Terrible Problems With BFG From A UK Customer

Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
38
In December last year I purchased a BFG 6600GT OC AGP graphics card for the sum of £200.00. I am not a rich person and this was, for me, a large purchase. After installing the card I found that it would constantly crash after around 5 minutes of gameplay. I returned the card to the store and it exchanged for another identical model. This one had exactly the same problem so I assumed the problem was with my PC and I contacted BFG tech support. They told me that my 400W PSU was probably not powerful enough and suggested I upgrade it. So I went out and purchased a 600W PSU at a cost to me of a further £80.00. This did not make any difference, but I was now stuck with the new PSU anyway. Again I contacted tech support and they then gave me a list of bios settings to change and suggested I try different drivers. I changed all the settings but again this did not help. I tried the card in a friends PC and had exactly the same problem. Then I started trying different drivers. Each time using driver cleaner to remove the old ones as I was advised. Eventually I found some very old drivers which, whilst running slower, they were stable. Since then I have been using the old drivers and although the card did not run as fast as it should it was stable.

A couple of months ago I purchased some new games, one of which was Battlefield 2. When running the game I got an error message saying that my drivers were out of date and must be updated with the ones on the disk. I tried to run the game anyway but all the textures were wrong and the game ran too slowly to play. I then updated the drivers as advised but this then made my system crash again every five minutes, not just in Battlefield 2 but in any 3D application and sometimes when playing video files.

I then contacted BFG tech support and asked them what should be done. I explained about my previous contact with them and that I had upgraded my PSU and bios settings. I then got a reply telling me to upgrade my PSU and change my bios settings!! I explained again that I had done this and double checked everything. My PC is a P4 640 3.2ghz with an abit guru motherboard, 1GB corsair ram in dual channel mode, 600w PSU and a 160GB SATA hard drive. I could see no other reason for the crash other than a faulty card, especially as the problem also occurred in my friends PC and the test PC in the store where I bought it. After a week or so of e-mails I got a reply saying that BFG would like to swap the card for a 6800! I was of course delighted and accepted the offer. I was told to send off all my information and an RMA number would be generated and I could post the card off for a replacement.

This is where the problems start. I sent off the required information as requested. After another week had gone by I still had no reply. I sent another e-mail asking what was happening. After a few more days I got a reply that they did not know what I was talking about! I then sent off all the previous e-mails I had sent as proof of what I was saying. A few more days after that I finally got a RMA number and an address to send the card to. Then I asked them to confirm that they had agreed to swap the card for a 6800. They replied that they had no recollection of this at all and this would not be happening! Again I sent off all my previous e-mails and eventually got a reply that, yes they would give me a 6800.

After all that I posted off my card. I send it in secure packaging wrapped in bubble wrap and in a sturdy box with the RMA number and my address attached to the outside of the box and inside it.. I sent it recorded delivery and I paid for it to be insured should it be damaged in transit. 2 Days later I got confirmation from Royal Mail that it had arrived. I contacted BFG again and asked them to confirm that they had got the card okay and asked them when they would be shipping my replacement. I got a reply back that they had not received the card and to try again later. I tried after another couple of days and was then told that the warehouse was closed and they did not know anything about it. Then I asked again a few days later and got the following reply:

"i show that he has received it on the 30th"

There was no name of who wrote this, it is not even written in proper English and does not really tell me what is going on and when I will get my replacement card. I also wanted to check that they were sending an AGP card as I do not have PCI Express. I asked again when I could expect my new card as I am currently using a friends old TNT card and cannot do any work in photoshop or play any games. Today I got this reply:

"Yes we do show that is"

I do not even understand what this person is trying to say and it only leaves me worried about what is going on,

I happen to work in a senior position for a store which stocks BFG cards. I have purchased a few of them in the past and always recommend them to customers and friends based on their reputation for good service. However as I have experienced since the end of last year this is not the case, at least not for people in the UK. I am very worried about where my card is now and what is going to happen. I cannot use my computer properly now at all, I haven't been able to play any games properly since I purchased it last December. BFG's tech support staff cannot even be bothered to write a full sentence to me and cannot be bothered to address my concerns at all. I deeply regret purchasing a BFG and if this is the level or service to expect I will not be purchasing from them again.

