How to deal with a terrible RMA department? (For an Asus motherboard)

[mtclifford]

I am not sure exactly which forum would be most appropriate for this but my best guess would be this one.

A little about this situation:

A bought an Asus A8V-XE motherboard from Newegg last October. I didn't have any use for it at the time because I fixed the mobo that it was replacing. So I left it in the box on a shelf until early February.

Come early February I put the board in a new system and it proved to be DOA. Then the nightmare began. I called Asus and they said they would replace it with a new board. The day I was to ship it out they said that a replacement was not in stock and they would have to repair the board.

So I sent the board to them and was told I would wait a MAXIMUM of 10 business days. On the 11th business day I called Asus and they still had no status on the board, they called me back later that day to say the board could not be fixed, and they would email me replacement options of another model.

I then waited 2 business days and received no information. I called back and spoke to a supervisor, a Miss Shanelle Randisi. I told her I was running out of patience with the company and I was thinking of pursuing legal options. Finally after 15 Business days a new motherboard was shipped.

I finally received it today. One problem though, Asus accidentally included some in-house emails between Miss Randisi and their shipping department. In it Miss Randasi stated that they needed to test the board because the customer was a "PAIN!", that is the quote.

I am really mad at Asus now, not only did the make me wait 15 business days for an RMA, it is obvious they make derogatory remarks about their customers in their in-house emails.

Do I have any recourse with these people?

I uploaded a copy of the email I received in the package here:

http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=asusemailzk0.jpg

 

[piratepast40]

The world is cruel indeed! We should all sing kum-by-ah and pray for whirled peas.

 

[bliq]

Doubtful, it's probably protected speech. She's allowed to express her opinion as long as she believes it's the truth- for you to win, you'd have to prove that she knew that you were not a pain but trying to convince others that you are. At least that's how I understand the law.

On the other hand, you could contact Asus and speak to supervisors on up the chain as high as you can go, and show them the email. You could try to get her fired or disciplined if you wanted to, and I don't doubt that you might succeed, but remember you are messing with someone's livelihood, people might be dependent on her for their livelihoods also so don't take that action too lightly. you might seriously and actually hurt many people. That's why for me, I'd only take that recourse if there was actual and serious harm done to me, not just if my feelings were hurt.

 

[nukemaster]

at least they DID test it

 

[hairycat101]

I had a P5W DH go bad because of a PSU that shocked the hell out of it. Asus RMA'd it with no cost to me (other then my shipping to them). If you got a working board then you got pretty much what you should expect. If you want, I would suggest doing what bliq says and run that e-mail up the chain. Asus has always done me right with good quality and RMA service. 15 days sucks, but I have seen much worse. Anyone know of a better customer service dept?

 

[azmtbkr81]

Let your dollars do the talking, I had a very similar RMA experience with ASUS and I refuse to buy another ASUS product. ASUS is becoming the Sony of the computer component industry.

I sent in a barebones system with broken sound for RMA repair, they sent it back about 40 days later without fixing anything and claimed that they couldn’t find a problem. The system actually came back in worse shape than I sent it in; t looked like their repair techs had played soccer with it!

Instead of threatening legal action the best thing to do is tell them that the system is a “business critical production system” and that you are losing a lot of money by having it down. That seems to do the trick every time.

If I were you I’d file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau for the unreasonable delay and the poor customer service and resolve never to buy another ASUS product.

 

[hairycat101]

azmtbkr81... who does better, then, with customer service? Gigabyte... Not in my experiences. DFI... Do they even have a phone to call?

 

[bobbknight]

Most likely you were a PITA, may I recommend the Brie?

 

[outlw6669]

Would you rather they had not tested it?

Anyways, I am sure you have spoken bad of a customer to your coworkers at what ever your job is. Everyone does if they feel they have been hassled by pain in the ass customer.

15 day turn around for a RMA does not sound that bad to me.
Could have gone a lot worse.

 

[Zorg]

What, a whining customer that is a pain, I can't fathom it? That was an internal memo that was not meant for your consumption. She was also doing you a favor by telling them to test the mobo before they sent it. For that I would have given her a gold star. Two weeks is not too long. If I had sent the internal email I would have said the @#$^%&* customer. I can't even believe you started this thread. If you got you mobo back and it works, drop the issue, you embarrass yourself by pursuing it further.

