Gigabyte damaged my motherboard when I sent it in for RMA repair and refuses to fix it

[Bavor]

In April 2016, I purchased a GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 (rev. 1.0) motherboard form Newegg. The motherboard was delivered on May 3rd 2016. The fan headers started dying on the motherboard less than 6 weeks after it was delivered from Newegg. Unfortunately it was outside of the Newegg.com 30 day return window, so I had to deal with Gigabyte's RMA process. When I eventually sent the motherboard in for RMA repair, Gigabyte's RMA facility employees damaged my motherboard and refused to repair it.

Full details:
I have a Corsair H75 water cooler for the CPU. I had the cooler's front 120mm radiator fan plugged into the CPU_OPT fan header. I have the rear radiator fan plugged into the SYS_FAN1 header. I noticed my CPU temperatures were very high(60C) at idle. I opened up the case and saw that the front radiator fan was not spinning. When I rebooted the PC, the front radiator fan started spinning then stopped after a short time. When I rebooted the PC again the front radiator fan never spun upon startup. I rebooted the computer several tiems and noticed that the fan would either not spin at all upon start up or woudl spin for a short time then stop. I checked my settings in the UEFI/BIOS and they had not changed.

To troubleshoot, I shut down the PC and plugged the front radiator fan into the SYS_FAN3 fan header on the motherboard. When I rebooted, the front radiator fan was working properly and my CPU temperatures were normal.

I also noticed at that time that the 120mm front case fans weren't spinning at all. I shut down the PC again and plugged the front case fans into a 4 pin Molex to 3 pin fan adapter. and rebooted. Upon reboot the front case fan was spinning.

I originally requested a RMA, then found out Gigabyte ships UPS ground for return shipping and I was told that the RMA process with Gigabyte can take several weeks. So, I decided to wait until I had some other computer to use while my motherboard was away for RMA repair/replacement because I had no other computer to use at that time.

While I was looking for a used/cheap socket 1151 motherboard to use while my motherboard was away for RMA repair, I ran into another issue. On September 8th, 2016 the computer wouldn't boot. The motherboard would display error code 35, which could either be a CPU problem or a motherboard problem. I've read that Intel CPUs rarely die under normal use and I suspected the motherboard, however I wasn't sure what the problem was and didn't have the spare parts to diagnose the issue. So I took my computer to a local computer shop that has a good reputation, many good reviews, and said they are a Gigabyte authorized retailer. Their $20 diagnostic fee is less than the cost of another socket 1151 CPU to test my computer. They used a different CPU and RAM in my motherboard and confirmed my motherboard is the issue. While my computer was there, several shop employees inspected my motherboard and saw no damage to the board or CPU socket or pins.

I requested a RMA from Gigabyte and bought a cheap motherboard to use while my motherboard was in for repair.

I sent the motherboard into Gigabyte for repair after getting a RMA. Before shipping, I took photos of the motherboard for insurance purposes just in case something happened in shipping. I've been taking photos of items I shipped for a while when shipping electronic components, including ones I sell on eBay and through forums. For a week the RMA stated BIOS corrupt repair/reflash necessary. On October 6th, 2016, after Gigabyte's RMA facility had my motherboard for over a week, Gigabyte emailed me and stated the motherboard is damaged, they are voiding my warranty, and returning the motherboard to me. Yet the motherboard was undamaged when they received it and they originally stated the BIOS needed a replacement for reflash. To determine the UEFI/BIOS was bad wouldn't Gigabyte's employees need to mount a CPU and CPU cooler to the motherboard? When the motherboard was returned to me, there was damage near one of the CPU cooler mounting holds that wasn't there when I sent the motherboard to Gigabyte for repair. Also Gigabyte didn't send the motherboard back in the anti-static bag I shipped it in. The motherboard was shipped in a box with a couple pieces of foam and let it bounce around in the box the entire time it was shipped back to me.. Because my motherboard was undamaged when I sent ti to Gigabyte, it appears someone at their RMA/repair facility damage the motherboard mounting or mounting a CPU cooler to test the motherboard then didn't want to get in trouble for it, so they said it was already damaged.

