EVGA claims minor rust as physical damage. What do you think ?

magoo said:
How in the hell are you supposed to predict whether an RMA will be accepted or denied, especially on a 5 year old part?
He could have called first, right? Foresight as you say.
But to bitch like this when you were willing to simply plunk down twice as much is silly and smacks of an adgenda.
Click to expand...

1) Same way as you would predict whether or not you will receive a rebate - check the conditions, and mail accordingly. The OP wasn't aware of the rust due to normal environmental conditions = physical damage (like hitting the card with a hammer) and I think a large number of people here as well as other forums would agree.

2) Should the OP have suspected that his RMA would be rejected or encounter trouble, I'm sure the OP would have communicated with EVGA PRIOR to commencing. Foresight on the part of EVGA would have read on the box "no life time warranty in the tropics" or "rust constitutes physical damage". Foresight, right ?

3) NO ONE HAS AN AGENDA. Stick to the topic at hand. The OP didn't "bitch" about it, I took it up in the process of helping the OP to fetch opinions on the web. You represent one extreme end of the opinion that is pro-EVGA, FINE. Other more moderate views include: EVGA is not obliged to fulfill warranty, but would have been nice of them, EVGA should fulfill the warranty, but should find out why the screws rusted and nolonger offer lifetime or 5 year warranties in regions where this happens if they can't deal with a few rusted screws.

I also see your offer for your XFX card. I'm not sure the warranty of XFX (double lifetime or not) transfers out of country. The OP clearly stated that he is saving up money for a new card (GTX660) and is going to use the 8800gt as a 2nd card (physX or not).
 
Plain and simply put:
eVGA sells their products in various countries with the stated warranty length and terms. If they do not put written exceptions regarding environmental factors such as rust due to climate, then they need to honor the warranty. It's no big secret as to which places on Earth have what kind of typical climate characteristics.

There are a ton of products that may have a very long/lifetime warranty in the USA/NA by whatever manufacturer, but not in many other parts of the world, and their warranty terms clearly state this.

Bad on eVGA's part, IMO...suck it up and warranty it out for this customer, then change your policy/terms for that region for all future products sold in said region, and move on.
 
djgizmo said:
Check the back of the manual, its usually where the technical / electrical specifications are located.
Click to expand...

Trust me, it's not there. There are downloadable PDFs of the manual on their website with no specs. The manual with my 480 has no specs. The boxes of the 6200's we get for AGP and PCI systems at work have no specs. They have no environmental provisions on their warrantee. They need to do the right thing and cover this card.
 
Maxx_Power said:
1) Same way as you would predict whether or not you will receive a rebate - check the conditions, and mail accordingly. The OP wasn't aware of the rust due to normal environmental conditions = physical damage (like hitting the card with a hammer) and I think a large number of people here as well as other forums would agree.

2) Should the OP have suspected that his RMA would be rejected or encounter trouble, I'm sure the OP would have communicated with EVGA PRIOR to commencing. Foresight on the part of EVGA would have read on the box "no life time warranty in the tropics" or "rust constitutes physical damage". Foresight, right ?

3) NO ONE HAS AN AGENDA. Stick to the topic at hand. The OP didn't "bitch" about it, I took it up in the process of helping the OP to fetch opinions on the web. You represent one extreme end of the opinion that is pro-EVGA, FINE. Other more moderate views include: EVGA is not obliged to fulfill warranty, but would have been nice of them, EVGA should fulfill the warranty, but should find out why the screws rusted and nolonger offer lifetime or 5 year warranties in regions where this happens if they can't deal with a few rusted screws.

I also see your offer for your XFX card. I'm not sure the warranty of XFX (double lifetime or not) transfers out of country. The OP clearly stated that he is saving up money for a new card (GTX660) and is going to use the 8800gt as a 2nd card (physX or not).
Click to expand...

Your passion for your "friend" is admirable and your interest is keen........as witnessed by your posts on Tom's......you seem to be the only one involved there?
My take is quite different than yours and there are plenty of anecdotal stories all over the internet of both good and bad support by not only EVGA.
I also bet there could be more to this story than meets the eye here, there usually is.

