Warning about MSI's RMA department

[drumsfield]

Here's my horror story regarding MSI.

I had purchased a Radeon 4870 (July 2009) to sending in because it wasn’t working properly. I had applied for and received an RMA request number on February 16, 2010 and sent my card promptly after that. The information provided on the us.msi.com website states that RMA requests are typically processed between 7-10 days. I had waited about 2 weeks before calling the RMA department regarding my request. They asked me to wait a few more days for the RMA to be processed. After waiting a few more days and still not seeing a change in the status of my RMA request I called back. The person I spoke to put me on hold and then told me he would call me back. After waiting for him to call me back he then told me that they could not fix the card and there was no replacement for the card available. He asked me to email him a copy of my purchase receipt in order to send me a refund. (Really? they couldn't replace my card???) As requested I emailed a copy of my purchase receipt. After I sent the email I called the RMA department to confirm they had received it. I spoke to a guy named Howard (626-913-0828 extension 159) who told me he would call me back. I waited all day and no one called me back. I called back no one picked up the phone at the RMA department. So I called the technical support department. They told me that they would leave a message to have someone call me back because the RMA staff was out to lunch (does everyone leave for lunch at the same time?). No one called me back. I called Calvin (I believe he is the manager of the RMA department) at 626-913-0828 extension 160 and left him a message asking for someone to contact me about my RMA. Still no one has contacted me.

Update.. two days later still no callback from MSI, and they are not picking up the phone. I spoke to someone at the tech department again, he told me they were out to a meeting. I asked him: You mean the whole RMA department is gone? he said: no, Howard... Me: you mean Howard is the only person in the entire RMA department?? Tech guy: ...um no.. I mean yes. Him and Calvin handle RMA requests.. Oh boy.

My thoughts, Great my RMA is being handled by 2 guys who take really long lunch breaks and don't bother to answer the phone and return call back messages. Let's just hope nothing goes wrong with my MSI motherboard. I just ordered a new XFX card on Newegg...

Update 3/12/2010: I got a hold of Calvin by calling the tech department which transferred me to the RMA department (back door call, since RMA wasn't answering their phones) Calvin suggested I write and email to Howard, which I did. Howard called me back, finally confirmed my refund and said the check should be ready within 5-10 business days. We'll see how it goes

 

[drumsfield]

Some facts about me:
I've bought quite a few graphics cards and had to return a few in the past.

Visiontek gforce3 - somewhere in my house
Jaton 6800 - returned and replaced (artifacting) - sold
eVGA 6600GT - currently used as an HTPC card
eVGA7600GT - currently on stand by as a backup card
Saphire 3850 - Great card!
XFX 8800GT - Great card!
MSI 4870 - returned awaiting refund (artifacting)
XFX 5770 - DOA returned awaiting new card (artifacting)

 

[shangshang]

Welcome to the world or RMA. It's like this for virtually every video card makers, save for perhaps EVGA and Asus.

The rest, even XFX, have crappy RMA. RMA dept gets the lowest priority in these sort of companies. The RMA dept consists of some dark room in some dark corner of some dark warehouse. It's not surprising that they don't have a replacement 4870. Just thank god that they even offered you a refund. XFX when doesn't have the replacement item will offer you either a slightly lower spec card or offer you a golden oppportunity to upgrade to a faster card at retail price.

RMA is a shaddy business.

 

[Schmide]

My RMA to Saphire went without problems and was very fast. It was however before the EOL of the product.

 

[taltamir]

I was an RMA department (by myself) once... you do phone calls at home, print shipping labels from your home PC using a thermal printer and ups/fedex software, charge people money on a credit card pad thingie, and then go to a tiny corner the rented from a warehouse to do the daily shipping.
mmm, actually, there was also a lady in another state who answered phone calls from customers and whose job was to basically take down their info, write their complaint, and email it to me (the customer was better off emailing me directly, but some insisted on using the phone).
then they closed the whole shebang saying "eh, the resellers can do it for us".

oh, and noone has the authority to issue refunds... if you make enough noise about it on forums and stuff, the marketing department might freak, call the CEO or someone with clout, who will then email you to solve the ASAP by issuing a refund. of course, you could ask about it, but don't expect any response.

 

[Rebel44]

That sound stupid.

One of advantages of living in EU is that when I need RMA all I need to do is to send it for RMA to shop where I bought it and they have 30 days to take care of entire RMA - if they dont finish RMA in 30 days I get my money back.

