*WhatEver* you do *Don't* buy a Sapphire! WithOUT *knowing* Their RMA Process costs $15

[Agentbolt]

I do, assuming you go with option A. Option B is fine is you really feel like choosing this particular sword to die on, but personally I'd just pay the 30 bucks and let the lost business Sapphire will get speak for itself.

Also, I haven't looked, but have you checked to see whether this company is a member of the Better Business Bureau? Send your complaint to them, most larger businesses have a specific person to deal with situations like this, but usually you can't get in touch with them unless the BBB steps in. It's worked for me in the 1 or 2 situations I've had where a company has screwed me.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Avalon
Connect3D offers a two year warranty that doesn't involve any fees. You just pay to ship the card to them, and that's that. Don't think they make AGP X1950Pros, although I could be wrong...but just throwing that out there. They're usually cheap compared to other brands and their warranty is good, which is why most of my ATI cards have been from them.

Now, you want to hear about a bad RMA policy...let's talk about Geil. IF you can manage to get an RMA number from them, and send it in...you never see your memory again. They also stop responding to you by that point.

awesome after the fact advice

look ... i'm also gonna start a thread in GH

it will be *very different* and there will be no flaming ... it will be a PSA

i have *calmed down*

there IS a simple solution and i'm surprised no one suggested it

but then it IS "video" and threads fall into these catagories:

1) sympathy
2) Sapphire sucks [ati flame]
3) Sapphire can do *no wrong* [fanATIc]
4) apoppin is an idiot *the self righteous lecture*

and the smallest category
5) suggestions

i thank you for 1 and 5

thank you all i have a *solution*

i'm *over* it and will RMA the card with $15 ...
then i will pursue Sapphire for a refund

and i will do my best to get Sapphire to change this 'cheap' policy while informing potential buyers of their hidden practice.

that's all folks

now ignore what i said and flame on

fulfill your destiny




edit : thanks for the BBB tip, Agentbolt

yep, i am going to RMA the card, pay the $15 - then- demand sapphire refund it depending on possible *results* from the RMA

works for me

 

[imported_thefonz]

150 post thread bitching about this and your just going to pay the $15??!!?!!?!! what happened to getting your *satisfaction*?

I'm shocked

I love this quote as well

"I can't believe this thread is by an allegedly elite member with 23,000+ posts. I would expect it for a first post from one of those self-righteous consumer types, complete with the default avatar "

Hope you enjoy your new card's appopin, Can't wait for those benchmarks, I'll take them as seriously as I did this thread :disgust:

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: thefonz
150 post thread bitching about this and your just going to pay the $15??!!?!!?!! what happened to getting your *satisfaction*?

I'm shocked

I love this quote as well

"I can't believe this thread is by an allegedly elite member with 23,000+ posts. I would expect it for a first post from one of those self-righteous consumer types, complete with the default avatar "

Hope you enjoy your new card's appopin, Can't wait for those benchmarks, I'll take them as seriously as I did this thread :disgust:

those 150 weren't all mine

i will *get satisfaction* ... after i get my Returned from RMA card

i just have to be "practical" ... put my needs first

and i take you comments as seriously as you do mine

you sure 'love' some weird stuff
:roll:

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Xarick
err.. sounds odd because sapphire was nothing but good to me when it came to my 9800pro.

Did they ask you to send them $15?

Please fill out this RMA form as much as you can and email it back to RMA@althonmicro.com along with a copy of the purchase receipt. Once we receive your RMA form we will process it for you and get back with you with an assign RMA#, please do not return your card back with out a RMA# or else all shipment will be rejected. There will be a US$15 dollar processing fee (Which takes care of the repacking and insurance of your return product) for this RMA service, so please include a US$15 money order (if Canadian customer (US$30)

what kind of scam is this? :|

pay Retail for a defective PoS, have it fail on Day 31 --then pay $15 to get a RMA number ... send it at my expense and they will probably send another *defective* back
:thumbsdown:

or do other manufacturers do this?


alll i can say ... for me ... absolutely NEVER again Sapphire

Since you purchased it retail, which retailer?

