8 ms·

God help your soul if you need to deal with an ASUS hardware RMA. They are easily the worst PC hardware manufacturer of all, and they sell clearly damaged and b

God help your soul if you need to deal with an ASUS hardware RMA. They are easily the worst PC hardware manufacturer of all, and they sell clearly damaged and broken parts as "refurb." They are terrible.

varispeed 4y ago
Watch NorthridgeFix channel. Asus laptops are very much regulars -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGvLOW6Qec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGvLOW6Qec
iasay 4y ago
LOL I read the first comment about Asus and quality and expected to read this. Can confirm. Absolutely the worst company on the planet.
londons_explore 4y ago
I really wish they'd design the case of the product to be fully removable easily (ie. 30 seconds with the right tool). Then a 'refurb' can consist of switching your case onto new innards. Since this form of 'refurb' would be so cheap to operate, all warranty claims could be handled this way no questions asked. Send the old innards back to the factory to run the full factory test suite, and if they pass then great, and if they fail have them stripped for parts.
- pkage 4y ago
  This is pretty much the Apple model.
- mox1 4y ago
  You are describing the framework laptop. Maybe not 30 seconds, but all you need is a screwdriver
- ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
  Dell warranties have covered this (and more) for me
fuckmeyes 4y ago
They are shit in RMA but as is every other company, most service centres are outsourced. I remember I just need a droid to remove the cmos battery from my zenbook to fix some weird power on race condition that prevented the whole thing from switching on - I didn’t have the silly screwdrivers - yet they wanted to rma it for two weeks - had to literally scream down the shop unrefined - losing face - until they relented albeit with sir it won’t work but calm down you idiot we’ll try, of course it worked and I was back in a taxi 20mins later with working zenbook and my data. Still better than Acer but still shit. This was bangkok
- eldaisfish 4y ago
  Not every other company. Apple - to name one - are often simply excellent at this because they understand the power of customer satisfaction. There are numerous stories of apple replacing failed hardware with equivalent, newer models - phones and laptops alike. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms one can make of Apple but customer satisfaction under warranty is not one of them.
  - aqwsde 4y ago
    Ever heard of Louis Rossmann?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - jjoonathan 4y ago
      He works exclusively on dead Apple products all day, every day. How does this not result in base rate neglect?
      - sdflhasjd 4y ago
        He does have stories about customers who get scammed by Apple's repair service.
Algent 4y ago
Also had terrible experience with that last year, brand new X570 constantly crashing after a year, found a capacitor leaking they kept the card for two week and sent it back without any change and with the shipping sticker directly on the box. Had to throw the card away (out of spite, I had my own machine constantly crash for months before finding the cause) and buy a new one and X570 is not cheap at all. I'll do everything I can to never buy an Asus again for a long time, this include work where I can weight on this. Since then two friends with a Asus MB (one same as me the other an intel one from 3y ago) went dead too due massive amount of capacitors leak, made me think they have a big problem that isn't talked about very much.
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  My $800 Asus monitor developed a faulty power supply, so I RMA'd it in original packaging. They refused the repair on the basis that the screen was cracked and sent me back a cracked screen. Unfortunately, my proof pictures weren't illuminated and in focus on the corner where Asus RMA cracked it, so I couldn't prove anything and was SOL. Ah well.
  - cptskippy 4y ago
    This is why I take a dozen or more photos of anything I ship, regardless of whether it's eBay, RMA, or a return. Photos are free.
    - jjoonathan 4y ago
      Yep. My story was an $800 reminder that my photo game wasn't on point. Wise readers will let my $800 be their reminder.
- sleepymoose 4y ago
  I hear more RMA horror stories about ASUS motherboards than any of their other products. That could just be due to a higher amount of MB failures though.
  - 4y ago
WillAdams 4y ago
And the underlying engineering is unreliable for some models --- which is a shame --- I'm still sad that my Asus Note 8 w/ Wacom stylus quit working (just after I'd kitted it out w/ every accessory I needed), and I regret not picking up their b/w LCD unit.
citizenpaul 4y ago
IDK if ASUS has been doing it longer than others. However I find that this is common practice now days for most companies. I exchanged some sony headphones the other week and the ones I got back literally had dirt smeared in them, like some construction worker or mechanic had them and returned them. I had some issues with a corsair power supply a couple years ago I had to do 5 returns before they finally sent me one in a box that was not already opened. Apple does this as matter of practice. You go in they will give you an "new" phone that is in some weird box that is not the retail box. Those are returned phones.
- simonh 4y ago
