that will say anything to make a quick buck. Again, greed is greed and weak, reckless UA-camrs need to be called out for their shameless conduct. You're being warned now: are you prepared to go to court?
No, most people won't. The majority of humanity is weak, unhealthy, and afraid of everything but the abusive relationship this type of society breeds. From politics, religion, and business (of any kind), humanity would rather live in a convenient abusive and manipulative society than realize we let it happen and it must change. Social media gives us a "voice" and no one really cares. It's genius from a behavior change perspective. If we lived in a great society, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It would be something that just wouldn't happen in society. However, the vast majority of humanity would need to take a drastic turn. To the point I think you'd literally have to be in a completely different alternate reality to even fathom it could happen People are just as obsessed with power and money as the rulers above them. It's a learned behavior. All of this BS is. You're not born racist. You're not born in love with God, money, politics, consumerism, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. You can call some of them human nature, but you don't really know that if society would shift towards what truly is best for humanity without the overt control over everyone's lives based on numbers on the internet or some piece of paper that says it's worth 100$. I believe the majority of people don't have any idea what they're doing and who they are outside of what they do for money. That's why a lot are weak because their ego and sense of self is wrapped around money. It's fragile. . Idk internet stranger. It's almost like we could all collectively start saying no with this thing called money. What's the worst that happens? You save money by not spending it. Say the first one is Netflix. Then social media. Then the internet. What good is it to them without our data? We don't need them, they need us. Just like any business out there. Cheers
@theorenhobart Friend: thank you. From the bottom of our hearts of those that have some basic level of moral decency and love for our neighbors: the good fight is more than worthwhile, even if unpopular or against all odds. Also: GN would probably love to hear your testimony, even if you remain anonymous (completely understandable!!l
Pretty sure that's illegal, asking for ID is par for the course when evaluating if a payment is fraudulent. If they didn't bother to get it then they likely just made the call that they were a legit customer despite not receiving the ID.
@@GamersNexus Steve, I think you might also want to highlight a huge loophole their contract builds for them, being they can supply a consumer a used PC and it being used under another part if the contract, makes it unreturnable.
I’m a cyber security professional who has worked in the finance sector, and my jaw dropped when you showed proof that NZXT explicitly bypassed legally required Know Your Customer ID checks. This is a super huge no-no that will get them utterly screwed for enabling money laundering. I thought the earlier content was sad and bad, but this speaks of malpractice. They are screwed AF.
@@jordanmartinetti8224 unfortunately, whilst this is less NZXT and more their financial services partner, the contract is setting up such an arrangement.
I love how you lot provide such detailed and fact backed content like this. I truly cant find something as entertaining and helpful as your content. I love the way steve just says it how it is whilst also staying between the lines of not turning it into hate speech, even though the influences who pushed this deserve nothing but negative comments
Thank you Steve and team for another educational and factual documentary into shady corporate tactics and calling out a brand doing so. I'm glad I don't follow any of the overly animated content creators promoting this BS in the clips you shared. And, thank you for not selling out like them.
You can go and get a Affrim loan and only pay like 50 bucks more for the whole PC and my monthly cost for a 4000$ PC is 80 bucks a month for like 2 years. depending on the plan you choose. But you own the PC when its all said and done. The fact they take the info off the PC when its sent back and sell the data alone should keep you from ever getting this.
@@Mikesusendsadasdcorrr you can do Amazon's zero interest payment plan and pay it off in 6 months. If you can't afford a pc after six months you don't need a PC, you need better life choices
@@temperedglass1130 I have a gamers nexus desk size mouse mat that i purchased on their store as far as i know according to steve himself as he's said countless times in his videos that's the best most direct way to support their work.
To be fair, JayzTwoCents also told ASUS to f off and cut off their ad ties before GN dropped their expose IIRC. The video was dated a year ago (although he does cite a GN video at the start, lol).
@@tedhodge4830 GN even dropped the Techtuber "friendship" when the LTT story dropped. I respect GN for doing what almost no media company ever does.. ACTUAL journalism. Instead of telling us what to think or how to think. They report on the story and we come to our own conclusions based on their reporting.
Thank you for shedding light on this issue. I never imagined that companies like NZXT could engage in such questionable and unethical practices. It’s incredibly disheartening to learn about the extent of these actions, especially as someone who not only used their products but also recommended them to friends and colleagues in good faith. This revelation has completely shaken my confidence in NZXT, and I can no longer support or endorse their products. I believe it’s important for companies to prioritize integrity and transparency, and unfortunately, this situation highlights a significant breach of trust. Kudos to Gamers Nexus for their outstanding investigative journalism. It’s vital that consumers are made aware of these practices, and their work plays a crucial role in holding companies accountable. Moving forward, I will ensure that I support brands that align with my values and prioritize ethical business practices. #DoNotBuyNZXT
I am both an attorney and a CPA and have worked in “high” finance. I have seen some predatory behavior, but I genuinely can’t think of a more predatory behavior by a company that isn’t just pure fraud (ie - Theranos)
@@jeremypettibone3242 You should also stop selling products from many other companies then. Especially Nvidia, if you are still selling Nvidia products, stop it.
@@thomasmann3560 Lets be fair, it just makes good buisness sense to drop NZXT now. When this starts filtering through to the PC populace via UA-cam, Reddit and others, people will vote with their wallets. I wouldnt want to be a shop having purchased NZXT products and holidng NZXT inventory that is likely going to be hanging around for some time now...
Just went to NZXT site, when on the default USA localisation it offers the scam rentals described in this video, changing to my native UK, all rental options are gone! Likely this is because of the stronger consumer protections we have - don't get scammed Americans!
In the UK, the FSA regulates loans and financing. I'm going to guess that these NZXT "rentals" are illegal in the UK due to legislation introduced in 2018 that regulated loans and financing to a maximum of 100% total interest and a maximum of 0.8% interest per day. $15540 over 5 years for a $2309 PC is a 573% total interest, quite a lot more than the legal 100% maximum. We have other legislation that prevents loansharks from circumventing the FSA by calling a loan a rental, so NZXT cannot operate this 'rental' scam over here, they'd be fined and shut down if they tried.
Most Americans don't believe in consumer protection, half the country just voted to remove protections and regulations and give the rich more tax breaks.
I just cancelled my order on my new build. It would've had an NZXT AIO and Case. What a disgrace of a company. EDIT: I now went with a Fractal north and an Arctic AIO. Even saved 90 bucks put that into a second 2TB m.2. now I have 4TB instead of 2. Thanks, Steve.
Why didnt you go for the Arctic Liquid Freezer 3?????? I love people like you…. You dont deserve better. There is a channel member here who is goind to build a new system with the new Intels chips😂 this is MINDBLOWING. Some people dont deserve better.
@@ICEMANZIDANEcause it’s ugly, people buy thermalright aios today, arctic can’t keep up with Chinese companies aesthetically…. performance is pretty much the same
Over the years you showed exceptional level of integrity and professionalism, which especially visible in situations like these - you did your due diligence and instead of grabbing some cash for a promotion you exposed fraudulent company instead. On behalf of gaming community I'd like to say: we're grateful for your work and keep it up!
Exactly, Steve could have just taken the money and kept his mouth shut, and many many youtubers have already done exactly that, and nobody would ever know, as dealings for private businesses are not public record. Steve's the honey badger of tech youtube though, Steve don't care, he's gonna call it like he sees it, and he's got 20/20 vision
Christ, only a couple minutes into this documentary and both that insane DoT rental price tag plus the parts downgrade swap is genuinely on the levels of a crypto Ponzi scheme. I’m sure a LOT of people’s wallets and checking accounts will have you to thank, GN team. This is why y’all are the top dog.
The math would be just as crazy on Car rentals, or taxis, or rentals for nearly anything. Its not a scam, its just renting. Most rentals are incredibly short term, and the products sit around or a long time. This guy has a hatred for them and I get it
Huge respect to GN for stranding firm and calling out the industry's BS. It takes dedication to do that when actual cash and industry access is on the line. This is important work though.
@@BigDavoNorriwong I'm pretty sure in the US its not illegal. Iirc, the famous "You get a car, everybody gets a car" scene from Oprah was followed by the audience members having to pay 7000 USD in taxes per person or they could sell their car and get the money to pay the taxes or forfeit it entirely and not pay any taxes.
Hundreds of service in this world are legally predatory. It's just that most of them don't speak up for profits, and they manage to stay in their legal lane. This is one of the rare occasions that manage to speak up. There's million others that don't speak up for profit and benefit.
@@caramelldansen2204 The land of the free, as long as you follow the rules and stay in your legal lane. Applies to every country that follow UN. And even dictatorship have some limited leeway and freedoms despite their seemingly strict and hard rules.
Thanks, Steve! This is my first donation and I wanted to show a little appreciation to you and the GN team. I believe you are doing an important service for our community and hopefully this helps the work continue if companies keep up their shady practices.