I would be more inclined to have the store make an exception and just return the product a few days out of the return policy.

 

[sieistganzfett]

! uh... wow. this is a lot of FUD and FLUFF, i even had to look up wtf those ment too, haha. i just bought a sapphire x1950 512MB agp video card from zzf a few days ago, it should be here on tues.. i didnt know it was a $15 rma fee, first thing that popped into my head was that it is just like apple with those stupid ipods when you rma, at least they arent charging to actually "fix" it, just the shipping + processing fee of $15 + your cost to ship it too them right? if i end up in your situation, i would rma it, pay the 15, it better be back to me in less than a month since i'll be using my geforce 6800 again then. if it gets back from rma and craps out again, i'd then bitch at sapphire demanding they waive that fee since they screwed up, spread around some FUD in an email to them about them losing me as a customer, who had this happen on a 1st time buy from them, and as a new customer, their service is horrible, etc. etc. if they take care of me like corsair did after on that 2nd rma of a new product (which is them paying shipping both way, it's my only demand) i'll have some faith in them and might buy a product from them again. however, asus' rma process takes about a month to a month and a half, so imho i hate rma from all companies so far.

summary: now i know sapphire's rma process sucks, i didnt know/remember that when i just bought the card less than a week ago since i never bought a sapphire card before..i'll chance this and come down on them if the card fails on me within the so called "warranty." if it fails within first 3 months i would demand the 15 buck fee waved. if it ever fails 2 times in the "warranty" i'll demand they pay both ways, etc.

 

[nealh]

well I will never buy a sapphire card...RMA fee for returned shipping is total BS..the fact so many will accept this is beyond me...

I got x1900xt cf card used and is a sapphire but that was 3mo ago..if I had known I would never have gotten it..would bought a different brand

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Hmm slightly off topic but.. am I the only one that is getting annoyed every time he reads an Apoppin post because of *these* words getting "bolded" *everywhere* without a *reason* ? I *understand* you want to *emphasis* some of the words, but we *know* by experience how to *read* texts

Nothing personal, just thought I would say this oh and I understand why you are pissed but... yeah as others said you have to tone it down a bit.. judging by your posts it looks like they are making people pay for cards that dont exist or something.. not because of 15$

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: bjc112


Since you purchased it retail, which retailer?

I would be more inclined to have the store make an exception and just return the product a few days out of the return policy.

ZZF ...on their site they prominently post: *absolutely no exchanges after 30 days ... NO exceptions*

unfortunately they count from day of shipping invoice ... not day of receipt or i'd be OK since Feb has 28 days.
======================

Originally posted by: sieistganzfett
! uh... wow. this is a lot of FUD and FLUFF, i even had to look up wtf those ment too, haha. i just bought a sapphire x1950 512MB agp video card from zzf a few days ago, it should be here on tues.. i didnt know it was a $15 rma fee, first thing that popped into my head was that it is just like apple with those stupid ipods when you rma, at least they arent charging to actually "fix" it, just the shipping + processing fee of $15 + your cost to ship it too them right? if i end up in your situation, i would rma it, pay the 15, it better be back to me in less than a month since i'll be using my geforce 6800 again then. if it gets back from rma and craps out again, i'd then bitch at sapphire demanding they waive that fee since they screwed up, spread around some FUD in an email to them about them losing me as a customer, who had this happen on a 1st time buy from them, and as a new customer, their service is horrible, etc. etc. if they take care of me like corsair did after on that 2nd rma of a new product (which is them paying shipping both way, it's my only demand) i'll have some faith in them and might buy a product from them again. however, asus' rma process takes about a month to a month and a half, so imho i hate rma from all companies so far.

