My BFG Tech RMA Nightmare (pics in thread)

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a0gamer0a

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Dec 3, 2005
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Since RMA's are a theme this morning I thought I would share some problems that I'm having with BFG reciently. I'm new to posting here on [H] so bear with me. I bought a BFG 6800GT PCIe card off of newegg back in August. A few weeks ago it fizzled out and I eventually had to do an RMA. Here is a link to what the card looked like, note that it's the new cooler design with a big fan and copper cooler...

B52-1002-a1.jpg


So I called BFG and got an RMA going. After some headaches with lost tracking numbers I eventually got my replacement card. One problem with the card through, it was an AGP card....



As far as I could tell it was a new card and figured somebody just grabbed the wrong one off the shelf. So after initally being quoted a week for a new card to be shipped out I emailed the product manager and PR manager @ BFG, they said that it's ok to do that if you run into problems with an RMA after working with support. A manager called me the next day and offered to overnight me a replacement for that card. I gave them my CC info and they overnighted me a replacement. This was the card I got....



Note the cooler is an older style and it has definitly been used, it has a wrinkled sticker of "twitch" and the cooler is dusty, like it's been used for a while before....





It almost looks like I got a card that somebody RMA'ed back to BFG. To top it off the card is definitly hosed, it produces artifacts and problems in every 3d app I run with it, replicated with multiple computers. Here's a few shots of UT2K4....





Now Look at the black dots in the sky of CoD 2...



:mad:

The Nalu and Clear Sailing demos also produce glitches and problems. A question for the forum - are most RMA's like this? I've never had to RMA a anything before and this whole process is driving me insane. Most people that post on [H] seem to say good things about BFG so I'm just hoping this is an isolated issue. I'm gonna try to call BFG tech support again today when I have time, none the less I figured I'd share some of my frustration. :(
 
I would call them now, and get pissed, that card looks way used :mad: Thats BS man :mad:
 
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=982645
Me said:
Regardless how old your card is (even if it's one week old), you should NEVER count on getting a new card back from RMA- if you do, consider yourself very lucky.

BFG's warranty covers you for your lifetime. If your card dies in five years, do you honestly expect them to ship you a brand new card as a replacement? Probably not.
If your card dies in three years, do you expect a new card? Still probably not.
How about one year, when the card you paid for is already discontinued and out of stock?
The point is, where do you draw the line? The warranty says you will be provided with a card of comparable or superior performance, PERIOD. It doesn't say anything about "new" vs "used" or "refurbished," it doesn't even say it'll be pretty and shiny. What it does say is that it will be functional.
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Your card is not guaranteed to be new after an RMA. It sucks that it doesn't work, and you can and should complain about that.

The fact that the fan and sticker show that the card was obviously used, who really cares? As long as the replacement works and carries the same lifetime warranty as the original, why does it matter so much if you are the first or thirtieth owner?

You could also mention the disparity in heatsinks, citing low-noise conditions as one of the determining factors in your original purchase.
 
well,there is dust on the cooler. I dont see any IQ problems except on COD.

In defense of BFG, there is nothing that says they have to send you a brand new card. Just a working card of same or better value, if the original card type has been retired.

I wouldnt be too upset about the dust, the artifacting is disappointing and worth some heated discussion with the BFG folks.

Id insist on a manager and send them the screen shots. I will bet you anything that they set you up right in a hurry. Ive never had anything other than BFG and Ive always had excellent support when needed.
 
magoo said:
well,there is dust on the cooler. I dont see any IQ problems except on COD.
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There are some nasty polygon artifacts in the UT screenshots. Notice the 2 huge triangles across the screen just for starters. :p
 
pxc said:
There are some nasty polygon artifacts in the UT screenshots. Notice the 2 huge triangles across the screen just for starters. :p
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Yeah, that cards junk
:mad:
 
you know, you might want to email the head honcho here at hardocp...maybe his connections would land another happy customer...
 