I'm only half way through the video and already Agreed, we will get the usual bla bla statement from these influences soon saying they where misled by NZXT amd they are sorry and will do more due diligence... even though they where handed a script to say word for word and then given huge sums of money and they just parrot out the lines. Influences need to be held accountable too, they should have spent 5 minutes on the website and seen the bait and switch. Its like the saying "hopes and prayers to the family, we can't talk about this during these hard times out of respect for their space" Either NZXT is going to be sold quickly and whoever gets the steaming pile will go bust soon or NZXT will be sold for penny on the dollar and liquidated and some unrealated person will get the debt while the real c suite people run into the distance free. I hope I'm wrong.
But they won't be because people who follow them won't watch GN. The influencers don't care about what they'll do to PC building business they only want the bag and free stuff from NZXT. In my opinion if NZXT will be sued they should be included in the lawsuit because they knowingly spread the scam.
You realize NZXT lied to and manipulated everyone who promoted this. You want to retroactively hold people accountable for something they believed was actually a good deal and promoted to their audience because, 1: they got paid. 2: They believed in the message and that's why they accepted the sponsorship. Before you watched this video you weren't even aware of this issue. Now you want to "descend upon thine evil in this world" as the "high and mighty enlightened viewer" and attack the wrong people. NZXT is the problem. Not the channels that accepted the partnership. Good luck attacking Jayztwocents then because years ago he promoted NZXT. You have no logic. You just want to attack everyone but the company that caused the issue.
Steve, please never change. Your dedication to keeping the community of PC gaming and tech in check is sorely needed in a sea of creators who would shill out anything for a few extra dollars.
Jayz and everyone should always know who they are getting sponsored from without the help of gn. It would be ironic to stop being sponsored by a company only after someone as large as gn exposes them, especially if their malicious practises are easy to spot.
What's funny is Steve is going to Jayztwocents in December to help them get better testing processes setup lol. Wonder if it'll come up... probably not.
@@jttech44Linus and literal gone on record with GamersNexus no less and threw his marketing dept under the bus claiming, "I just read what they tell me", like *he* (was at the time) the head of the company and ultimately responsible.
I will NEVER buy a product from NZXT now. Thank you for being a REAL legit creator helping normal consumers like us. I can’t give you $23,000 in the dropped ad campaign, but I will GLADLY help you the best I can on Patreon. YOUR A REAL ONE bro!
Youre doing an amazing job! A week ago a search about NZXT rental would show a list of "influencers" pedalling their lies, now it brings up a long list of people linking this video or making their own "nzxt Scam" videos, its a beautiful thing to see, keep up the good work
Absolute scumbag behaviour here that will turn me off of buying any NZXT product in the new build I'm doing despite being in Australia and having (reasonably) robust consumer protection laws that should mostly stop garbage like this. Having outlets like you and Hardware Unboxed in this space who are willing to stick it to these asshats in the name of consumers is such a privilege, well done.
thanks for not supporting them, from an American. we're starting to figure out here that stopping the cash flow to these companies when they act up is the only meaningful way to tell them no since nothing else seems to work.
"Thanks steve" long time watcher of this channel bought several shirts after the burning riser cable and the gold hourglass tour shirt from years ago. Its a shame, i have a nzxt case on my current build no complaints other than my cat ripped the power button off so now its just the pressure switch underneath 😂... Becoming a patron member today for the first time ever, theres no team more deserving and i hope to see more content like this! As soon as the heavy hoodies get restocked ill order one! ❤ Lots of love from VA!
Wow! I'd paused four minutes in and had no idea how just how scuzzy it all is until I watched to the end. The ban is so appropriate! Snowflake should be very proud of Steve and the team!
To add on about the NZXT employees getting fired. I actually knew a guy in my pharmacy tech class who worked at the CA location, he gave them 7 years of his time just to be spit out like a machine. He said that NZXT was one of the best places to work before all this investment money got involved and it sad to see what investors can do to a good company.
Exactly, I bought my rx580 for 120 euros and sold it for 360 during the mining craze. That's an insane case of profitability, but it can happen due to certain conditions, while renting will not get you anything at all, besides annoying monthly fees
@@BonusCrook Yeah had no idea some youtubers will literally scam their own viewers for money... disgusting. What makes this even worse is there are children being lured into this scam and they know it, but don't care $$$.
The fact that NZXT thought that LITERALLY CHANGING THE GRAPHICS CARD TO A WORSE MODEL WHILE HAVING THE SAME PRODUCT AT THE SAME PRICE would go unnoticed is absolutely insane. It's borderline illegal.
The problem is this is a "prove it in court" kind of illegal. Unless you take it to court, they won't do anything to help you as per the agreement. It's insanely disgusting. The consumers who don't have the money or knowledge to sue them just have to take it on the chin.
you can't believe a word from influencers. They would promote poison if they could get money out of it. I admire Gamers Nexus' honesty and courage. You probably have lots of problems in the background
Enh, this way they have a chance to cancel their own contracts with NZXT and make a video saying "actually, don't do that." Let them have a chance to be better (and more importantly, show their audience how to improve after making a mistake). If they don't take it, _then_ make your list.
Nah, if it would help to shame them, it would be a good idea to put their names on here. But in 90% of the cases, these kind of influencers get a bigger name and eventually only benefit from being shamed.
Same. Is it just me though or do NZXT products always look uninteresting? It's the same-old weird semi-minimalist aesthetic (blending minimalism with show-off windows and RGB fans) that has been copy-pasted to every product in their lineup for many years.
"During the time we were editing the writing for the editing that we have to re-write because they changed the change, they changed it again." is such an incredible sentence.
Awesome work Steve. You have made GN a byword for integrity, honesty and honour over the years. I have huge respect for what you do. In world of darkness where everyone is trying to scam us you are a much needed guiding light.
24:17 *ROASTED.* Using the F word sparingly gives it so much more power. It was absolutely 100% warranted here, Steve. Update: they didn't just get roasted, their remains got charred. What GN did at 58:11 was the ultimate baller move.
In Switzerland, such rentals popped up massively in court and judge declared them illegal and for sure converted it to rent to own. Now these practices are forbidden anyway.
Do you have a source for this? I'm swiss too and very curious to see if this stuff has been banned or something. I remember some rental services renting out Airpod Max's and stuff but now that you mention it I haven't seen such ads in a while.
If you can afford $120 a month for renting a PC just put that money in a shoebox every month and go buy a good gaming PC after a year. Or move that 120 every month into a savings account instead of NZXT’s account. Not only does the PC become yours after saving up $1500 (1 year). But you don’t have to keep paying after that one year! After that, you have a great brand new gaming PC that is forever yours. I think this by far is the most ridiculous thing that people don’t think about. Why are you paying Company 120 a month forever to rent a gaming PC temporarily, when you should be paying yourself that money temporarily (1 year) to own a gaming PC forever.
There is an alternative too. Build an AM4 APU build, dual channel 8GB RAM then wait(safe) for the GPU. At $500 it should be enough for light gaming CPU lasts longer in relevancy compared to GPUs anyway
Exactly! Or use a credit card or take out a small personal loan at credit union, bank, or loan shark, for $120 a month (not including interest). The fact that they prey on children or the less financially informed is down right horrible!
If you need to take out a loan or use a credit card, then you don't need to be buying a computer in the first place. If you can afford the monthly payment then why wouldn't you just save the money instead of owing the bank another $450 in interest? And ya I'm assuming your interest rate is 30% to be dumb enough to tell people to use loans or credit cards 😂 The poor stay poor and blame the rich for their own stupidity, istg 😂
Sound logic, makes perfect sense. However, I’ve been binge watching Caleb Hammer and my main takeaway is some people are simply incapable of delayed gratification. In fact I first learned about this subscription service from a Caleb Hammer guest.
And if you need the computer immediately, purchase a used laptop or something with $120 to get you through ~3 months, then spend $360 on another used device to get you through a year, then spend the $1440 to build a new PC. Done.
Na. Steve should know better. It needs to be sent in by written letter. Within 60days. Steve you silly, silly. This video is but a mark on your character, as a fool.
Steve and his team are amazing. I don’t doubt that during the recording where that line was shot and this video being uploaded, they probably sent out a strong legal letter. Long before anyone laid eyes on this video and you made that comment. Even if they didn’t, so what? NZXT and co. gets to make millions scamming people but god forbid Steve decides not to work with them? Is he forced to? Don’t tell me yes because “Hurr durr contracts”.
I just checked Wikipedia and found this for NZXT: "NZXT, Inc. is a predatory American computer hardware manufacturer based in Los Angeles, California."
Let's protest with our money. I'll add NZXT to the list of product I don't buy as a PC hobbyist. Asus, Nvidia and NZXT are on my do not buy list until they can prove consumer friendly practices which to this date has not happen.
@@rahorin I would not buy from them regardless of ethics, they all offer very poor value. Something about being number one on the market which spawns better or equivalent products for cheaper from your competition.
3:26 The same kid 10 years from now: "I'm 25 and I'm still paying the rental PC. I'm working double shifts, I can barely afford to pay for rent, food and have no hope to build a family with my fiancee, she told me I gotta choose between her and my gaming PC"
@@Lolwutfordawin hehe after 16 years of marriage and two kids I value her more than anything. Only play when it does not interfere with her time or my children’s time. That less than I want but more than enough. Was just joking. 😔
I remember my sister getting a PC from one of those 1-800 rent to own pc scams in the 90s. She ended up paying 2500$ for an hp pavillion. Here we are 30 years later, and they actually managed to make the scam even worse lol.