summary: now i know sapphire's rma process sucks, i didnt know/remember that when i just bought the card less than a week ago since i never bought a sapphire card before..i'll chance this and come down on them if the card fails on me within the so called "warranty." if it fails within first 3 months i would demand the 15 buck fee waved. if it ever fails 2 times in the "warranty" i'll demand they pay both ways, etc.

i AM gonna pay the fee and THEN *demand* that Sapphire refund it. After i get the card back
========================

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
Hmm slightly off topic but.. am I the only one that is getting annoyed every time he reads an Apoppin post because of *these* words getting "bolded" *everywhere* without a *reason* ? I *understand* you want to *emphasis* some of the words, but we *know* by experience how to *read* texts

Nothing personal, just thought I would say this oh and I understand why you are pissed but... yeah as others said you have to tone it down a bit.. judging by your posts it looks like they are making people pay for cards that dont exist or something.. not because of 15$

apoppin *doesn't care*

everything's Zen

:moon::sun:

... now

 

[happy medium]

When I go to a restraunt and get bad food, they usually give me free dessert and apologize. I'd be pretty pissed if they gave me the same food I already ordered the right way (LATE)! and made me double the tip!. I think that sums it up. This company needs to change there policy.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: happy medium
When I go to a restraunt and get bad food, they usually give me free dessert and apologize. I'd be pretty pissed if they gave me the same food I already ordered the right way (LATE)! and made me double the tip!. I think that sums it up. This company needs to change there policy.

it is my *mission* to get Sapphire to change it or at least get my $15 plus shipping back
[yeah, i want "something" for my trouble]

AFTER i get my card back

i need to sell either card [period] ... right away while they have value

i will send them the links to the threads i create and let them see what their customers and potential customers think of their practice ... and i will remind them that i am very active here and *each time* i see a Sapphire "Hot Deal" i will inform potential customers of Sapphire's RMA Scam ...

i also intend to complain to the BBB and will consider instigating a class action suit if all else fails

United States customers are not at all used to being nickel-and-dimed for an RMA

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Avalon
Connect3D offers a two year warranty that doesn't involve any fees. You just pay to ship the card to them, and that's that. Don't think they make AGP X1950Pros, although I could be wrong...but just throwing that out there. They're usually cheap compared to other brands and their warranty is good, which is why most of my ATI cards have been from them.

Now, you want to hear about a bad RMA policy...let's talk about Geil. IF you can manage to get an RMA number from them, and send it in...you never see your memory again. They also stop responding to you by that point.

awesome after the fact advice

Well, I tried
Never caught your original thread about buying the X1950pro. Although, I didn't know about Sapphire's warranty policy then, so I don't even know if I would have said anything.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: Avalon
Connect3D offers a two year warranty that doesn't involve any fees. You just pay to ship the card to them, and that's that. Don't think they make AGP X1950Pros, although I could be wrong...but just throwing that out there. They're usually cheap compared to other brands and their warranty is good, which is why most of my ATI cards have been from them.

Now, you want to hear about a bad RMA policy...let's talk about Geil. IF you can manage to get an RMA number from them, and send it in...you never see your memory again. They also stop responding to you by that point.

awesome after the fact advice

Well, I tried
Never caught your original thread about buying the X1950pro. Although, I didn't know about Sapphire's warranty policy then, so I don't even know if I would have said anything.

seriously ... thank-you!

:thumbsup:

the helpful info you post is for OTHER potential buyers and is excellent to know

otoh, the self-righteous Lectures i get about what i *should have* done or not done are retarded

And what Connect 3D does is what *every other decent* manufacturer does including ATi and [i think] nvidia partners ... you send it to them insured against damage and they return one to you at their expense

Sapphire is OUT of line ... at least in the USA

My Message to Sapphire is clear: "fsck yourself and get back into line"

 