I'm not so much pro-evga as I am realistic. I just can't let go of the fact this is a five year old part that has a very limited utility. It will not even do well as a Physx card.....tried that already......it doesn't have the oomph and has been shown to actually slow a system down rather than help.

In the letter of the law.....yes EVGA has a warranty obligation. I think the part has some environmental physical flaws but i also think it was poorly maintained and has lived it's useful lifetime......yes, the lifetime of the product is over.........time to move on. Agenda, yes indeed. The guy (kid) is using you to bad mouth EVGA on this forum, If that isn't an agenda what is?
Why not bring this up on the EVGA forums? They are very responsive there, I know. I post over there from time to time. I think that would be your first stop, not here? But I notice he used Tom's and now here......like I said before, I just don't get it.
Anyone can start an account and post here.......why not do it personally?

We all are pretty much aware there are no EVGA reps on this forum.
This is an agenda.....:D just sayin'.
 
Last edited:
magoo said:
Your passion for your "friend" is admirable and your interest is keen........as witnessed by your posts on Tom's......you seem to be the only one involved there?
My take is quite different than yours and there are plenty of anecdotal stories all over the internet of both good and bad support by not only EVGA.
I also bet there could be more to this story than meets the eye here, there usually is.

I'm not so much pro-evga as I am realistic. I just can't let go of the fact this is a five year old part that has a very limited utility. It will not even do well as a Physx card.....tried that already......it doesn't have the oomph and has been shown to actually slow a system down rather than help.

In the letter of the law.....yes EVGA has a warranty obligation. I think the part has some environmental physical flaws but i also think it was poorly maintained and has lived it's useful lifetime......yes, the lifetime of the product is over.........time to move on. Agenda, yes indeed. The guy (kid) is using you to bad mouth EVGA on this forum, If that isn't an agenda what is?
Why not bring this up on the EVGA forums? They are very responsive there, I know. I post over there from time to time. I think that would be your first stop, not here? But I notice he used Tom's and now here......like I said before, I just don't get it.
Anyone can start an account and post here.......why not do it personally?

We all are pretty much aware there are no EVGA reps on this forum.
This is an agenda.....:D just sayin'.
Click to expand...

Well, I agree with you on the topic that the part may have lived most of its useful life, although until recently, I did also have TWO 8800's running in TWO guest computers for gaming. I have to say, either one of those is faster than my HD 4670 and 5670's, but I don't game much and don't as for all the highest settings...

As for agenda, I took up the cause for the OP. I see him as the little guy being bullied/screwed by a big corporation. This just happens too often, I was just responding to another HardForum member who had issues with Razer Onza mouse who pointed out that the mouse itself failed within warranty, and they replaced it. However, the Onza series all have failure-prone tendencies, and the new one (not a newer revision) failed outside of warranty, and Razer won't even hear it. I won't go into what is what, and my opinions on that topic, because it is off-topic, but just as an example. I don't think the OP has an agenda in mind, because I suggested that perhaps there are EVGA reps on these forums (I am hopeful), the OP did post on EVGA forums, but very little attention gathered, not even CLOSE to what is responded here and at Anandtech (two of my favorite sites). That is all the motivation I have, certainly nothing sinister...
 
I wouldnt post an issue like this on the EVGA forums. They are known for making stuff disappear.
 
Puerto Rico
Click to expand...

Salty air, it does this to anything, i lived in Antigua for 2 years and had rust like this on parts.

EVGA cant control all environmental conditions.
 
There must be no physical damage to any component including the PCB, GPU/chipset, CPU Socket, or damage that is caused by:

fire, immersion in liquid, lightning, earthquake, inadequate ventilation, Acts of God, incorrect application of main voltage howsoever arising, or any other cause beyond the control of EVGA;
Click to expand...

Don't spend my money (or rather the money of all EVGA customers) on replacing this rusty thing. If your climate sucks, install dehumidifier/AC/heating/etc, whatever is appropriate for your conditions.
 
So I'm assuming that if most of you bought a car in say, Hawaii, and the exhaust rusted out within the cars warranty you all would just throw your hands in the air screaming "oh well"?
 
".......or any other cause beyond the control of EVGA".

Normal environmental conditions are not beyind EVGA control. EVGA is totally in the wrong here.
 
