NZXT's controversial PC rental scheme hit by class action lawsuit claiming the company 'defrauded consumers through gross misrepresentations and illegal business practices'

(Image credit: NZXT)

Late last year, we reported on controversy surrounding NZXT's "Flex" PC rental scheme. Back then, NZXT founder and CEO Johnny Hou posted a YouTube video apologising for various failures and promising to do better. But it turns out whatever measures NZXT put in place haven't been enough for some customers, following the filing of a class action lawsuit.

The class action complaint was filed in the Northern District of California (Case No. 4:25-cv-06604, Burns v. Fragile Inc. and NZXT Inc. and available on the US government's Pacer website) on August 5, 2025. Up front and centre, it claims NZXT and its partner in the Flex PC rental scheme, Fragile, "conspired to defraud consumers through gross misrepresentations and illegal business practices."

For the record, in the legal filing Fragile is described as "a debt collection and payment services company that administers and manages the Program." The meat of the case appears to hinge on influencer-generated advertising that NZXT's CEO has himself conceded was not entirely "factual." As per the filing, "defendants knowingly disseminated grossly misleading advertisements and communications regarding the nature of the Program and the specifications, components, and attributes of the leased PCs."

Among other objections, it's claimed the advertising presented the Flex rental scheme as a rent-to-own program as opposed to simply a pure rental service. Per the filing: "Defendants directly, and through their advertisers, stated that the Program had 'no contracts,' required 'no commitment,' and had 'zero strings attached.' Defendants advertised that the Program provided consumers with a 'lifetime warranty.' Defendants advertised that Lessees had the right to own the PC while requiring monthly payments, indicating the Program was a rent-to-own agreement."

NZXT H3 Flow — We're generally fans of NZXT's cases, so it would be a pity if the company's rental scheme is turning out to be a dud. (Image credit: Future)

The suit also claims that the PCs supplied by the Flex scheme were not as advertised. "Defendants repeatedly promised new and premium computer hardware while knowingly delivering used and inferior components," the suit claims, alongside an example of one customer expecting an RTX 4090 in their rental on the basis of the aforementioned advertising only to receive an RTX 4080.

That particular complaint appears to be based on the fact that product names for Flex rental PCs were the same as pre-built NZXT PCs while offering different specs. In his apology video, Johnny Hou said NZXT would change the naming of Flex rental PCs to prevent any such confusion.

As far as we are aware, NZXT has yet to respond to the suit, with the most recent filing taking the form of a court order extending NZXT's deadline to respond to the complaint to December 23, this year.

Where this goes from here isn't clear. The fact that a class action has been filed is not proof of any wrong doing. But it's certainly not good PR. For what it's worth, we reached out to NZXT on the matter and got the usual pre-baked response indicating that the company does not comment on pending or ongoing legal matters.

I also note all the product pages on the Flex website appear to be down right now, seemingly making it impossible to sign up to the program, which may or may not be intentional. But more broadly and for now, the status of this controversy falls firmly into "watch this space" territory.

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Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.

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