[sieistganzfett]

wow apoppin, i would just not buy from sapphire ever again after complaining to them and seeing what happens, or any company that i feel screws me over. i wouldn't scream for them to get back in line and be like the other companies that provide better service (at the higher cost of course for the same/similar product).. but eh, its your labor, not mine. if you can make a change in sapphire, to get them to at least being up front with the policy of the rma costing the customer money for them (sapphire) to cover their processing/return shipping when you (a paying customer) needs to rma under the so called "warranty", in addition to the customers cost to ship it to sapphire in the first place, then go fight it.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: sieistganzfett
wow apoppin, i would just not buy from sapphire ever again after complaining to them and seeing what happens, or any company that i feel screws me over. i wouldn't scream for them to get back in line and be like the other companies that provide better service (at the higher cost of course for the same/similar product).. but eh, its your labor, not mine. if you can make a change in sapphire, to get them to at least being up front with the policy of the rma costing the customer money for them (sapphire) to cover their processing/return shipping when you (a paying customer) needs to rma under the so called "warranty", in addition to the customers cost to ship it to sapphire in the first place, then go fight it.

let me explain again

my Goal Number One is to get my x1950p back and sell one before it is an antique

Goal Number 2 is less *urgent* ... i fully intend to get my $15 back from Sapphire

Number 3 is a *natural* for me ... sharing my bad experience with Sapphire's extortionist RMA policy with all my friends here ... worldwide ... easy, thanks to the 'net

all they need to do is be *up front* about their RMA ... i don't care if they change any other thing ....

i don't think i will ask for them to pay for any *other* customer's shipping ... just mine

 

[sisq0kidd]

I don't know why people slam other people for making threads like these.

I, for one, like to know about policies that might affect me at one time or another.

It's just like all those Monarch threads that people made. Turns out, if people took the OPs seriously in those threads, others wouldn't have been screwed by Monarch.

I'm smart enough (my mother tells me so!) to sift through threads and decide for myself whether or not a complaint against a company is legitimate. If there is something wrong that apoppin did, then flame him for it. All he's doing right here is showing his disgust for a company's policy and giving us consumers a heads up on a "hidden" fee that we may not be aware of.

Is apoppin overemotional about the whole ordeal and is he overdoing it? Maybe, but we already knew that by his overuse of emoticons

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had to pay $20 for an HP laptop RMA, within the warranty period. Apparently that was for the box+return shipping. Even so, they returned the unit in record time, but seemingly did nothing to fix it. Seemed like a hardware defect in the PS/2 ports internally on the mobo to me, something that I don't think that they are qualified to diagnose. It could even be due to a bug in ATI's southbridges, which were known to have some issues. It would freeze in DOS apps when using the touchpad, including Ghost 2003.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
I don't know why people slam other people for making threads like these.

I, for one, like to know about policies that might affect me at one time or another.

It's just like all those Monarch threads that people made. Turns out, if people took the OPs seriously in those threads, others wouldn't have been screwed by Monarch.

I'm smart enough (my mother tells me so!) to sift through threads and decide for myself whether or not a complaint against a company is legitimate. If there is something wrong that apoppin did, then flame him for it. All he's doing right here is showing his disgust for a company's policy and giving us consumers a heads up on a "hidden" fee that we may not be aware of.

Is apoppin overemotional about the whole ordeal and is he overdoing it? Maybe, but we already knew that by his overuse of emoticons

well thank you

as to "over emotional" ... it didn't take me long to *settle down* once i got a "working solution" to my problem ... nor did it take very long - thanks even to the flames - to see the *issue* clearly .... my problem is ONLY with Sapphire's UN-disclosed RMA "Processing fee"

anyway, i followed the Sapphire RMA Tech's advice and went back to ZZf and asked them to *reconsider* bringing my problem up to supervisor ... perhaps they miscounted [i actually had the card in my possession 30 days] and at any rate, it would be *nice* if they did so and it would not cost them 'extra' [according to the tech] ... so we'll see what they reply. ... if ZZf will go the extra mile for CS ... or not.

if not, it will go the Sapphire RMA route ... and i will demand my $15 back ... after i get it back.