Nothing on a videocard should rust, especially the PCB and components. Iron rusts, not copper or lead (or non-lead solder). Steel, which the PCI bracket can be made of (sometimes it's aluminum which doesn't rust), can contain some iron, so it can rust - but that's why it's chrome plated - to prevent rust. And there is no way if the PCI bracket did rust that it would look like that on your card.

Something else went on with the card, most likely in your case. So it seems pretty valid for them to deny RMA if you abused the card, and had a crappy case that rusted. Or had some kind of chemical reaction going on (assuming that isn't rust) in your system.

They are 100% in the right to deny your RMA. Any company would, unless they don't care about wasting company money, or they are being super nice - but there is no reason they should replace that card unless it came that way out of the box.
 
Last edited:
Gotta side with evga on this one. Just because they sell cards globally does not mean they need to engineer their cards for every environment. It's up to the consumer to assure the equipment is not used in an environment to which electronic devices are not well suited. I see the:

".......or any other cause beyond the control of EVGA".
Click to expand...

being flogged a lot. The environment you choose to use the equipment they sell you in is indeed "beyond the control of EVGA".

My2c.
 
THUMPer1 said:
Kind of a lame excuse...
EVGA sells cards to customers around the world. You can't predict the type of environment the card goes into. Plain and simple, Lifetime means lifetime. He should have a new card.
Click to expand...

It's not lame at all. It's actually common sense to anyone with any sort of technical knowledge.

Lets create a made up analogy. You buy a new vette, and it comes with a 5 year 100,000 warranty. Now you take your brand new vette, and race over huge speed bumps in a parking lot non-stop for an hour and mess up your shocks.You take it to the dealer and complain your car is broken, and under warranty, to fix it. They examine your car and see all kids of scrapes on the bottom, which shows that you abused the car. They deny your warranty claim.

The same goes for electronics. You can't submerse them in water, or use them in harsh environments and expect them to work for long. And if you have to use them in such a harsh environment, your expected to use proper maintenance to ensure that they stay working.

Don't change the oil in the brand new vette above, and beat the hell out of it, sieze your motor, and take it in under warranty. They will have your oil analyzed to see what condition it was in and void your claim. It's that simple.
 
Maxx_Power said:
Well, I agree with you on the topic that the part may have lived most of its useful life, although until recently, I did also have TWO 8800's running in TWO guest computers for gaming. I have to say, either one of those is faster than my HD 4670 and 5670's, but I don't game much and don't as for all the highest settings...

As for agenda, I took up the cause for the OP. I see him as the little guy being bullied/screwed by a big corporation. This just happens too often, I was just responding to another HardForum member who had issues with Razer Onza mouse who pointed out that the mouse itself failed within warranty, and they replaced it. However, the Onza series all have failure-prone tendencies, and the new one (not a newer revision) failed outside of warranty, and Razer won't even hear it. I won't go into what is what, and my opinions on that topic, because it is off-topic, but just as an example. I don't think the OP has an agenda in mind, because I suggested that perhaps there are EVGA reps on these forums (I am hopeful), the OP did post on EVGA forums, but very little attention gathered, not even CLOSE to what is responded here and at Anandtech (two of my favorite sites). That is all the motivation I have, certainly nothing sinister...
Click to expand...

Yahoo.....we agreed on something!!!
 
Diverge said:
It's not lame at all. It's actually common sense to anyone with any sort of technical knowledge.

Lets create a made up analogy. You buy a new vette, and it comes with a 5 year 100,000 warranty. Now you take your brand new vette, and race over huge speed bumps in a parking lot non-stop for an hour and mess up your shocks.You take it to the dealer and complain your car is broken, and under warranty, to fix it. They examine your car and see all kids of scrapes on the bottom, which shows that you abused the car. They deny your warranty claim.

The same goes for electronics. You can't submerse them in water, or use them in harsh environments and expect them to work for long. And if you have to use them in such a harsh environment, your expected to use proper maintenance to ensure that they stay working.

Don't change the oil in the brand new vette above, and beat the hell out of it, sieze your motor, and take it in under warranty. They will have your oil analyzed to see what condition it was in and void your claim. It's that simple.
Click to expand...