 

[nmathew]

I had a poor experience with Asus as well. My replacement motherboard was an earlier PCB board revision, and a few features I wanted didn't work on the earlier revision. I couldn't even get tech support to tell if new BIOS revisions had addressed the issues. Shoot, the first tech I talked to knew so little that she thought I was making up words. The problem is discussed in the first link if you google search the product name.

My response: I bought my first non-Asus board in 8 years in December. I won't be buying from them again.


Robbie Pryor is the "Helpdesk Supervisor/Lead Tech Engineer" who was my eventual terminal contact. You could try reaching her for complaints.

 

[Zorg]

Or he could man up and drop it.

 

[mweidler]

Zorg, you have a way with words.....My thoughts exactly

I was reading it and going...ok you got a working board back, but They think your a PITA. Thats actually a good thing if they make sure you get equipment that works. So no problem.
When it comes to stuff like this I dont have feelings that can be hurt. I just want working equipment and will be the biggest pain in the @## til I get it.

 

[jitpublisher]

Lets see:
Motherboard sits, according to customer for 4 months.
Wants to return after said 4 months.
Company agrees to replace, or fix.
What more could you ask for? That is excellent service I would think.
Who's to say you didn't let the board bounce around in the trunk of your car for 4 months? They gave you the benefit of the doubt, didn't they?
Lady in office gets production's attention to test the board to assure it is working correctly, after all YOU are now threatening THEM.
All this and you get a new working board in 2 weeks?
What the heck are you complaining about?

 

[dragonsprayer]

asus rma rocks

i have bought 100's of used mobos off newegg and send them back to asus all the time with out issue

100% no problems

call asus in the day time - wait is 5-10mins
you need a tech number if its a second rma
get rma
send in mobo
get new mobo in 2 weeks

asus rocks!


this post is BS! your are BS!

if the mobo was DOA return it too the retailer for free replacement
if you shopped around for the losest price and did not reciever a 30 day doa - free return that is YOUR FAULT!

WHERE DOES IT SAY YOU SHOULD GET A NEW MOBO IS 10 DAYS OR 15 DAYS???????


WHAT REALLY MAKE ME MAD IS I GET ALL THESE MOBOS THAT ARE RETURNED TO NEWEGG BY NEWBIES - 50% are fine, 30% need bios upgrades and less then 20% need to be returned to asus - these are open box mobos.


GET a Life! this post is bs i return mobos to asus every month - some out of warranty - no questions asked new mobo. if they are out of stock i get a new one!

 

[andrewcc]

I'm kind of tempted to agree with both sides of this argument. I got my P5K back (second RMA) the other day from ASUS. It took them 15 days days from the receipt of my motherboard to test (which they did) replace (which they did) and ship it back FedEx, which was great. My only beef is that in the email they sent me with my RMA number it was explictly stated that it would be 5 business days to test, plus 2-3 days shipping. So, the discrepancy was a bit of an annoyance.

However, I received a brand new board, with an updated BIOS when it finally did show up. I made several phone calls over the course of the two weeks and everyone I spoke to was helpful, I think three quarters of them tried to contact the tech who was supposed to be working on my board. I think I called 5 times, total, and most times I waited about 10-15 minutes and I only ended up with an overseas call center once, and that lady was probably the most helpful.

So, I don't know, I think the RMA/Warrenty system at Asus, while perhaps overly optimistic at times is pretty decent. Better than my experience with Antec and Corsair anyway.

 

[husky mctarflash]

General practical advice dealing with any service department, based on a couple years of business experience, negotiation experience, and being a lawyer:

1) do not make it an "us vs. them" proposition. You want to win the war, not the battle, so try to create an atmosphere where you are both on the same team, working for the same goal. These are human beings so appeal to human nature rather than work against it. If they are of the opposite sex, then flirt. Or joke around if that is easier. Make them crack a smile. These people deal with assholes day in, day out. If you show some courtesy, you will be surprised about the service you will get.