The brick and mortars were just as bad. My first pc was a dell dimmension 2400 and getting it from a rent to own type place it ended up costing like 4grand was close to 6 total with having to send it in for repairs 3 times only one even caused by us :\.. i think they minute the interest better a but now but they're still pretty awful. I don't remember what kind it was but a few years ago brother in law by l bought one that was around 1200 i think and it ended up about 2k when he finished paying it off. Last time i looked at one was for a switch and it was hysterical. Edit. With the first pc it was mid 2000s i think 05'. And since I'm still salty about it punks literally lied about the ram they told us it would have 512mb 2x256 it has 2x128 lol
"We used a fake identity to purchase the PC, but NZXT wanted photo ID..." Damn the criminals are starting to learn. "... but then NZXT decided that we did send a photo ID and sent it anyways." Nevermind.
I dont know if people already noted this but : - Send it back with enough protection and stuff for ensuring good shipping back, on your responsibility, - Must be packed as original packaging, even if it have 72 start peanuts in it, : they only have to send it to you in a poorly protected packaging then it's checkmate, you can't both protect it correctly, and also send it back in original packaging.
Saw this, these guys are shit, their AIOs are crap, their cases are trash. Honestly, I do NOT recommend NZXT for anyone. I don't even consider them a viable company.
Did they really make an entire PC a subscription based model?! WTF is going on in this world. STOP supporting companies like this people! It's EASY. YOU DON'T SPEND, THEY DON'T EXIST.
@@RipliWitani I think we'll see less of those with the new federal government department that's opening up soon. Plus, take a look at game development over the next few years, I think we'll see fewer and fewer Concords and Dustborns because publicly traded companies have to turn a profit sooner or later.
Most of them aren't really tech influencers, they're gaming influencers who know little to nothing about tech or business. Steve is fluent in both. It makes sense that he would call this out instantly and they would not. They should be politely notified about the nature of the product they are promoting, and if they do not stop AFTER that, they should be named and shamed.
USE CODE "PUCKGAMERSNEXUS" for 10% off ANYTHING on the GN store while it lasts: store.gamersnexus.net/ our ability to permanently ban advertisers and stand on principle for a better industry is funded by our audience's support.
E-Waste Inductor Dice Set: store.gamersnexus.net/products/inductor-full-tabletop-mtg-dnd-premium-dice-set-7-piece-dice-wooden-box-token-card
Snowflake the Cat Dice Set: store.gamersnexus.net/products/snowflake-full-tabletop-mtg-dnd-premium-dice-set-7-piece-dice-wooden-box-cat-card
PC Building Anti-Static Modmat & Work Surface: store.gamersnexus.net/products/large-modmat-gn15-anniversary
Project & Soldering Mats: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-project-soldering-mat
Copper-Plated Stainless Steel Mule Mug: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-copper-plated-stainless-steel-mule-mug-thermal-conductivity-of-copper
We have permanently banned NZXT from all future advertising with GamersNexus. Forever. gamers.nexus/ethics-statements/advertising
Learn about NZXT's H1 Fire Hazard issues here: ua-cam.com/video/9XIKOSrQdQ0/v-deo.html
Yet you have a promo code for them for the puck pinned?
Brilliant code 😂
Bro, you took my "Punk" phase from my parody 2020 CSGO hacker vid? Ok, so you unintentionally aligned with my parody vid. Yeah-sure, pure coincidence. 😅
You should look into this other PC shady company called starforge, even Linus tech tips had issues with them TWICE with the most recent being the secret shopper but all was resolved once they found out it was LTT behind it the got their special content creator tailored experience after instead of the accurate problematic consumer scam when they was undercover in secret shopper.
When will the oh puck gn shirt be released? Or is Oh Puck GN gonna be on the dissapointment shirt?
My personal rule is.. If a bunch of influencers are excited about it.. I shouldn't be.
smart
If influencers want you to buy anything it is not for your benefit. Influencers are legit scammers don't get anything from them
@@l0chj3ss yea just like that crappy avengers game remember rofl
Yeah credibility is a currency and it can be absolutely depleted. I have a rule to just hate on anything advertised by YT. Ridge Wallets is right up there lol
I wonder how long influencers will exist. Did they come to stay? Will this be viable in the future? Will people still be scammed by them? Will we never learn?
Major respect for announcing your cancellation of the ad deal like this
How do I get a refund?
Yeah and they will actually stick to it unlike cough cough jaytwocents boycotting Asus but uses a Asus motherboard in every video
@@MrTbagss I'm surprised people still watch him after the drama a few years back with testing results and him having braindead methodology.
@@anotherfan2870 I only watch some of his videos for entertainment and even them are boring sometimes tbh
"Your right to cancel the ad campaign must be made in writing no later than two weeks after the agreement is signed. If the agreement is canceled beyond these two week, you, as the advertiser's agent will be liable for up to ten times of the agreement value, to be delivered as payment no later than two weeks after your notification to us of any intent to break the agreement. So... Did you actually read the terms of your ad deal?
"you can literally get one of these PCs for one month and then win a fortnite tournament or something and have enough money to my your own pc" has got to be the stupidest thing I've heard in ages. Who's going to go from not having to access to a PC to becoming a Fortnite Tournament winner within a month?
Noone.
Nobody. A 12 year old watching won't make the mental checks though and will have a higher chance of being dead-set on asking for this from a parent.
hey, nice to see you here, and yeah, winning a fortnite tournament isn't easy either lmao.
Literally me
You can take this 10 bucks and put it on black and walk out the casino a millionaire.
The integrity of this channel is incredible. You set an example almost no one else follows.
Everybody else is too busy making sure thier not next.
@percival23 I think you misspelled nzxt
its hard to do when youtube acts in a similar way. they actively make normal youtube annoying while constantly asking if you want to go ad free with premium. there was a time when youtube was just funny home videos, guides and more honest reviews. then youtube realized they can make a lot of money on influencers. fastforward to today and we have one of their worst ideas, shorts.
Why is everybody jerking this dude off, as if rental scams haven't targeted desperate poor people since the dawn of man. The English were renting nice shoes to the Irish on Sundays during the potato famine so they could go to church at least look like a dapper victim of scurvy. Show me a rental that doesn't have a sensible reason, like renting a car while traveling, and I'll show you a scam. What a revelation.
the fact that you contacted an actual loan shark and got a better quote is insane.
Loan sharks have been a better deal than commercial places for decades. That's why there are so few loan sharks anymore. They've all gone legit.
@@petem.3719I really wanna argue about that, since if I accept that fact my fragile hold on reality might come apart.
They're clearly targeting kids and teens with those ads. This was well worth a perma ban.
100%
And I probably would have gone for something like this in the early 2000s when I was a 20 year old with no money
Depending on where you live, certain kinds of ad campaigns targeting children are forbidden. It may be worth it for people to notify their government's consumer protection agency if they feel it violates local regulations.
Also every one of those influencers looks/acts like a huge douchebag. I'm so glad I'm not on tiktok.
Isn’t that something that all UA-camrs, directly or indirectly, are doing? Most of the viewers are kids.
Yup, go into the comments of those influencer videos promoting NZXT and you'll see a bunch of clueless kids asking which pc they should ask their parents to buy, kinda sad
As a small computer repair shop (and content creator), I can't express how thankful I am that GN CONSISTENTLY calls out the BS these companies try to pull, and forces them to be held accountable for their shady actions and practices. ALL OF US that have boots on the ground in the industry feel like we're yelling at clouds when gigantic companies pull predatory or anti-consumer stuff like this, so hearing you unload at 24:00 unleashed a feeling in me that I could only express through buying a shirt on your website, using your code. THANK YOU for always prioritizing the most vulnerable consumers, even if it means going against what's best for your finances. Truly The Greatest Tech Channel That's Ever Lived.
It's.... "The greatest technician that ever lived!" Hope you and your tiny raccoon hands are having a great weekend.
well said, well said
When is the collab?
Good thing you’re not ZachTechStuff!
well said "the greatest technician that ever lived".
I normally don’t follow these types of channels but I just subscribed after watching this video. Great stuff! Awesome to see honesty and integrity, which is not easy to find these days.
they’re setting the bar for pro consumer journalism in the tech world right now
He's normally reviewing pc parts and covering industry news. Usually, these types of spots only show up when a company does something really scummy, like described here.
My cousin who is earning a minimum wage was highly considering the rental program. This video came out and I immediately showed him this. He changed his mind afterwards and decided to keep saving until he could afford one.
This might sound nothing but you literally saved a soul who is one step away from a massively terrible financial decision.
That is awesome news and absolutely the right move! He can spend the meantime learning about the hardware he wants to buy outright to get maximum value.
Assuming your cousin is young, it may also very well have saved him from the mindset of renting things you can’t afford to buy, which is more often than not a very bad idea.
Hopefully a comment like this isn't used as evidence of defamation by NzXT in court. But they don't really have a case anyways
No need to buy it all at once get it piece by piece learn about every piece of hardware, just build it yourself. He’ll be better off in the long run and more knowledgeable too.
