Buying A Laptop From An Unauthorized Reseller

Today marked another day in my life when I took the risk of buying yet another expensive item online. I can say I’m not as comfortable doing this on an online website compared to when I did at Lazada. I previously purchased an iPhone from Lazada, but there was some assurance since it came from Apple’s flagship store and that there’s a disclaimer on how Lazada would refund me up to 200% if my item isn’t legit.

My anxiety right now doesn’t come from whether the item I will receive is original or legit. My worry is that the laptop I bought from Benstore PC wouldn’t even come at all. I did my research, of course, and though there have been lots of reviews on how there can be delays in Benstore’s responses and product arrival. I also read good reviews with regards to the actual items. 

I just paid a total of ₱ 70,050 ONLINE via their website, and this may be a small amount for others, but it’s enough to make me think twice if I made the right decision. I’ll be updating this post from time to time until I receive the laptop I bought. You may ask why I bought online instead of in an actual store. Believe me; I would if the variant that I want is available in authorized resellers here in the Philippines.

I bought the Lenovo Legion 5 15.6″ Gaming Laptop [144Hz][Ryzen 7 4800H][GTX 1660Ti 6GB][16GB DDR4][512GB SSD][Phantom Black]

Product Details :

15.6″ Full HD display 144Hz (1920 x 1080) 300nits 100% sRGB IPS LED Backlight

AMD® Ryzen™ 7 4800H 2.90 Gigahertz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti 6GB

16GB DDR4 3200MHz

512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD 

Windows 10 64bit

White Backlit Keyboard

Wireless/Wired connectivity (WiFi 6 – 802.11 ax)

Why I chose to buy at Benstore PC:

Available laptop variant that I want. Specifically, the 144hz screen and AMD Ryzen 7 4800h and GTX 1660ti combo. Lower price since Benstore PC is considered a grey market or an unauthorized reseller. An unauthorized reseller doesn’t mean they sell fake products. It means they bought their item in other countries like the United States and resell it here in the Philippines without undergoing other necessary documentation and process with Lenovo. They provide a 7-day warranty for replacement in case there’s something wrong as well as a 1-year manufacturer warranty. I joined the Lenovo Legion group, and of course, they are clearly against grey markets and always remind members of how Lenovo has the right to refuse warranty claims. 

Why anyone, including myself, has doubts about buying a laptop from BenStore PC:

The lack of flexibility in terms of payment options mainly held me back from purchasing a laptop. I understand that we’re still in a community quarantine situation, but It’s hard to trust your hard-earned money to an online store that doesn’t provide COD, Doesn’t Allow store pick up, and a lot more.

In the end, I still ended up trusting them due to the reviews I’ve read, the availability of the variant I want, and since we badly need an extra PC for online classes. It will be my work PC, but my youngest daughter will use it during the daytime for her online classes. 

Today, September 22, 2020, I sent the screenshot to BenStore PC showing the payment I made at around noon. I’ll be sleeping now since I still have work later. I hope when I wake up later, there will be good news—crossing my fingers for a good experience!
Update: So I made the payment around 11:45 am and got a confirmation from BenStore PC that they got my payment at 01:51 pm. That’s a total of 2 hours which, to be honest, could be faster, but given the current situation, then I guess it’s acceptable. The next update is for how long the testing stage will be.

Update: September 23, 2020 – I made my first follow-up regarding my order status. I didn’t expect much since it’s been a day only. I’m guessing that the testing stage would take maybe a day or two? Then if all things go well, another 1-2 days to get the item shipped? 

5:00 pm – refreshed my screen and viola. Status is now “Awaiting Shipment” I had some extra time, so I decided to blog about things to do when I receive my new laptop.
Update: September 24, 2020. I was about to sleep since I was done with work and assisting my youngest with her online class. Suddenly I got a call from Lalamove at 2 pm asking for directions on how to get to our place. I asked if what will he be delivering since I wasn’t expecting anything. He said he doesn’t know yet and that he’s on his way to pick up an item. 
I sent a message from BenStore through their FB messenger, and they confirmed that it was indeed them who booked the shipment of my laptop. 

I’m a little bit disappointed because we had a conversation about the shipment of the item. I doubt that they would personally deliver in province areas if they can’t even do it around Metro Manila.
A conversation last Tuesday, September 22, 2020: I chose to just brush it off. I’m hoping that the laptop will be at least well packaged and handled carefully.

After an hour, the delivery guy arrived with the package! I had my ID prepared just in case since it was quite a purchase but wasn’t asked for it when I received the package. I can’t wait to test it. I received the laptop in 2 business days!

I ordered and made a payment on Tuesday and now received it this Thursday afternoon. Watch out for my unboxing post. Hopefully, everything goes well with the actual laptop experience.
Update: I decided not to do an unboxing video. I got lazy, lol. I mean, it’s a laptop, and the experience of using it is more important than an unboxing, right?
Warning long read. 😀
I bought my legion five as my work and gaming laptop, and so far, it’s working perfectly in both worlds.
Work: Medyo mabigat sa memory yung tasks pero no problem so far. Minsan nag gagame pa habang work lol.
Games: Great experience. It has a high performance based on MSI afterburner.
Thermals: dun sa palm rest area walang kainit init kahit habang nag lalaro. Minsan parang ang lamig pa nga sa palm rest area.
Fan Noise: Base sa reviews ng iba mahina talaga pero personal experience kahit nag lalaro mahina talaga tipong parang di naka on haha.
Keyboard: One of the game changers for me from my old laptop, especially since my work involves a lot of usages.
Overall built: Made of plastic but premium feels—great built and solid structure for me.
Issues: None so far. Naiiwan ko pa to minsan nakabukas buong araw pag nakatulog ako after work. Even yung mga small issues na ineexpect ko like wifi disconnection never nangyari.
Definitely one of the best laptops out there at a very reasonable price. 

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