Am I The Bad Guy?

[lionheart13]

Hey guys,
My GPU has been sent to be repaired since it was still under warranty. it's a gigabyte 2070 super. After sitting for a few days at the shop then finally get sent to the local gigabyte distributor for more testing, they decided the gpu is beyond repair. they also don't have any other 2070 super in stock so they gave me 4 options:

• upgrade to 2080ti for 800$
• downgrade to 2070 for free
• switch to rx6700 xt and pay 300$ (i dont even know what that is)
• wait 4-5 months to get a new 2070super

now i get there's no stock, it happens i guess, but my options are pay 800$, downgrade, or have no gpu for 4-5 months. i feel like it's not my problem they are out of stock; they didn't have a support for their 3 year warranty products. i feel like upgrading to 2080ti is the only option because im an editor and need to work and I don't like the downgrade, but it’s not worth 800$, in fact I don’t think I should have to pay anything. They threw in 3 year warranty as a gamble and lost, they should be accepting their responsibility.
Am i the <Mod Edit> for implying my options aren’t good and that I should have to pay anything for the 2080ti?
Thanks.

 

[rolli59]

Well I have done RMA with two companies XFX 4 times and Sapphire once. I have always got an free upgrade since the cards in question were no longer in production.

 

[punkncat]

The ongoing situation isn't as straight forward as in normal times/stock/price.

They can't give you anything they don't have. They can make that much more profit on the other, instead of what would be a "marginal" difference in price.

I think I would ask them to replace it with a like version, and would also see since you are having to wait that long, if they will also lengthen your warranty (like on hold) until you get the new part.
This does you zero favors in the meantime but this is happening to everyone. You could find out for yourself how a 1030 does in gaming....

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Usually companies will give you a free upgrade when the original product is not available.

I would be unhappy with Gigabyte if I were in this situation as well.

 

[alceryes]

Usually companies will give you a free upgrade when the original product is not available.

I would be unhappy with Gigabyte if I were in this situation as well.

THIS.
Is this 'computer shop' an authorized retailer or is the computer shop the actual customer in Gigabyte's eyes? This is where the issue may be. Are you dealing directly with Gigabyte or with the computer shop who is 'relaying' info?
They need to give you a like-for-like replacement or upgrade you. They don't have to do it for free but many times that's what end's up happening to keep good customer service.

If it's the IT shop you're dealing with - You could try to haggle with them. Get them to recognize how much the situation sucks for you and ask them to upgrade you for free (or give you a huge discount on that 2080 Ti). Casually mentioning that your whole experience will be detailed on social media/review sites might help as well. One bad review could easily kill ten times the cost of that 2080 Ti in lost business.

If it's Gigabyte - Take a firm stance. Be nice, but tell them that these are not valid options and that they must do better. Escalate, escalate, escalate.

 

[lionheart13]

The ongoing situation isn't as straight forward as in normal times/stock/price.

They can't give you anything they don't have. They can make that much more profit on the other, instead of what would be a "marginal" difference in price.

I think I would ask them to replace it with a like version, and would also see since you are having to wait that long, if they will also lengthen your warranty (like on hold) until you get the new part.
This does you zero favors in the meantime but this is happening to everyone. You could find out for yourself how a 1030 does in gaming....

You mean wait 4-5 months? What am i gonna do in the meantime. I'm a professional film maker and sometimes i use my PC to edit videos too. I can't afford to wait that long, not to mention, i don't want to.
Having said that, i would have liked to use this opportunity to upgrade to a 30 series but not with these prices. I could've sold the 2070 super brand new when it gets to me in 4-5 months but i can't know what the market prices will be like then.

THIS.
Is this 'computer shop' an authorized retailer or is the computer shop the actual customer in Gigabyte's eyes? This is where the issue may be. Are you dealing directly with Gigabyte or with the computer shop who is 'relaying' info?
They need to give you a like-for-like replacement or upgrade you. They don't have to do it for free but many times that's what end's up happening to keep good customer service.

If it's the IT shop you're dealing with - You could try to haggle with them. Get them to recognize how much the situation sucks for you and ask them to upgrade you for free (or give you a huge discount on that 2080 Ti). Casually mentioning that your whole experience will be detailed on social media/review sites might help as well. One bad review could easily kill ten times the cost of that 2080 Ti in lost business.

If it's Gigabyte - Take a firm stance. Be nice, but tell them that these are not valid options and that they must do better. Escalate, escalate, escalate.

The warranty is covered by Gigabyte. The retailer/computer shop is relaying information but seems to be stalling a lot for them. It's literally been 14 days since i sent my GPU for repair knowing very well i could end up in this situation, and i think they knew it too.
I'll be sure to edit the main post in this topic with whatever agreement we reach .