After looking around on various forums and reading consumer reviews of Gigabyte products, I noticed other people who complained about issues with the RMA process and being denied RMA repair for damage that wasn't there when the product was shipped to Gigabyte's RMA facility. Also, I found other consumer reviews of my motherboard stating that they had issues with the BIOS within the first month of ownership. The Better Business Bureau currently have Gigabyte listed as an F rating due to warranty/repair issues and problems with new products that they haven't fixed.

Here are links to some hardware manufacturers and their BBB ratings:

Gigabyte F rating: http://www.bbb.org/losangelessilico...-technologies-in-city-of-industry-ca-13136347

ASUS A- rating: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-fran...s-computer-international-in-fremont-ca-16870/

EVGA A+ Rating: http://www.bbb.org/sdoc/Business-Re...nd-parts/evga-corporation-in-brea-ca-13130989

ASRock F rating: http://www.bbb.org/central-californ...arts/asrock-america-inc-in-chino-ca-13195975/

Zotac B- rating: http://www.bbb.org/central-californ...ervices/zotac-usa-inc-in-duarte-ca-100078604/

MSI A+ rating: http://www.bbb.org/losangelessilico...er-corporation-in-rowland-heights-ca-13155122

In summary, the motherboard didn't properly a few weeks after I bought it. Then it completely died. I received a RMA and sent it back to Gigabyte. After Gigabyte had the motherboard for a week they damaged it at their repair facility, then stated the warranty is void and will not be repairing it. They refuse to take the blame for damaging my motherboard.

If you are considering buying a Gigabyte product in the future(Motherboard, Graphics card, Computer, etc...), remember they have a bad reputation with the Better business Bureau and have a history of RMA/Warranty issues reported by their customers. You are better off spending a little more and buying products form a company that doesn't have RMA/Warranty issues.

Here is a photo comparing the motherboard the day it was shipped and after I received it back from Gigabyte.
http://i.imgur.com/u9lhb8R.jpg

Here is the link to the high res version:
http://i.imgur.com/kuJlF0A.jpg

 

[vailr]

So, is there proof (serial number match, or?) that the motherboard returned via Gigabyte's RMA process is the exact same board? If the board still can power up and run Windows, why not simply use Molex fan power adapters instead of the faulty fan headers?
Note: I do agree that Gigabyte's RMA process should have either repaired the board or given another "same model" replacement board, if still under factory warranty. Did they provide a written reason behind their decision not doing so?

 

[UsandThem]

So, is there proof (serial number match, or?) that the motherboard returned via Gigabyte's RMA process is the exact same board? If the board still can power up and run Windows, why not simply use Molex fan power adapters instead of the faulty fan headers?
Note: I do agree that Gigabyte's RMA process should have either repaired the board or given another "same model" replacement board, if still under factory warranty. Did they provide a written reason behind their decision not doing so?

If there is physical damage (like socket damage), motherboard manufacturers will either send it back, or contact you to tell you the amount you have to pay for them to fix it.

There was another post like this several months ago....except it was an Asus motherboard. The person said it was in perfect shape when they shipped it back, the box was damaged on its way to Asus, and they didn't have it insured. In the end, Asus contacted him for an additional charge to fix, he declined, and they sent it back to him unfixed.

The only problem with these type of threads is they are "he said, she said" situations. If it was a longtime member here that I knew it would be one thing, but when people sign up to bash a company, I have some concerns.

Instead of posting here, they should be taking their case up with their credit card company, BBB, or Gigabyte corporate. I'm not saying Gigabyte didn't do anything wrong, but those are my thoughts anyways.

edit for previously mentioned Asus damaged board thread

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/asus-support-services.2473034/#post-38225569

 

[UsandThem]

I swear people who use the same username across many forums just makes it too easy:

http://forum.corsair.com/v2/showthread.php?t=158566

#1
ChrisLB

Registered User
ChrisLB's PC Specs

Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3
POST ID # = 850664

Reputation: 10

Unable to remove H75 cooler from motherboard
I bought a new motherboard, processor, and RAM recently. I'm unable to remove my H75 cooler completely from my old socket 1155 Motherbaord. I'm unable to remove one of the LGA 115X standoffs from the Intel back plate because the metal sleeve inside the back plate keeps spinning inside the plastic sleeve of the Intel back plate pin. I got the pin part way out when the sleeve started spinning inside the back plate pin.

At this point the only ways I can figure out how to get the two parts apart mean possibly damaging the pack plate pin, standoff, or motherboard.

