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I came to relate my recent terrible experience with Sapphire Tech (AKA Althon Micro, Inc.)
When building a computer a couple of months ago, after careful consideration I bought a video card off EBay. I know, buying off EBay is generally not a good choice. But I had the Live Cashback deal going for me, it was incredibly cheap, and the seller had 515 feedback, 100 positive.
The card was brand new, sealed in box, but when I got it, it was DOA. Vista wouldn't detect it even with the drivers, and it showed red lines all over the screen. Go figure. So I contacted the seller, and he was very helpful in getting it fixed. He emailed me a copy of his original Newegg invoice (where he bought the card) so I could call them regarding a quick swap. But it turns out, Newegg wouldn't take it as he had cut off the UPC for a rebate. Go figure. So I called Sapphire to see if they would replace it.
Sapphire had a convoluted RMA process during which the EBay seller made multiple phone calls and form requests, until he finally was able to email me a precompleted form. We marked on the form that we would like the card returned to my address, by telling them that he (the seller, the original purchaser of the card) would be working there for the foreseeable future. I boxed the card up, included the RMA form and that request, and sent it on its way to California.
A number of weeks later, the card was finally shipped back. In the meantime there had been no communications or updates as to the status of my RMA. And after all that, they still shipped it to the wrong address. So I had to wait for the card to end up in Pennsylvania, only to have the seller pay to send it back to me, where it should have gone in the first place.
In the end, after a month and countless telephone runarounds, I finally got a working HD 4850. I just wanted to say that Sapphire's RMA process is secretive and difficult, their communication is terrible at best, and they take forever. They can't follow simple shipping requests, and they required us to pay in full to ship the card back to them. As well, the EBay seller informed me that their MIR process was no simpler. Finally, their video card warranty craps out after 2 years, and it requires that all RMA requests go through the original point of purchase (meaning Newegg, Best Buy, what have you) and that they be submitted by the original end purchaser. This technically invalidates my EBay purchase from warranty support. Luckily I was able to circumvent that with the help of my seller.
I wanted to say that I will be avoiding Sapphire cards in the future. As well, as an aside, I wanted to give a big "Thank you" to EBay seller Eurosta, who was incredibly helpful through the whole process. Made phone calls, dug up invoices, even paid to have the card shipped to California to be fixed and then shipped back to me after they inappropriately returned it to him.
When building a computer a couple of months ago, after careful consideration I bought a video card off EBay. I know, buying off EBay is generally not a good choice. But I had the Live Cashback deal going for me, it was incredibly cheap, and the seller had 515 feedback, 100 positive.
The card was brand new, sealed in box, but when I got it, it was DOA. Vista wouldn't detect it even with the drivers, and it showed red lines all over the screen. Go figure. So I contacted the seller, and he was very helpful in getting it fixed. He emailed me a copy of his original Newegg invoice (where he bought the card) so I could call them regarding a quick swap. But it turns out, Newegg wouldn't take it as he had cut off the UPC for a rebate. Go figure. So I called Sapphire to see if they would replace it.
Sapphire had a convoluted RMA process during which the EBay seller made multiple phone calls and form requests, until he finally was able to email me a precompleted form. We marked on the form that we would like the card returned to my address, by telling them that he (the seller, the original purchaser of the card) would be working there for the foreseeable future. I boxed the card up, included the RMA form and that request, and sent it on its way to California.
A number of weeks later, the card was finally shipped back. In the meantime there had been no communications or updates as to the status of my RMA. And after all that, they still shipped it to the wrong address. So I had to wait for the card to end up in Pennsylvania, only to have the seller pay to send it back to me, where it should have gone in the first place.
In the end, after a month and countless telephone runarounds, I finally got a working HD 4850. I just wanted to say that Sapphire's RMA process is secretive and difficult, their communication is terrible at best, and they take forever. They can't follow simple shipping requests, and they required us to pay in full to ship the card back to them. As well, the EBay seller informed me that their MIR process was no simpler. Finally, their video card warranty craps out after 2 years, and it requires that all RMA requests go through the original point of purchase (meaning Newegg, Best Buy, what have you) and that they be submitted by the original end purchaser. This technically invalidates my EBay purchase from warranty support. Luckily I was able to circumvent that with the help of my seller.
I wanted to say that I will be avoiding Sapphire cards in the future. As well, as an aside, I wanted to give a big "Thank you" to EBay seller Eurosta, who was incredibly helpful through the whole process. Made phone calls, dug up invoices, even paid to have the card shipped to California to be fixed and then shipped back to me after they inappropriately returned it to him.