:mad:
 
call them back and asked to speak to the manager. If they say no, keep pestering until they put you on with the manager. Also try sending a very FIRM email to the PR department of BFG in UK.

Hope everything turns out ok =(

Best of luck.
 
I would keep all records of your email, your shipping manifest and records, and record all time and date of conversations. Then as noted earlier by the previous poster, hound them and ask to talk to the upper echelon (tech support is on the lower side of the corporate totem pole). If all fails, threaten to go to US Better Business Bureau and report this problem. You can file to BBB about your problem since your card is still under warranty. Also, these companies dislike having to go through BBB (PR issues).
Sorry to hear our friend across the pond having this problem. Here to hoping that everything gets resolved peacefully albeit no longer smoothly.
I have not have the displeasure you are going through with BFG. They were very helpful when my 6800gt oc died.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. This is certainly a very friendly forum :)

Does anyone have a UK number for BFG as I can't seem to find one? Also the better busines thing? does this apply to the UK as we don't have that here? How could I contact them?

We have Trading Standards who will investigate complaints and give out advice, however they usually either tell you there is nothing you can do, or they tell you to sue the company which costs you more money, and hassle.

So far I've spent £200.00 on the graphics card, £80.00 for a PSU which I didn't really need and can't take back, and about £20.00 on packaging, shipping and insurance to send it back.That's about $533.00 spent and I've not had a properly working graphics card since I got this card last December. Not to mention the time wasted and hassle I've had from BFG.

As I said before, that's a lot of money for me, I'm not rich and can't afford to just write this off and go buy another card. :(
 
James, please check your private messages as we responded to your initial pm earlier today that explains how we’re working to resolve your issue.
 
Wow! The guy from BFG says has just sent a BFG 6800GT by overnight UPS which should be with me in 1 - 2 days. I am stunned! I guess there are people at BFG who really deliver awsome customer service. I will post here when it arrives. I'm very happy now! :)
 
I was just about to buy a 7800 card from BFG next week from dabs, however seeing this i think im going to buy one of the other brands. The biggest issue i have is what would have happened to james's support had he not posted on these forums?
 
This is the first problem I have had with BFG. I have had about 3 or 4 of their cards in the past. I was just informed that my problems were down to a recently opened returns center in the UK and my feedback will be used to investigate the problem. I see your point about what would happen if I didn't post here, but if you search around you will find as I did that most people love the service from BFG, and it can be argued that there cards are always the best performance wise.

Wait and see if my new card does turn up, but if it does, and despite all these problems, I will continue to buy BFG.
 
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=935404
This is the second BFG support issue that I have read in the past 24 hours, (link to first up above), where it seemed it almost took an act of god for something to happen, so I guess I am directing this to BFG related [H]ers here, what is happening?

Sure I could start talking about other companies, but with BFG's always seeming awesome reputation and the rash of these kind of issues starting to happen is making me have second thoughts.
 
Michael Grey said:
James, please check your private messages as we responded to your initial pm earlier today that explains how we’re working to resolve your issue.

That's pretty [H]
:)
 
Yes this is definitely a disturbing pattern, but in another perspective, this could be caused BECAUSE these BFG people are here in the forums, and they ARE willing to bend over backwards to make customers happy. I'm not saying that BFG isn't at fault in these issues, but no business has 0 complaints I know that for a fact, there could be people that had problems with other brands but wouldn't post here about it, because, why waste the time if nothing's going to be solved? Just to warn others isn't good enough of a reason most of the time because frankly there are better things to do.

I'm keeping a neutral mindset, and in the meantime I'm glad BFG reps are even here in the first place.
 
Sucks that prior to your post here and Michael Grey helping, you got bashed and slashed by BFG Tech Support.

Michael, words of advice, go through your tech support staff and find out who's been actin' a fool with customers like the Original Poster, and the other unsatisfied (yet satisfied once you get involved) customers.
 
