NewEgg sent damaged product and will not exchange it.

I do know from experience and from friends experiences that their
customer service is some of the best around.

glad everything worked out. Just remember though just because someone
looks ok, doesnt mean it isnt damaged. Check with FRY's return policy
as well. You might be just as stuck as you were here, and FRY's
customer service doesnt get that high a mark from what I hear.

I've used newegg a bit, based on the advice of geek friends, and
they're a very well trusted and respected online retailer.

Wow. Surprised by Newegg on this. I've purchased quite a bit of
stuff from them including memory which I had to return as my system
wouldn't recognize it (should have paid attention to the customer
reviews for that specific brand and its issues). I had no problem
returning it but there wasn't anything wrong physically with the dimm.
I'm guessing that is what is causing your issue.

What sucks is that any item can be damaged in shipping whether its
from a manufacturer to a retailer or retailer to customer. For an
item like RAM which is not overly expensive, I would hope Newegg could
review your order history and determine that you are not someone who
frequently returns damaged items.

Hope this gets squared away from you soon. If not, most of my buddies
that build computers tend to go to places like Tiger Direct or other
places (even Amazon has prices that compete and beat Newegg now).

Since your a Qualified IT tech you do know that ram can be damaged
extreemly easily in a variety of ways. Newegg along with many other
companies have a policy on returning ram.

Newegg gave you the alternative, RMA it with the company who makes it.
Ram does have a warranty, its just through the manufacturer.

The only person who is holding you back from getting replacement ram
is you.