Bad analogy. Vette owners don't drive enough to have to change the oil. :D I also doubt GM would analyze the oil. They would deny the claim without ever going that far, then it's up to the customer to prove otherwise, although that is kind of not the legal way to do it.

Seriously though, I would believe EVGA would eventually cave on this and fix the card if the OP pressed hard enough and got in touch with the right people. I don't think it would be worth the hassle over a few bucks personally. I mean that card is pretty outdated. I'd use it as an excuse to upgrade. I think I would be pretty ticked if I was in his situation but oh well.
 
Diverge said:
It's not lame at all. It's actually common sense to anyone with any sort of technical knowledge.

Lets create a made up analogy. You buy a new vette, and it comes with a 5 year 100,000 warranty. Now you take your brand new vette, and race over huge speed bumps in a parking lot non-stop for an hour and mess up your shocks.You take it to the dealer and complain your car is broken, and under warranty, to fix it. They examine your car and see all kids of scrapes on the bottom, which shows that you abused the car. They deny your warranty claim.

The same goes for electronics. You can't submerse them in water, or use them in harsh environments and expect them to work for long. And if you have to use them in such a harsh environment, your expected to use proper maintenance to ensure that they stay working.

Don't change the oil in the brand new vette above, and beat the hell out of it, sieze your motor, and take it in under warranty. They will have your oil analyzed to see what condition it was in and void your claim. It's that simple.
Click to expand...

"Common sense" to sell a piece of electronic in the humid environment would be to rust-proof the screws (at least better than what they did), I think car manufacturers would agree on this with rust-proofing for regional use.

Also, while you are making terrible analogies, the rust is not known as the failure cause of the GPU, while your reckless driving would definitely cause problems.
 
^^^ And perhaps they should put antifreeze in bottled water because it might be sold in cold climates? ;p
 
Maxx_Power said:
Any stores you know of that normally sells goods outdoors including bottled water, where it is freezing outside ?
Click to expand...

Plenty. They move it indoors so it won't freeze when it gets cold. Should they be expected to replace bottles of people not smart nuff to move the water sold to them indoors when the temperature drops below freezing and the bottles burst?
 
Evil Scooter said:
Plenty. They move it indoors so it won't freeze when it gets cold. Should they be expected to replace bottles of people not smart nuff to move the water sold to them indoors when the temperature drops below freezing and the bottles burst?
Click to expand...

Am I to read that you are suggesting the OP to move the card out of the Puerto Rico region, despite the fact it was sold there, to use it where it is dry ? That is according to you, IF THE OP WAS SMART "NUFF". Why wasn't EVGA smart "NUFF" to either reduce warranty terms (since their warranty clause IS regional already) and/or disregard minor rusting and/or more research and development for that regional climate to prevent rusting ?

You can't dehumidify dwellings in the tropics like we can here, because the average housing construction is much less insulated and vapor proofed.
 
^^^ I'm not "suggesting" anything. I'm simply finding more creative ways to reiterate my original post. :p Electronics companies sell products all over the world. Said electronics are meant to be used in a fairly controlled environment unless specifically stated otherwise. If you are using these devices outside the scope of intended use, any damage incurred is on you and not covered under warranty.
 
Evil Scooter said:
^^^ I'm not "suggesting" anything. I'm simply finding more creative ways to reiterate my original post. :p Electronics companies sell products all over the world. Said electronics are meant to be used in a fairly controlled environment unless specifically stated otherwise. If you are using these devices outside the scope of intended use, any damage incurred is on you and not covered under warranty.
Click to expand...

Alright then... As for the terms of warranty coverage and specifications of environmental tolerances, EVGA provided NONE on humidity and rust. Some companies like ASUS supposedly does extended environmental tests for their TUF series of components and quotes this:

"
Temperature (°C) / Humidity (%)
with TUF 60/90 with Others 50/85
"

So in the absence of literature and data from EVGA, ASUS seems to think 85% relative humidity is a good upper bound for regular electronics (which is actually very wide, and not controlled). ASSUMING EVGA at least holds this standard (I have no idea why EVGA would aim lower), then the humidity at Puerto Rico (average value over year round is 77%), then any rusting that occurs should be a matter of improper galvanization/plating/treatment.