At this point I might be able to cut the back plate pin sleeve off or cut the thinner part of the standoff off with my Dremel and cutting wheel. Or I might be able to grind down the plastic pin and crop the inner metal sleeve with needle nose pliers to get stop the inner sleeve from spinning so I can get the back plate pin off.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Bavor]

I swear people who use the same username across many forums just makes it too easy:

http://forum.corsair.com/v2/showthread.php?t=158566

#1
ChrisLB

Registered User
ChrisLB's PC Specs

Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3
POST ID # = 850664

Reputation: 10

Unable to remove H75 cooler from motherboard
I bought a new motherboard, processor, and RAM recently. I'm unable to remove my H75 cooler completely from my old socket 1155 Motherbaord. I'm unable to remove one of the LGA 115X standoffs from the Intel back plate because the metal sleeve inside the back plate keeps spinning inside the plastic sleeve of the Intel back plate pin. I got the pin part way out when the sleeve started spinning inside the back plate pin.

At this point the only ways I can figure out how to get the two parts apart mean possibly damaging the pack plate pin, standoff, or motherboard.

At this point I might be able to cut the back plate pin sleeve off or cut the thinner part of the standoff off with my Dremel and cutting wheel. Or I might be able to grind down the plastic pin and crop the inner metal sleeve with needle nose pliers to get stop the inner sleeve from spinning so I can get the back plate pin off.

Any other suggestions?

Before you jump to conclusions, UsandThem please learn to read and learn the basics of CPU sockets. The Gigabyte Z170 motherboard is not a socket 1155 motherboard. That post was about removing hardware form my AsRock Z77 chipset motherboard so I could use the cooler on the Z170 chipset socket 1151 Gigabyte motherboard. Corsair sent me all new mounting hardware.

I didn't create a new thread to bash anyone. I had to register a new account her because I forgot my password from my previous account that I created years ago. I don't have access to the email account I registered the previous account with. My previous account was registered November 11, 2001.
https://forums.anandtech.com/members/bavor.74237/

 

[Bavor]

So, is there proof (serial number match, or?) that the motherboard returned via Gigabyte's RMA process is the exact same board? If the board still can power up and run Windows, why not simply use Molex fan power adapters instead of the faulty fan headers?
Note: I do agree that Gigabyte's RMA process should have either repaired the board or given another "same model" replacement board, if still under factory warranty. Did they provide a written reason behind their decision not doing so?

The sticker with the serial number on the motherboard they sent back to me is the same serial number of the motherboard I sent Gigabyte. Gigabyte's excuse for not repairing the motherboard was "Physical Damage, Unrepairable." Their email said their highly trained technicians never damage a customers product. Yet for a week after they received the motherboard they told me it needed a BIOS replace/reflash.

Using the molex fan adapters is pointless on a motherboard that won't boot to the splash screen windows any more. As I said above, "On September 8th, 2016 the computer wouldn't boot. The motherboard would display error code 35, which could either be a CPU problem or a motherboard problem. " Gigabyte originally said it had a BIOS/UEFI issue before the damaged my motherbaord and refused to fix it.

 

[UsandThem]

Before you jump to conclusions, UsandThem please learn to read and learn the basics of CPU sockets. The Gigabyte Z170 motherboard is not a socket 1155 motherboard. That post was about removing hardware form my AsRock Z77 chipset motherboard so I could use the cooler on the Z170 chipset socket 1151 Gigabyte motherboard. Corsair sent me all new mounting hardware.

I fully understand the different socket types, and I still don't buy it.

 

[Bavor]

I fully understand the different socket types, and I still don't buy it.

Would you like a copy of my RMA with Corsair? Would you like a copy of my work schedule showing that I was at work from 7 AM until 7:30 PM from May 2nd through May 5th and didn't have time to build my new PC the day the parts arrived? Why do you think I would be removing a water cooler from a socket 1155 motherboard shortly after my new parts arrived from Newegg if I wasn't going to put it on my socket 1151 motherboard? Is your main issue that you are a Gigabyte motherboard owner and Gigabyte fanboy?

You see pretty dense if you don't think someone would remove a AIW water cooler from an old motherboard and add it to a new motherboard then make a post about having difficulties removing it a couple days after the new parts arrive.

 

[UsandThem]

You damaged your motherboard, Gigabyte caught it and denied your RMA, and sent it back to you.

