BFG RMA questions/stories?

Got my replacement RMA today. Refurbed GTS250 1 gig this time. I'm not pulling my perfectly working Radeon 4890 out to test it, so I suppose that's the end of story for now. Just gotta send my broken GTS 250 512 back to BFG.

Again - I don't think BFG makes terrible cards, I think this is more on nVidia's part, but BFG does need to work on their RMA issues. A lifetime warranty is a huge incentive for buying a card if it can be backed up. Sending out faulty replacements, cards with bent mounting brackets, downgrading cards because nothing else was available, and telling people they can't tell them when they will have their replacement back is *not* a warranty.

Good luck to you all and BFG as well.
 
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I contacted BFG again about the situation, well, it seems (they say) from their records I was supposed to get a Geforce 250 GTS though what was in the box was actually a Geforce 9800 GT.

After some number verification, it seems whoever stuck the serial number label on the card didn't really check to see if it was the correct card. The S/N was of a Geforce 250 GTS, but all the other labels and stickers where of a 9800 GT (that and the design of the card was obviously a 9800 GT).

It took a good half-hour or so to get this cleared up, but they registered a new GTS 250 OC 1024 GDDR3 to my name and doing another advanced replacement. A day later, the GTS 250 has not shipped yet, but hopefully it means the proper card will be sent out.

In the end I got a proper CSR this time that actually did his job properly without giving me grief, about damn time.
 
Duessues said:
Well my story ends rather well. I got my card in today and at first was quite concerned. The metal grill was bent up I assume from shipping and it took a bit of time with some pliers to get it to fit snugly into my case. However, after bending it back into shape, my now gtx 285 oc2 is working well. Did a stress test and so far things seem okay, so I'm happy. Not 100% confident with this new card yet but so far things are looking up.

Hopefully, this'll be the last I post in this thread. Over all, I'm satisfied.
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Sigh. Turns out this card has issues. After trying a very large variety of things to get it to work smoothly, it simply wont work.

RMA Round 2, Ding.
 
Well, another two weeks have passed, the proper replacement has not been shipped out of the warehouse, and no updates have been issued to me on the situation. This is leaving me wondering what is wrong with BFG Tech's warehouse/RMA department. Is it that hard for them to grab the proper replacement video card, verify the part is correct, quick test it, make final confirmations, and send it out in a timely manor?
 
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Anyone know if evga or XFX require online registration, etc for an RMA? I rather liked how with BFG, I could do everything over the phone, it was much simpler.
 
BFG does do an online process, but its not automated on the back end. That is manually done by their customer service department. It took almost a week and a couple of email follow ups to et mine done.
 
i have a gigabyte motherboard. i have RMA'ed it TWICE.

both times there was nothing wrong and they tested it, flashed the bios, and stress tested it.

never charged me anything, when they should of. in the end, they helped me figure out it was my evga8800 that went bad.

I rma'ed a mushkin psu, they sent me a BRAND new one, factory sealed, advanced rma.

now, only from the above gigabyte does video cards, but i want to offer 2 SOLID examples of what i consider the absolute best RMA service possible.

from what i read, and its SAD to say, i am going to stay away from Sapphire, BFG, or PNY.

Gigabyte and EVGA are 100% legit. with evga you DO have to register. with gigabyte, they require the serial numbers to verify the warranty is active.
 
Damn, just found out the evga card I bought used is missing the warranty sticker on it =/
No way around that is there? =P
 
Final update for me.

I was able to get rid of my 285GTX, which set me free of all these RMA issues. I am not sure what the issue was for me in this case. 7 cards over a years worth of time wasted. Countless man hours for BFG, and some bad press. I hope BFG is able to get to the bottom of the issue for this small group of people so they can move forward. There are some great customer service reps there(along with some very bad ones), and I wish BFG the best. As of now I am partnered with XFX and a brand new 5870 :).

I hope the rest of you guys and gals are able to resolve your issues.
 
Well,
I just sent in my 9800GX2 to BFG in Quebec (of all places?)..... I'll keep you guys posted on the process... So far the customer service has been good. I just hope that this gets done without issue.
 
wow no update yet.... Granted, its only been a week, but i've been told of major stock issues? Can anyone confirm this? Doesnt make much sense to me, as BFG is a major nVidia partner..... unless nVidia has cut their supply?
 
