Info Asus Motherboard RMA - Worst Customer Service Ever

[x360dan]

Thought I'd share my ridiculously bad customer service experience I just had with Asus.

Had a motherboard (ROG B450-F Strix) stop working after 6 months. Sent it in for RMA and followed all the instructions. After a week they contacted me and said I didn’t include a plastic bracket it came with and as such, they wouldn’t cover the repair and sent me a bill for the full cost of the motherboard.

Nowhere in the document they sent did it say I needed to send in the plastic bracket that does literally nothing for the function of the board, that you remove and forget about the second you install a CPU fan. I spoke to 3 customer service reps, 2 supervisors and a customer service manager at the head office in Canada (who hung up on me after 15 mins of waiting).

They said they couldn’t do anything and that the board wasn't in original factory condition without the useless plastic piece. I offered to mail it to them and they told they would need to ship the board back to me, have me open the package and put the plastic piece on, then have me pay $20 to ship it back to them before they could repair it.

Beware of Asus Customer Service, they literally look for any possible reason to not repair the board.

 

[Barty1884]

What bracket are we talking about?

Regardless, if I were you, I'd flood their social media - and email for an escalation.

Exclusions:

The warranty will not apply to or be valid under conditions including but not limited to the following:

• The serial number of the ASUS product, components or accessories has been altered, cancelled, removed, or otherwise not valid as identified by ASUS;
• The product has been tampered with, repaired and/or modified by non-authorized personnel;
• The product warranty seals have been broken or altered;
• There is damage caused by natural disaster, intentional or unintentional misuse, abuse, neglect, acts of war, improper maintenance, or use under abnormal conditions;
• There is damage caused by accidental drops, spills, fire, or power surges.
• There is damage from improper installation, improper connection, or use of parts and/or components not manufactured or sold by ASUS;
• There is damage from use outside of the operation or storage parameters or environment detailed in the User's Manual or reasonably acceptable for similar product usage models deemed industry standard best practices;
• There is damage to or loss of any program, data or removable storage media, or if there are costs from recovering any program or data;
• There is damage from third party software or from virus(es);
• There is software loss or data loss that may occur during repair or replacement.
• Support and costs involved to install or configure the product for any third party software application or hardware device, or network/wireless configuration.
• Due to technology limitations, some devices (e.g. DVD ROM and software player may not play certain titles if applicable to your product) may be limited or not compatible with the ASUS product. These limitations are common to defined standards within the hardware industry and are not specific to your ASUS product.
• You have failed to follow all return materials authorization (“RMA”) instructions provided to you by ASUS.

https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/678/

I see no reason for a denial there, unless there's more to this.....

 

[x360dan]

What bracket are we talking about?

Regardless, if I were you, I'd flood their social media - and email for an escalation.

Exclusions:

https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/678/

I see no reason for a denial there, unless there's more to this.....

It's literally just a plastic piece on either side of the CPU that is a placeholder for when you mount a CPU fan. It doesn't effect the boards operation in the slightest.

They wrote this for what I needed to include, which I did, but mentioned nothing about the "CPU fan bracket".

"Motherboards:

• Please remove the CPU from Motherboard and place the original CPU covering plate over the socket"

Nothing else I'm leaving out.

 

[Barty1884]

Oh, I understand now, the AM4 mounting bracket.

I would assume some consumer protection laws (like aftermarket parts on cars etc) would kick in here - if it's not required for functionality, and removing X did not damage the product, then it shouldn't/couldn't be denied. I'm no lawyer though.

 

[SCanadian]

I'm literally on the phone with Asus right now with this exact problem. I sent this motherboard in before for RMA and they didn't have a problem with it at all. Check out my reddit thread for more information

Sorry for the double reply... The thread doesn't include something-- they called the missing bracket "Physical Damage" and under physical damage they say: " Physical damages are not covered under ASUS' manufacturer's warranty and will automatically void the product's warranty. This includes physical damages in any shape or form; corner/edge damage, markings, cracked LCD screens, bezels, broken traces or burns due to improper installation or removal of other components, broken CPU sockets, bent pins, shipping damage due to improper packaging, etc. An ASUS representative will contact you with the cost of repair if your product has physical damage or is out of warranty." None of which are missing parts.