@@chrisjordan2918 But if he does not need it immediatelly, its good way to go as prices for most items will go down. So if he wait, he will save some dime.
The "You'll own NOTHING and BE happy" slowly becoming a reality thanks to corporate greeds.
Partly, but in some ways this is also the return of the bad old days: rental and hire-purchase schemes for appliances were quite a big thing back in around, roughly, the 1970s or even early 1980s, and some of those were notoriously bad deals, too.
It doesn't have to stay this way. The more this crap surfaces the more we have to spread awareness until laws are passed to combat this anti consumer behavior.
@@leocomerford Like here in Australia we used to have service called "radio rentals" which you could rent white goods and electronics, some have rent-to-own too .
Yes but also stupid consumers
Louis Rossmann is that you?
This is like an old villain coming back in a later season
I mean, IMO they never stopped being bad, since day one was always all overpriced bs just because they gave it their look, with such shitty support, they give more attention to posting memes in socials.
sounds like linus scam tips
@@thezimra9429 ?
I love it when that happens
@@thezimra9429 imagine thinking LTT is even in the same ballpark. I myself have issues with LTT as a company and how Linus runs it, but calling them a scam company is complete bs. One of the few things I do like about them is the high quality of the products they produce.
I am normally a lurker in all digital media i consume, but sir, i must bow to your integrity and journalism skill, you make this earth genuinely a better place, cheers.
I don't have $23,000 to give you to replace the canceled ad campaign, just my unyielding respect and a few dollars over patreon. Still; Thank you.
Thank you! A few bucks is a lot for any one person and we sincerely appreciate it.
All their youtube videos with nzxt sponsored ads at the start of the video is going to be an awkward ethics conversation, people will still watch those old videos, are they going to go through their entire youtube channel and remove nzxt audio/video ads?
@@Longwittyusername Unless they want to be sued for breach of contract, probably not.
@@GamersNexus I bought another pint glass to contain all of the drinking of beer and other various alcohols I am going to do to deal with our ever sliding decent into hyper neo-feudal capitalist society. Thanks Steve!
@@Mavendow They could use the annotations to add a message on top of the video saying "Do not buy NZXT, link to why in the video description" and a description link to this video.
I'm an old crippled dude from Spain, but I really appreciate the simple fact that you guys don't let the fact that someone is a sponsor get in the way of real journalism .The simple fact that you do all of this for people you've never met on the internet over companies paying your wages is just simply mind blowing to me. Keep up the great work.
It's also good business. That integrity is something that plenty of other brands will be more than happy to be associated with.
Amén
too many facts bro
Indeed
He said he is from Spain. English might not be his first language. Use your brain, mate. FFS.
Next level journalism. Thank you, guys, for catching and documenting this. Slimy corporate greed across the board :( too bad...
2 hundo 🙀
Nice donation man, great support for a great channel.
Damm
Tk fm IN
Great donation! The amount of research and cross checking they did for this video is crazy.
What a legend 👍
Flicking a lit cigarette over your shoulder as you walk away in slow motion from an ad campaign you thuroughly doused in gasoline. Truly impressive display of ethical integrity. Respect!
Shipping an award for how sh*tty a company is directly to their headquarters is actually brilliant.
NZXT's slogan: "Own nothing. Be happy".
Bro, fuckin awesome
@@stupormanoh, they don't care about your happiness for free. That'll be extra $10 per month
Either it gets chucked in the bin on arrival or some intern will grab and keep it.
I hope Steve attached terms and conditions that they are only renting this award for 103% APR
Ah shit, here we go again...
Rip NZXT.
I can't get enough
RIP BOZO NZXT 2004-2024
ALL YOU HAD TO DO, WAS RENT OUT SOME PCS CJ!
Yep it’s go time! Over to you Steve!
"Ah crap my rents due, better win a Fortnight tournament real quick" 😂
Why not just tell people to gamble
@@terpinkov8770Because at least gambling would be cheaper overall if you have good impulse control, compared to paying $250 a MONTH for multiple YEARS, lmao...
Better chances not getting an infection after hiring a street worker than winning a Fortnite tourney
Better off throwing your remaining pennies into a wishing well.
@@terpinkov8770 bro gambling highkey got you better chance of getting rich
Having a lawyer come in and break this down was awesome. Thank you. Consumers are constantly screwed over by companies like this.
This spreads awareness that just because a company writes something in a contract, it doesn't necessarily mean it can be enforced legally.
Oh yuck. I have liked NZXT up until I heard of this. That's absolutely horribly anti-consumer! Keep up the good work Steve and team.
Good to see you around! Hope CS2 has gotten better since launch! I need to check it out again.
Aye, it's cityplannerplays. Nice.
@GamersNexus Please check the simulation speed with different cpus if so, on a big city (at least 300k pop, or 1 million).
Thats the important part, not graphics :)
@@GamersNexus Always! It's getting better, but still needs work. Night and day from the last time you saw it, though!
It's a shame you needed this video and their trash products weren't enough for you to realize that.
This absolute horseshit is why the market NEEDS independent media such as GN. Fuck the corporations that ruin well-intentioned and previously reputable brands, at the expense of the consumer and the employees.
Private equity turns everything the touch into steaming pole of 💩
I mean, it’s the brands choice to sell out to the corpos in the first place. You realize they don’t just magically get these cash injections and ownership changes by itself yes?
@@SahiPie Yes, you're right. I would just like to see an example of a company *not* going to shit as soon as some corporate conglomerate gets their hands on it. I find it hard to blame somebody for wanting to cash out when presented with so much money, as much as we wish they wouldn't.
If steve ever sells out and completely abandons his principals, I lose all faith in any chance of humanity being good
...or a government that gives a shit about their citizens, makes laws to protect them and forms authorities to monitor companies.
It's so bad they needed a scam normalized benchmark...
As a data nerd, I appreciated this graph the most.
Are we sure NZXT doesn’t run UserBenchmark?
@@jared3174 Amazing naming on the axes as well lol
Add to that the troop of tiktok clowns that are straight up playing a major part in this scam. They deserve as much scorn
and couldn't find old enough stuff...
As stupid as it may sound
I have ADHD & OCD
You made an good & intriguing video that kept me invested, to pay attention longer than I expected without my meds
I even listened to this when picking up my little brothers from their school
Thank you for posting this video, because it was very educational & I honestly needed it (I’ve been wanting a PC)
Thank you Steve. 3:43 calling out this brain rot infecting our society needs to be addressed. Nobody should be in debt over renting a computer.
Completely agreed. Especially not at these insane rates.
@@GamersNexus I always got the ick any time someone had a sponsorspot for NZXT bld featuring the rental shit. Not gonna name names, but I truly hope within 24h we've got several big creators dropping them...
@@FadedSparkx86
You should ALWAYS name names.. don't let snakes hide in the grass.
@@GamersNexusSteve I was a mod in their discord and they would ban anyone that spoke against there nonsense. Some of there mods would lie and say they officials from Microsoft when they were not. I stated what they were doing is wrong I got removed. I knew this would happen because they were anti consumer before
This is a deep rooted issue in our modern society, mostly in the west.
Not just about pc obviously. Heck, loans with interest rates should basically never be taken at all, but at least for a home I can understand. Car is excessive.
Smaller loans should be banned all together, or at least state regulated to a low maximum amount of interest (then all would dissapear anyways).
The unfortunate thing is, the people who rent computers aren't watching a channel like this and aren't going to know they're getting ripped off.
No, but the computer enthusiasts that make up the majority of their business will, and I guarantee you this video will put a dent in their corporate wallet
I can't believe people can't do basic math... it's sad seeing ppl getting ripped off
@@Cypher84X I hope this will happen!
Renting any hardware in any industry for any kind of long term use you are getting ripped off. I mean even blockbuster did you know for that $4 for the weekend you could save up for 4 weekends and buy the disc and keep it?!
Who rents computers?
The track record of the same private investment firm proving to run both Corsair and NZXT into the ground after a substantial cash injection, then selling them off seems to really show that newer PC companies should be extremely wary of sudden, large investments.
100% agreed! Nailed that.
So that's what happened to corsair?
which firm?
In what way was corsair run into the ground? I'm sure they're doing fine?
@@RegenTonnenEnte Their products still sell based on past name recognition. Doesn't mean they're any good.
You are such a legend for making this pubic and possibly risk getting sued by those scammers . This is the influencer type that the internet needs.
Sued?! For what?
@@nejicoll They could get sued for defamation, but they would win since all they did was tell the truth
Not a lawyer here, but with some knowledge of legal systems: in Europe this would not only be unenforcable and violation of a multitude of consumer protection laws (and personal data protection laws), but also most likely criminal on multiple levels.
Also, great job, youtubers are now doing better investigative journalism then most of media that should be doing investigative journalism. Respect and thanks.
In America pretty soon we're not going to have any consumer protection laws at all.... things like this are going to become more and more common.
Only in the US is this shit not just allowed but encouraged. I'm so tired of this shit
@@doublecontralto818 As an American I'm jealous the EU has "no permanent on sale" laws.
