Just Fried My $549 card

[Danik]

not a fan of people ripping off anyone.

rip bfg.

rip evga lifetime warranty.

rip xfx double lifetime warranty.

these are not billion dollar companies making tons of profit. margins are very tight for these companies. most of nvidia's partners almost went through bankrupcty during fermi.

people like you that rip off these companies are ripping off your fellow computer enthusiasts.

What difference does it make if they are a million dollar company or a billion dollar company? The point is that spilling beer on a card is not a valid reason to RMA it.

 

[nyker96]

this is why I have not gone to use water loop on my rig, was thinking about it, but held off on it. water and electronics just don't mix well.

 

[paul878]

Did you use American Express? Maybe you CC will cover it.

 

[bryanW1995]

I can't believe you guys are so stressed out over the stupid card. Clearly the OP has dodged the only question that really matters: WHAT KIND OF BEER WAS IT???

 

[at80eighty]

not a fan of people ripping off anyone.

rip bfg.

rip evga lifetime warranty.

rip xfx double lifetime warranty.

these are not billion dollar companies making tons of profit. margins are very tight for these companies. most of nvidia's partners almost went through bankrupcty during fermi.

people like you that rip off these companies are ripping off your fellow computer enthusiasts.

well put, thank you

 

[KevinH]

Admit it. You did it on purpose to buy a 680.

 

[ShadowVVL]

only thing I have destroyed wile drinking was a cheap oem keyboard and after that I keep drinks off my desk.

 

[Joseph F]

If you wind up wanting to ditch it, I'll take it. I'd like one as a display piece.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

If you wind up wanting to ditch it, I'll take it. I'd like one as a display piece.

Or you're going to secretly fix it

 

[Idontcare]

not a fan of people ripping off anyone.

rip bfg.

rip evga lifetime warranty.

rip xfx double lifetime warranty.

these are not billion dollar companies making tons of profit. margins are very tight for these companies. most of nvidia's partners almost went through bankrupcty during fermi.

people like you that rip off these companies are ripping off your fellow computer enthusiasts.

If we are going to seriously entertain a discussion on the moral/ethical boundaries touched upon by RMA'ing defective gear then we need to step back and acknowledge/recognize that simply RMA'ing defective gear is not, on its own, an unethical or immoral action.

What is unethical is RMA'ing with the intent to defraud through means of deception.

I RMA'ed my Mushkin Redline dimms, nearly $1k worth of ram tied up in 4 sticks, killed all four of them by applying too much Vdimm. I emailed Mushkin technical support and told them out of the gate that my redlines were dead and that I believed they died from too much Vdimm.

Technical support asked me how much Vdimm, I told them, and they told me to send them in anyways that they would cover it. RMA issued, deceit not involved, no RMA fraud created.

I also RMA'ed a gigabyte mobo that died while OC'ing, died as in making an audible "pop" and a capacitor blew leaving black/scorched area. Emailed tech support, said my board just died but I was OC'ing the FSB at the time so I would understand if they denied me an RMA. They said no problem, RMA it anyways. RMA issued, deceit not involved, no RMA fraud created.

My MSI GTX460 died, OC'ed of course. Contacted MSI tech support, told them the card was OC'ed when it died, again they told me it wasn't an issue to go ahead and send it in under RMA for warranty service. They sent me back a retail shrink-wrapped box with a new GTX460 cyclone. RMA issued, deceit not involved, no RMA fraud created.

The difference between RMA fraud and no fraud comes down entirely to disclosure, or a lack of it. All the members here telling the OP to RMA his card are not suggesting or encouraging RMA fraud unless they are encouraging the OP to deceive the AIB in question when attempting to RMA.

RMA'ing dead gear is not fraud, RMA'ing dead gear that died for reasons expressly not covered by the warranty clause is not fraud if the RMA'ing company allows it for your specific instance when you ask them as much.

As for the business aspects of elevated operating costs incurred by RMA's and how those costs must be recuperated by elevated prices on products purchased by other consumers, that is a business model that the company in question endorses. If you don't care for the business endorsing a business model that in the end results in your purchase price increasing then you should vote with your wallet and not support that business model.

This is true of all big-box retailers who accept returns of any kind. Walmart, Target, even your grocery store. Every one of those returned items is returned at an expense to the store, even if they charge a restocking fee (Fry's, Best Buy) the fee in no way covers the labor overhead involved in managing the Q&A aspects of the returned-item inventory management chain.

But lets be clear on what is fraud and what is not fraud.

RMA'ing dead video cards is not fraud if the RMA department allows for the RMA to process if they have been fully debriefed on the usage history including the reasons the user suspects the hardware died. Failing to disclose this information while attempting to RMA is fraud, even if it turns out to not be the actual root-cause of the failure. (lies of omission = fraud)

Lying by omission
Also known as a continuing misrepresentation, a lie by omission occurs when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions. When the seller of a car declares it has been serviced regularly but does not tell that a fault was reported at the last service, the seller lies by omission.

