Visiontek is a dissappointment

X

XNeKoSX

Weaksauce
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
83
I never bought Visiontek before but heard good things. I decided to jump on the band wagon and buy a Visiontek 4870x2 back in November. Well after 3 months one of the GPU's stopped working. I RMA'd the card (Paid for shipping $30 + the $10.00 return fee they require, this is bull), they had the card for 2 weeks and stated the card was in testing and once a replacement was available they would FedEx it to me.

Well, after 2 weeks I did recieve a replacement by FedEx. Took the replacement out of the box and notice dust around the fan fins. Now I am thinking either my card was sent back or I got a refurb. Put the card back into my system and began testing. Well the card failed. Loads into windows fine, but when under stress (graphical stress) the card has refresh problems and graphical tearing problems. I ran 3DMark Vantage and got a Blue screen stating the device stopped working. Thought maybe it was a driver problem. I tried drivers 8.11 - 9.3, all with the same results, graphical tearing, refresh problems and a nice Blue Screen of Death. Now I know its not my system since I also have a ASUS Dark Knight 4870 1GB version and it works perfectly.

Call Visiontek Corporate HQ and was told to send the card back. I explained I refuse to send the card back after I have paid for shipping both ways for a working product. HQ put me on hold and after 5 mins, came back and stated they would email me with a prepaid label and I do not need to send a $10 check for returning.

I am complaining here because I believe this is such bull. The RMA department should have done a complete stress test on the replacement, which they obviously did not and at first they wanted me to pay shipping again. Loading the replacement into windows and calling it a working card is not a complete test but a lazy push off on a $500+ (at the time) card. Now I sit here for another 2 weeks probably wondering if I am going to get another piece of crap card from them. Least when I dealt with BFG and had multiple cards fail, they apologized and assured me they would get me a working card, which they did. Visiontek did not even give an apologize and their RMA department obviously did not do their job.
 
While I feel for your position, I am surprised at VisionTek's lack of effort on supporting this flagship product.

I have 2 VisionTek X2's - one for myself, and one for the GF. I work for a company that partners with VisionTek, and I was able to talk with a representative directly, who just happened to own the NewEgg account for VisionTek products. How fortunate. I explained to him that I was in the market for an X2, and I was disappointed that a local company was not able to compete with prices of X2's from overseas companies. He chuckled and explained that "No one else is offering Free shipping. I paid to have our product advertised as such". I looked at him as if he spoke a foreign language. I immediate explained to him that he was mis-informed, as I check Newegg.com daily, and that ALL X2's had free shipping. Calling my bluff we logged on right there. Sure enough...every X2 had free shipping.

The now stunned salesman wasn't so high and mighty. I explained to him that I was looking for 2 cards, and that given the price differences, I'm better off going MSI or Sapphire, however I was not too keen on having over seas support for my product. He then took the opportunity to inform me that if I ordered my 2 cards from Newegg, he can give me a discount over top of what Newegg offered, if I bought 2 or more.

BAM - deal!

Now, while I haven't had interaction with support, I find it odd that you have to jump through hoops to have the card replaced with a new one. Its not like they'll be emptying shelves of their stock X2's one the new cards are released soon.

I'll see if I can get back in contact with my sales guy and ask him what their support processes are and see if I can get a clarification as to why you're having such difficulty. Cause if this is how their support works - I'll be looking to buy new cards sooner than later just to avoid THAT kind of support fiasco, and I'll be sure to let my sales contact know that :D
 
Agreed. If this continues, I will eat the $500+ and go to another manufacturer or back to Nvidia.
 
I sent the email off. We'll see what their level of interest is.

I specifically asked for their RMA support processes to see if they match your experience, as I expressed concern with the current RMA case in progress.

His response/answer/result will determine future business :)
 
I doubt it is just visiontek that sends out poorly tested refurbs as RMA replacements and makes you pay shipping (unless you bitch enough). Im pretty sure that is the norm. The $10 fee is a new level of lame though.
 
