MSI not clear about their warranty length for graphic cards?

exid · Jul 7, 2015

Hi, does anyone know exactly when the 3 year warranty begins for MSI graphic cards? (For USA)

All they say is it's 3 years http://us.msi.com/page/warranty/ but it doesn't specify whether it's 3 years from

1) Purchase date,

2) Manufactured date, or

3) Date shipped out from MSI warehouse to retailers

All the other hardware manufacturers clearly state when the warranty period begins but MSI doesn't.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 7, 2015

Generally it is from the Purchase Date.

exid · Jul 7, 2015

Forgotten031511 :

That's what I thought too. But my RMA request got automatically rejected without clear explanation.

The rejection email just said "Product is out of warranty,6/1/2015 EOL Model", even though it's not yet 3 years since I purchased it.

I don't know what 6/1/2015 means because it's not the manufactured date(according to the serial number) or my purchase date.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 7, 2015

Do you have the receipt / proof of purchase to prove the date purchased?

Also, did who ever you bought the card from sell you a NEW card or Used/Refurbished?

exid · Jul 7, 2015

Forgotten031511 :

I bought it brand new directly from Amazon. Yea I have the receipt.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 7, 2015

I would call MSI, submit all that info as they request and argue why they won't issue RMA. Don't play e-mail games, call their service department.

You can also talk to Amazon and get them to help if you bought it from them and not a third-party.

Eggz · Jul 7, 2015

When you call, don't get in to this talk about different date. Just say you purchased it on X date, which was less than three years ago. Then e-mail them the Amazon receipt. Getting into more will just give the phone operator reason to say no, which is the go-to move when phone operators get confused. Good luck!

exid · Jul 7, 2015

Thanks Forgotten031511 and Eggz. I will try what you guys said.
I think it's ridiculous that MSI isn't straight forward about their warranty.

exid · Jul 7, 2015

I just called MSI and talked to Tom ( tomh@msi.com ) and he claimed that my graphic card can't be RMAed because the 3 year warranty is based on the manufactured date indicated in the serial number or the date MSI shipped the graphic card to the retailer.
He said even if I have proof of purchase, the 3 year warranty does not start from the date of purchase.

I asked why MSI's website doesn't specifically state when the warranty starts and his answer was that the instruction "To Verify the Original Manufacturer Barcode" shown on
http://us.msi.com/page/warranty implies warranty is based on manufactured date.

Does this make sense to anyone? All that shows is how to decipher the manufactured date from serial number. It does not explicitly state that the 3 year warranty period begins from manufactured date.

For all the other hardware manufacturers such as ASUS, EVGA, and Gigabyte, the warranty period begins on date of purchase if proof is provided. So I don't think it's unreasonable to assume MSI has the same policy, especially when their website or any manual/booklet that came with the graphic card doesn't specifically state warranty period is not based on purchase date.

I almost feel like I got scammed. Anyone have any idea how I can resolve this issue?

rcald2000 · Jul 7, 2015

Post your grievance on social media.

Supernova1138 · Jul 7, 2015

The website seems to imply it's by manufacture date unless you register your product with them, but that's only under the notebooks tab and not graphics cards, where it says nothing like that. My only advice is to call them again, try to get escalated to a supervisor and hopefully annoy them enough that they will placate you.

In any case, I'd say just get a new card, from personal experience, MSI's RMA department doesn't do particularly good work, and you're likely going to get a card back that will burn out within a year. If you're really unlucky, you'll get a card with a crappy thermal paste application that they won't fix because a 90 degrees celsius load temp on a midrange card is technically within spec.

exid · Jul 8, 2015

Yea I won't give up. But regardless of how this turns out, I am no longer buying anything from MSI. This is the first time I've encountered a hardware manufacturer that refused to honor warranty based on purchase date. Friggin ridiculous.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 8, 2015

exid :

While I do agree with you that this is crap, if you didn't register the product then they don't always have a good way to track your purchase...even with Amazon receipts.

Always registers your components, often vital to warranty claims

rcald2000 · Jul 8, 2015

@Forgotten: Interesting that you say that. I've purchased three EVGA power supplies and one video card. I've registered all four products just in case I need to submit a warranty claim one day. I was never sure if that was a smart move or not, but I suppose Exid's story is a cautionary tale.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 8, 2015

rcald2000 :

Amazon and Newegg are usually OEM, which basically means they buy the cards wholesale and resell them retail. Therefore, as far as the manufacturer is concerned they cannot track when they were sold/bought by the end-user. Registering the product allows that information to be tracked and update their records of that item to you as the end-user.