Well I will let you know if the card turns up. I have asked to check that it will be the AGP version but not had any reply yet. I have visions of a PCI express version turning up, but we'll see. :rolleyes:
 
sakurakana1003 said:
...this could be caused BECAUSE these BFG people are here in the forums, and they ARE willing to bend over backwards to make customers happy.

QFT
 
Well first of all if you want an RMA get on the phone the first time around and stop dilly dallying with emails, you seemed annoyed that it was taking so long...usually the quickest way to get an RMA is CALL AND TALK to tech support so they can determine the problem and whether it warrants an RMA and they give u one right over the phone, your wasting your own time by playing email tag, i RMA'ed 2 6800gts and didnt have any issues getting RMA numbers, I don't see how anyone thinks this diminishes BFG's reputation, its actually amazingly generous that they even upgrade customers cards like that...OCZ and BFG are hands down the best support/customer service companies in their respective products.
 
I'm not saying that BFG isn't at fault in these issues, but no business has 0 complaints I know that for a fact

I don't believe anybody on the forums expects a business to deliver perfect products 100% of the time, as you have pointed out, its almost impossible in the world we live in. However as consumers we do expect, that, when there is a obvious problem with a product we have purchased, that the issue will be resolved promptly and with the least amount of effort involved by the consumer.

What we do NOT expect is a one line reply back from the support personel within ANY organisation (big/small) with.

1. "i show that he has received it on the 30th"
2. "Yes we do show that is"

To me that is simply unacceptable (it looks as though the reply was put through a google translator) and enough of a turn off to make sure that, during this round of upgrades to my computers, i will not be choosing any BFG card. Will i revisit them as an option, next time i have to upgrade, absolutely. But for this round i'll skip.

On the flip side, and in defence of BFG, obviously when a customer has a good experience with a product they are less likely to be as vocal with it.
 
TheMadHatterXxX said:
Well first of all if you want an RMA get on the phone the first time around and stop dilly dallying with emails, you seemed annoyed that it was taking so long...usually the quickest way to get an RMA is CALL AND TALK to tech support so they can determine the problem and whether it warrants an RMA and they give u one right over the phone, your wasting your own time by playing email tag, i RMA'ed 2 6800gts and didnt have any issues getting RMA numbers, I don't see how anyone thinks this diminishes BFG's reputation, its actually amazingly generous that they even upgrade customers cards like that...OCZ and BFG are hands down the best support/customer service companies in their respective products.

Nice speech. But as I live in the UK I can only contact them by E-mail.
 
jameswinder said:
Nice speech. But as I live in the UK I can only contact them by E-mail.

Some how I think you can still call the US. When I lived in germany a few years back it wasnt to costly to call the US, time difference aside.


I happen to work in a senior position for a store which stocks BFG cards.

IF I were in your shoes I would have gotten ahold of thier local distro or thier euro office to get the gears in montion. Honestly, if people are high up the food chain of a major retail outlet manufactres do everything they can to keep the relationship postive direction.

.usually the quickest way to get an RMA is CALL AND TALK to tech support so they can determine the problem and whether it warrants an RMA and they give u one right over the phone,

Big QFT, I dont know why everyone is so scared of human contact. Bring the fight to the man and take it up as high as the food chain as possible. The higher up you go the more they just want you out of thier hair and happy.

James, please check your private messages as we responded to your initial pm earlier today that explains how we’re working to resolve your issue.

And this is why I am waiting for a good price on a 7800 from BFG. Soon as I can find one less than 5ish I will be ordering thier mobo from newegg. Customer service > FPS
 
Its funny that I read this thread. I bought a BFG 6600 GT OC AGP recently and its exhibiting similar problems. Geometry and texture corruption, freezing my computer, shutting itself off. I'm not even overclocking or anything! I bought a new Enermax power supply with a lead on it specifically for video cards and a PCI slot fan to help reduce heat. Still not working properly. Needless to say I'm very disappointed.

