Right. I wait on queue for a few minutes for my call to be responded to and then get an answer. I provide the RMA number and when the guy has the information he reads back to me the description of the fault (dust, overheating, etc.). I begin to make the point that the card was not overheating, is not "absolutely caked" in anything and that I'm "very angry right now". At this point the guy says "I'm just the guy that takes the phone calls", or something to that effect. Hehe, okay, no problem -- no point going any further with him so I ask if I can speak to the person who examined the card. I wait a moment and someone says, "I'm Andy, I examined your card". Okay, now we're getting somewhere -- surely there's just been a mix up or confusion. Andy continues, "The card is absolutely caked in tar/nicotene and dust and it's likely overheating". Arggh. I begin to insist to Andy that card is not "absolutely caked" and furthermore that I know the card is not overheating and begin to recite the temperatures it operates at -- yeah, I know them off the top of my head, at this point. I think Andy says something to the effect of, "It will do won't it?". I'm not sure what he meant by this unless he thinks the temperatures I had just recited are too hot for the card -- which they aren't. I then ask Andy if he actually tested the card. Andy replies, "I don't have to". Huh? He doesn't have to test the card? Let's think about this for a moment: Andy has diagnosed overheating due to dust build up all without ever actually running the card in an operating environment. I'm trying to comprehend what actually took place when I sent the card in, at this point. I can only assume Andy looked at the card, saw it was dusty, managed to either physically or psychically link himself to the piece of hardware and was able to intuit what temperatures it runs at. Andy surely must be the most gifted technician known to human kind -- he need merely be in the presence of a piece of hardware to know exactly how it operates when hooked up and running. Andy must be very "special", indeed.
In all seriousness, I could see if a brick had been dropped on the thing that it would be pretty obvious what the problem was and one could likely diagnose the problem with just a visual inspection. However, that would be more like a classic Mythbusters', "Well thar's yer problem!", moment. When it comes to something like an intermittent fault and you suspect it to be heat related, well, it's fairly wise to actually plug the thing in and find out what temperatures it runs at. You know, actually backing up a claim with evidence and some objective testing -- that kind of thing.
Back to the actual phone call: I must admit that my brain, at this point, was having some difficulties processing the whole situation. It's like a piece of data had come in at a completely wrong trajectory and neurons were scurrying around trying to get it all tidied up and sorted to where it should be. I think Andy may still have been maintaining that the card is overheating and I'm still reciting the operating temperatures. Enter Paxman (4 min. mark is where the good bit begins). Well, I then keep returning to the question, "Did you test the card?". I continue, "Did you test the card?", "You didn't test the card?", "But you haven't tested the card", "Did you t-e-s-t the card?", and so on. I wasn't abusive or yelling, but I was definitely insistent that he would have needed to actually test the card to reach a conclusion. This is where the phone then goes silent. There may have been a click first, but I can't really recall now. Andy had used his "special" powers once again, and seemingly, he can also manipulate hardware in the same way he can diagnose faults in it -- nah, he had just hung up on me...
2 comments:
I had a similar instance where XFX wouldn't support their 7800GTX, even with my lifetime warranty AND the fact I was offering to pay a repair fee. XFX offers a double lifetime warranty on their new products. Because the ebayer who sold it to me had installed an Arctic Cooling HSF, the card wasn't covered under warranty, and they refused to repair it for any cost.
Companies everywhere in the US and abroad have way too much power in my opinion. They should give the BBB some teeth to enforce fairness...something. The bottom line is that anytime your rights are trampled by a business these days, lawyers retainers for such matters start around $5000.
I don't have $5000 just to get a fair shake at my video card warranty replacement. Sorry to hear about Andy and his asshattedness. This is sadly a sign of the times. I wish you luck on your repair attempts. I will contact you with some info about video cards I have in stock.
Yeah, it's this kind of situation that dishonest businesses thrive on because of the further investement of time, money and hassle required see a satisfactory resolution is often a deterrent to the consumer to take the matter any further.
However, if something like this blog gets read every once in a while maybe, at the least, the business will lose a sale or two here or there. It might not be direct compensation to the one who has been cheated, but it might help someone else avoid the same fate as well as rebalance the scale slightly on some level.
Post a Comment