Would you consider rallying people with this problem and making a big stink on social media

 

[Barty1884]

You're talking about this?

If that's their claim, you could just get it returned, put it back on & ship it back. But that seems a ridiculous stand to make.
If they're claiming "physical damage", I'd ask them to explicitly explain what is 'damaged'.

Technically, they're not wrong with their claim, given the legal definition of "physical damage"

damage to a Property that materially adversely affects the use,

But you'd hope common sense would prevail.


If it were me, I'd be flooding their social media (not actually flooding, just hitting each of them) with the quote from your reddit thread.

Please note: all other accessories sent in with your return and not listed above will not be returned to you. For example: user manuals, software, original box, I/O shields, retention mechanisms/brackets,

And just keep hammering that point home. You were specifically informed NOT to send it in.

 

[SCanadian]

You're talking about this?

If that's their claim, you could just get it returned, put it back on & ship it back. But that seems a ridiculous stand to make.
If they're claiming "physical damage", I'd ask them to explicitly explain what is 'damaged'.

Technically, they're not wrong with their claim, given the legal definition of "physical damage"

But you'd hope common sense would prevail.


If it were me, I'd be flooding their social media (not actually flooding, just hitting each of them) with the quote from your reddit thread.


And just keep hammering that point home. You were specifically informed NOT to send it in.

This is what they call physical damage
" "Physical Damage" and under physical damage they say: " Physical damages are not covered under ASUS' manufacturer's warranty and will automatically void the product's warranty. This includes physical damages in any shape or form; corner/edge damage, markings, cracked LCD screens, bezels, broken traces or burns due to improper installation or removal of other components, broken CPU sockets, bent pins, shipping damage due to improper packaging, etc. An ASUS representative will contact you with the cost of repair if your product has physical damage or is out of warranty. "

 

[Barty1884]

Agreed, but notice they don't actually define "physical damage",

This includes

That's essentially "included, but not limited to".


Again, I would hound them, and specifically highlight that you were told NOT to send it in.

 

[SCanadian]

Agreed, but notice they don't actually define "physical damage",


That's essentially "included, but not limited to".


Again, I would hound them, and specifically highlight that you were told NOT to send it in.

Yea that's the angle I'm going for, just some extra ammunition I guess.

 

[SCanadian]

Agreed, but notice they don't actually define "physical damage",


That's essentially "included, but not limited to".


Again, I would hound them, and specifically highlight that you were told NOT to send it in.

Sorry for the play by play, but I've been on the phone for 36 minutes so far and I'm slowly climbing the ladder. It feels like I'm getting close to the final boss. ^_^

 

[Barty1884]

Just make sure you have a rational argument. Don't get angry, explain the situation that you were specifically told not to include, and you'll be fine.
Ask to speak to a manager & escalate it if you can't get the frontline to take a common sense approach.

 

[SCanadian]

Just make sure you have a rational argument. Don't get angry, explain the situation that you were specifically told not to include, and you'll be fine.
Ask to speak to a manager & escalate it if you can't get the frontline to take a common sense approach.

BOYS WE DID IT!!!! WE GOT IT BACK THEY RELEASED IT YEEEEEET!

 

[Barty1884]

So, common sense prevailed?

 

[SCanadian]

Thought I'd share my ridiculously bad customer service experience I just had with Asus.

Had a motherboard (ROG B450-F Strix) stop working after 6 months. Sent it in for RMA and followed all the instructions. After a week they contacted me and said I didn’t include a plastic bracket it came with and as such, they wouldn’t cover the repair and sent me a bill for the full cost of the motherboard.

Nowhere in the document they sent did it say I needed to send in the plastic bracket that does literally nothing for the function of the board, that you remove and forget about the second you install a CPU fan. I spoke to 3 customer service reps, 2 supervisors and a customer service manager at the head office in Canada (who hung up on me after 15 mins of waiting).

They said they couldn’t do anything and that the board wasn't in original factory condition without the useless plastic piece. I offered to mail it to them and they told they would need to ship the board back to me, have me open the package and put the plastic piece on, then have me pay $20 to ship it back to them before they could repair it.

Beware of Asus Customer Service, they literally look for any possible reason to not repair the board.