@@termiterasinbro in the netherlands its law that waranty does not mean sh*t by law the waranty should be what you can expect for the price so if you buy a computer worth 1500 and it breaks out of warranty lets say 120 days in they dont have the right to stop your refund or legal proceedings they also need to refund any damage the product caused when lets say a fire starts
>wake up
>still European
i don't typically donate to creators on UA-cam. However when i see a channel like yours or Louis Rossman I'm compelled to out of the sheer ethical practices that you stand behind.
Heres a thank you for calling out the bullshit in this Industry and for helping me build and continue upgrade/s of my pc!
alot of younger or inexperienced people will not understand how these compounding cost can hinder them not to mention that if they get behind or miss a payment their credit score will most likely be hit. These type of payment plans are just as predatory as RentACenter and or the pawn shop loans.
Please don't do it to yourself people.
Also what is the best way to support the channel?
They have a Patreon.
You gave 33% to Google. Damn
Buy merch. They make money and you get cool stuff.
For those commenting, there's an upside to this if they're sending a comment donation on purpose. It reaches more people this way, and also the donation is proof itself that they donated, instead of just stating it. There might be better ways, but these are some upsides of their chosen way of donating.
Patreon and buying products from the GN store are the main ways.
Nice to see that at least one of the influencers (ZTT) cited in this video issued a full apology, privated all NZXT ads, and promised to not to accept sponsorships from them in the future.
Unfortunately in the social media space the level of care required to vet all your business partners is something we see rarely. Thank you Steve and GN for upholding that level of attention on behalf of consumers everywhere!
Zach definitely doesn't do as much vetting for his sponsors as he really should, however, the fact he had the accountability to cancel all future deals, private all NZXT promotions, and issue a formal apology to his fans is accountability that is also rarely seen in the content creator space.
Where did ZTT post this apology?
@@tsalVlog saw a YT short Just before posting this
I have found out from a few people who have posted about their experiences with shady sponsor spots in the past that a lot of the scummier ones will stipulate in the contract that your ad has to be up either indefinitely or for a certain duration, so they can put themselves in legal precarity by doing that. Just something to remember when somebody won't take down their old ads after a sponsor gets outed as doing scummy stuff.
It's also worth noting that ad copy as a concept was not covered at all here. The reason all these creators were saying the same phrases is because they are required to go over certain things in their wording. NZXT wrote that wording and that'll be an important feature of any legal case that gets brought against this, tho tbh it's toeing the line enough that I don't expect much to happen.
Translation for the fanboys: He is trying to cover his ass, he is not your friend, or at least in my opinion. Exercise critical thinking.
It's great that you folks provide some honesty in an absolute OCEAN of scam companies/advertisers. Thank you.
Thanks for hiring Vincent Agosta, the second half of this video is basically a clear and chill chat with a lawyer and like an accessible lesson in consumer protection
I wish he had talked about North Carolina's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA) under NC Gen. Stat. 75. That's a powerful consumer tool that gives you access to treble damages or attorney's fees for matters that 'have a tendency to deceive.'
@@ChromazeneI think GN avoided discussing any state specific laws for simplicity.
@@spencercarruth9706 Yes, but attorney Agosta. I'm an attorney in NC myself, and my first instinct was "UDTPA!" But Agosta did mention the UCC this time around, so I was happy with that.
Haha, he talks about UDTPA a lot, but we didn't go over it in this one. It's one of his key points in the past ones!
@@GamersNexus@GamersNexus Might want to make like a consumer awareness/education playlist that is pretty much just all the videos with Vincent!
Huge props to the lawyer you guys work with for actually going on camera and breaking down this stuff in a way that's easier to understand. Such an important part of the segment and I love it whenever he comes in because I feel like I learn so much.
This hit really close to home as growing up my mom fell victim the Rent-to-own trap repeatedly. I would always show here how if she just saved her "payment" for 6 months, she would own it outright, but was never able to convince her. she would pay 2x to 2.5x for everything from TV's to VHS players and Vacuums. At least in that case you owned it after...this is just criminal.
I hate this predatory business models that goes after poor ppl who are bad with money by trapping them into long expensive services cos they don't realize what getting into. It's so scummy.
Literally not the same. You could actually pay off rent a center and rent to own. THESE COMPUTERS CANNOT EVER BE PAID OFF.
My mom used to as well 40 years of her falling for it thankfully no longer that I'm aware of
Reminds me of people that fall for every damn Facebook myth/misinformation post. You show them in black and white that it's clearly untrue and they even agree with you, but then they go and fall for another post tomorrow. Some people simply never develop critical thinking skills.
Yea that would drive me insane if I see my mother being taken advantage of. I will say your mom seems very sweet. And thats who these losers target. Struggling parents that just want to give their kids something to find joy in. ❤
Dude, I love you guys so much. I work in the finance industry and it blows my mind how many people dont understand the terms of what they're agreeing to and honestly I don't blame them either. Half of the information they need to make a sound decision is buried and hidden with flashy text and long wordy contracts. The financial literacy is so low in the United States and these predatory programs, I believe, specifically target individuals who have low income / low financial literacy. Its disgusting. Thanks for raising awareness. Awareness saves me the heartbreak of delivering hard truths to people down the road.
Greed continues to destroy our civilization. Anyone preying on the most vulnerable in society: you've failed at life spectacularly; how about making your life meaningful before its short run is over. Yes, you can stand up against your a**hole tech bosses... but will you???
TY GN for yet another beautiful, transparent tech journalism piece into the unfortunately growing greedy cesspool of PC gaming profit-taking orgs and scammers.
NZXT isn't the only big player that completely pukes all over decency and some measure of morality, but somehow no one in the company is coming forward as a whistleblower?? Are employees scared to come forward? If so, why!?
And all those lame UA-camrs that can't make a video without screaming "I GOT PAID BY NZXT... oh and they will revolution your life!!" Your failure of due diligence into the legal matters that you, well, clearly don't understand as superficial and wanna-be "influencers" that will say anything to make a quick buck. Again, greed is greed and weak, reckless UA-camrs need to be called out for their shameless conduct.
You're being warned now: are you prepared to go to court?
No, most people won't. The majority of humanity is weak, unhealthy, and afraid of everything but the abusive relationship this type of society breeds. From politics, religion, and business (of any kind), humanity would rather live in a convenient abusive and manipulative society than realize we let it happen and it must change. Social media gives us a "voice" and no one really cares. It's genius from a behavior change perspective.
If we lived in a great society, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It would be something that just wouldn't happen in society. However, the vast majority of humanity would need to take a drastic turn. To the point I think you'd literally have to be in a completely different alternate reality to even fathom it could happen
People are just as obsessed with power and money as the rulers above them. It's a learned behavior. All of this BS is. You're not born racist. You're not born in love with God, money, politics, consumerism, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. You can call some of them human nature, but you don't really know that if society would shift towards what truly is best for humanity without the overt control over everyone's lives based on numbers on the internet or some piece of paper that says it's worth 100$.
I believe the majority of people don't have any idea what they're doing and who they are outside of what they do for money. That's why a lot are weak because their ego and sense of self is wrapped around money. It's fragile. .
Idk internet stranger. It's almost like we could all collectively start saying no with this thing called money. What's the worst that happens? You save money by not spending it. Say the first one is Netflix. Then social media. Then the internet. What good is it to them without our data? We don't need them, they need us. Just like any business out there.
Cheers
Thank you for the huge support. We'll keep pushing to dig into more of this and expand our capabilities!
i have for my entire life and it has cost me dearly. but i still have a soul which none of the people i worked for can say.
@theorenhobart Friend: thank you. From the bottom of our hearts of those that have some basic level of moral decency and love for our neighbors: the good fight is more than worthwhile, even if unpopular or against all odds.
Also: GN would probably love to hear your testimony, even if you remain anonymous (completely understandable!!l
And yet we elected a rich felon con artist president. God save us.
The fact they don't force you to upload your ID just tells me they want to sell your ID card info.
Hadn't considered that association with the privacy section. Good point. I'll add that one to any follow-ups we do.
@@GamersNexus Appreciate your work mate! Keep up the good fight!
You'd think the massive upcharged would be enough before selling data
Pretty sure that's illegal, asking for ID is par for the course when evaluating if a payment is fraudulent. If they didn't bother to get it then they likely just made the call that they were a legit customer despite not receiving the ID.
@@GamersNexus Steve, I think you might also want to highlight a huge loophole their contract builds for them, being they can supply a consumer a used PC and it being used under another part if the contract, makes it unreturnable.
"You're saying the same shit, so shut the fuck up" caught me off guard, same energy as when dad gets angry lol
Same, my jaw dropped
I was appalled. Warranted by NZXT though
24:14 is the timeline
@@owenosborne8543 You both have the same dad?
"S-sorry Steve" *looks down*
Steve's voice getting faster and more stressed while listing all the NZXT changes was hilarious and really drove the point home.
For real. I was watching at x1.75 when he started going at ludicrous speed. Had to switch to normal playback and rewind the segment.
Finally a level of subscription that could rival Adobe; it is only missing the auto renew subscription that you cannot opt out of !