I think a few members on these forums have tried to look for EVGA component environmental tolerances, NONE OF US have found any.
 
^^^ If you live in an environment where rust due to high humidity is an issue, the onus is on you the owner to take appropriate steps to protect sensitive electronic equipment. You might not ever locate "EVGA component environmental tolerances" as they might not exist. They have no way to prove where or how you have been using the device. They go based on the condition in which it's returned to them. When you try to return a product covered in rust it's pretty obvious it's been exposed to an environment not horribly well suited for it's use. You should not be surprised when they respond accordingly.

This will be my last post on the issue. If you feel companies are responsible for weatherproofing every device they sell for every possible environment, prepare yourself for a bit of a disappointment if and when those devices fail and they refuse to cover the damage under warranty.

And that's all I got to say about that... ;)
 
I have to say I am impressed with your conviction. I totally disagree with you, but for the most part you have kept your posts civil and you have put some thought into your viewpoint. I think you could direct your 'crusader mode' in a better cause, but you certainly have stuck to your guns. Not sure yet if you have an agenda against EVGA and "big business" or this whole thing touched a nerve with you.

Nearly by definition the corporate world is driven by money and is interested in creating a product as cheaply as they can get by with while still meeting their company goals, and selling it for as much as they can. Among all those companies EVGA isn't the worst, not even close. In fact I have had several problems taken care of from EVGA, so I have more positive outlook on them.

Problems like this and reasoning like yours is why some items come with long documents of warranty exclusions and disclaimers. Those generate customer distrust with the product and make lawyers lots of money.

I think a few members on these forums have tried to look for EVGA component environmental tolerances, NONE OF US have found any.
Click to expand...

Ok, so maybe EVGA didn't put enough disclaimers in their warranty to satisfy this situation, and maybe they should technically provide a replacement card. And most likely the next card I buy will have another page of warranty disclaimers and legalistic phrasing for what will and wont be covered by warranty. All of your arguments side-step one important principle. If you want a quality company with good customer service to survive, they have to make money. Replacing every card that looks like it got left out on the rain cost the company money and if they get enough of these (in my viewpoint) spurious claims they wont last as a company. I also don't want to have to get get a legal degree to understand the warranty.

However, the actually wording of the Lifetime warranty is this....

  • Removal and or Defacing of Serial/Part number sticker(s) on ANY EVGA products WILL void ALL warranties on that product. All products ship from EVGA with a serial sticker.
  • All products must be returned in its original condition. Products received by EVGA for replacement that include 3rd-party attachments (CPU heatsink backplate, memory chip heatsinks, etc) will have all attachments removed and discarded. EVGA holds the discretion to return the product to the sender if necessary.
  • There must be no physical damage to any component including the PCB, GPU/chipset, CPU Socket, or damage that is caused by:
    • inadequate or improper repairs carried out by any person or entity which is not authorized by the manufacturer to perform warranty services on its behalf;
    • negligence, accidents, modifications, defective installation or misuse and use of inappropriate spare parts;
    • fire, immersion in liquid, lightning, earthquake, inadequate ventilation, Acts of God, incorrect application of main voltage howsoever arising, or any other cause beyond the control of EVGA;
    • any other goods which can be used with the Product, but are not the Product itself;
    • consumable or wearing items requiring replacement as part of normal service, including (but not limited to) dry cells and rechargeable batteries.
  • The product must be returned to EVGA in the original factory configuration and condition. All aftermarket modifications must be reversed before sending in the product for replacement.
Click to expand...
So technically (because you certainly have been trying to hold them to the technicalities) there is physical damage to a component (rust), it certainly doesn't appear to be in original factory condition from the pictures you posted, and high humidity has to be either inadequate ventilation or an Act of God.

I am actually not trying to be an ass here. But there are more ways of looking at this then your viewpoint. EVGA offered a compromise, that seems pretty fair to me.
 
I am just trying to figure out at what point does a thread become trolling. I think the discussion for this has reached a conclusion and all comments/opinions have been had. What else is there to argue about.... "The sky is blue, no its green, no its blue, no its green."