  The Apple ones are refurbs. They replace the screen and battery.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  > Apple does this as matter of practice. You go in they will give you an "new" phone that is in some weird box that is not the retail box. Those are returned phones. That sounds like a replacement refurb. They won't tell you that it's "new." Apple does that, when they can't fix the problem. I've gotten a couple of those, over the years, and never had a problem. I get AppleCare, by habit. I seldom need it, but when I do, I'm sure glad I did. I remember, once, I had a laptop that developed a fatigued hinge, as well as issues with the USB-C/TB ports. Apple basically replaced the entire unit. Another time, they gave me a refurb replacement that worked great. I used to travel a lot, and my laptops saw a lot of action.
  - citizenpaul 4y ago
    They are used and it is intentionally disingenuous to give a customer a used/refurb phone to replace a defective brand new retail price phone. Keep being an apologist though they need people like you to keep those stock prices soaring.
    - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
      That was a good point, until this: > Keep being an apologist though they need people like you to keep those stock prices soaring. I gather that you have had a bad experience, buying from Apple?
rozap 4y ago
That wasn't my experience. In college a roommate spilled a pint of beer on my ZenBook. They replaced the keyboard for me even though I was clear that it was an accident and not a product failure. I've bought zenbooks ever since then, and they've been great.
andrewmunsell 4y ago
Unfortunately, I have to agree. I went from having ASUS graphics cards and motherboards, to swearing off from buying ASUS products ever again. For me, they refused to repair or replace a brand new motherboard with a defective PCI-e slot because of some tiny cosmetic scratch somewhere else on the motherboard, claiming the "damage" voided the warranty. Magnuson-Moss anyone? ASUS has even been warned by the FTC for violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, so really I should not be surprised: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/foia_requests/Warning-Letters.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/foia_requests/War...
caycep 4y ago
If not Asus, then who? Asrock - have not had a motherboard go bad...but looking at their website, I'd be wary of trying to get an RMA Gigabyte/MSI all have their own share of complaints.... eVGA? they have stateside support but sometimes the specs aren't as good as Asrock's. PNY?
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  Have heard almost exclusively good things about EVGA's RMA process. Haven't needed that service myself but from what I've seen/heard they'll replace defective hardware without fighting you about it and the replacement is shipped quickly.
  - geraldwhen 4y ago
    EVGA makes you pay return shipping, and turnaround time is 10-15 days in my experience, depending on how much money you want to spend on shipping. I’ve exclusively used UPS ground for my evga returns, of which I did 5-10 over the past couple years.
    - caycep 4y ago
      No mini-ITX boards, though...:/ I suppose they are select in which products they choose to compete
drewzero1 4y ago
I replaced a broken display on a friend's ASUS laptop several years ago (which she had bought a few years before that at my recommendation) and found that one of the display hinge screws went right through the wifi antenna cable. "Oh yeah," she said when I pointed it out. "The wifi reception's never been very good." I put in a replacement antenna and cable from a parts laptop I had around and it worked much better. That was the moment I realized that most consumer hardware is crap (even well-respected brands), and it can be difficult and expensive to try to find something that's not. I no longer recommend any specific brands to people.
bedast 4y ago
Late last year going into early this year I had to deal with ASUS RMA with my ROG Flow X13 and the dock. The dock started failing. They wanted both the laptop and the dock sent in, so I sent both in. It took a while, but they got it taken care of. The only problem I ran into is apparently FedEx treated the return as a soccer ball. The sturdy packaging was very damaged, and I'm surprised the damage to the laptop and dock weren't worse than a cracked frame, bent hinge, and cracked dock frame. ASUS handled redoing the RMA without charging me anything. My assumption is they used the FedEx insurance. They always re-image the device. When I got it back the second time, they forgot to remove their repair image and I had to re-image it myself. No biggie, I'm fine with that. Perhaps what helped me is I've worked with technology for a couple of decades, including doing technical support and front line support for several years at the start of my career. I used my troubleshooting skills before even contacting ASUS and gave them all of my findings. The person I was talking to didn't bother with trying any further troubleshooting and just requested the RMA. So, while I get that talking to any system builder's tech support and RMA can be a pain, I had a positive experience with ASUS RMA. I have a friend with a recent Alienware laptop that had issues on day 1. Dell technician did a house call, basically destroyed his laptop, and left. Another friend has sworn off Dell because after several RMAs of his laptop, the warranty eventually expired and it still failed again. I don't know many people who have had to go through RMAs of other companies. But I get the impression that, outside of business support, all of them are garbage. However, ASUS did me right.
- djmips 4y ago
  Interesting how you can take a horror story and come out feeling good. Lowered expectations...
  - bedast 4y ago
    Failures happen. I've had to deal with Asus RMA only once in over a decade (I still have a monitor from 2009 that works and is in use). The only "horror" that happened was caused by FedEx, not Asus. I'm definitely upset that I had to send it back to Asus for a second time, but I don't blame Asus for FedEx damaging my device in transit. I've had more "horror" from Corsair products. And not just one product line from them.