i am getting some PMs suggesting it is *my fault* for using an "underpowered" PS ... :frown:
well, it exceeds the Sapphire "minimum" --if they *understated* it, it is their fault[period]


as to the charge for a Laptop RMA ... even Dell, with it's lowest level of service plan ... RMA'd my notebook and paid for it --both ways

 

[sieistganzfett]

the more research i do for the "problems" of this card, the more i want to try to send it back to zzf unopened, and pay a restocking fee, or whatever to get back most of the money. lol. I didn't even get the card yet. :Q and part of me wants to send it back.

after i take care of my pos generic, came with the cheap case i bought a while ago,psu that is 430W with only 17A on the 12V rail, it will be $199 + ship for a "real high quality" power supply that will support this card since its not one of those pos psu that cost about 100 bucks with the pathetic "dual rail" for the 12V. Those power supplies do NOT even meet the 30A required, and people connecting 2 of them to run the card have problems still... major problem 1 is going to be that i need more power.. grunts..

but then i have the problem of heat (i knew this was going to be a problem, but i was going to just set the fans via ati tray to 80-90% to cool the thing down to the temps of around 60 C or so.. or i could just buy a better cooler and figure out how to install one. :evil::laugh:

had the 3 reviews i read on the day i ordered this card flat out mention the stringent requirements and possible problems, which the reviews on tomshardware.com did NOT list, i would have put my credit card back into my wallet and settled with my chaintech 6800 128MB, which received my 'go" after finding the full info on sites like anandech and tomshardware.. this bothers me actually, and zzf and sapphire not really mentioning you must have a top notch psu, you can't get by with anything less flat out pisses me off. it was hard enough getting the dimensions + power suply requires 450W with 30A on the 12V before i ordered it, i should have did more research on this order. ::kicks self for being naive::

the more i look into this card, the more i might become like apoppin.

 

[WoodButcher]

Saphire or ATI Is trying to guarantee their product with your money. It is not morally correct but it is legal. FLAME THEM......
I'm a carpenter and see many such things. I'm now certified by a big company to install their basements and sunroom systems. They give a limited lifetime warranty. Bull.
They charge 3 times what these systems are worth so they can afford to replace the entire job and still clear a profit. When I am asked my opinion on these products 1 on 1, face to face, I will give an honest answer but god help me if I were to publicly mention their name! You get the idea,,,,

 

[MegaWorks]

I can only say WOW! This thread is what AT video forums is all about, Hey Apoppin good luck

fighting for your $15 man. :thumbsup: :laugh:

 

[futuristicmonkey]

My three-plus-year-old Sapphire 9600 Pro Atlantis is still running like a champ. Considering some of the abuse it's been through.....I really can't believe that their products would have issues such as these. They don't make crap like they used too, I guess

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: Stumps
Me thinks when I upgrade to a PCI-E platform I might go back to all Gigabyte again....it's worked for me so far...

I have a Gigabyte X1950Pro PCI-E working great

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Vinnybcfc

Originally posted by: Stumps
Me thinks when I upgrade to a PCI-E platform I might go back to all Gigabyte again....it's worked for me so far...

I have a Gigabyte X1950Pro PCI-E working great

of course it's working fine....It's a Gigabyte :thumbsup:

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Saphire or ATI Is trying to guarantee their product with your money. It is not morally correct but it is legal. FLAME THEM......
I'm a carpenter and see many such things. I'm now certified by a big company to install their basements and sunroom systems. They give a limited lifetime warranty. Bull.
They charge 3 times what these systems are worth so they can afford to replace the entire job and still clear a profit. When I am asked my opinion on these products 1 on 1, face to face, I will give an honest answer but god help me if I were to publicly mention their name! You get the idea,,,,

actually i am not 100% sure it IS legal ... especially in the case of Sapphire's RMA ... i didn't think these kind of fees could be legal if they are *hidden* when you buy their product.

and ...


Home depot?
:Q

they are getting major suits in Cali started for similar deceptive subcontracting practices, i believe ... at least there is an *investigation* afaik