[T.S.O.M.]

Good Evening,

A couple of months ago, I opened a topic here about my Maximus XI Hero (Z390 Chipset, in companionship with a 9900K) apparently being defunct - later, it turned out that it is indeed dead. Soon after this revelation, I sent it to RMA (to the store where I purchased it just a little over a year ago) and they forwarded it to ASUS. Almost a month later (a week ago or so), it arrived back at me and I initially thought, it returned repaired - there was no kind of information, declaration or ANY kind of document along with the board upon arrival. Boy, I was wrong! It was only a few days later, that I found out it was NOT SERVICED by ASUS at all by re-checking (calling) the above-mentioned store - with the argumentation that my board was void of warranty! That was like a punch in the face.

ASUS argued in their statement (which was forwarded to me by the above-mentioned store), that I apparently or deliberately caused some scratches on the backside of the board and apparently damaged a conductor path (I don't know if the conductor damage is really the case, because I suspect ASUS didn't even inspect the board any further after seeing those scratches) and even provided photos of those scratches - and therefore my warranty has been voided!

But neither I nor a local hardware technician (where I brought the board first in order to fix it - not yet knowing, it was already dead) can remember those scratches before sending it to RMA! I operated only at the front side of the board (attempting to swap the GPU) and I did that VERY carefully - I always do, including discharging myself on the heating radiator first. Before trying to swap the GPU, my whole rig including my M11 Hero were working absolutely fine. I didn't do any kind of interference on the backside of the motherboard AFAIR and also upon removal from the chassis and packing it for RMA, I handled it very cautiously as I always do!

And now, here I am: since over two months without a working rig, the warranty of the most important part of my rig (motherboard) rejected and no new boards of the same model available anymore to purchase - only used condition on Ebay and elsewhere!

The obvious question is: what are my options now? Can or should I take legal actions?

Thanks for any advise,

T.S.O.M.

 

[8051]

While I can't help you much, I'll make sure to take pictures of anything I RMA, front, back and sideways from here on out. Without those, I think you're royally screwed.

 

[T.S.O.M.]

While I can't help you much, I'll make sure to take pictures of anything I RMA, front, back and sideways from here on out. Without those, I think you're royally screwed.

I'll definitely take that into account for future reference - but of course, that won't help me in any way on the actual matter...

Aside from that, ASUS' behavior (the way they handled this matter in my case) is a complete freshness - I mean, they could've at least provide some documents (information, explanation, declaration, etc. - ANYTHING informing me that my board has NOT been fixed...) alongside the board when they sent it back to me! If I didn't call the store where I purchased it from after receiving it back, I'd LITERALLY have found that out only once I've tried to fire the MB up after having assembled it...

T.S.O.M.

 

[anticommon]

I had an issue with Samsung a few months back, basically they held my money hostage for a few months and cancelled an order of mine only to go back and say 'yeah sorry we actually meant to charge you THIS much pay or ****' and so I submitted a BBB complaint and low and behold... they contacted me about a resolution which was a lot closer to the original purchase I had made.

If you aren't in the US then perhaps there is an equivalent national consumer protection agency that could help you. Start by filing complaints about predatory business practices and consumer neglect. You have a right to the warranty you purchased when buying the product and they need to honor it. Like another poster mentioned though, pictures are worth a thousand bucks so going forwards.

 

[Piers]

Asus is truly a terrible company. After simply using their latest products and realising Asus doesn't provide any support, I have decided to move to Asrock.

 

[kairi_zeroblade]

Asus is truly a terrible company. After simply using their latest products and realising Asus doesn't provide any support, I have decided to move to Asrock.

Hmmm..I never had issues RMA'ing items from them..(even with my client builds[cheaper boards])

 

[Piers]

Hmmm..I never had issues RMA'ing items from them..(even with my client builds[cheaper boards])

It's the lack of actual meaningful support - not the RMA process - that's terrible for a multi-billion US dollar company. That being said, the RMA process is likely to operate differently in different parts of the world. The US generally has the best options.

The UK usually has good options as well in terms of returns and support - but not with Asus.

Edit: For a motherboard question Asus 'support' can't answer, they want the user to send products to Taiwan (including not just the motherboard, but the CPU). There's no insurance in case parts are damaged and it seems the user has the pay the postage cost. Asus is even worse than I thought.

 

[cstkl1]

this is a he , she say situation

i would ask asus whether it can be repaired.

this traceline damage. do u mind sharing the pic.

each country sc operates a different sop based on the laws of that country before sending it to taiwan/china for rma. guess the board damage on those trace-lines triggered a standard policy to reject.

 

[Asmodian]

It's the lack of actual meaningful support - not the RMA process

Does ASRock have actual meaningful support?

I have never tried to get support from Asus, but my experience with their RMA has always been good and I wish more companies would do as well as their website for drivers, etc. Sorry OP.

 

[Piers]

Does ASRock have actual meaningful support?

I have never tried to get support from Asus, but my experience with their RMA has always been good and I wish more companies would do as well as their website for drivers, etc. Sorry OP.