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I don’t think he means wait 4-5 months. Stand up to them and say those options aren’t acceptable. In other words, tell them nicely, that you already paid for the product and need a working card.

They should either give you the 2080ti, but times aren’t normal right now. Downgrading shouldn’t be an option unless they are giving you money back.

The 6700xt looks ok, that’s an amd card, but it looks like it may be a little faster than the 2070 super. But you may not have as much in the way of ray tracing.

You might ask then if they’d do a direct swap to say a 3060ti or 3070. As stated before you could kind of mention all of your friends on social media who would be very disappointed to hear of how they treated you if they aren’t willing to make things right, and how that in the future you’ll never purchase gigabyte products and that you’ll tell your story when anyone asks your opinion of them.


I will say this makes me a bit nervous. I bought a 2070 used not realizing that there were issues with some of the cards. I've bought 4-5 cards used in the past, never had an issue with them. Hoping the 2070 is the same way.

 

[lionheart13]

I don’t think he means wait 4-5 months. Stand up to them and say those options aren’t acceptable. In other words, tell them nicely, that you already paid for the product and need a working card.

They should either give you the 2080ti, but times aren’t normal right now. Downgrading shouldn’t be an option unless they are giving you money back.

The 6700xt looks ok, that’s an amd card, but it looks like it may be a little faster than the 2070 super. But you may not have as much in the way of ray tracing.

You might ask then if they’d do a direct swap to say a 3060ti or 3070. As stated before you could kind of mention all of your friends on social media who would be very disappointed to hear of how they treated you if they aren’t willing to make things right, and how that in the future you’ll never purchase gigabyte products and that you’ll tell your story when anyone asks your opinion of them.


I will say this makes me a bit nervous. I bought a 2070 used not realizing that there were issues with some of the cards. I've bought 4-5 cards used in the past, never had an issue with them. Hoping the 2070 is the same way.

AMD isnt nearly as good or reliable in editing. i can't go with that.

I had heating issues initially (105C hotspot, 100C memory) and im not sure what caused it. I hope your 2070 lives a long and healthy life.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

To be honest, my card should arrive tomorrow. I paid 600 for it, and I 'm seeing my local Microcenter has 6600xt cards in stock at msrp. I'm very tempted to try the rtx 2070, make sure it works, pick up a 6600xt(considering they are still available), and flip the 2070 back onto ebay to try to break even.

If I keep the card though, I do have new thermal pads on hand and paste, so maybe it would be worth to replace pads and paste. I'll see how hot it gets though since I do have 6 case fans maybe I'll be fine.

 

[lionheart13]

To be honest, my card should arrive tomorrow. I paid 600 for it, and I 'm seeing my local Microcenter has 6600xt cards in stock at msrp. I'm very tempted to try the rtx 2070, make sure it works, pick up a 6600xt(considering they are still available), and flip the 2070 back onto ebay to try to break even.

If I keep the card though, I do have new thermal pads on hand and paste, so maybe it would be worth to replace pads and paste. I'll see how hot it gets though since I do have 6 case fans maybe I'll be fine.

Applying those pads and even braking the seal for paste will void the warranty, just an FYI.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I'm aware, but I purchased the card used. It's one of these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304101503260?epid=15036087340&hash=item46cddcb11c:g:s4QAAOSwoYZhEqL2&LH_BIN=1

So I'm doubtful any warranty would apply.

 

[Hellfire13]

THIS.
Is this 'computer shop' an authorized retailer or is the computer shop the actual customer in Gigabyte's eyes? This is where the issue may be. Are you dealing directly with Gigabyte or with the computer shop who is 'relaying' info?
They need to give you a like-for-like replacement or upgrade you. They don't have to do it for free but many times that's what end's up happening to keep good customer service.

If it's the IT shop you're dealing with - You could try to haggle with them. Get them to recognize how much the situation sucks for you and ask them to upgrade you for free (or give you a huge discount on that 2080 Ti). Casually mentioning that your whole experience will be detailed on social media/review sites might help as well. One bad review could easily kill ten times the cost of that 2080 Ti in lost business.

If it's Gigabyte - Take a firm stance. Be nice, but tell them that these are not valid options and that they must do better. Escalate, escalate, escalate.

This is a good suggestion. Warranty means a free of cost repair. Free of cost because the MSRP includes such contingencies whether it breaks or not. It is where companies make profit.

Apart from social media, tell them that a warranty is bound by legality and you have the right to drag them to court if the terms are breached. Now with the current market situation they cannot suddenly manufacture a card out of the blue but it should shake them a bit and make them think twice before overcharging on a substitute.