Welcome to the BFG RMA nightmare. I fixed my BFG issues by just getting a new EVGA 480 GTX SC. BFG never could get my 8800GTX SLI fixed under my lifetime warranty. Good luck with them.
 
Whoa....

BFG is folding? I've heard backhanded rumors to that fact. Its the reason for stock issues.
I called for an RMA update and asked, and he basically said he cant talk about it..... and seemed kinda depressed that I asked..... not a good sign.

Apparently,RMA's will still be honored out of the Canadian depot in Montreal..... but an announcement is expected shortly about future plans....

Maybe a shift to ati?
 
After sending back my 8800gt a second time about 3 weeks ago I finally got a replacement. They sent me a

BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55

what a big jump!!
 
I still haven't heard a thing from BFG, so I called them this morning.
Apparently, there is still stock issues, and they have no ETA at all as to when they are going to receive more stock.
 
A short update, my problem was finally resolved well-over a month late on 4-23-2010, and now have a proper working replacement. There was however a small defect with the power connector not being full inserted into the PCB, but a small issue that was easily resolved on my end. No other problems to report.

So went from a Geforce 9800 GTX Plus OC 512MB to a Geforce GTS 250 OC 1024MB video card.
 
Jeff was an enormous help when the 280's were first released and I traded up, it took 3 cards before I was able to get one that would function properly. Unfortunately this past week my 280 has taken to the "pink screen of death" tried it in a couple of machines now and it was fubar. Took 5m to setup an RMA after calling and it's on it's way now. This will be the 4th 280 since 2008 if I do infact receive one back. Hopefully there will be no stock issues, I've had no problems with their support previously. I think there are things behind the scenes throwing a wrench into this company (aka nVidia) for some folks and that is causing probably alot of frustration with consumers and BFG alike.
 
Wow,
This is getting insanely ridiculous.

I've just finished writing a long winded email to the CEO, President and Tech Analyst of BFG explaining the issues.
This morning I was hung up on 8 times by BFG customer service before even getting a word in.
When I finally did get to a CSR, I was calm and polite, only to be met with an extremely harsh and rather quick woman who obviously wanted no part in dealing with me.

She offered me a 9800gt to replace my 9800GX2......... unacceptable.

They stated that they have no stock below that, and i'd be lucky to even get a 9800gt, because they only have 6 or 7 series cards in good stock. asked me if I wanted it and when I declined, she said and I quote " well, you're just gonna have to wait, and its gonna be a while..... goodbye" and hung up. the unfortunate thing is taht save for one CSR in the rma department, (Patrick) this is the norm with BFG..... something has to change, and quick.
 
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Let me know how that goes Matt. I have a GX2 a little over a week in the RMA queue at Aurora, IL that is also held up because of stock issues. My card only lasted a year so I'll be pretty upset if they are unable to provide an acceptable replacement under the warranty provisions.
 
I called back on Friday after writing the letter to Jeff and the CEO, received much better service.
Rumor has it that there will be stock in on Wednesday. We'll see.
 
[H] Community,

I first want to apologize for not being around as much as I want to be. My position has been shifted a bit to do a few different things within our organization (not allowing me to be on top of this stuff as I was before). However this doesn't change the fact that there are outstanding issues that were stated within this thread that need to be addressed.

Please feel free to get in touch with me via PM or email (even if you have done so in the past), and I will try my best to address the situation. It has been stated, I am only one person, but will certainly address the comments in this thread and try to rectify this the best way I can in a timely fashion.

As a side note, I understand your frustration and will do anything I can to get your individual issues handled.
 
Good you see you online jeff :D
Sent ya a few pm's and emails.... I know your busy, and greatly appreciate your efforts to help us with our issues.
 
I know, and again I'm sorry for the lack of response. I am around and will get to the PMs and emails, I've just been a bit tied up lately and unfortunately there isn't enough time in a day, or a week :)
 
mattlef said:
Rumor has it that there will be stock in on Wednesday. We'll see.
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As that rumor indicated, it looks like BFG received new stock on Wednesday. My RMA status just updated:
Created: 04/26/10
Received: 2010-04-30 07:57:59
Shipped: 2010-05-12 07:53:27
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Hopefully everyone else that was waiting has a tracking number now as well. I'm looking forward to having a GX2 again.
 
agheno said:
As that rumor indicated, it looks like BFG received new stock on Wednesday. My RMA status just updated:Hopefully everyone else that was waiting has a tracking number now as well. I'm looking forward to having a GX2 again.
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Nope,
no tracking as of yet.... I'm going to give it another day or so. Hopefully then I'll get something shipped out to me.... Hopefully.
 