I'm not imaging the problems with UT2K4, If it would help to upload some more images from different games I will. I'm just cheezed off by the idea that they CAN ship me a new card (that AGP card looked flawless) but they didn't. I just think that if I purchase a card that I should get the same type of replacment card in return, 6xxx cards are still being produced in quantity numbers - I'm not talking about a 5xxx or 4xxx series card here. When I buy a card I do so based off of a lot of factors here, performance/looks/warrenty/etc. If I tried to RMA a card no longer being produced then I can image getting back a used piece of equipment, but to get a used damaged card in return just doesn't fly with me. :mad:
 
exactly the kind of shit im putting up with. i wouldnt be surprised if that was one of my fucked up cards from them
rolleyes.gif


im on my 4th card now.
 
lithium726 said:
exactly the kind of shit im putting up with. i wouldnt be surprised if that was one of my fucked up cards from them
rolleyes.gif


im on my 4th card now.
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4
:eek:
 
Welcome to the new world of video cards, at least they honor the RMA for life unlike PNY's and Xfx replacement plans.

But both Evga and BFG send refurbs out, I guess the only cure is to keep making noise till they make it right.
 
a0gamer0a said:
On that note I guess I should call BFG now, wish me luck. :)
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In my own experiences BFG has been top notch, so I am pretty confident they will make it right.
 
a0gamer0a said:
On that note I guess I should call BFG now, wish me luck. :)
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you and me both...

edit: so i sit on hold for 30 mins, am finally greeted by some chick, and she tells me that theyll call me back sometime after two. 24/7 tech support my ass.
 
Ok, just got off the phone with BFG. I showed them this thread and it summed up what I've been going through with little effort. He said that they are supposted to ship out NEW cards when an RMA comes in and that the problems are probably just mistakes made by the warehouse after comming back from the thanksgiving holiday. They took down my CC again and said I should get my new card on tuesday. :D

While I have reservations I don't have much of an option except to take the guys word. I'm still holding out hope that this will all come out ok. Purchaces like high-end video cards are things that I have to plan YEARS in advance to pull off and can't do every day. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there that make these high end cards for a lower price point but I went with BFG because they are supposted to be "By gamers, For gamers" and as such I figured that when the time came that I had to call with a problem that things wouldn't be this rough going. :(

We'll I guess I'll know by Tuesday if that's the case or not.
 
a0gamer0a said:
Ok, just got off the phone with BFG. I showed them this thread and it summed up what I've been going through with little effort. He said that they are supposted to ship out NEW cards when an RMA comes in and that the problems are probably just mistakes made by the warehouse after comming back from the thanksgiving holiday. They took down my CC again and said I should get my new card on tuesday. :D

While I have reservations I don't have much of an option except to take the guys word. I'm still holding out hope that this will all come out ok. Purchaces like high-end video cards are things that I have to plan YEARS in advance to pull off and can't do every day. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there that make these high end cards for a lower price point but I went with BFG because they are supposted to be "By gamers, For gamers" and as such I figured that when the time came that I had to call with a problem that things wouldn't be this rough going. :(

We'll I guess I'll know by Tuesday if that's the case or not.
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Well good luck man :D Im sure they will do you right, BFG and eVGA are the best.
 
We all hate it when we get a defective product, no matter what the product is.

I'm sorry you had such a pain with your issue, but even the best companies screw up from time to time. I just bought my first BFG products, 2 GTX 512's, and I hope they work out all right.

But the bottom line to me is even when the company does screw up, do they make the effort to get the problem fixed, and it looks like they are at least trying. Let's hope they get it right this time!

Good luck.
 
When I got my 7800GTX, I had to RMA it because one of the DVI ports was bad.
In return I recieved a brand new GTX, in retail form.

Needless to say I was very pleased!

good luck with your RMA's to the OP.
 
Damn, that sucks man. Thought BFG's service was better than that, but after reading some ppl's posts on here, makes you think otherwise.

I'm on my first BFG card now, never had a problem with it yet, so hopefully I DON'T encounter one.

Good luck this time around though, hope it works out for ya. Keep us posted. :rolleyes:
 
Good luck this time around though, hope it works out for ya. Keep us posted.
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No problem. Like a lot of people who hang out in the forums base their purchasing decisions on what people in here say, I sure know I did (and still do :D )
 
Can't wait to see the final outcome, BFG was one of the manufacturers I couldn't get when I bought my system :)
 
I think with RMA's in general;

if the item is DOA then you get a new one. if the item dies after some period of time then you get a used one, however it should most definatly still work.