Simple fact. The amount of rust on the card is not normal. It is physical damage. It is the buyers fault. He gets to pay fees or has to deal with it. Your living condition is your problem, not Evga's. Warranties on products are actually called "limited warranty" if you ever actually look. Its not a warranty against every conceivable condition.
 
Retsam said:
I am just trying to figure out at what point does a thread become trolling. I think the discussion for this has reached a conclusion and all comments/opinions have been had. What else is there to argue about.... "The sky is blue, no its green, no its blue, no its green."

Simple fact. The amount of rust on the card is not normal. It is physical damage. It is the buyers fault. He gets to pay fees or has to deal with it. Your living condition is your problem, not Evga's. Warranties on products are actually called "limited warranty" if you ever actually look. Its not a warranty against every conceivable condition.
Click to expand...

"The amount of rust on the card is not normal." with the conclusion "It is the buyer's fault." Where do you jump from A to C ? If the amount of rust on the card is not normal, it couldn't POSSIBLY be a bad plating job as someone else has already pointed out ? Since you have already read "all comments/opinions", surely that possibility has come across ?

Lastly, we don't know the actual cause of the GPU failure. We can only reason that no amount of rusting on screws that aren't electrically in contact with the PCB should interfere with the proper functioning. Even if we go by your reasoning that the rusting constitutes "physical" damage, then I point out to you that EVGA HAS given RMA's to people who DID NOT EVEN RETURN THE COOLER. Which goes to a few poster's point, that EVGA should have plainly done better in terms of service.
 
Direfox said:
I have to say I am impressed with your conviction. I totally disagree with you, but for the most part you have kept your posts civil and you have put some thought into your viewpoint. I think you could direct your 'crusader mode' in a better cause, but you certainly have stuck to your guns. Not sure yet if you have an agenda against EVGA and "big business" or this whole thing touched a nerve with you.

Nearly by definition the corporate world is driven by money and is interested in creating a product as cheaply as they can get by with while still meeting their company goals, and selling it for as much as they can. Among all those companies EVGA isn't the worst, not even close. In fact I have had several problems taken care of from EVGA, so I have more positive outlook on them.

Problems like this and reasoning like yours is why some items come with long documents of warranty exclusions and disclaimers. Those generate customer distrust with the product and make lawyers lots of money.



Ok, so maybe EVGA didn't put enough disclaimers in their warranty to satisfy this situation, and maybe they should technically provide a replacement card. And most likely the next card I buy will have another page of warranty disclaimers and legalistic phrasing for what will and wont be covered by warranty. All of your arguments side-step one important principle. If you want a quality company with good customer service to survive, they have to make money. Replacing every card that looks like it got left out on the rain cost the company money and if they get enough of these (in my viewpoint) spurious claims they wont last as a company. I also don't want to have to get get a legal degree to understand the warranty.

However, the actually wording of the Lifetime warranty is this....


So technically (because you certainly have been trying to hold them to the technicalities) there is physical damage to a component (rust), it certainly doesn't appear to be in original factory condition from the pictures you posted, and high humidity has to be either inadequate ventilation or an Act of God.

I am actually not trying to be an ass here. But there are more ways of looking at this then your viewpoint. EVGA offered a compromise, that seems pretty fair to me.
Click to expand...

I think it has ticked a nerve with me. I usually see things to the end out of responsibility, so I will eventually update this thread with the final outcome of OP's tale. I felt originally that, especially given EVGA's reputation on customer service, the OP should have been treated better, instead, this discussion mostly centered around technical and interpretative aspects.

There is no point to argue this even further on the two points that A) rust is a result or not of EVGA and/or the user's controls and B) the rust is OR isn't the cause of the GPU failure. The opinions have already been itemized and discussed.

As for viewpoints, I NEVER denied other viewpoints, I only argued their merits and reasonings. I have gone so far as to say, that there is a RANGE of opinions I have heard thus far that stretches from the extremes of pro-EVGA AND pro-End User. I never said anyone was in the wrong, I don't believe/think much of that black/white, right/wrong stuff.

YES, corporations NEED to make money, I'm letting the forum users to draw a line for me where I see it as very murky for the benefits of the corporation monetarily and the benefits of the user, under the warranty agreement.
 
