Gigabyte damaged my motherboard when I sent it in for RMA repair and refuses to fix it

Bavor

n00b
Joined
Nov 3, 2016
Messages
9
In April 2016, I purchased a GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 (rev. 1.0) motherboard form Newegg. The motherboard was delivered on May 3rd 2016. The fan headers started dying on the motherboard less than 6 weeks after it was delivered from Newegg. Unfortunately it was outside of the Newegg.com 30 day return window, so I had to deal with Gigabyte's RMA process. When I eventually sent the motherboard in for RMA repair, Gigabyte's RMA facility employees damaged my motherboard and refused to repair it.

I have a Corsair H75 water cooler for the CPU. I had the cooler's front 120mm radiator fan plugged into the CPU_OPT fan header. I have the rear radiator fan plugged into the SYS_FAN1 header. I noticed my CPU temperatures were very high(60C) at idle. I opened up the case and saw that the front radiator fan was not spinning. When I rebooted the PC, the front radiator fan started spinning then stopped after a short time. When I rebooted the PC again the front radiator fan never spun upon startup. I rebooted the computer several tiems and noticed that the fan would either not spin at all upon start up or woudl spin for a short time then stop. I checked my settings in the UEFI/BIOS and they had not changed.

To troubleshoot, I shut down the PC and plugged the front radiator fan into the SYS_FAN3 fan header on the motherboard. When I rebooted, the front radiator fan was working properly and my CPU temperatures were normal.

I also noticed at that time that the 120mm front case fans weren't spinning at all. I shut down the PC again and plugged the front case fans into a 4 pin Molex to 3 pin fan adapter. and rebooted. Upon reboot the front case fan was spinning.

I originally requested a RMA, then found out Gigabyte ships UPS ground for return shipping and I was told that the RMA process with Gigabyte can take several weeks. So, I decided to wait until I had some other computer to use while my motherboard was away for RMA repair/replacement because I had no other computer to use at that time.

While I was looking for a used/cheap socket 1151 motherboard to use while my motherboard was away for RMA repair, I ran into another issue. On September 8th, 2016 the computer wouldn't boot. The motherboard would display error code 35, which could either be a CPU problem or a motherboard problem. I've read that Intel CPUs rarely die under normal use and I suspected the motherboard, however I wasn't sure what the problem was and didn't have the spare parts to diagnose the issue. So I took my computer to a local computer shop that has a good reputation, many good reviews, and said they are a Gigabyte authorized retailer. Their $20 diagnostic fee is less than the cost of another socket 1151 CPU to test my computer. They used a different CPU and RAM in my motherboard and confirmed my motherboard is the issue. While my computer was there, several shop employees inspected my motherboard and saw no damage to the board or CPU socket or pins.

I requested a RMA from Gigabyte and bought a cheap motherboard to use while my motherboard was in for repair.

I sent the motherboard into Gigabyte for repair after getting a RMA. Before shipping, I took photos of the motherboard for insurance purposes just in case something happened in shipping. I've been taking photos of items I shipped for a while when shipping electronic components, including ones I sell on eBay and through forums. For a week the RMA stated BIOS corrupt repair/reflash necessary. On October 6th, 2016, after Gigabyte's RMA facility had my motherboard for over a week, Gigabyte emailed me and stated the motherboard is damaged, they are voiding my warranty, and returning the motherboard to me. Yet the motherboard was undamaged when they received it and they originally stated the BIOS needed a replacement for reflash. To determine the UEFI/BIOS was bad wouldn't Gigabyte's employees need to mount a CPU and CPU cooler to the motherboard? When the motherboard was returned to me, there was damage near one of the CPU cooler mounting holds that wasn't there when I sent the motherboard to Gigabyte for repair. Also Gigabyte didn't send the motherboard back in the anti-static bag I shipped it in. The motherboard was shipped in a box with a couple pieces of foam and let it bounce around in the box the entire time it was shipped back to me.. Because my motherboard was undamaged when I sent ti to Gigabyte, it appears someone at their RMA/repair facility damage the motherboard mounting or mounting a CPU cooler to test the motherboard then didn't want to get in trouble for it, so they said it was already damaged.

After looking around on forums and reading consumer reviews of Gigabyte products, I noticed other people who complained about issues with the RMA process and being denied RMA repair for damage that wasn't there when the product was shipped to Gigabyte's RMA facility. Also, I found other consumer reviews of my motherboard stating that they had issues with the BIOS within the first month of ownership. The Better Business Bureau currently have Gigabyte listed as an F rating due to warranty/repair issues and problems with new products that they haven't fixed.

Here are links to some hardware manufacturers and their BBB ratings:

Gigabyte F rating

ASUS A- rating

EVGA A+ Rating

ASRock F rating

Zotac B- rating


MSI A+ rating

In summary, the motherboard didn't properly a few weeks after I bought it. Then it completely died. I received a RMA and sent it back to Gigabyte. After Gigabyte had the motherboard for a week they damaged it at their repair facility, then stated the warranty is void and will not be repairing it. They refuse to take the blame for damaging my motherboard.

If you are considering buying a Gigabyte product in the future(Motherboard, Graphics card, Computer, etc...), remember they have a bad reputation with the Better business Bureau and have a history of RMA/Warranty issues reported by their customers. You are better off spending a little more and buying products form a company that doesn't have RMA/Warranty issues.