2) do not threaten legal action. That will surely ruin your chances of the above. Typically only the lawyers win in that case. And if the lawyer's goal is to protect your interest, then they didn't even succeed at that. My experience is that Asian companies are especially wary of litigation, so bringing it up is a surefire way of creating tension. E.g., in my personal dealings I could mention that I am a lawyer in such situations --yet I don't, because that is not the tone you want to set if you want to actually accomplish something. Amateurs stand out pretty clearly in this regard.

3) keep in mind that China has different warranty/consumer protection laws than that of the US--which is to say there are few consumer protections. The Asian-based manufacturers are likely still burdened with this, and it will take time for them to adapt to western standards in that regard. That doesn't give them a free pass, but it should give you insight on why an American customer service office is likely given little support from headquarters. I don't think it is any kind of newsflash to tell you that customer service is not much more than an afterthought for most computer equipment companies. Don't get your hopes up. But DO let your $$$ speak in this regard...

4) document who, what, and when--i.e, if it is important to you, then take notes. Not because you want to catch someone in a lie or win an argument, but simply because your record keeping may be better than theirs, and it might actually help the situation. Be sure to get names, contact info, RMA#s, etc. Do it smoothly, not like an interrogation.

5) As someone above said, don't escalate unless you have really been wronged. Don't escalate without having a specific action item in mind, and it is hard to come up with a meaningful action item unless you have been legitimately wronged. This is just solid advice if you want to get anywhere in life, succeed socially, succeed professionally, remain in a relationship, etc. It may sound strange, but in most firms, employees are valued more than individual customers (there are valid reasons for this), so it is unlikely you will get them fired. But is also unlikely you will get much help from that person either. Win the war, not the battle.

6) The longer you wait to use the product/complain about the product, the less credible your complaint is. There is some point in which the manufacturer/retailer is under no legal obligation to help you. Why risk passing that point?

I hope some of that helps...

 

[martypdji]

I gotta side with asus on this, they DID send you a new board even after you had the other one for over 4 months, AND THEY EVEN TESTED IT BEFORE SENDING IT OUT! That to me sounds like good service, and 15 days really isn't that long for this. I wouldn't hold anything against her either, so much stuff goes on with business (I used to work in tech support, although not computer related), and it wasn't meant for you to see anyway. But the main thing is you got a new, TESTED, board even after you had the other one for soooo long, and they didn't even take 4 months to do the RMA even though you had the board for that long.

 

[rockbyter]

All people are the same - human. The lady that said you were a pain - well, you were. Its her job to pass things along, and there is nothing she can do about anything else but send it along. Viewsonic was the same way. The only way to advance my fix-it-ticket along was to call, pretend to be mad so they would move it to level 2 and work a little faster. And for sure they will wait til the last minute to find a refurbished part and/or replace as they likely don't get a bonus for working harder.

The 'threatened to sue' line does mean you were being a pain btw. I bet you would have gotten it back the same day either way.

 

[dragonsprayer]

i might too got a little excited above
bad tech support is dfi or abit

omg! no english never send send stuff

i waited 2 months for bios chip from dfi it took 5 emails and 3 emails to shawn from china

abit - omg! the bios issues and zero tech support

try getting a tech a gigabyte

asus rocks!

 

[blacksci]

Thats why i stay away from asus they arent what they used to be granted they had there day back in p4 times, but today there a huge dissappointment.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

My board now is Gigabyte, I'm pretty happy. Biostar usually seems to make a good board as well.

 

[EXT64]

Well, I'd rather be a pain and have a computer than be nice and without one

That's too bad about Asus. My RMA experience with them was good. They fixed a failure quickly and were nice (though I did it over email). I can't believe they left that email in though.

 

[mtclifford]

My biggest annoyance wasn't the fact they said I was a pain. It was that they were stupid and careless enough to leave a copy of the email saying I was a pain in the RMA, I mean come on how stupid can you get?

And trust me I am almost sure if I wasn't a PAIN it would have been 30+ days to see my RMA, IF I ever saw it at all.

 

[Zorg]

Let me get this straight, this whole thread was about being irritated about their carelessness?

At least they were careful enough to fix/replace your mobo.