 

[revodo]

Applying those pads and even braking the seal for paste will void the warranty, just an FYI.

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Any third party additions or alterations are not covered, but all original parts, ALL original parts are still covered regardless.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

the AMD RX 6700 XT is right on par with the Nvidia RTX 3070,
which is a bit more powerful than the RTX 2070 S.

this is the best option you've been offered,
but i would probably be too angry\disappointed to opt out that easily.

this shop you mention should be footing the bill if it was their product that you purchased that failed and it was still within their return window.
they should be the ones putting up the cash for your upgrade.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Any third party additions or alterations are not covered, but all original parts, ALL original parts are still covered regardless.

and you would pay an attorney's retainer fee and hours spent to prove that it wasn't these "third party alterations or additions" that caused any failure to begin with?

the manufacturer is just going to argue that any modifications to the card would cause any issues that you claimed you faced.

 

[DSzymborski]

Be firm but not rude. I'd also try social media; you tend to get better interactions when the conversation starts off in public.

I usually get excellent results simply @ing companies on Twitter. Trouble with shipping on a 5900X, broken 7970, PS4 stuck for a week in Delaware, or the one that pissed me off the most, when I had everything laid out for a build and realized the motherboard came damaged (and was inside a pristine outer box so it was shipped this way)

Bluffing a party with lawyers on retainer and deeper pockets with legal action is something that works on TV, not reality. Playing hardball is a two-way street; for example, GPU vendors frequently only honor warranties on secondhand parts as a courtesy. For example, from Gigabyte:

Our warranty applies to brand new Products sold by GIGABYTE through its authorized resellers, retailers, and distributors (“Suppliers”), and may not apply to items purchased "Used", "Open-Box" or "Refurbished" unless expressly stated by GIGABYTE.

Be reasonable, insistent, and don't lose your temper.

 

[Pytheus]

I wouldn't take any of those options. If the manufacturer can't provide you with an exact replacement they should be giving you an comparable version (i.e. upgrade) for free.

 

[revodo]

and you would pay an attorney's retainer fee and hours spent to prove that it wasn't these "third party alterations or additions" that caused any failure to begin with?

the manufacturer is just going to argue that any modifications to the card would cause any issues that you claimed you faced.

Every single time I've been told a warranty won't cover my product due to breaking a seal, or adding a component, or anything like that, mentioning that warranty act has always gotten my warranty approved. All the company knows is they have absolutely nothing to stand on in court, and doesn't want to risk it.

Also, you don't need a lawyer to sue a company, you can do it yourself. Just the act of filing a lawsuit means the company has to lawyer up, and that's when the cost of defending themselves outweighs the cost of replacing your product.

 

[DSzymborski]

Every single time I've been told a warranty won't cover my product due to breaking a seal, or adding a component, or anything like that, mentioning that warranty act has always gotten my warranty approved. All the company knows is they have absolutely nothing to stand on in court, and doesn't want to risk it.

Also, you don't need a lawyer to sue a company, you can do it yourself. Just the act of filing a lawsuit means the company has to lawyer up, and that's when the cost of defending themselves outweighs the cost of replacing your product.

Gigabyte doesn't "lawyer up." Any company this size is going to have lawyers on retainer.

In any case, you're going to spend as much on filing fees and service of process than you'd get in any lawsuit that doesn't have real damages other than a used GPU.

 

[Hellfire13]

Gigabyte doesn't "lawyer up." Any company this size is going to have lawyers on retainer.

In any case, you're going to spend as much on filing fees and service of process than you'd get in any lawsuit that doesn't have real damages other than a used GPU.

The more open cases a company has in consumer forum, the more it tarnishes their image. A company of Gigabytes stature wont even bother for a single card, that too when they are aware that its still in warranty. You dont need to actually lawyer up or anything. If it has to work, it will work merely by mentioning it at the right places.
In any case it should be your last option when a vendor is adamant on denying your right to repair/replace which is bound by legality and for which you have already paid through MSRP.

 

[DSzymborski]

The more open cases a company has in consumer forum, the more it tarnishes their image. A company of Gigabytes stature wont even bother for a single card. You dont need to actually lawyer up or anything. If it has to work, it will work merely by mentioning it at the right places.
In any case it should be your last option when a vendor is adamant on denying your right to repair/replace which is bound by legality and for which you have already paid through MSRP.

If Gigabyte was worried about tarnishing their image, their reaction to Aris reviewing a PSU that actually blew up would have been very different.

 

[Hellfire13]

If Gigabyte was worried about tarnishing their image, their reaction to Aris reviewing a PSU that actually blew up would have been very different.

Big companies like Gigabyte do care about their image. That doesn't mean every collateral is within their reach or control. No one is 100% perfect.