The shipping box for the Eee was so small, some buyers received a five-pack instead of a single unit

The Asus Eee PC notebook has been popular in North America thus far, with many retailers having sold their entire stock on the first day of orders. The popular e-tailer Newegg took a misstep above the rest though; apparently, the diminutive size of the Eee has confused Newegg's shipping department. Some buyers who purchased the Eee PC from Newegg ended up not with an individual Eee, but a shipping box of five units.

A posting on the Eeeuser.com forum details the story of an Eeeuser.com member NastyGash who had a box of five Eee's diverted from delivery moments before arriving ... who was then one-upped by several other users, including stampedingchipmunk who posted a picture of his five Eees that had snuck through the system.

Several other buyers have piped up in the thread as well, and it appears that Newegg is proactively reaching out to those who accidentally received more than they expected. So far, those who have posted are reporting that Newegg is offering customer credits and discounts, in addition to paying shipping back and overnight delivery of a single Eee unit.

Perhaps this would explain why so many Newegg buyers wound up with a "backordered" notice instead of a tracking number. But don't despair; the Eee buyers who got five have a heart and are sending them back, so no doubt Newegg will be filling their backorders as soon as possible.

"Legally in the state I live in, I could have kept all 5.  The transaction was completed, and I paid for what I ordered.  Morally however I just couldn't justify it," writes the member AgentEntropy. "Of course I'd rather have kept the 4 extras than the $50, but who wouldn't?"