I'm in Canada. I've been in emails with BFG tech and they have been quick to answer me and I've given them all the information. They ended up telling me to call their tech department and talk about a replacement. I called up and got an RMA number. I sent off the card today - 5 day post to US - so I'm hoping it won't take too long to get a replacement. I bought BFG specifically because of their reputation and the warranty. Although one thing that they don't mention on the box is that the lifetime warranty is for the video card, not the heat sink/fan. That only has a one year warranty. That made me a bit miffed as it is usually the fan that eventually fails. That's what happened to my old video card.

I'm hopeful that BFG will do right by the warranty - no card should be that broken right out of the box. I understand that fans aren't up to the reliablility of solid state electronics, but it would have been nice to have two or three years on the heat sink/fan combination.

I'll report here on how things go.
 
I was considering a BFG 6600GT OC, but after reading this thread I just ordered a Leadtek A6600GT from overclock.co.uk…

£40 cheaper than the BFG and it is meant to have a quieter fan !
 
Topkat said:
I was considering a BFG 6600GT OC, but after reading this thread I just ordered a Leadtek A6600GT from overclock.co.uk…

I wouldn't overreact. Over my months on this board I've read countless recommendations for BFG products, lots of tales about how good their customer service is and on the few occasions I've seen something negative, it's been picked up on by one of their staff who evidently keeps tabs on this board in order to improve BFG's customer service. I have to say that this isn't something you see too often from companies. I've got a BFG 6800U and would certainly buy more BFG products even though I haven't needed to deal with their customer service.
 
I have to say that I would not hesitate in buying BFG products. As long as you call, know what you want them to do and ask for it, and are persistent, you will get your problems solved. Fortunately for us, BFG has a lifetime warranty on their products so they are obligated to help if your products do not work (except when you are using in a fashion not designed by BFG). I think since the tech support guys have to handle so many problems, some of which are due to user's maltreatment, they can get frustrated and get a little sloppy. However, overall, BFG is great. I have had to deal with other manufacturers and retailers over the years, and I have to admit that BFG and OCZ are two if the best I have had the pleasure of dealing with.
 
Proteus said:
Although one thing that they don't mention on the box is that the lifetime warranty is for the video card, not the heat sink/fan. That only has a one year warranty.

Where did you get that information? The lifetime warranty covers everything about the card as long as it's not modified in any way afaik.
 
I suspect a few of the posters here defending BFG are BFG employees, LOL !

The £40-60 extra for a BFG card isn’t justified… crap UK technical support, noiser fan than a normal 6600GT (MSI, Leadtek, Asus etc are meant to be quieter). BFG's aren't built like Rolls Royce’s either as I first thought. When you pay £40-60 more, u expect problems to be at a minimum. I’ve heard quite a few people have had problems with them after researching a bit on the net and I've heard nothing but good things about Leadtek, MSI etc...

To sum it all up, BFG seems like a company that's here today, and gone tomorrow.
 
Topkat said:
I suspect a few of the posters here defending BFG are BFG employees, LOL !

The £40-60 extra for a BFG card isn’t justified… crap UK technical support, noiser fan than a normal 6600GT (MSI, Leadtek, Asus etc are meant to be quieter). BFG's aren't built like Rolls Royce’s either as I first thought. When you pay £40-60 more, u expect problems to be at a minimum. I’ve heard quite a few people have had problems with them after researching a bit on the net and I've heard nothing but good things about Leadtek, MSI etc...

To sum it all up, BFG seems like a company that's here today, and gone tomorrow.


well all i can say is I WISH I worked for BFG :rolleyes:
hint hint BFG i need a better job ;)
 
Topkat said:
I suspect a few of the posters here defending BFG are BFG employees, LOL !

The £40-60 extra for a BFG card isn’t justified… crap UK technical support, noiser fan than a normal 6600GT (MSI, Leadtek, Asus etc are meant to be quieter). BFG's aren't built like Rolls Royce’s either as I first thought. When you pay £40-60 more, u expect problems to be at a minimum. I’ve heard quite a few people have had problems with them after researching a bit on the net and I've heard nothing but good things about Leadtek, MSI etc...

