digerati

I've dealt with a number of companies in RMA'ing products. I am considering writing a review of the good, the bad, and the ugly of computer RMA'ing.

So I was wondering if you all would share your RMA experiences with me Paraphrasing is alright, but keep it as close to what actually happened, hearsay is a horrible horrible thing in the literary world >.<

Many thanks,
-Aaron

Dark Lord

ive only had to RMA 2 things that i can think of off the top of my head.

1st, AMD cpu. the process went wonderful. when i frst called them and told them i thought my cpu was dead, they asked if i was able to confirm it in another system. when i told them that i couldnt due to the fact that at the time the cpu was brand new and hardly anyone around here had MOBO for it that i couldnt, they said that wasnt a problem and to just send it in. once they recived the cpu, they called me to tell me that they had received it and would begin testing it. several days passed and again, they called me back and told me everything was fine with the cpu and that they would immediatly ship it back.

2nd, MSI mobo (turned out the mobo was bad, not the cpu) i beleive this one went through newegg for the RMA. all i remember is that i shipped it out to some one, and within a week i was sent back another brand new one. no questions asked. 2nd one worked like a charm and booted right up.

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Drakon

Well it's funny that you started a thread like this. I just had a poor experience with MSI's RMA policy. I sent my Neo2 plat for rma because one of the ram slot clips was broken and it was in its original box (as suggested by MSI). I got it back today and low and behold, the new motherboard is was sent in a beat up black box with MSI tape on all the sides. WTF!? What happened to my original box? I haven't written MSI as yet, but as soon as I do and I get a response, I'll post it here

dj_stick

I had to RMA my mp3 player, i had an iRiver H140 with a dodgy headphone jack. Sent only the unit back,no accessories, to where i ordered it from, and they sent it back to iRiver for me. A few weeks later the replacement unit arrived at my door

Open up the package to see a shiny new H340 box, complete with all accessories.

Apart from the time it took i was very happy with that

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Dyre Straits

I have had only one RMA and it was an ATi All-in-Wonder 8MB PCI card from a few years ago. It was showing some bad textures in Final Fantasy 5 and ATi took it back and repaired it and I had it back within 10 days. It was fixed, too.

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Sandok

I've had the WORST experience in my life... Took 5 bloody MONTHS to get my X800XT from HIS IceQ2 back and it was still messed up. Trust me, after my experieces I shall NEVER RMA again in my entire life.

digerati

Please give me some more details. Such as how the HIS RMA process worked, and if you have the original e-mails I would love to see them.

Sandok

Sry mate I don't got the emails but I can sorta summarize what happened.

My card had a faulty fan so I decided to RMA it. First, there was the process of whether or not it really was worth RMAing (HIS didn't think so... I did) and in the end, after lotsa emailing (which took years mind you), they accepted. So since I could still RMA for free via the shop I bought it, I took it to them so they could ship it immedialty (no packaging or anything).

So a few weeks passed (the last Email told me 3-4 weeks) but after 5 weeks, still nothing so I emailed em (never got an answer). They just went silent and even the shop couldn't really communicate. Finally, after a LONG time, and after lots of complaining, I got a replacement card (not the original) which was also messed up. I swear, horrible.

Zelig

I've only gone through the ncix.com RMA process. It's been really good for me, they've always accepted my reasons, such as "Will not work at specificed timings" for some ram. Shipping is free both ways, and I'll sometime get my stuff back in 2 days, which is impressive considering it's close to a 6000 km round trip iirc.

So, yeah, I'm happy with RMAs I've done.

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Lowfat

I've RMA'd a few times.

OCZ - Best Customer Service ever. Didnt have a single hassle. The DDR Booster was back ordered, they let me know. And it still arrived less than 2 weeks after they received it.

XFX - Average. Didn't have any problems but it took 6 - 8 weeks for the RMA to complete. Also only give you 10 days to ship it to the US. So i had to pay $20+ in order to ship it, so it would get their in time.

Swiftech - Horrible. I've heard they are a gem to deal with usually. However with me it is not the case. I sent them my pump back in the beginning of October. I sent emails to them 2-3 times. Only got a response once, they said they were shipping the pump out. That was three weeks ago, still no pump. I will definatley not be buying another Swiftech product because i do not want to deal with it, if i infact have to RMA something to them. UPDATE: I believe the pump arrived my parents place today.

mCubed - Nice quick email support. RMA isn't currently complete either. Since they are in Austria, I have no idea how long it took for the fan controller to arrive there. Will update when i have more information.
As for retailers.

NCIX - Also amazing. They shipped out the replacement ram the same day they recieved the bad ones. Got them the next day.

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coldfrontt

I've sent a number of things back, with generally good results.
Intel- sent back P4 3.0 because the fan screamed(all I wanted was the fan replaced-they wanted both back) no hassle.
MSi- took several tries to get a 5950 Ultra that worked properly-process took about 2 months.
Asus- Ive sent 3 mobos back(including 2 that were definately my fault they croaked) no hassles at all.
Ati- sent back a 9500Pro, took about 3 weeks
The only company I will not deal with again is MSi...shouldn't take 4 tries to get a working product back, allthough to be fair the RMA was handled by a company in Canada that managed the rma process for them.