You register here, post BBB info for all manufacturers, tell people their techs deliberately damaged your motherboard to get out of fixing it, and tell people to not buy their products. Is that not what "bashing" a company is?

You keep running your mouth at me because I called you on your little pity party. "I don't know what a socket is", "I'm dense", and "I'm a fanboy". Say whatever you want, I have way thicker skin than that. I have a good rep here for helping others, and I have a properly working motherboard because I didn't damage it when installing a heatsink.

You damaged it, and you either knew that you did, or maybe you didn't (unlikely). The bottom line is Gigabyte sure as heck noticed it when they got around to working on it.

It's just too much of a coincidence that you created that post on the Corsair forums, and low-and-behold, one of the mounting holes is clearly damaged (by a rogue Gigabyte tech of course). I can see why Gigabyte just sent the board back to you, as you were probably acting this way with them as well. Best of luck, I'm not wasting any more time dealing with you.

 

[Markfw]

I am not going to comment on this user, as a regular user or mod, so don't compare.

BUT, many years ago I sent a socket 775 motherboard to gigabyte for RMA. It was working perfectly all day, every day, and just stopped without me touching it. So I RMA'ed it. They denied it for the same reason, and when it came back there were scratches on the motherboard that were NOT there when I sent it, and I have a witness, a user "Duvie" who was around in my house at the time.

 

[Bavor]

You damaged your motherboard, Gigabyte caught it and denied your RMA, and sent it back to you.

You are making accusations without any facts to back up your claims. At this point you are being a troll and trying to start crap and accuse others of things they didn't do.

I provided before and after photos and a clear timeline of events and offered to provide additional information, which you ignored.

You register here, post BBB info for all manufacturers, tell people their techs deliberately damaged your motherboard to get out of fixing it, and tell people to not buy their products. Is that not what "bashing" a company is?

I NEVER said they deliberately damaged my motherboard. I said it was sent to them undamaged and after they tested the motherboard and had the motherboard for a week and told me its a BIOS/UEFI issue their story suddenly changed. I'm guessing one of their employees damage the motherboard accidentally and doesn't want to accept the blame for it so I get shafted. Gigabyte said the motherboard had a BIOS/UEFI issue and had to diagnose the board to determine that. The motherboard was in their possession for a week after they told me they determined its a BIOS/UEFI issue. They had an entire week to see if there was any damage to the motherboard. The damage was not noticed until AFTER their techs had the motherboard and spent time diagnosing the issue. They were responsible for the motherboard when it became damaged by one of their employees.

As I stated before, I registered a new account here because I did not have the login info for my old account.

You keep running your mouth at me because I called you on your little pity party. "I don't know what a socket is", "I'm dense", and "I'm a fanboy". Say whatever you want, I have way thicker skin than that. I have a good rep here for helping others, and I have a properly working motherboard because I didn't damage it when installing a heatsink.

You keep making false accusations without anything to back them up and acting like a forum troll. If you had anything useful to contribute you woudl have. Instead you make up some false accusations without anything to back it up. If my motherboard was damaged by removing a water cooler CPU bracket form a completely different motherboard, why did it work for months before I had the BIOS issue? Seriously, the lack of logic you display is baffling.

None of my motherboards were damaged when installing a heatsink. You see to either not read or comprehend what I posted.

You damaged it, and you either knew that you did, or maybe you didn't (unlikely). The bottom line is Gigabyte sure as heck noticed it when they got around to working on it.

Actually no. Gigabyte diagnosed the problem and had the motherboard for a week before they changed their story. To diagnose the issue and replicate my problem, they have to install a CPU, heat sink, and RAM. You woudl think that in the first week they had the motherboard and diagnosed the issue they would have noticed any damage. Had you bothered to read anything I typed you woudl have noticed their story changed a week after they diagnosed the problem.

It's just too much of a coincidence that you created that post on the Corsair forums, and low-and-behold, one of the mounting holes is clearly damaged (by a rogue Gigabyte tech of course). I can see why Gigabyte just sent the board back to you, as you were probably acting this way with them as well. Best of luck, I'm not wasting any more time dealing with you.

As I expected, you didn't read anything I posted in reply to you. My GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 Motherboard arrived May 3rd. I have the tracking number and order invoice to show when I ordered the parts and when they arrived.