Good luck getting it all smoothed out
 
Arkangyl said:
I think with RMA's in general;

if the item is DOA then you get a new one. if the item dies after some period of time then you get a used one, however it should most definatly still work.

Good luck getting it all smoothed out
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Definately an over-generalization, because typically when you RMA anything you end up with a new one. In the worst of cases I've had a new product that performered sub-par, but never a used product :confused:
 
I hate RMAing any video card. My last RMA i Rmaed my 6800LE (had massive memory problems) and about a month later i got back The SAME 6800LE. Same Serial Number and everything. Needless to say my investment in my X800XT just became more valuable to me.
 
I hate RMAing any video card. My last RMA i Rmaed my 6800LE (had massive memory problems) and about a month later i got back The SAME 6800LE. Same Serial Number and everything. Needless to say my investment in my X800XT just became more valuable to me.
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:eek: Woah, that's insane. Just curious, who made that card? Did the card work ok or did it still have problems?
 
I have an idea of how bfg's rma process works based on all of the recent rma threads

1. throw defective video card in bin when its recieved
2. toss in some new cards into the bin
3. spin the bin so it goes round and round
4. reach in and grab a video card.
5. ship to customer
6. if customer complains again, go back to step 1, if not... rma process was successful

It doesnt seem that far from the truth imo.
 
Good luck with the current RMA Op. Keep us posted on how it goes...I can't imagine that BFG would screw up this many times and not make it right in the end.
 
evilcartman said:
Good luck with the current RMA Op. Keep us posted on how it goes...I can't imagine that BFG would screw up this many times and not make it right in the end.
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I plan on it. I'm just hoping this was all just a really big fluke cause somebody in their warehouse didn't have their morning coffee. :p If not then people need to know about it so they can make informed decisions with their money. I know that there is no way in hell that I can afford a new vid card any time soon so I'm stuck with what I get. I mentioned that if this doesn't go right that I might need a new card to the wife and the look on her face -> :mad:

This blows. :(
 
So they sent you a 6800 ultra for a replacement right?? It was defective... I wonder if they are going to send you another brand new 6800 ultra now... free upgrade! :)

*edit... I didn't know that BFG had three different looking 6800gt's... I would want to get a new version again with that sexy copper heat spread and fan :) That's hot!! The one with dual fans was a little ugly looking. The 2nd replacement looks like the cover of the 6800 Ultra's thats why I got confused. I saw GT the 100th time I looked ;-)
 
forcefed said:
I have an idea of how bfg's rma process works based on all of the recent rma threads

1. throw defective video card in bin when its recieved
2. toss in some new cards into the bin
3. spin the bin so it goes round and round
4. reach in and grab a video card.
5. ship to customer
6. if customer complains again, go back to step 1, if not... rma process was successful

It doesnt seem that far from the truth imo.
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yeah, im starting to think its something along those lines too...


ive had some cards that are noticibally dirty.
 
yeah, that warehouse, i remember i emailed them about where my card was and they said that they lost it in the warehouse lol and it came the next day. :p

i'm on my 3rd card from them, but the prior 2 were kinda my fault and all rma's went through fine and got my card less than a week and received the correct one.
 
TheJackal said:
yeah, that warehouse, i remember i emailed them about where my card was and they said that they lost it in the warehouse lol and it came the next day. :p

i'm on my 3rd card from them, but the prior 2 were kinda my fault and all rma's went through fine and got my card less than a week and received the correct one.
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The big question is did you end up getting a used card or a new one?
 
Err, I've got to do an RMA on my FX 5600 because the fan's dead...hope I don't have much of a problem.

Hope your problems get sorted out.
 
a0gamer0a said:
The big question is did you end up getting a used card or a new one?
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i couldn't really tell, they looked new but i doubt it. no dust or anything, the sticker was still on there, no signs of being used and it was at the correct clocks and everything.
 
BFGtech said:
a0gamer0a,

out of curiosity, what are the last 6 digits on your RMA?
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Two questions....

A) Which one - I'm up to 3 of them at this point.

and

B) - why do you need my RMA #? :confused:
 
Any of the RMAs would do it, but the reason I want it is so I can see the tech that did your RMA and make fun of him.
 
The last six of my first RMA are 426234. Instad of poking fun at him I'd just like to know WTF happened - Really, not joking - I want to know.
 
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