varispeed 4y ago

Watch NorthridgeFix channel. Asus laptops are very much regulars -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGvLOW6Qec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGvLOW6Qec

iasay 4y ago

LOL I read the first comment about Asus and quality and expected to read this. Can confirm. Absolutely the worst company on the planet.

londons_explore 4y ago

I really wish they'd design the case of the product to be fully removable easily (ie. 30 seconds with the right tool). Then a 'refurb' can consist of switching your case onto new innards. Since this form of 'refurb' would be so cheap to operate, all warranty claims could be handled this way no questions asked. Send the old innards back to the factory to run the full factory test suite, and if they pass then great, and if they fail have them stripped for parts.

pkage 4y ago
This is pretty much the Apple model.
mox1 4y ago
You are describing the framework laptop. Maybe not 30 seconds, but all you need is a screwdriver
ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
Dell warranties have covered this (and more) for me

fuckmeyes 4y ago

They are shit in RMA but as is every other company, most service centres are outsourced. I remember I just need a droid to remove the cmos battery from my zenbook to fix some weird power on race condition that prevented the whole thing from switching on - I didn’t have the silly screwdrivers - yet they wanted to rma it for two weeks - had to literally scream down the shop unrefined - losing face - until they relented albeit with sir it won’t work but calm down you idiot we’ll try, of course it worked and I was back in a taxi 20mins later with working zenbook and my data. Still better than Acer but still shit. This was bangkok

eldaisfish 4y ago
Not every other company. Apple - to name one - are often simply excellent at this because they understand the power of customer satisfaction. There are numerous stories of apple replacing failed hardware with equivalent, newer models - phones and laptops alike. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms one can make of Apple but customer satisfaction under warranty is not one of them.
- aqwsde 4y ago
  Ever heard of Louis Rossmann?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - jjoonathan 4y ago
    He works exclusively on dead Apple products all day, every day. How does this not result in base rate neglect?
    - sdflhasjd 4y ago
      He does have stories about customers who get scammed by Apple's repair service.

Algent 4y ago

Also had terrible experience with that last year, brand new X570 constantly crashing after a year, found a capacitor leaking they kept the card for two week and sent it back without any change and with the shipping sticker directly on the box. Had to throw the card away (out of spite, I had my own machine constantly crash for months before finding the cause) and buy a new one and X570 is not cheap at all. I'll do everything I can to never buy an Asus again for a long time, this include work where I can weight on this. Since then two friends with a Asus MB (one same as me the other an intel one from 3y ago) went dead too due massive amount of capacitors leak, made me think they have a big problem that isn't talked about very much.

jjoonathan 4y ago
My $800 Asus monitor developed a faulty power supply, so I RMA'd it in original packaging. They refused the repair on the basis that the screen was cracked and sent me back a cracked screen. Unfortunately, my proof pictures weren't illuminated and in focus on the corner where Asus RMA cracked it, so I couldn't prove anything and was SOL. Ah well.
- cptskippy 4y ago
  This is why I take a dozen or more photos of anything I ship, regardless of whether it's eBay, RMA, or a return. Photos are free.
  - jjoonathan 4y ago
    Yep. My story was an $800 reminder that my photo game wasn't on point. Wise readers will let my $800 be their reminder.
sleepymoose 4y ago
I hear more RMA horror stories about ASUS motherboards than any of their other products. That could just be due to a higher amount of MB failures though.
- 4y ago

WillAdams 4y ago

And the underlying engineering is unreliable for some models --- which is a shame --- I'm still sad that my Asus Note 8 w/ Wacom stylus quit working (just after I'd kitted it out w/ every accessory I needed), and I regret not picking up their b/w LCD unit.

citizenpaul 4y ago

IDK if ASUS has been doing it longer than others. However I find that this is common practice now days for most companies. I exchanged some sony headphones the other week and the ones I got back literally had dirt smeared in them, like some construction worker or mechanic had them and returned them. I had some issues with a corsair power supply a couple years ago I had to do 5 returns before they finally sent me one in a box that was not already opened. Apple does this as matter of practice. You go in they will give you an "new" phone that is in some weird box that is not the retail box. Those are returned phones.