Oh yeah adobe
Hahahaha I am thinking the same
Dont give them ideas 💀
Oof... and here I was thinking I'm just broke af for that Adobe sub model
Wow, I didn’t even know about that, Another reason for me to keep pirating adobe.
Steve saying "Shut the F*** Up" - first time with out a censor and it was BEAUTIFUL
i LOLed 🤣
@@davidbooth1634the glaze is crazy
My dude Steve woke up today and chose violence, lol.
At which time did he say?
@@guile6735 24:09
I’m a cyber security professional who has worked in the finance sector, and my jaw dropped when you showed proof that NZXT explicitly bypassed legally required Know Your Customer ID checks. This is a super huge no-no that will get them utterly screwed for enabling money laundering. I thought the earlier content was sad and bad, but this speaks of malpractice. They are screwed AF.
I was in the finance sector as well. Retired now. I was going to say the same thing.
The fact that is going on is enough to stop buying them and take action and sue. You need ID checks to get a credit card let alone a car.
They're not a financial institution and they're not opening an account so KYC does not apply.
@@jordanmartinetti8224 unfortunately, whilst this is less NZXT and more their financial services partner, the contract is setting up such an arrangement.
I wish I too could have a whole career in the financial sector while getting a basic fact such as who is obligated under KYC completely wrong.
I love how you lot provide such detailed and fact backed content like this. I truly cant find something as entertaining and helpful as your content. I love the way steve just says it how it is whilst also staying between the lines of not turning it into hate speech, even though the influences who pushed this deserve nothing but negative comments
Thank you Steve and team for another educational and factual documentary into shady corporate tactics and calling out a brand doing so. I'm glad I don't follow any of the overly animated content creators promoting this BS in the clips you shared. And, thank you for not selling out like them.
how did he not notice ur dono??
Wow! Thanks for the donation. Sincerely appreciate it. Just catching up on all the comments still. We will keep it up! Thank you.
Thanks for doing the right thing and boycotting NZXT.
and I was just looking at new keyboards....
You can go and get a Affrim loan and only pay like 50 bucks more for the whole PC and my monthly cost for a 4000$ PC is 80 bucks a month for like 2 years. depending on the plan you choose. But you own the PC when its all said and done. The fact they take the info off the PC when its sent back and sell the data alone should keep you from ever getting this.
@@Mikesusendsadasdcorrr you can do Amazon's zero interest payment plan and pay it off in 6 months. If you can't afford a pc after six months you don't need a PC, you need better life choices
Immediately cutting partnerships and burning contract money is why i will always support you guys.
How do you support them ??
@@temperedglass1130with views and comment engagement
@@temperedglass1130 I have a gamers nexus desk size mouse mat that i purchased on their store as far as i know according to steve himself as he's said countless times in his videos that's the best most direct way to support their work.
To be fair, JayzTwoCents also told ASUS to f off and cut off their ad ties before GN dropped their expose IIRC. The video was dated a year ago (although he does cite a GN video at the start, lol).
@@tedhodge4830 GN even dropped the Techtuber "friendship" when the LTT story dropped. I respect GN for doing what almost no media company ever does.. ACTUAL journalism. Instead of telling us what to think or how to think. They report on the story and we come to our own conclusions based on their reporting.
Thank you for shedding light on this issue. I never imagined that companies like NZXT could engage in such questionable and unethical practices. It’s incredibly disheartening to learn about the extent of these actions, especially as someone who not only used their products but also recommended them to friends and colleagues in good faith.
This revelation has completely shaken my confidence in NZXT, and I can no longer support or endorse their products. I believe it’s important for companies to prioritize integrity and transparency, and unfortunately, this situation highlights a significant breach of trust.
Kudos to Gamers Nexus for their outstanding investigative journalism. It’s vital that consumers are made aware of these practices, and their work plays a crucial role in holding companies accountable.
Moving forward, I will ensure that I support brands that align with my values and prioritize ethical business practices.
#DoNotBuyNZXT
I am both an attorney and a CPA and have worked in “high” finance. I have seen some predatory behavior, but I genuinely can’t think of a more predatory behavior by a company that isn’t just pure fraud (ie - Theranos)
This just further proves that GN doesn't draw lines like this unless its irredeemable, which is clear as day in this case.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this at all. If your a shareholder
@@3_x_plus_1 If my a shareholder?
I worked as a loan officer in sub prime lending pre-2008 crash 😶
@@michaelmcconnell7302
So you are why everyone lost all their money!!
Gonna stop selling their products in our shop now. Thank you for making this.
Honorable, it's hard to walk away from money like that
I don't live in the States, but if I did, I'd buy from only you from now on.
@@jeremypettibone3242 You should also stop selling products from many other companies then. Especially Nvidia, if you are still selling Nvidia products, stop it.
@@thomasmann3560 Lets be fair, it just makes good buisness sense to drop NZXT now. When this starts filtering through to the PC populace via UA-cam, Reddit and others, people will vote with their wallets.
I wouldnt want to be a shop having purchased NZXT products and holidng NZXT inventory that is likely going to be hanging around for some time now...
Good for you, and good luck with your shop.
Just went to NZXT site, when on the default USA localisation it offers the scam rentals described in this video, changing to my native UK, all rental options are gone!
Likely this is because of the stronger consumer protections we have - don't get scammed Americans!
Yup, I know UK is outside of EU, but the laws are fairly similar, and half of that contract are direct quotes from the list of abusive clauses 🙄
No its because they dont have their new "partner"(the one who allows them to fire their RMA department) operating in the UK.
In the UK, the FSA regulates loans and financing. I'm going to guess that these NZXT "rentals" are illegal in the UK due to legislation introduced in 2018 that regulated loans and financing to a maximum of 100% total interest and a maximum of 0.8% interest per day. $15540 over 5 years for a $2309 PC is a 573% total interest, quite a lot more than the legal 100% maximum. We have other legislation that prevents loansharks from circumventing the FSA by calling a loan a rental, so NZXT cannot operate this 'rental' scam over here, they'd be fined and shut down if they tried.
Land of the free home of the screwed over
Most Americans don't believe in consumer protection, half the country just voted to remove protections and regulations and give the rich more tax breaks.
I will never buy NZXT again, and I mean ever, 30 years down the line I will still refuse.
Thank you GN.
I just cancelled my order on my new build. It would've had an NZXT AIO and Case.
What a disgrace of a company.
EDIT: I now went with a Fractal north and an Arctic AIO. Even saved 90 bucks put that into a second 2TB m.2. now I have 4TB instead of 2.
Thanks, Steve.
Why didnt you go for the Arctic Liquid Freezer 3??????
I love people like you…. You dont deserve better.
There is a channel member here who is goind to build a new system with the new Intels chips😂 this is MINDBLOWING. Some people dont deserve better.
NZXT AIO's were overpriced anyways. Go for Arctic, best bang for buck, long warranty, good support.
NZXT shit was garbage, i bought 2 krakens from them and bother started making shitty noise ater 50% pump after a year
Go with an Arctic AIO and Fractal or Lianli case instead
@@ICEMANZIDANEcause it’s ugly, people buy thermalright aios today, arctic can’t keep up with Chinese companies aesthetically…. performance is pretty much the same
Over the years you showed exceptional level of integrity and professionalism, which especially visible in situations like these - you did your due diligence and instead of grabbing some cash for a promotion you exposed fraudulent company instead. On behalf of gaming community I'd like to say: we're grateful for your work and keep it up!
Exactly, Steve could have just taken the money and kept his mouth shut, and many many youtubers have already done exactly that, and nobody would ever know, as dealings for private businesses are not public record.
Steve's the honey badger of tech youtube though, Steve don't care, he's gonna call it like he sees it, and he's got 20/20 vision
the only bad thing about GN is how rare their actions are in the current world
Christ, only a couple minutes into this documentary and both that insane DoT rental price tag plus the parts downgrade swap is genuinely on the levels of a crypto Ponzi scheme. I’m sure a LOT of people’s wallets and checking accounts will have you to thank, GN team. This is why y’all are the top dog.
What is DoT? I can only read it as "Department of Transportation" and I don't think that's what you meant.
@@TheZoramanprobably damage over time
@@TheZoraman Damage Over Time haha
The math would be just as crazy on Car rentals, or taxis, or rentals for nearly anything. Its not a scam, its just renting. Most rentals are incredibly short term, and the products sit around or a long time. This guy has a hatred for them and I get it
Huge respect to GN for stranding firm and calling out the industry's BS. It takes dedication to do that when actual cash and industry access is on the line. This is important work though.
A friend of mine won two NZXT computers from a live stream of theirs, they never shipped it and kept trying to get him to pay over $600 for shipping.
Sounds like Artesian Builds again.
Should go to your country's fair trading or ombudsmen. Sounds like an illegal, fake contest to me
NZXT should know this
Send them an email
File a lawsuit, he'll end up more than the 2 PC NZXSHIT holding till now
@@BigDavoNorriwong I'm pretty sure in the US its not illegal. Iirc, the famous "You get a car, everybody gets a car" scene from Oprah was followed by the audience members having to pay 7000 USD in taxes per person or they could sell their car and get the money to pay the taxes or forfeit it entirely and not pay any taxes.