Just got off the phone about my 280 RMA, I was told maybe the end of the week or next week. Bleh, not impressed.
 
Well,
the shipment was supposed to be in today, so i checked the tracking to see if it was on a truck....
and to my surprise, it hasn't even been picked up yet. I don't now if this was an honest mistake, but I'm currently on the line with BFG customer support about this.... Bogus tracking = Bad customer support.

Hopefully this gets cleared up quickly and painlessly...... I'm going to hold out hope that this is a fedex scanning issue and not a massive BFG blunder.



-edit-

Just as I thought, they never shipped the card.
It was sitting somewhere in the warehouse and never found its way to the shipping department for whatever reason....
They say its going out tonight, which means that I should receive it in a few days.... however, considering it was supposed to be shipped on the 12th.... Not good.
There seems to be some major issues when simple tasks don't get completed, and when front-line customer service is severely lacking.

However, Jeff, as always you have provided amazing customer support. You have proven to always go the extra mile or so for those who contact you. As always, we are ever so thankful for your tireless efforts. However, its unfortunate that you are forced to do so.
Hopefully the "stuff" you guys are working on and cannot comment on get ironed out quickly, so that once again, we can get back to the experience from BFG that we had received in the past and have grown to expect.
 
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I was glad to have found this post, looks like i'm not alone in my troubles with BFG. Here's my ongoing saga with my video card RMA:

4/23/10 - My BFG 295 GTX freezes while at desktop, freezing entire computer. I reboot to only notice that my video card is no longer outputting video to my monitors. I hooked up my monitors to a laptop and determined that they're still working fine

4/24/10 - I call up BFG for the first time. The woman on the phone was very helpful and after hearing my analysis of the problem she immediately granted me an RMA.

4/26/10 - I ship out the defective video card to BFG at a cost of $40 to me

4/30/10 - The card arrives at BFG.

5/3/10 - The next business day, BFG sends me a notification that they've shipped out a card to me.

5/6/10 - The Replacement card arrives. Inside is packaging materials and a 295 GTX video card. No documentation, no statement as to what was wrong with the original card, no statement regarding whether it is even the same card I sent out. I plug it into my computer and give a sigh of relief as the video output works. Then, when windows is just about done loading, blue screen of death. I try again. Same. and again. Same.

5/7/10 - I reformat my computer several times and try different troubleshooting techniques. All fail. The new video card i've received either BSOD's on loading windows, or completely freezes windows about 10 minutes into loading it.

5/8/10 - I call BFG to tell them that they RMA'd me a defective card. The person on the other end of the line pretty much ignored what I was trying to say and instead made me go through troubleshooting steps with the card. All voltages/etc seemed fine. I erroneously told him that I had a 620 watt power supply, he then immediately said that was my problem as the 295 GTX needed 680 watts (mind you, i've had this card in working order for almost a year now on this power supply). He states that's my problem, and hangs up.

5/9/10 - I check my power supply and see that I actually have a 750 watt. Still wanting to debunk any possibility that it's the problem, I went out and exchanged it for a new 750 watt at the local store. I plug everything in, same problem. I call up BFG again, get the same tech on the line. He still claims that my power supply is an issue since "they tend to output less power over time" (I just bought a BRAND NEW SUPPLY...). Still refusing to listen to me tell him the video card doesn't work, he asks if I have a friend I can go to and try the card in their computer. When I say yes, he says do that and then hangs up. So, I went and tried it in a different computer. Same result. I call back, and ask to know what was wrong with the original RMA'd card. He tells me he cannot access that information and that i'd have to call back tomorrow. He then agrees to have someone call me the following day with the information.

5/10/10 - The day passes without a call from BFG.

5/11/10 - Still no call. I then call them up and luckily get a different tech guy. He gives me an advanced RMA (shipped to me immediately and them shipped back to them at their cost), and tells me to expect a shipping confirmation within two days.

5/13/10 - Have yet to receive a shipping confirmation. I email them and simply ask them to give me my tracking number.

5/15/10 - I get fed up with waiting and call. The BFG rep says that he cannot "access" anything pertaining to a tracking number on the weekend and that I would need to call back during a weekday.

