Gigabyte RMA success story

[German Muscle]

A client of mine was having issues with his computer shutting back off after turning it on. He had just setup a new waterloop so i told him to ship the cpu and board to me and ill test it. I get the board and pins are bent in the socket. I call a buddy that works for a company that makes very tiny cables and stuff for computers. Asked him to see if he could fix them. He attempted twice but couldnt get them right. So i tell the client that his board has a bad socket. He can RMA it if he wishes. He thinks it over and reads on the internet that they wont warranty socket damage without the socket protector when it gets there. So he tells me to keep the board and send his CPU back that hes just gonna get the same board from newegg. He orders the board and it has the same problem and sends it back and exchanges it with a Z77 board. In the middle of the exchange for the Z77 i find out he wasnt booting the system with any Ram. He gets his Z77 and it works. The second Z68 he got was fine he just didnt test it with RAM.

So anyhow. I got the board. I put in for an RMA to Gigabyte and tell them the board needs the socket replaced. They issue an RMA number and i send it in.

They email me back after looking at the board with:

Dear customer,



We recently received RMA# USA-12C1141 and notice the product with unintentional physical damages. Due to the physical damage the product will not qualify for replacement and the warranty status will be REPAIR only. GIGABYTE will try to repair the damage areas of the product, instead of voiding the warranty. (Please note repair product may have minor cosmetic blemish due to repair process which include discoloration, soldering, and adhesive mask on all open PCB repair) After the board is successfully repaired, our quality control will fully test the product before it is returned. Please see attached file and below for details.

RMA# xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MODLE NUMBER: GA-Z68XP-UD4

SERIAL NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WARRANTY STATUS: REPAIR ONLY



Thank you

I reply with:

Yeah i know it wouldnt be covered under warranty. Thank you for the quick turn around. Im not sure what happened on the traces or where that even is or how it happened. It at all possible could you throw in a backplate/IO Sheild for that board. I seemed to have lost mine. I will pay for that as well as the repair. Thanks again and keep me posted.

Dear Valued Customer,

We appreciate you being patient with us.

We have finished testing your GIGABYTE product(s) and it is (they are) being returned back to you.

Here follows the tracking number of your RMA# xxxxxxxxx

Forwarder UPS GROUND / Prepaid

Tracking Number xxxxxxxxxxx

We thank you for your support to GIGABYTE.

I never got a bill for this. What is the amount due?

Dear customer,

We were able to realign the socket pins.

Thank you

Gigabyte FTMFW!

 

[German Muscle]

I will look at the board once i receive it. I think the trace damage is where my client had the Corsair H50 CPU Bracket double sided tape on the board and pulled it off. That shit is horrible and ive seen where it pulls layers of the board off.

 

[455olds]

Good to hear. I think a lot of companies wouldn't even try to fix it, they would just say board is no good. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ronss]

i have had good luck with gigabyte rma....i had a board that my cat chewed on it,,,and they sent a pic...i was honest with them, and stated it could be that the cat chewed on that part of the board, .they said they would try to repair it, and did....

 

[German Muscle]

They honestly could have charged me for the work and either replaced the socket or straightened the pins to but they didnt. They did what was best for me. Fixing it for free without warranty voiding.

I doubt they sent me a backplate like i asked though so ill have to buy one off ebay for the 40 they are asking.

 

[GigabyteZ]

$40 for an I/O shield? Please don't. If that was the only option I would run without one lol. Put the $40 towards a new GPU for your system.

You should be able to call GB and purchase one from them for less than $10.

 

[JoeUser]

The one and only time I've had to deal with Gigabytes RMA I had an excellent experience!

Sent in a faulty GTX 480 that I was worried would be denied (a couple missing screws and what not due to a heat sink exchange which probably, in all honesty, caused the damage) and what did I get in return? A GTX 580, which at the time was the highest end GPU Nvidia made.

Was totally blown away! Turn around wasn't A+ but I want to say it was under a month, something like 3 weeks or so, average I guess.

Either way, Gigabyte seems to an A-OK company when it comes to RMA's. Will definitely make my purchases through them in the future!

 

[IronDoq]

I have also had good experiences with gigabyte, had to RMA a z68 board last year and everything went smooth. LOVE gigabyte!