It's definitely sad to see that we're only just beginning to realize "Lifetime Warranty" does not translate into great (or even good) customer support. I feel your pain, it definitely sucks to have to deal with crap like that. Worse comes to worse though, XFX's lifetime warranty is subject to rave reviews so they would definitely be a better choice if you were to switch brands. :)

Just out of curiosity, OP, did you buy your card off Newegg? If so, they offer a standard 1 year warranty on most of their products, including video cards. In contrast, Newegg's customer service trumps what Visiontek offers so it would be worthwhile to keep that in mind whenever having to deal with faulty/broken hardware. I've had the pleasure to deal with them regarding an RMA for a failing video card two years ago, and Newegg handled my transaction swiftly without any hiccup. This was also right after New Years too: so for them to execute a turn around time of about a week, from the day I sent the card back to getting my replacement in hand, is definitely commendable. :cool:

Good luck with your situation! :)
 
This totally happened to me as well. I RMA'd a card...paid $30 to ship it there and back and in return I got a dud.

Although I realize yeah shit does happen, I did not in anyway want to pay shipping again so I called them and shit bricks. They decided to send fedex to pick up the videocard from my doorstep and pay to ship the card back to me.

You know what you want as a consumer...so just let them know that. I don't think anyone expects to pay shipping again if they weren't the ones who fucked up.

I'm happy I did end up with a working card, but that money I spent on shipping could have gone towards a 1GB model arrrrgh.
 
I had to RMA a card, it took a while and they don't update you on the progress. Also their site is horrible to navigate, its hard enough trying to find out the RMA information and how to actually send one. I didn't like paying the fee, as anyone else would. The card I got back seems to be fine, haven't really tested it out all that match.
 
Last card I sent them for RMA disappeared never to be seen again. They never would respond to any contact about it either.

I've only bought one VisionTek card since then, and that was because it was so cheap if it fails I won't care.
 
My 4870x2 that I got back was in bad condition. I mean dust, fingerprints everywhere, bent backplate. Like the one I RMA'ed it overheats. I said forget it and got a waterblock.

I know what your talking about OP I been there, The next time I get a ATI cards its XFX only.
 
No matter what happens, I will never buy a Visiontek card again.

BTW bought my card through Dell, got them to price match a lower priced card.
 
But but but visiontek has a lifetime warranty that matches Evga and XFX!..

From some of the hell I've seen people go through to even get a replacement from visiontek I'm a bit surprised you got anything back from them at all, let alone another card from the RMA department within two weeks.

If I ever buy ATI i'll be from XFX and XFX only.
 
Let me get this straight... You bought a card with a 'lifetime warranty'. It turns out to be defective in it's 'lifetime' period but yet you had to pay $40 for shipping, above what you already paid during the initial purchase? Were'nt you inconvienienced enough by having to pull your system apart and wait for it to be returned? What ever happened to the day when a company would make good on their defective products?
 
htphm42 said:
Thanks for the head-up OP. Now I know to avoid visiontek.
Click to expand...
It's generally a good idea to avoid all ATI-specific brands: HIS, Sapphire, Visiontek, Diamond.
This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen them charging a fee (and shipping, of course) to warranty a card. Last few times were Sapphire, though. Although for every person with a bad RMA experience we see on these forums, there could be 100 people happy with their RMA who just aren't posting about it.

Any horror stories with ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI?
:eek:

I might have to off my Sapphire for the new ASUS 4890 Matrix, always had good experience with them in the past. If I wake up one day to find my Sapphire failed, it's going to be a nightmare. XFX just needs to get their ATI prices lower, and problem solved.
 
As previously stated and I agree, XFX and XFX only for my ATI based products.

See below for proof.
 
Visontek,Saphire,Powercolour I have had those three brands for ATi and never one issue.
I do like to go Visontek and XFX only due to warrenty/support.
 
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