5/17/10 - I call again. The tech tells me that the video card has not shipped out (thanks for letting me know...) that they do not have any stock of the card available, and they have no idea when they will (...). Furious, I demand to speak with a supervisor. He puts me on hold for 20 minutes, and then a customer service rep answers the phone. I demand a supervisor, she tells me that "none are available." She then proceeded to tell me that there is nothing they can do, they will not send out a new card, they have no "refurbished" cards in stock, they will not upgrade me, and "sorry."

My significant other was able to call in and speak with a manager. Apparently they don't expect any stock in for at least two weeks. She then asked for expedited shipping due to this whole mess, and the manager refused, stating that they have an agreement with the shipping company to only do ground. Great.

Is this the type of service a "lifetime" warranty from BFG offers? In a few days it will be a MONTH since I have had a working card. With their ETA they don't even plan on giving me another card until June, at the earliest, and even then, there still remains a possibility that i'll receive yet another video card that doesn't work? I have never been more furious with a company. The way things are going I don't know if i'll ever patronize this company again, and I regret recommending the brand to friends.
 
Vesian, I think I talked to the same rep as you, although maybe after.

After almost a month in their RMA dept with no communication, I finally called (whether I am patient or lazy is up for debate). The first time I was transferred to the CS dept (from RMA option on the phone) I was immediately disconnected after a 20 min wait (heard it picked up, then click). On the second try I got through.

I asked about the status. "Well as you know all of these card RMAs are on hold" What? How would I know that, you have had zero communication with me. Then she started getting defensive when I explained that and locked into the "there's nothing I can do" response to every single question. After about 2 minutes of this mindless repetition to every question, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Her exact words? "I'll escalate it". Then she hung up on me.

Really?

I sent a follow up email that day, and no response 5 days later.

The card is a GTX 295 H2Oc, the pump was clearly failing, still well within warranty period. I dropped $850 on that bad boy, and without it my rig has been pathetic for a month now. No communication, and utter rudeness when I called to check in. Wow.

I get that these things can take time, but the utter lack of communication, and the sheer lack of civilized discourse of the CSR just blows my mind.

They've had it since 4/14. Beyond frustrating.

Wow, guess this explains why the rude woman described over the last 4 pages still has a job (for now): BFG is out of the video biz. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1519734

Will have to see how the RMA promise holds .... clearly it isn't looking to positive as far as this thread is concerned.
 
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After reading the recent RMA horror stories, I'm really scared for my recently RMAed 8800, it's been in their warehouse for a week already and BFG backing out really just destroyed my hope of getting something back anytime soon.
 
7 days since post, still no update or response to emails or a PM here. I'm spreading the message to multiple forums - people need to see how BFG is treating their customers.
 
It took 2 months to sort my rma out, I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

Things are beyond a joke with there service, even if they started selling graphics cards once more I wouldn't buy from them.
 
7 days since post, still no update or response to emails or a PM here. I'm spreading the message to multiple forums - people need to see how BFG is treating their customers.
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You need to be more patient and hope you get serviced at all - they are GOING OUT OF BUSINESS - keep your expectations realistic and realize theose same people may be without jobs soon.
 
JayteeBates said:
You need to be more patient and hope you get serviced at all - they are GOING OUT OF BUSINESS - keep your expectations realistic and realize theose same people may be without jobs soon.
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they are not going out of business stop flat out lieing.

They are no longer going to produce videocards.. they still have power supplies and computer products being made and sold.
 
JayteeBates said:
You need to be more patient and hope you get serviced at all - they are GOING OUT OF BUSINESS - keep your expectations realistic and realize theose same people may be without jobs soon.
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Don't say things that you have no facts to back up. The situation is in fact quite the opposite. Their press release specifically stated that they will no longer be selling graphics cards and that they will continue to sell PSU's, Laptops, and Gaming systems. They also specifically mentioned that their warranties and warranty service will not change.:rolleyes:
 
Mif said:
Don't say things that you have no facts to back up. The situation is in fact quite the opposite. Their press release specifically stated that ... their warranties and warranty service will not change.:rolleyes:
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I own two BFG GTX260 216 and I am very concerned about the company's ability to honor their lifetime warrantees at some point in the future. As the press release states, BFG will reserve some video cards for warrantee service. But those cards will eventually run out. And when they do, they can only reply with "sorry, we don't have any more cards to send."

Here is the only FACT that I know - they no longer make video cards.
 
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