Many "Limited Warranty's" REQUIRE registration, it's in the fine print...

exid · Jul 8, 2015

Forgotten031511 :

I did register the graphics card with MSI just a few days after purchasing it. And since I bought it directly from Amazon (not 3rd party seller), MSI can call Amazon and give them my order number to verify the purchase date, product ID, and etc. Amazon told me they do cooperate with manufacturers in such situations.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 8, 2015

If the cooperate, get on the phone and start calling MSI/Amazon...you are not in the wrong here, argue until someone helps. If the reps for MSI don't help, ask for a supervisor...that usually changes things.

Just keep calling and don't take NO for an answer.

exid · Jul 8, 2015

Forgotten031511 :

What can Amazon do in this situation though?

Forgotten031511 · Jul 8, 2015

Can't hurt to call, I'd just keep calling until I got an answer and RMA #

exid · Jul 9, 2015

Well, this is bullshit. MSI keeps saying the official policy is that the 3 year warranty starts from the date the graphics card was sold to the retailer.
So it's not even the manufacture date indicated in the serial number.
Yup, I got 2 different answers from MSI. One guy says it's manufactured date and another guy says date sold to retailer.
I even emailed their US sales and marketing department 2 days ago but no response yet. They are probably ignoring it.

Pretty sure what MSI is doing is borderline illegal. If they have such bullshit warranty policy, it should be clearly stated on their website, product information page of retailer websites, and booklet included with the graphics card.
All it says is "3 year warranty" on the graphics card box and "Warranty period of 36 months applies to all msi graphics cards." on MSI's website, which misleads consumers to believe their warranty starts on date of purchase.

Basically, you have no idea how long your graphics card is covered by warranty unless you call MSI and ask when it was sold to retailer.

Here is something hilarious: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-970-4G-Graphics/dp/B00NN0GEXQ
Under "Customer Questions & Answers", everyone is saying that the 3 year warranty begins from date of purchase. Well, they are in for a surprise.

rcald2000 · Jul 9, 2015

That sounds very frustrating. I wonder if their stance would be different if you had registered the power supply before the failure. Regardless, their stance doesn't seem right.

I still think that you should also contact Amazon, as Forgotten has recommended, and explain your grievance in a calm manner. Also, do you recall what method of payment that you used three years ago. My AMEX card doubles the warranty of my purchased items to twice to manufacturer warranty, up to two years I believe. Perhaps you used a method of payment that would cover you or perhaps your renters/home owner's policy covers this.

Also, when you spoke to MSI, how far have you escalated this matter? Or you speaking with the supervisor, his boss, etc? Or are you just calling the first tier in multiple departments. You could also skip MSI's chain of command and google and speak with a regional or district manager. My experience has been that they'll usually side with the customer in quick fashion, simply because their time is too valuable to spend a lot of time on such matters. If you google and get the name and office number, you certainly will speak to the gate keeper first. Just provide your name, contact information and why you're calling. When I do such things, I prepare for a few minutes before placing the call, by typing out what I'm trying to achieve and a rough estimate of what I'm doing to say.

The other option is to give this whole thing up for the sake of your own stress level. I suspect your frustration isn't about the money but about the principle and I can certainly understand that. Another option is for you to post your grievance on social media and/or on Amazon customer review site. If you do so, I would caution that you lower the tone of your words somewhat because you don't want to come off as a super bitter customer. There are additional options you have at your disposal, but I think they are more hassle than they are worth. Good luck man. I'm rooting for you.

exid · Jul 9, 2015

rcald2000 :

It's a graphics card, not power supply. And I did register it just a few days after purchase.

Apparently product registration doesn't do anything for warranty.

rcald2000 · Jul 9, 2015

[strike]Power supply[/strike] Graphics card; yes I knew that, I just mistyped. Really sorry for all the frustration that you're experiencing over this issue.

Forgotten031511 · Jul 10, 2015

Wish I could help, might I suggest Gigabyte from now on?

I have used their MB and GFX Cards since 2007...not a single issue yet and great customer service!

exid · Jul 10, 2015

Ok MSI finally agreed to accept RMA for my graphics card. Took about 4 phone calls and 3 emails.
Looks like their Tech support supervisor manually approved the RMA after reading my emails.
Thanks for all the help guys.

MSI not clear about their warranty length for graphic cards?

Reputable

Honorable

Reputable

Honorable

Reputable

Honorable

Distinguished

Reputable

Reputable

Splendid

Illustrious

Reputable

Honorable

Splendid

Honorable

Reputable

Honorable

Reputable

Honorable

Reputable

Splendid

Reputable

Splendid

Honorable

Reputable

Share this page