 

[CurseTheSky]

From what I've heard, EVGA is roughly top-of-the-line, with XFX and BFG trailing close after that. Beyond them comes ASUS and a few others, and finally you hit bottom of the barrel (usually the cheapest cards all around, unless someone's running a special sale). I generally avoid ECS, Jaton, Galaxy, Visiontek, HIS, Powercolor, Zotac, Biostar, and Palit simply because I don't know enough about them.

I often "over pay" by $10-20 just to get a card from a manufacturer that I trust. All EVGA cards for me with Nvidia, and all XFX cards for ATI. I haven't had to RMA to XFX yet, but I'm hoping the experience will go well. EVGA, on the other hand, has been excellent to me. I would consider a Sapphire, Asus, PNY, or Gigabyte card depending on the price and how pissed I'd be if the product died.

If I'm buying a cheap card (low end) for whatever strange reason, I usually go for whoever's cheapest. If it dies, I'll just eat the cost and replace it.

 

[thilanliyan]

I RMAed a Gigabyte m/b once and it went fairly smooth. I did have to pay shipping to get the m/b to them though.

 

[dark0anima]

i had an Asus motherboard and EEE PC replaced no problem, turnover time was really quick too, around 3days to a week, but that is because i went to drop off and pickup since i lived close to it. This is in Canada btw, not sure if that makes a difference.

Right now i have my MSI laptop being rma'ed not sure how it will go but the guy seems pretty nice.

 

[Occ]

So what do you guys think, are companies lazier about RMAs or MIRs?

 

[taltamir]

So what do you guys think, are companies lazier about RMAs or MIRs?

MIR are worse. they are outsourced to companies that specialize in mismanaging those to maximize the chance of not having to pay you. MIRs are a scam. sometimes you do get it, but its not worth the effort and often times you don't get it at all.

 

[CurseTheSky]

MIRs are far worse. With RMAs your statements at least seem to carry some weight, since an outraged customer screaming on various message boards about their dead laptop / graphics card / motherboard / etc. that isn't being properly replaced in a timely fashion carries a lot more weight than "I didn't get my check / gift card for $15!!!!"

 

[shangshang]

The thing about RMA is that if your products are still in stock, still selling on the shelves, then you'll prolly in luck for a replacement. If it's been EOL for a while, well that's when you might be SOL.

 

[digitaldurandal]

BFG RMA years and years after EOL went smooth, even got a decent upgrade for free.

 

[taltamir]

The thing about RMA is that if your products are still in stock, still selling on the shelves, then you'll prolly in luck for a replacement. If it's been EOL for a while, well that's when you might be SOL.

some companies send you an upgrade at that point...
my most hillarious case was with a HDD that was EOL... the company dilly dallied about it until I called to complain about the time it takes. They sent me a drive made by a different manufacturer with the same capacity. I don't remember who they were anymore though... I really should have written it down. I laughed and put it on ebay (since it took too long, I had already bought a replacement from fries, which was bigger and better)

 

[Puffnstuff]

I had to rma my his 4890 and its horrible, dl a pdf file and fill it out and either fax or email it back to a 3rd party who handles their warranty work. Gigabyte rma service sux donkey balls and I'll never buy their stuff again. Asus used to be good but lately they aren't doing so swell, like returning my xonar d2x in an unworking state plus shipping it to the wrong address.

 

[Fayd]

some companies send you an upgrade at that point...
my most hillarious case was with a HDD that was EOL... the company dilly dallied about it until I called to complain about the time it takes. They sent me a drive made by a different manufacturer with the same capacity. I don't remember who they were anymore though... I really should have written it down. I laughed and put it on ebay (since it took too long, I had already bought a replacement from fries, which was bigger and better)

i RMA'ed a raptor to WD. 1 week after sending it out, i got a shipping notice for a velociraptor (same size) coming my way. 2 days later, i had a brand new drive with a good speed upgrade.

 

[OS]

thats kind of odd tho it seems like lots of users report video cards dying in recent times, the first couple generations of 3D cards, atleast for me, they basically lasted forever.
I still have a working original voodoo 3D somewhere..

 

[Ben90]

BFG RMA years and years after EOL went smooth, even got a decent upgrade for free.

With my experience I believe BFG is the best for RMAs. My friend had a 7900gso die on him, and got a 8800gts G80 in return.

 

[mindless1]

thats kind of odd tho it seems like lots of users report video cards dying in recent times, the first couple generations of 3D cards, atleast for me, they basically lasted forever.
I still have a working original voodoo 3D somewhere..