simonh 4y ago
The Apple ones are refurbs. They replace the screen and battery.
ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
> Apple does this as matter of practice. You go in they will give you an "new" phone that is in some weird box that is not the retail box. Those are returned phones. That sounds like a replacement refurb. They won't tell you that it's "new." Apple does that, when they can't fix the problem. I've gotten a couple of those, over the years, and never had a problem. I get AppleCare, by habit. I seldom need it, but when I do, I'm sure glad I did. I remember, once, I had a laptop that developed a fatigued hinge, as well as issues with the USB-C/TB ports. Apple basically replaced the entire unit. Another time, they gave me a refurb replacement that worked great. I used to travel a lot, and my laptops saw a lot of action.
- citizenpaul 4y ago
  They are used and it is intentionally disingenuous to give a customer a used/refurb phone to replace a defective brand new retail price phone. Keep being an apologist though they need people like you to keep those stock prices soaring.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    That was a good point, until this: > Keep being an apologist though they need people like you to keep those stock prices soaring. I gather that you have had a bad experience, buying from Apple?

rozap 4y ago

That wasn't my experience. In college a roommate spilled a pint of beer on my ZenBook. They replaced the keyboard for me even though I was clear that it was an accident and not a product failure. I've bought zenbooks ever since then, and they've been great.

andrewmunsell 4y ago

Unfortunately, I have to agree. I went from having ASUS graphics cards and motherboards, to swearing off from buying ASUS products ever again. For me, they refused to repair or replace a brand new motherboard with a defective PCI-e slot because of some tiny cosmetic scratch somewhere else on the motherboard, claiming the "damage" voided the warranty. Magnuson-Moss anyone? ASUS has even been warned by the FTC for violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, so really I should not be surprised: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/foia_requests/Warning-Letters.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/foia_requests/War...

caycep 4y ago

If not Asus, then who? Asrock - have not had a motherboard go bad...but looking at their website, I'd be wary of trying to get an RMA Gigabyte/MSI all have their own share of complaints.... eVGA? they have stateside support but sometimes the specs aren't as good as Asrock's. PNY?

kitsunesoba 4y ago
Have heard almost exclusively good things about EVGA's RMA process. Haven't needed that service myself but from what I've seen/heard they'll replace defective hardware without fighting you about it and the replacement is shipped quickly.
- geraldwhen 4y ago
  EVGA makes you pay return shipping, and turnaround time is 10-15 days in my experience, depending on how much money you want to spend on shipping. I’ve exclusively used UPS ground for my evga returns, of which I did 5-10 over the past couple years.
  - caycep 4y ago
    No mini-ITX boards, though...:/ I suppose they are select in which products they choose to compete

drewzero1 4y ago

I replaced a broken display on a friend's ASUS laptop several years ago (which she had bought a few years before that at my recommendation) and found that one of the display hinge screws went right through the wifi antenna cable. "Oh yeah," she said when I pointed it out. "The wifi reception's never been very good." I put in a replacement antenna and cable from a parts laptop I had around and it worked much better. That was the moment I realized that most consumer hardware is crap (even well-respected brands), and it can be difficult and expensive to try to find something that's not. I no longer recommend any specific brands to people.

bedast 4y ago

Late last year going into early this year I had to deal with ASUS RMA with my ROG Flow X13 and the dock. The dock started failing. They wanted both the laptop and the dock sent in, so I sent both in. It took a while, but they got it taken care of. The only problem I ran into is apparently FedEx treated the return as a soccer ball. The sturdy packaging was very damaged, and I'm surprised the damage to the laptop and dock weren't worse than a cracked frame, bent hinge, and cracked dock frame. ASUS handled redoing the RMA without charging me anything. My assumption is they used the FedEx insurance. They always re-image the device. When I got it back the second time, they forgot to remove their repair image and I had to re-image it myself. No biggie, I'm fine with that. Perhaps what helped me is I've worked with technology for a couple of decades, including doing technical support and front line support for several years at the start of my career. I used my troubleshooting skills before even contacting ASUS and gave them all of my findings. The person I was talking to didn't bother with trying any further troubleshooting and just requested the RMA. So, while I get that talking to any system builder's tech support and RMA can be a pain, I had a positive experience with ASUS RMA. I have a friend with a recent Alienware laptop that had issues on day 1. Dell technician did a house call, basically destroyed his laptop, and left. Another friend has sworn off Dell because after several RMAs of his laptop, the warranty eventually expired and it still failed again. I don't know many people who have had to go through RMAs of other companies. But I get the impression that, outside of business support, all of them are garbage. However, ASUS did me right.

djmips 4y ago
Interesting how you can take a horror story and come out feeling good. Lowered expectations...
- bedast 4y ago
  Failures happen. I've had to deal with Asus RMA only once in over a decade (I still have a monitor from 2009 that works and is in use). The only "horror" that happened was caused by FedEx, not Asus. I'm definitely upset that I had to send it back to Asus for a second time, but I don't blame Asus for FedEx damaging my device in transit. I've had more "horror" from Corsair products. And not just one product line from them.