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[color=blue]TANSTAAFL![/color]

Drakon

Ok I wrote MSI a few mins ago and sent them accompanying pics of the box my motherboard was returned in.

This is what the original looks like:



And THIS is what they sent me back:





Even a blind man can see those are not the same boxes

Sandok

Na I disagree.... Looks the same OMG that's just awesome mate! They really must take people for fools.

coldfrontt

I find it odd that MSI would ask for the original box and stuff, most companies will tell you NOT too, because they won't guarantee you'll get them back.

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[color=blue]TANSTAAFL![/color]

Drakon

All I sent back was the original box, I didn't send back any of the accessories.

Taken from MSI's Warranty Info

By "original packing" I understood it to mean the static bag (if the device came in one) and the product box. I mean would you send a vid card or motherboard back to the manufacturer in just a static bag? You're just asking for a disaster...

Firstperson

AMD=Great, Athlon xp 3200+
SanDisk=Good, Curser titanium (512mb)
ASUS=Good, mobo, (ended up being fine)
Crucial=awesome, fast turn around, good phone support
XFX=OK, I just needed a game disk that was cracked, phone support wouldn't help me, but when I emailed them it got taken care of.
Powercolor=Great, kinda, needed a new fan on a 9600pro that crapped out in six months, they sent another one fast(different fan) BUT its been another six months and its crappin out again.

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Vikingod

Well, Dell is a feakin nightmare to deal with. Its more the hour and a half you have to spend getting to a person that you can actually communicate with. The actual shipping and recieving part is actually very good, once you convince them you actually have a problem and aren't a complete fool. My biggest problem with them is they deny any problems up front. With my notebook, something I actually sent back something like 10 times to get it working correctly (and much thanks to a DH visitor and some help they gave me), I actually cont a new notebook after the tenth return.
My experience with Newegg was actually very good. I got a monitor that made me dizzy and sick. I called them, explained the situation, and got the initial run around ("thats a problem with the manufacturer, blah, blah). The woman wasn't friendly, but she spoke English, and was willing to listen. After a short bit of talking, she agreed to the RMA and gave me the info to send it back. She also informed me of a 20% restocking fee. I politely told her that I didn't agree with it, and informed her I had spent $2278 with her company, and that I would be purchasing a different monitor through Newegg if they would work with me on it. After she spoke with her supervisor, she agreed that if I place the new order, call her and the restocking fee would be waived. Something I was very happy about.

In short, something for your article. It pays off to get a little pissed. Don't be a raving lunatic, but remember you payed good money, and you expect good, effective customer service. That fact that it gets to that point is a different story, but thats for a differnt rant. Being polite but forceful is the best way, and I think can get you out of paying money for returning bad products.

SeaWulf

Had major problem with Dell on a faulty cpu (years ago however) Never had an issue with Gateway(over 12 years of dealing with them)

No problem with Newegg on returning a psu where one of the fans was frozen.

Computer Memory took 8 weeks to replace incorrectSamsung RDRAM(800) for the correct memory(1066) even though they said it was in stock........

weird about not getting compatible packaging with your return.

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Double Secret Probation
Additional system information
Titanium X FI PCIE
2 LG H55L DVD+RW (IDE)

niceguyrichy

i rma'd a 9600pro a year or 2 ago, and although it took an age to get a replacement, they swapped it for a new one, complete with all accesories and book, driver disc, without question.
did take something like 2 months to arrive though

tried to rma my gf's 9600pro a while back without success.
it wasn't an ati card though, powercolor or something like that(?)

anyways, they gave me the complete run around.
'we provide the retailers that sell our cards with comprehensive cover that means that they should replace the card for you....' etc , except I'd already tried to get the shop i bought it from to replace it, and they'd told me to contact the card manufacturer.
the card maker wouldn't give me a telephone number to call either
and they took a week to answer each email.
all round shoddy. in the end I gave up, dropped the card in the bin and bought a new one.

I like the customer service at gigabyte

i bought my mobo second hand without the io backplate, and one email to gigabyte and they got straight back to me, asked for my address to send me one out asap

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Necrosis

1. RMA /w WD. It took me a three days to get a replacment after having it sent it. HD arrived, and the next day they sent out the replacement HD.

2. PC Power & Cooling. Called in to get a RMA number, told them how the PSU blew up. It took about a week get to them, next day turn around for replacement. I received the PSU about 3 days after they received the defective one.

3. Apple 5G Ipod. Service requested on 01/04/06. Return box arrived 01/05/06. Sent request for DHL to pick up same day. DHL came 10 minutes after filling out on-line request. Defective Ipod arrived 01/06/06, replacement Ipod sent out 01/07/06.

No_Style

I called Dell yesterday about my dead pixel problem (2 were found days after I received my monitors) for one of my new Dell 2005FPW. Can I say 'fantastic experience' and 'Dell' in the same sentence? I had to slow down the person on the otherside to explain how the entire process was going to pan out! I just checked the status and the replacement order was filed, process and is now shipping. Estimated arrival date of the 11th (tomorrow!) I love these monitors, and so far I'm liking Dell and their "Satisfaction Guaranteed Policy"!

The only gripe so far is that their phone directory is wonky. They have dead end options telling you that it's no longer available and just cuts you off after rapid firing a forwarding number.

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