Here is a photo comparing the motherboard the day it was shipped and after I received it back from Gigabyte.

u9lhb8R.jpg


Here is the link to the high res version:

http://i.imgur.com/kuJlF0A.jpg
 
Last time I had something like this happen with ASUS (multiple RMA replacements - either physically damaged or DOA), I contacted Newegg, asking them if they could do anything about it. They had me send them the link to the RMA ticket, and then they gave me a full purchase price refund for a board that I had purchased from them about 2 years prior.

So yeah, Newegg may be able to step in and make it right.
 
Not that it will help with the dead board, but I've had better luck with fans if I use molex connectors instead of the motherboard fan headers.

Yes, headers are on the motherboard, but if used with several fans, they seem to cause a lot of issues up to and including killing the motherboards. In my case, Asus replaced mine a couple of times before I stopped connecting all of the case fans to the motherboards. Note: I'm not talking about one or two low powered fans, but gaming computers especially if overclocked really give the motherboard a lot of stress.
 
I don't know what caliber of motherboards you are using, but I use motherboard fan headers exclusively (better fan speed control) and never had a problem with motherboard headers. I adhere to the rule of <1.00 A per fan though (usually use a 0.80A PWM) and follow rigid static control when handling anything. Knock on wood, I've had no issues so far...;)
 
How many forums you going to post the same exact thread in?

http://forum.wotlabs.net/index.php?...-repair-and-refuses-to-fix-it/#comment-721092

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discuss...-my-motherboard-when-i-sent-it-in-for-rma-re/

Not to mention the bitch fest you went on about Gigabyte in 2004 on Anandtech.

I want to make consumers aware of the poor quality RMA servce form Gigabyte.

I made the mistake of buying another Gigabyte product again after their RMA/repair department screwed me over the first time in 2004.
 
I want to make consumers aware of the poor quality RMA servce form Gigabyte.

I made the mistake of buying another Gigabyte product again after their RMA/repair department screwed me over the first time in 2004.

If you didn't learn from direct experience, what are the odds anyone else will learn from reposting this across the internet?
 
If you didn't learn from direct experience, what are the odds anyone else will learn from reposting this across the internet?
So the consumer is to blame now for giving a company a second chance after 12 years?
 
So the consumer is to blame now for giving a company a second chance after 12 years?

If I got screwed that badly by a company, I wouldn't give them a second chance ever. Especially when he noted all the RMA problems other people were having. If I was going to use them again, I'd do a LOT of homework in advance of my purchase. Case in point, I was screwed by Asus a LONG time go on a P67 motherboard. But I did some research, determined my experience was probably a fluke, and I'm using an Asus board without problems in my computer today.
 
My buddy had a Gigabyte Radeon 290 die and they replaced it with a Radeon 390X.

Maybe a fluke, but I've seen way more threads over the years complaining about Asus customer support than Gigabyte. Maybe it's due to volume, maybe not.

I've always been treated well by MSI, and I've done a number of RMAs with them over the years for video cards. Just a month ago, they replaced a Radeon 280X with a Radeon R9 390.
 
Yeah Asus have the worst reputation by far for RMAs and "customer service" from what I've read over the years, so I've always avoided them when buying hardware due to that. You can have good and bad experiences with almost any manufacturer and retailer though. Look at any reviews for example of your favourite place to buy hardware from and in most cases you will see all the same kind of negative comments about it as you do for all of its competitors. Anyways what's this about "You are better off spending a little more and buying products form a company that doesn't have RMA/Warranty issues" too like Gigabyte is some kind of cheap alternative? And yeah as already said, you will find many people that have had RMA and warranty issues with every manufacturer in that list, especially Asus.
 
Last time I had something like this happen with ASUS (multiple RMA replacements - either physically damaged or DOA), I contacted Newegg, asking them if they could do anything about it. They had me send them the link to the RMA ticket, and then they gave me a full purchase price refund for a board that I had purchased from them about 2 years prior.

So yeah, Newegg may be able to step in and make it right.

I contacted Newegg a while ago and they said since the problems started after 30 days form the time of purchase they wouldn't help me and I should go through the manufacturer.

If you didn't learn from direct experience, what are the odds anyone else will learn from reposting this across the internet?

Giving a company a second chance after 10+ years is a bad idea? Gigabyte had quite a few good reviews of its newer motherboards so I figured I'd give them a second chance.

wow that sucks, but not like you can do anything about it...

I contacted the BBB and Gigabyte hasn't responded. to my complaint after several weeks. My financial institution said they can do a charge-back against Newegg and refund the purchase price of the motherboard. However that would hurt Newegg and not Gigabyte.
 
it obviously is damage from them mounting a cooler at the depot. have you tried contacting anybody higher up? send them the before and after pics and inform them of the shipping bs? the rma department/depot is not then end all if you reach someone with more authority. been there, done that, on both sides of the issue.
 
I contacted the BBB and Gigabyte hasn't responded. to my complaint after several weeks.

Just so you realize, the BBB is a for-profit private company. They are not some sort of government entity that can make a foreign company like Gigabyte do a damn thing.
 
You probably put $300 worth of effort into this. Sometimes it is better to cut your losses and move on too. I normally OC etc. which for most products voids the warranty. So after the grace period (usually 30 days) unless I knew I am the one that probably or likely fried it - I toss it in the trash and buy another one or something that is likely better. Less hassle, maybe makes a good story but I will be working/gaming much faster in the end. Time to disassemble, pack up, ship, wait, clarity/fight rma process, reassemble with somewhat likely issue is just not worth it to me.
 
Back
Top