A subscription service being legally and financially predatory? With absolutely no true end-user ownership? Never heard of that before.
aaaand the laaaand of theeee freeeeeeeeee
@@caramelldansen2204is nzxt not a Canadian company?- nope just looked it up. This is crazy
Hundreds of service in this world are legally predatory.
It's just that most of them don't speak up for profits, and they manage to stay in their legal lane.
This is one of the rare occasions that manage to speak up.
There's million others that don't speak up for profit and benefit.
@@caramelldansen2204 The land of the free, as long as you follow the rules and stay in your legal lane.
Applies to every country that follow UN. And even dictatorship have some limited leeway and freedoms despite their seemingly strict and hard rules.
And this doesn't even describe the scam of renting HOUSING. It's a shame we see a scam here but not with stuff we need to live!
Thanks, Steve! This is my first donation and I wanted to show a little appreciation to you and the GN team. I believe you are doing an important service for our community and hopefully this helps the work continue if companies keep up their shady practices.
Thank you so much! Both for the kind words and donation. I'll share your comment with the team also! They'll love it.
"You will own nothing, and be happy." Say no to predatory businesses, guys.
Wait? An hour long video of Gamers Nexus torching another company on my birthday? Why, thank you!
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Tim, we give you dystopia 💥
@@GamersNexus my birthday for me was the 18 im 20 i feel old
Best present of all
Happy Birthday bruv
Every single influencer in the video should be held accountable for this bullshit.
I'm only half way through the video and already Agreed, we will get the usual bla bla statement from these influences soon saying they where misled by NZXT amd they are sorry and will do more due diligence... even though they where handed a script to say word for word and then given huge sums of money and they just parrot out the lines.
Influences need to be held accountable too, they should have spent 5 minutes on the website and seen the bait and switch.
Its like the saying "hopes and prayers to the family, we can't talk about this during these hard times out of respect for their space"
Either NZXT is going to be sold quickly and whoever gets the steaming pile will go bust soon or NZXT will be sold for penny on the dollar and liquidated and some unrealated person will get the debt while the real c suite people run into the distance free.
I hope I'm wrong.
But they won't be because people who follow them won't watch GN. The influencers don't care about what they'll do to PC building business they only want the bag and free stuff from NZXT.
In my opinion if NZXT will be sued they should be included in the lawsuit because they knowingly spread the scam.
You realize NZXT lied to and manipulated everyone who promoted this. You want to retroactively hold people accountable for something they believed was actually a good deal and promoted to their audience because, 1: they got paid. 2: They believed in the message and that's why they accepted the sponsorship. Before you watched this video you weren't even aware of this issue. Now you want to "descend upon thine evil in this world" as the "high and mighty enlightened viewer" and attack the wrong people. NZXT is the problem. Not the channels that accepted the partnership. Good luck attacking Jayztwocents then because years ago he promoted NZXT. You have no logic. You just want to attack everyone but the company that caused the issue.
Zach deleted his short
They need to address this
He's too busy giving shit advice @@randyneves9701
Not in a position to buy merch, but still wanted to express some gratitude and reward honesty.
Best tech channel in the game.
bro donate on their website. youtube gets 30% with these superchat comments.
You should put some more zeros on there because next's legal department wants money. Mo money!
Thank you! Any amount, even views alone, is greatly appreciated.
@@GamersNexus this is not yours! Half of it b lonx t joey bidensky and the other half R legal fees.
@@GamersNexus did my comment get deleted?
Thank you for taking the time to run the numbers and show people why this service is a bad idea.
Steve, please never change.
Your dedication to keeping the community of PC gaming and tech in check is sorely needed in a sea of creators who would shill out anything for a few extra dollars.
You guys keep this up Jayztwocents is not going to have any sponsors left.
Hahaha, my thinking too😂
Jayz and everyone should always know who they are getting sponsored from without the help of gn. It would be ironic to stop being sponsored by a company only after someone as large as gn exposes them, especially if their malicious practises are easy to spot.
What's funny is Steve is going to Jayztwocents in December to help them get better testing processes setup lol. Wonder if it'll come up... probably not.
Bet Linus turns a blind eye though.
@@jttech44Linus and literal gone on record with GamersNexus no less and threw his marketing dept under the bus claiming, "I just read what they tell me", like *he* (was at the time) the head of the company and ultimately responsible.
I will NEVER buy a product from NZXT now. Thank you for being a REAL legit creator helping normal consumers like us. I can’t give you $23,000 in the dropped ad campaign, but I will GLADLY help you the best I can on Patreon. YOUR A REAL ONE bro!
When influencers that I have never heard about are too excited about some product, I know to avoid that product.
Exactly.
Youre doing an amazing job! A week ago a search about NZXT rental would show a list of "influencers" pedalling their lies, now it brings up a long list of people linking this video or making their own "nzxt Scam" videos, its a beautiful thing to see, keep up the good work
Absolute scumbag behaviour here that will turn me off of buying any NZXT product in the new build I'm doing despite being in Australia and having (reasonably) robust consumer protection laws that should mostly stop garbage like this.
Having outlets like you and Hardware Unboxed in this space who are willing to stick it to these asshats in the name of consumers is such a privilege, well done.
thanks for not supporting them, from an American. we're starting to figure out here that stopping the cash flow to these companies when they act up is the only meaningful way to tell them no since nothing else seems to work.
I agree. Hope NZXT after this I give next year the company's going to flop and NZXT will be no more.
My understanding of Australian consumer law is that it is very strong!
37:17 Squirrel
55:55 Hummingbird
56:27 Butterfly
Bob Ross would approve
the lord's work
You might have an issue lol. 😂
best comment yet
You da real MVP
"Thanks steve" long time watcher of this channel bought several shirts after the burning riser cable and the gold hourglass tour shirt from years ago. Its a shame, i have a nzxt case on my current build no complaints other than my cat ripped the power button off so now its just the pressure switch underneath 😂...
Becoming a patron member today for the first time ever, theres no team more deserving and i hope to see more content like this! As soon as the heavy hoodies get restocked ill order one! ❤ Lots of love from VA!
Babe wake up! The next episode of Tech Reaper just dropped.
Someone update the meme.
Tech reaper is a certified banger.
This needs to be a shirt run
#TechReaper
@@JustinHEMI05 Is it the grim reaper and a claw machine, or another one?
Wow! I'd paused four minutes in and had no idea how just how scuzzy it all is until I watched to the end. The ban is so appropriate! Snowflake should be very proud of Steve and the team!
To add on about the NZXT employees getting fired. I actually knew a guy in my pharmacy tech class who worked at the CA location, he gave them 7 years of his time just to be spit out like a machine. He said that NZXT was one of the best places to work before all this investment money got involved and it sad to see what investors can do to a good company.
Seems to line up with Corsair getting tanked in the last decade
Good old private equity. Fucking up companies since the beginning of time
welcome to post boomer world, where they voted our future and wealth away while keeping 50% of the total US wealth.
Welcome to the workforce.
@@WayStedYouI’m amazed at how corsairs quality has gone down hill.
Owning is usually a lot better than renting. Renting is money 100% gone. Owning allows you to resell to get money, sometimes at a profit.
Exactly, I bought my rx580 for 120 euros and sold it for 360 during the mining craze. That's an insane case of profitability, but it can happen due to certain conditions, while renting will not get you anything at all, besides annoying monthly fees
I'd never even heard about this before. I don't even know why it exists. We wont be working with them anymore.
Congrats on being better than ZachsTechTurd
@@BonusCrook lol, that is a very low bar indeed. Zach is certifiably mentally disabled.
@@BonusCrook Yeah had no idea some youtubers will literally scam their own viewers for money... disgusting. What makes this even worse is there are children being lured into this scam and they know it, but don't care $$$.
Love your integrity and performance charts!
Yea man this is straight up robbery glad you wont be working with their products anymore
The fact that NZXT thought that LITERALLY CHANGING THE GRAPHICS CARD TO A WORSE MODEL WHILE HAVING THE SAME PRODUCT AT THE SAME PRICE would go unnoticed is absolutely insane. It's borderline illegal.
It's not borderline. The line was crossed and the commercial contract is void. So you can ask for a full refund.
Where in the contract does it say you will get the same hardware?
The problem is this is a "prove it in court" kind of illegal. Unless you take it to court, they won't do anything to help you as per the agreement. It's insanely disgusting. The consumers who don't have the money or knowledge to sue them just have to take it on the chin.
The remove 4090 to 4080 +50$ gets back to 4090 +50 in a span of 3 days they are doing the most illegal stuff all while being on black Friday sale
it literal is illegal. this seems like a very clear deceptive way of falsely advertising your your products.
the fact that your attorney called out that all 3 cards are banned in all forms of play had me dying laughing
I think them being banned actually makes them even more appropriate for this situation.
@@NightKev so true
that's how you know he's good!
you can't believe a word from influencers. They would promote poison if they could get money out of it. I admire Gamers Nexus' honesty and courage. You probably have lots of problems in the background
You should also have a list of "Influencers", who advertised the service. They are not blameless and receive monetary gains.
I mean commenters could that now:
Zachtechtuffs
I know carterpcs is one. Just another reason I hate the guy.