Solved it man! Keep pushing! I'll leave the information I used here... Also refer to my reddit thread above

Special Handling Instructions

Please review our product-specific handling instructions before proceeding to ensure if any associated accessories need to be sent in with your product to the repair facility for adequate testing and repair. You may be required to return accessories with your product. Do not include any other accessories, otherwise they will not be returned or replaced. Customers requesting accessories to be returned will be responsible for shipping cost. To view product-specific handling instructions for RMA on our website, click here.



Motherboards:

• Please remove the CPU from Motherboard and place the original CPU covering plate over the socket

Notebook, Netbooks, All-in-One PC, Tablets, Desktop PC, and ZenFone:


ASUS DOES NOT RETURN ORIGINAL PARTS IF REPLACEMENT PARTS ARE NEEDED. ASUS will not return the original part, if it is being replaced. The product must be sent in the original factory state and should not be returned with any parts that may have been upgraded or modified. We will not guarantee return of any original parts after repair. This may result in the loss of data; for example, if your hard drive needs to be replaced. You are responsible for backing up all data BEFORE you send your product to ASUS. ASUS' AFFILIATES AND CONTRACTORS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RETURNING ORIGINAL PARTS IF THEY ARE BEING REPLACED.



Please note: all other accessories sent in with your return and not listed above will not be returned to you. For example: user manuals, software, original box, I/O shields, retention mechanisms/brackets, stands/bases for display products, CPU mounts/ brackets. As well as non-ASUS products such as: CPU, Memory, After-market Heatsink/Fans, or other components, memory cards, etc. Customers requesting accessories to be returned will be responsible for shipping cost.

Listed with items that you obviously should remove like CPU and memory; meaning that asus does not want you to send anything on that list.








Physical Damage
Physical damages are not covered under ASUS' manufacturer's warranty and will automatically void the product's warranty. This includes physical damages in any shape or form; corner/edge damage, markings, cracked LCD screens, bezels, broken traces or burns due to improper installation or removal of other components, broken CPU sockets, bent pins, shipping damage due to improper packaging, etc. An ASUS representative will contact you with the cost of repair if your product has physical damage or is out of warranty.


RMA replacement units may be ASUS re-certified and/or re-manufactured. Any replacement will inherit the warranty of your original product and does not extend or alter your original manufacturer warranty term.

 

[SCanadian]

So, common sense prevailed?

hell yea man! I wish all the best for anyone else facing this problem. I may tweet at some tech Youtubers about this but I'm undecided right now...

 

[x360dan]

hell yea man! I wish all the best for anyone else facing this problem. I may tweet at some tech Youtubers about this but I'm undecided right now...

Cool. At least you got through to someone with common sense. I'll try using some of the stuff you used and hopefully I can get it solved as well.

 

[DSzymborski]

Glad to see you got your issue resolved, but let's not go overboard in the level of scandal involved here. Requiring that socket cover to be on there is standard industry practice because they need to ensure that problems are from their manufacture, not from damage during the shipping process. Tech YouTubers are already quite aware of this; one of the things made fun of during that awful Verge PC build video by those very same tech YouTubers was when the builder threw the plastic cover behind him because of this very reason. They ought to have been more flexible -- running up the ladder was a reasonable thing to do -- but the response wasn't wholly unreasonable.

 

[x360dan]

Glad to see you got your issue resolved, but let's not go overboard in the level of scandal involved here. Requiring that socket cover to be on there is standard industry practice because they need to ensure that problems are from their manufacture, not from damage during the shipping process. Tech YouTubers are already quite aware of this; one of the things made fun of during that awful Verge PC build video by those very same tech YouTubers was when the builder threw the plastic cover behind him because of this very reason. They ought to have been more flexible -- running up the ladder was a reasonable thing to do -- but the response wasn't wholly unreasonable.

We're not talking about the CPU cover though, I included that. We're talking about a plastic bracket (CPU fan mounting bracket as they call it) that doesn't protect anything on the board and wasn't listed under the required accessories to return by Asus.

 

[DSzymborski]

We're not talking about the CPU cover though, I included that. We're talking about a plastic bracket (CPU fan mounting bracket as they call it) that doesn't protect anything on the board and wasn't listed under the required accessories to return by Asus.

My apologies! It's late and I misread.