To sum it all up, BFG seems like a company that's here today, and gone tomorrow.


you and anyoen else bashing BFG for this and other peopels posts on having issues is pretty ridiculous... people post bfg issues here because BFG guys probe the board and come help.. nto to mention i have yet to see a single bfg problem piost not be resolved with better then deserved end results.

when your card dies in 2 years and u cant get another u will wish u had gotton the bfg. ..

all these companys cards are of the exact same quality at the core, its simple outside looks and fans that differ . thats why the bfg warranty and willingness to talk on mesage baords to help is worth the extra cash.
 
Well i got a BFG Geforce 7800 GTX a few weeks back here in the UK, my frist nvidia card. Now in hardware terms, the card runs great, but they messed up the bundle abit.

My BFG GF 7800 GTX came with a quick start guide showing you how to install an AGP graphcis card, a HDTV connector page saying to use a driver release that doesnt support this graphics card, and my driver CD is for a Geforce 6800 series CD, also with drivers that do no support this card. Oh and a blue piece of paper with a support phone number saying its a toll-free number. Err yes, you still get charged for toll free numbers when its an international call, and no, its not cheap either without a special international calling service.

The card is impressive yes, but everything else certainly leaves something to be desired.
 
Proteus,
BFG provides a "Lifetime Warranty" for the entire video card, including heat sinks and fans.

Scott
 
turbominnow said:
I wish, then I wouldn't actually have to PAY full price for a 7x.



Ask and you shall recieve!


woot thanks lol

EDIT DOH >.< stupid 4 year Degree req ; ; oh well nother few years
i realy need to get back working on my EE major >.> hell i know most of the stuff thay want in that i just dont have the fancy papers to say i know it heh
 
sakurakana1003 said:
Yes this is definitely a disturbing pattern, but in another perspective, this could be caused BECAUSE these BFG people are here in the forums, and they ARE willing to bend over backwards to make customers happy. I'm not saying that BFG isn't at fault in these issues, but no business has 0 complaints I know that for a fact, there could be people that had problems with other brands but wouldn't post here about it, because, why waste the time if nothing's going to be solved? Just to warn others isn't good enough of a reason most of the time because frankly there are better things to do.

I'm keeping a neutral mindset, and in the meantime I'm glad BFG reps are even here in the first place.

Hi [H]ardForum members,

I'd just like to jump in and say that we are willing to do what it takes to resolve customer issues where and when they pop up, AND fix any processes that caused the issue(s) in the first place. I don't think the issues you see here represent a "disturbing pattern" as much as they represent a community that knows how to get results when they have an issue, and the HardForum happens to be one of them. Sometimes we aren't aware of an issue until someone brings it to our attention.

We aren't perfect and we know that. There have been some hiccups with our service, and we are committed to fixing every last one of them. We've addressed several customer issues that we only knew about due to these forums, and the UK process issue outlined in this thread is being resolved as well.

I would also like to say that if our Technical Support email and/or phone service isn't handling a particular RMA properly, we would rather learn about it directly by someone contacting either our Product Manager Dave Ash ([email protected]),or myself ([email protected]). It's great that the threads are here, but contacting us directly is the fastest way to get resolution after Tech Support.

Thanks
 
I wouldn't dismiss BFG out of hand, personally. Every company has bad parts - that's what warranties are for. How they deal with these issues and their customers is what is important.
 
On BFG's web site:
BFG Tech Support

Under the heading "BFG Tech 1 Year Accessory Warranty (Graphics Card Fan)". Does this refer to a new fan/heatsink that is bought separately or the one on the video card?

If it is for a replacement/separate then I apologize. It is not clear to me.

And as I said, BFG has been dealing with the issue to my satisfaction to this point. Just a matter of waiting to see what happens.
 
Topkat said:
The £40-60 extra for a BFG card isn’t justified… noiser fan than a normal 6600GT (MSI, Leadtek, Asus etc are meant to be quieter).

Topkat said:
I was considering a BFG 6600GT OC, but after reading this thread I just ordered a Leadtek A6600GT from overclock.co.uk…

£40 cheaper than the BFG and it is meant to have a quieter fan !