Heat density went up. Back then, a low heat density card had no heatsink at all and what they called hot running used half the power (->heat) of today's "cool running" cards that merely stay under 70W, plus they had higher voltage and lower current which eases onboard power supply issues. THEN to combat the higher energy usage we have low power states which cause constant contraction and expansion as temperatures change more rapidly and more often.

As for MSI being out of stock, yeah I know some manufacturers do that but what a load of bull. A responsible company keeps stock through the end of the warranty period on their last manufacturing run, or offers without hesitation to provide the then contemporary & compatible equivalent.

 

[drumsfield]

thats kind of odd tho it seems like lots of users report video cards dying in recent times, the first couple generations of 3D cards, atleast for me, they basically lasted forever.
I still have a working original voodoo 3D somewhere..

I've been noticing the same thing. I just ordered a replacement to the 4870 I sent to MSI for RMI. I got an XFX 5770 from newegg (super duper fast shipping! arrived the next day!) When I plugged it in artifacts all over the place... I did a clean install thinking it might have been dirty drivers still no luck, so I sent it back. Just got another new XFX 5770 (had to pay for a new one and wait for newegg to give me a refund on the other one) and plugged it in, tested it on a few games (GTAIV Bench, CS Source Benchmark, SFIV, Dragon Age) all worked fine without issues. Based on my experience I'd say close to 30% (maybe 15-30% by my estimate) of Video cards are bad or defective and that number may be getting worse. So it's probably a good idea for consumers to buy from a company with a good reputation for customer service and a good warranty. And yea I remembered to register my XFX card in order to qualify for the double lifetime warranty. I hope never need it.

 

[NumericalMethods]

I have to say that I agree with Drumsfield. Without wanting to embarrass myself I have had FIVE GTX 260s since the beginning of 2009 in order to leave me with two working ones. I know what you are thinking - total noob that kills kit. I can assure you that I am an extremely careful builder with plenty of experience with just a rotten run of luck in cards. The list went like this:

1. Zotac - started overheating after a month
2. Zotac - BSOD all over the place out of the box

Then the retailer swapped my card for an EVGA card

3. EVGA - been working perfectly for a year

Then I bought a second card when prices were rock bottom last October

4. XFX - bad memory
5. XFX - works well but is a cheap as f*** non reference design. Not expecting it to last more than 18 months.

I can't believe that these companies make much money when the returns are like this! Obviously I am a magnet for bad cards or something but it really did make me think. Nowadays I automatically expect to have issues with every purchase I make for my PC which leaves me less disappointed but also more reluctant to swap parts out (especially graphics cards).

 

[Leyawiin]

Even EVGA has their moments. I was sent a replacement that was in worse physical shape than the five month old dead GTX 260 (192) "FTW" Edition I sent in. It was stuttering severely on top of that. A lot of their RMAs are fulfilled by "step up" program return cards and many of those are abused by owners who know they aren't going to keep them.

After many emails I finally called late in the day and amazingly the VP of Sales Joe Darwin grabbed the phone (guess everyone else had gone home). I got in a shouting match with him over it and he grudgingly agreed to send me a new retail box GTX 260 (216). In spite of being a lower end model compared to a FTW Edition, at least it didn't look like it had been dragged behind a car for a couple miles. I was so pissed off over the experience I sold it and went back to my 8800 GTX (also EVGA).

 

[amddude]

MSI really does have just a couple dudes doing RMA's. I've done many and not had trouble though.

 

[RussianSensation]

Some facts about me:
I've bought quite a few graphics cards and had to return a few in the past.

Visiontek gforce3 - somewhere in my house
Jaton 6800 - returned and replaced (artifacting) - sold
eVGA 6600GT - currently used as an HTPC card
eVGA7600GT - currently on stand by as a backup card
Saphire 3850 - Great card!
XFX 8800GT - Great card!
MSI 4870 - returned awaiting refund (artifacting)
XFX 5770 - DOA returned awaiting new card (artifacting)

Sorry to hear about your RMA story with MSI. However, given your history of videocards, I cannot believe that 3 out of 8 graphics cards you purchased failed; that's bad luck. It may be that:

1) Your case is very poorly ventilated
2) You have cheap power supplies that eventually cause component failure
3) You have poor electrical current regulation through the wall socket
4) There were a series of poor batches of cards and you happen to the unlucky dude.