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't think that anyone was faulting RMAs per se. I disapproved of the 'RMA it' posts because it seems obvious to me that a company would refuse to pay the price for someone spilling beer (or water, etc.) on an active piece of electronic gear and therefore frying it in the process.

Should a company do so I would have an issue with their returns policy, and the way such returns increase our (collective consumer) costs.

In your examples, perhaps the overvolting/ocing were considered part of the functioning of the hardware involved. I recall well the mass hysteria regarding the 460 OCing, including your thread here when it died.

I agree with your point, absolutely, that as long as fraudulent activity isn't involved then the RMA is legitimate. However, the safe assumption here is that no company in their right mind would allow someone to RMA for spilling beer on an active video card.

Having said all that - that is a really bad break, OP.

 

[Gikaseixas]

I spilled beer on card by mistake. Can i send it in for a brand new one?

What do you guys really think it's going to happen? 100% negative reply from the vendor / manufacturer IMO.

OCguy just get that GTX 680 you wanted so bad

 

[Charlie98]

I agree with your point, absolutely, that as long as fraudulent activity isn't involved then the RMA is legitimate. However, the safe assumption here is that no company in their right mind would allow someone to RMA for spilling beer on an active video card.

You have nothing to lose if you RMA and provide an honest explanation. All they can say is no. ...and if you don't disclose the source of the failure? ...like they couldn't tell what happened?

FWIW, if one of my customers screws something up, or a part I install fails even because of no fault of the part or installation... very often I'll comp it, within reason. It's just good business. But if you try to cover it up... well...



Since I've gotten my HAF922 case, with that gigantic top exhaust port, I'm a little more careful about my drink on the desk... right above the case...

I love to gamble...

 

[Grooveriding]

Since I've gotten my HAF922 case, with that gigantic top exhaust port, I'm a little more careful about my drink on the desk... right above the case...

I love to gamble...

This is why my tower is up on my desk, not the floor.

 

[JTsyo]

Maybe the card is just drunk. Let it sleep it off and try again.

 

[E6700]

put in the oven for a day and it might work again.

 

[jacktesterson]

Do the rice trick.

 

[KingFatty]

I wonder if the company would look forward to processing an RMA for a card that died from beer exposure.

I mean, first thing is it could be a silly little part that is easy to fix, who knows? Second thing, is a company can "buy" your loyalty by doing a move like that, fixing something you messed up. And they may be able to buy your loyalty using leftover parts (e.g., other RMAs that would sit in a pile) that are almost no skin off their back.

I say, disclose what happened, and mention how you are a supporter of their brand/products and understand if they deny it but figured to see what they thought and whether it was fixable, and whether they are a fan of that particular beer?

I mean, there is some value to bringing sunshine to the gloomy day of the RMA worker...

 

[Aristotelian]

You have nothing to lose if you RMA and provide an honest explanation. All they can say is no. ...and if you don't disclose the source of the failure? ...like they couldn't tell what happened?

The burden of the explanation is on you, the customer, to tell the company under what operating conditions the card failed. So no, there is no circumstance in which it is 'okay' to just send a card in that you have spilled beer on and in any case allow the company to presume that the card failed through no fault on the user's part.

There is nothing to lose by RMA'ing (as a customer in isolation) while providing an honest explanation. Nothing in my first post denied that. If the video card company chooses to accept an RMA when a customer spills beer on the card during operation, I would say this is a ridiculous business practice, and as an investor in a company I would not want such damages to be eaten by the company or passed on to other consumers.

FWIW, if one of my customers screws something up, or a part I install fails even because of no fault of the part or installation... very often I'll comp it, within reason. It's just good business. But if you try to cover it up... well...

You haven't defined 'within reason'. You seem to be agreeing with myself, Idontcare and others who are saying that honest, fully disclosed RMA is the way to go.

Since I've gotten my HAF922 case, with that gigantic top exhaust port, I'm a little more careful about my drink on the desk... right above the case...

I love to gamble...

And here I am careful to keep all of my beverages away from the top of my HAF-X...

 

[Jacky60]

This is why my tower is up on my desk, not the floor.

It's why my HAF 932 is tucked under not alongside my desk. Beer and gaming go hand in hand and the 'beer vents' on top of a lot of today's cases are simply designed to make it easy to fry the contents.

 

[blckgrffn]

clean the card with alcohol. let it dry a day.

try it.

then bake it!

try it.

but most importantly, your wife is a very very understanding woman.

Haha, yes. I would be learning to love that 5850 all over again if I tried this explanation to my wife.

Hopefully you can fix it, OCguy.

 

[Stoneburner]

That sucks bt I wreck shit all the time. No biggie. One time I sold a motorcycle put $2000 cash on seat and driving down 91 hwy in my 59 vette and money blew out. Oh well. Shit happens.

....

 

[T_Yamamoto]

http://www.xoxide.com/xray1.html
Your beer holder has arrived

 

[blckgrffn]

....

Second best post in this thread, loses only to the OP.

 

[mikeymikec]

I once spilt a mug of tea over a motherboard when I was 16. I just turned it upside down for a few days to dry it out, it all worked.

Admittedly the computer was off at the time.