In my experience,, Asrock provides better support than Asus. That's after using Asus boards for 15 years and only one Asrock board.

It's like Asus has done away with quality control for both hardware and especially software (BIOS).

 

[zzztopzzz]

I would try the RMA process again. Do it directly, not through the store where bought it. I've had extensive RMA dealings with ASUS and it's always been positive. You can always escalate you complaint within the ASUS technical group and explain your situation. Also, make sure you have photos of your board from all angles.

 

[Ichirou]

I'm leaning towards it being damaged during shipping. Your store forwards the board back to ASUS, but it's not like they're the actual deliverymen. So ASUS isn't necessarily "wrong," you just had terrible luck.

I would advise against legal action because firstly it costs a lot, and secondly you'll likely lose. Even if European consumer protection laws are insanely strict, it's quite evident that ASUS isn't willing to abide. Think about it: They actually spent the time to inspect the board. Usually most companies would simply toss it and quickly send you a new one, as it is a waste of time and money.

Just my five cents.

 

[Arctucas]

Best advice: buy another brand.

I swore off ASUCKS after my three month fight with them to get my brand new, DOA out the box, Striker Extreme RMAed back in 2007.

 

[zayd]

When building my 9900K system, I switched to a Gigabyte z390 Aorus Ultra and I have thoroughly enjoyed this board for the last two years. I don't know about Gigabytes current boards for both Intel and AMD, but with the Z390 platform, they included a lot of high end components and features.

 

[T.S.O.M.]

this traceline damage. do u mind sharing the pic.

Of course, I've attached them in this posting

I'm leaning towards it being damaged during shipping.

How can that be possible? I mean, I've put it cautiously in it's original box AND I sufficiently cushioned the package before shipping it to the hardware store I purchased it from - and they then forwarded that package to ASUS.

I would advise against legal action because firstly it costs a lot, and secondly you'll likely lose. Even if European consumer protection laws are insanely strict, it's quite evident that ASUS isn't willing to abide.

You're right with that, your argumentation makes absolutely sense - but on the other hand though, I don't want to let this matter pass away like this, because it's just over a year I've bought this board completely NEW for 300 Euros (that's almost 350 Dollars!), it's well within it's warranty lifetime and I honestly can't remember a damn thing I could've done wrong while handling it. Like I wrote multiple times, I only serviced the front side, just trying to swap the GPU and it was probably already dead at that moment for an unknown reason (You remember the topic I've started here in late September right after that event occurred?). I didn't do a f***ing thing on it's backside!

Think about it: They actually spent the time to inspect the board. Usually most companies would simply toss it and quickly send you a new one, as it is a waste of time and money.

I've doubts about whether they really did that - it's possible they immediately aborted inspection after seeing those scratches...

Best advice: buy another brand.

I swore off ASUCKS after my three month fight with them to get my brand new, DOA out the box, Striker Extreme RMAed back in 2007.

How could they do that? You say, your board was DOA but brand new? That should be a 100% clear case for warranty!

As for your suggestion:

My system is set up and it took me a VERY long time to achieve that, because I'm setting up/configuring my Windows and installing Programs very meticulously - and in this case, it took me MONTHS, because it was a completely new platform (new hardware with new drivers) and my Windows installation was heavily customized; a slipstream installation. I certainly DO NOT want to start all over again!

So it has to be the same model (Maximus XI Hero, no Wi-Fi)... or not?

T.S.O.M.

 

[Arctucas]

<SNIP> How could they do that? You say, your board was DOA but brand new? That should be a 100% clear case for warranty! <SNIP>
T.S.O.M.

It is ASUCKS, they really do not give a crap about me, or you, and one or two enthusiast motherboard, when they millions.

They eventually did replace the motherboard, after three months, and the one they sent me was an obvious RMA; scratches everywhere, and even had small blobs thermal compound around the CPU socket.

That was the end of my short relationship with ASUCKS.

 

[T.S.O.M.]

They eventually did replace the motherboard, after three months, and the one they sent me was an obvious RMA; scratches everywhere, and even had small blobs thermal compound around the CPU socket.

Aw man... that was truly outrageous! I'm feeling sorry for you despite the matter being over a decade old...

And did you read the rest of my posting?

T.S.O.M.

 

[Ichirou]

There's a reason why I don't believe in warranties in general and always buy things with the expectation that if it breaks, I'm SOL.
The best thing you can do is buy store-backed warranties so they just swap the product for you, no questions asked.

 

[8051]

'I sent it to RMA (to the store where I purchased it just a little over a year ago) and they forwarded it to ASUS.'
Could this have been the issue? Could the motherboard the store sent to RMA on your behalf be a different 'board from what you gave them?

 

[T.S.O.M.]

'I sent it to RMA (to the store where I purchased it just a little over a year ago) and they forwarded it to ASUS.'
Could this have been the issue? Could the motherboard the store sent to RMA on your behalf be a different 'board from what you gave them?

I can check that out by comparing the serial number, can I?

T.S.O.M.