I read a review a while back, let me share it with you.

http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/6600gt-agp-comparo/index.x?pg=8

It seems to me that the BFG fan is not only pretty quiet, but offers some very good thermal performance. Please share with me where you are getting your information, unless of course you are just bashing for the fun of it.
 
Proteus said:
On BFG's web site:
BFG Tech Support

Under the heading "BFG Tech 1 Year Accessory Warranty (Graphics Card Fan)". Does this refer to a new fan/heatsink that is bought separately or the one on the video card?

If it is for a replacement/separate then I apologize. It is not clear to me.

And as I said, BFG has been dealing with the issue to my satisfaction to this point. Just a matter of waiting to see what happens.

That's just for their fan accessories I would have to believe (they sell a GPU fan separately). As sherkelman said, the lifetime warranty covers the entire graphics card, including the stock fan.
 
BattleMaster said:
I read a review a while back, let me share it with you.

http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/6600gt-agp-comparo/index.x?pg=8

It seems to me that the BFG fan is not only pretty quiet, but offers some very good thermal performance. Please share with me where you are getting your information, unless of course you are just bashing for the fun of it.

The link you gave doesn't work. Scroll down to the bottom of this link...

http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_6600_gt_agp_roundup/

Firingsquad said that the BFG 6600GT had one of the noisest fans out of all the 6600GT's. Leadtek is rated medium in that review, but in many other reviews such as anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2295&p=19) and BeHardware (http://www.behardware.com/articles/550-8/11-geforce-6600-gt-agp-pci-e-roundup.html), they say Leadtek was one of the quietest. I could have opted for Gigabyte silent pipe, but I have a feeling that card would over heat silly.

BFG seems like an over priced Ford... Gimmie a cheaper BMW/Mercedes anyday ;-)

No offence to the BFG employees btw... you seem to be doing a good job in America..
 
I would have to agree with the last poster. BFG is doing wonderful here in the states, but I have heard alot of horror stories from people in the UK.

I look at the extra cost of the BFG cards as a Insurance policy. Sure there cards are probably the same quality as everyone elses, But they stand behind there cards where noone else does. That to me is worth the extra $20-30 I paid for my card. ( I no longer have it due to a trade I made to do an upgrade.) My Next card will be a BFG, not sure which model, but I am sure it will be a BFG. Me and my brother N Law both bought BFG 6600GTs He was haveing problems with his and we RMA'd the Card. The Process was Quick and easy, I couldn't have asked for anything quicker or easier.

But even after the RMA He still had problems, Seems it wasn't the card, It was the PSU. Even tho His PSU was rated at 400watts it was still causeing the problems, we replaced it with a name brand 400watt unit and all the problems went away. Just because a PSU is rated at a specified wattage does not mean it is capable of handleing the power requirments of your computer. Look at the specs of cheaper PSU's, Look at the watts each voltage puts out, now look at the next higher wattage PSU and you will often see that only a single voltage has increased in wattage, this is ok as long as thats where you need the extra wattage, but most likely you will need the extra wattage on all of the voltages. It is cheaper for a PSU company to increase the power output on a single voltage than it is to beef up the whole PSU. This is why I think alot of people have so many problems that they cant trace down, this is also why alot of Video cards have problems, they simply are not getting the power they need to run.

To the original poster, I dont know how much £80.00 is but if it aint at least $120 then that 600watt PSU is probably junk, and falls into what I was describing in the paragragh above. this may or may not be your problem, I really dont know, I am just telling you what I would look at if I were you. The newer games make the Video card work harder, the harder the video card works the more power it needs, this is why a cheap PSU will poer the card for older games or lower gragpic setting (older Drivers) and then crap out while trying to play a new game on even average settings, this was the problem my B-n- Law was haveing.
 
Well the new card just arrived. Unfortunatley it was not a 6800GT as I was promised by the BFG staff member from this forum. It was a standard 6800. Also it was not even boxed, it was just the card in a plastic holder. This means that the software CD, TV Out kit and DVI to VGA converter which I sent back with my old card are now lost forever. Also there was a letter in the box telling me to return my old card to them!

I am not ungrateful for finally getting my replacement card, but this is definitely the last time I do business with BFG.

:(
 
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