Enh, this way they have a chance to cancel their own contracts with NZXT and make a video saying "actually, don't do that."
Let them have a chance to be better (and more importantly, show their audience how to improve after making a mistake). If they don't take it, _then_ make your list.
Ztt builds
Nah, if it would help to shame them, it would be a good idea to put their names on here. But in 90% of the cases, these kind of influencers get a bigger name and eventually only benefit from being shamed.
Got it. I will not buy NZXT. Steve hath spoken.
That's how I've felt with MSI and Gigabyte in the past thanks to GN.
Same. Is it just me though or do NZXT products always look uninteresting? It's the same-old weird semi-minimalist aesthetic (blending minimalism with show-off windows and RGB fans) that has been copy-pasted to every product in their lineup for many years.
changing out my nzxt case immediately
Bought 4 NZXT cases from them in the last 2 years. Not anymore.
@@normifiedjust burn it 🤡😆
"During the time we were editing the writing for the editing that we have to re-write because they changed the change, they changed it again." is such an incredible sentence.
And it somehow makes sense!
Awesome work Steve. You have made GN a byword for integrity, honesty and honour over the years. I have huge respect for what you do. In world of darkness where everyone is trying to scam us you are a much needed guiding light.
24:17 *ROASTED.* Using the F word sparingly gives it so much more power. It was absolutely 100% warranted here, Steve.
Update: they didn't just get roasted, their remains got charred. What GN did at 58:11 was the ultimate baller move.
my fave part is that it wasn't engraved, just had a sticker pasted on. because that's all that these scumbags deserve
In Switzerland, such rentals popped up massively in court and judge declared them illegal and for sure converted it to rent to own. Now these practices are forbidden anyway.
Do you have a source for this? I'm swiss too and very curious to see if this stuff has been banned or something. I remember some rental services renting out Airpod Max's and stuff but now that you mention it I haven't seen such ads in a while.
I'll never support these rental models even gamepass can FO
If you can afford $120 a month for renting a PC just put that money in a shoebox every month and go buy a good gaming PC after a year. Or move that 120 every month into a savings account instead of NZXT’s account. Not only does the PC become yours after saving up $1500 (1 year). But you don’t have to keep paying after that one year! After that, you have a great brand new gaming PC that is forever yours. I think this by far is the most ridiculous thing that people don’t think about. Why are you paying Company 120 a month forever to rent a gaming PC temporarily, when you should be paying yourself that money temporarily (1 year) to own a gaming PC forever.
There is an alternative too. Build an AM4 APU build, dual channel 8GB RAM then wait(safe) for the GPU. At $500 it should be enough for light gaming
CPU lasts longer in relevancy compared to GPUs anyway
Exactly! Or use a credit card or take out a small personal loan at credit union, bank, or loan shark, for $120 a month (not including interest). The fact that they prey on children or the less financially informed is down right horrible!
If you need to take out a loan or use a credit card, then you don't need to be buying a computer in the first place.
If you can afford the monthly payment then why wouldn't you just save the money instead of owing the bank another $450 in interest? And ya I'm assuming your interest rate is 30% to be dumb enough to tell people to use loans or credit cards 😂
The poor stay poor and blame the rich for their own stupidity, istg 😂
Sound logic, makes perfect sense. However, I’ve been binge watching Caleb Hammer and my main takeaway is some people are simply incapable of delayed gratification. In fact I first learned about this subscription service from a Caleb Hammer guest.
And if you need the computer immediately, purchase a used laptop or something with $120 to get you through ~3 months, then spend $360 on another used device to get you through a year, then spend the $1440 to build a new PC. Done.
GN is the premier PC journalist in the world currently, the value they’re providing to consumers with their work right now is unmatched
"NZXT has been notified... Now!"
Oof, the burn. That was fire!
Na. Steve should know better. It needs to be sent in by written letter. Within 60days. Steve you silly, silly. This video is but a mark on your character, as a fool.
Steve and his team are amazing. I don’t doubt that during the recording where that line was shot and this video being uploaded, they probably sent out a strong legal letter. Long before anyone laid eyes on this video and you made that comment.
Even if they didn’t, so what? NZXT and co. gets to make millions scamming people but god forbid Steve decides not to work with them? Is he forced to? Don’t tell me yes because “Hurr durr contracts”.
@@TheDiner50 I'm sure he sent the letter and timed to to be delivered on date of publication of the video. He didn't mean literally in the video.
@@TheDiner50 And this video is ALSO a mark on NZXT's character, as a greedy scam.
It was better handled than how NZXT handled firing it’s staff.
I just checked Wikipedia and found this for NZXT:
"NZXT, Inc. is a predatory American computer hardware manufacturer based in Los Angeles, California."
It doesn't say that anymore, but there is PSA at the top of the page referencing this video😀
Loool 😂
@@Ruffian_Xion That's already gone now too - they are no doubt aggressively editing their own page right now. (Edit: Just like their product pages.)
You can check the revision list. They're on fire rn.
As of now, there are twelve revisions for their Wikipedia page in the past day.
Holy shit that's scummy! Thank you for your vigilance and work exposing this, Steve.
Let's protest with our money. I'll add NZXT to the list of product I don't buy as a PC hobbyist. Asus, Nvidia and NZXT are on my do not buy list until they can prove consumer friendly practices which to this date has not happen.
@@rahorin I would not buy from them regardless of ethics, they all offer very poor value.
Something about being number one on the market which spawns better or equivalent products for cheaper from your competition.
Protect this crew at all costs. Love the honesty and glad you all make these videos and call out the bad when it/they need to be.
3:26 The same kid 10 years from now: "I'm 25 and I'm still paying the rental PC. I'm working double shifts, I can barely afford to pay for rent, food and have no hope to build a family with my fiancee, she told me I gotta choose between her and my gaming PC"
Just in fairness, I think that last choice is easy, go PC 😅. But don’t tell my wife 😱
@@alandiegovillalobosmy condolences. I hope your wife can find someone who truly values her.
For the first time ever there is a logical basis on "you have to choose between me and your PC" argument.
NZXT is truly revolutionary.
@@Lolwutfordawin hehe after 16 years of marriage and two kids I value her more than anything. Only play when it does not interfere with her time or my children’s time. That less than I want but more than enough. Was just joking. 😔
@ at this point I would rather be offering GeForce now. You will own nothing and be happy about it, but not get broke and scammed in the process.
I remember my sister getting a PC from one of those 1-800 rent to own pc scams in the 90s. She ended up paying 2500$ for an hp pavillion. Here we are 30 years later, and they actually managed to make the scam even worse lol.
That's absolute garbage but it's still rent to own unlike this bs.
The brick and mortars were just as bad. My first pc was a dell dimmension 2400 and getting it from a rent to own type place it ended up costing like 4grand was close to 6 total with having to send it in for repairs 3 times only one even caused by us :\.. i think they minute the interest better a but now but they're still pretty awful. I don't remember what kind it was but a few years ago brother in law by l bought one that was around 1200 i think and it ended up about 2k when he finished paying it off.
Last time i looked at one was for a switch and it was hysterical.
Edit. With the first pc it was mid 2000s i think 05'.
And since I'm still salty about it punks literally lied about the ram they told us it would have 512mb 2x256 it has 2x128 lol
"We used a fake identity to purchase the PC, but NZXT wanted photo ID..."
Damn the criminals are starting to learn.
"... but then NZXT decided that we did send a photo ID and sent it anyways."
Nevermind.
Perfect ad timing.
'Now we get to the fun part, criminal loa' ad kicks in lol
I dont know if people already noted this but :
- Send it back with enough protection and stuff for ensuring good shipping back, on your responsibility,
- Must be packed as original packaging, even if it have 72 start peanuts in it,
: they only have to send it to you in a poorly protected packaging
then it's checkmate, you can't both protect it correctly, and also send it back in original packaging.
Only in USA, that shit wouldn't be even be close to enforceable in europe :)
you can xD
you put it how it was at the start, and then put that package inside an good protected one
excellent point
Saw this, these guys are shit, their AIOs are crap, their cases are trash.
Honestly, I do NOT recommend NZXT for anyone. I don't even consider them a viable company.
@@schwingedeshaehers literally thinking outside of the box
Did they really make an entire PC a subscription based model?! WTF is going on in this world. STOP supporting companies like this people! It's EASY. YOU DON'T SPEND, THEY DON'T EXIST.
I am h0rny now..
Not true. Lots of these companies get government grants and bailouts.
@@RipliWitani I think we'll see less of those with the new federal government department that's opening up soon. Plus, take a look at game development over the next few years, I think we'll see fewer and fewer Concords and Dustborns because publicly traded companies have to turn a profit sooner or later.
Wrong dude, @@RipliWitani
@@thealien_ali3382must have “homework” folder
Influencers promoting this and lying about the facts should be named and shamed.
Should be sued
Ughhh so gross.
drawn and quartered*
Go "capitalism"?
Most of them aren't really tech influencers, they're gaming influencers who know little to nothing about tech or business. Steve is fluent in both. It makes sense that he would call this out instantly and they would not. They should be politely notified about the nature of the product they are promoting, and if they do not stop AFTER that, they should be named and shamed.