Probably around 14 years ago when I was a RMA tech for a computer hardware wholesaler, I rejected a failed machine due to this type of problem with rust. The argument was the machine was not being used in a satisfactory environment. All the parts were mainstream and I had never seen a rust problem like that before.

It went to disputes tribunal and the customer lost. During the process I learned the user basically lived in a "shack" by the ocean, it was his lifestyle choice and I have no issue with that, unfortunately he shouldn't have been running a PC there.

Looking back I feel sorry for the old guy and it probably would have been cheaper to RMA it.

I feel sorry for the OP however EVGA prob have a point, still being a large company with a good rep they should RMA it.
 
Battleneter2 said:
Probably around 14 years ago when I was a RMA tech for a computer hardware wholesaler, I rejected a failed machine due to this type of problem with rust. The argument was the machine was not being used in a satisfactory environment. All the parts were mainstream and I had never seen a rust problem like that before.

It went to disputes tribunal and the customer lost. During the process I learned the user basically lived in a "shack" by the ocean, it was his lifestyle choice and I have no issue with that, unfortunately he shouldn't have been running a PC there.

Looking back I feel sorry for the old guy and it probably would have been cheaper to RMA it.

I feel sorry for the OP however EVGA prob have a point, still being a large company with a good rep they should RMA it.
Click to expand...

It would have been nice if EVGA had a local RMA center. The OP did have to spend 25 USD to send it away. A local RMA center might experience a different reality that is more in norm with the local anticipations, I think.
 
Direfox said:
I have to say I am impressed with your conviction. I totally disagree with you, but for the most part you have kept your posts civil and you have put some thought into your viewpoint. I think you could direct your 'crusader mode' in a better cause, but you certainly have stuck to your guns. Not sure yet if you have an agenda against EVGA and "big business" or this whole thing touched a nerve with you.

Nearly by definition the corporate world is driven by money and is interested in creating a product as cheaply as they can get by with while still meeting their company goals, and selling it for as much as they can. Among all those companies EVGA isn't the worst, not even close. In fact I have had several problems taken care of from EVGA, so I have more positive outlook on them.

Problems like this and reasoning like yours is why some items come with long documents of warranty exclusions and disclaimers. Those generate customer distrust with the product and make lawyers lots of money.



Ok, so maybe EVGA didn't put enough disclaimers in their warranty to satisfy this situation, and maybe they should technically provide a replacement card. And most likely the next card I buy will have another page of warranty disclaimers and legalistic phrasing for what will and wont be covered by warranty. All of your arguments side-step one important principle. If you want a quality company with good customer service to survive, they have to make money. Replacing every card that looks like it got left out on the rain cost the company money and if they get enough of these (in my viewpoint) spurious claims they wont last as a company. I also don't want to have to get get a legal degree to understand the warranty.

However, the actually wording of the Lifetime warranty is this....


So technically (because you certainly have been trying to hold them to the technicalities) there is physical damage to a component (rust), it certainly doesn't appear to be in original factory condition from the pictures you posted, and high humidity has to be either inadequate ventilation or an Act of God.

I am actually not trying to be an ass here. But there are more ways of looking at this then your viewpoint. EVGA offered a compromise, that seems pretty fair to me.
Click to expand...

This post sums up the discussion very nicely.
As I said before, I admire your conviction and your analysis, this has been a very interesting discussion.

Maxx_Power said:
It would have been nice if EVGA had a local RMA center. The OP did have to spend 25 USD to send it away. A local RMA center might experience a different reality that is more in norm with the local anticipations, I think.
Click to expand...

Unless you get a really top of the line component......we always have to pay to send the part back for evaluation. That's just the way things customarily go. I never even put that into the equation of the RMA or what I did or didn't "lose" on the product.
 
magoo said:
Unless you get a really top of the line component......we always have to pay to send the part back for evaluation. That's just the way things customarily go. I never even put that into the equation of the RMA or what I did or didn't "lose" on the product.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm not saying the money shouldn't have been spent. I was just pointing out that a local RMA center would have both reduced the cost of shipping and increased the chances the OP's card would be deemed normal wear and tear for HIS region. It was just a factor in deciding to send it in for the OP, I think had the OP known that there was a cost of 25$+40$ for the entire ordeal, the OP would have just saved the money for something else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top