My H75 cooler was used on my old socket 1155 system and I was unable to remove the cooler from the socket 1155 system.

I wasn't even able to put my new components together until after I was home from work on May 5th and I used a leftover Zalman CNPS9900MAX-R CPU cooler from an older computer until Corsair sent me the new water cooling bracket. Instead of asking me what I used for CPU cooling because I couldn't get the CPU bracket off the old motherboard, you made false accusations without anything to back them up.

Its hard to believe someone with your personality is helpful in any way at all with all the conclusions you jump to.

Just for your viewing pleasure, here are the original full size photos I took of the CPU mounting bracket stuck on the socket 1155 motherboard back in May:
http://chrisb.name/images/IMG_2972.JPG
http://chrisb.name/images/IMG_2977.JPG
Now that I provided photos of the problem you can go back under the bridge or in your cave and be quiet.

You can keep being a forum troll and make false accusations. You just make yourself look like a ignorant jackass when you do that.

 

[UsandThem]

@Markfw900

I'll be honest. If it was someone like you, VirtualLarry, or other reputable long-term members, I would most likely believe their side of the story.

When someone signs up, and their first post is like this one, and like I said before, it gives me a few concerns.

Regardless of the manufacturer, I rarely see many positive experiences posted about a motherboard RMA experience. Maybe the people who think it went well, simply don't feel the need to post about it.

Since I was not a fly on the wall in the room, it is entirely possible Gigabyte damaged it. However, with the Corsair forum post I saw, and only one mounting hole scraped up, I can only assume the OP was responsible. It's possible the damage around the socket didn't even cause the issues with the motherboard, but all component manufacturers will most likely void the warranty when they see physical damage.

I can only go off what I see, and in this case, I saw some concerns. That original post took some real effort to slam Gigabyte.

 

[UsandThem]

Now that I provided photos of the problem you can go back under the bridge or in your cave and be quiet.

You can keep being a forum troll and make false accusations. You just make yourself look like a ignorant jackass when you do that.

Such a mouth and bad attitude on you.

Just because you took a picture before mounting the cooler on it, that does not make any difference on whether or not you damaged it.

 

[Bavor]

@Markfw900

I'll be honest. If it was someone like you, VirtualLarry, or other reputable long-term members, I would most likely believe their side of the story.

When someone signs up, and their first post is like this one, and like I said before, it gives me a few concerns.

Again you prove you have ignored previous posts. I provided a link to my original profile. I'm not a new user. I even tried to contact the admins earlier this year to get my old account back and didn't hear back from them.

Regardless of the manufacturer, I rarely see many positive experiences posted about a motherboard RMA experience. Maybe the people who think it went well, simply don't feel the need to post about it.

Since I was not a fly on the wall in the room, it is entirely possible Gigabyte damaged it. However, with the Corsair forum post I saw, and only one mounting hole scraped up, I can only assume the OP was responsible. It's possible the damage around the socket didn't even cause the issues with the motherboard, but all component manufacturers will most likely void the warranty when they see physical damage.

Since you ignore the photos in the previous post that shows the CPU mounting bracket stuck on an AsRock socket 1155 motherboard I can only assume your only purpose here is to troll and make false accusations.

I have provided photos and detailed info to back up my claims. I've offered to provide additional info. You ignore this and continue with false accusations with nothing to back them up. That's classic trolling. Your only purpose here is obviously to cause problems and make false accusations.

I can only go off what I see, and in this case, I saw some concerns. That original post took some real effort to slam Gigabyte.

If you were screwed over by a company and they damaged your new ~$180 motherboard and they won't accept responsibility for it you wouldn't be so happy with them either. Gigabyte's response to me asking why my motherboard was sent to them undamaged and returned damaged was their "technicians never damage any customer products." Yet there are forums posts here and elsewhere from other people to say this isn't true. Do you really believe in its entire history Gigabyte's RMA/repair techs have NEVER damaged a customer product?

Such a mouth and bad attitude on you.

You are the one falsely accusing someone of doing something without any proof to back up your claims. You are ignoring dates and times and and detailed information and continuing with false accusations with no proof to back them up.

Just because you took a picture before mounting the cooler on it, that does not make any difference on whether or not you damaged it.

Again you prove that you are really not looking at anything or reading anything before making false accusations. If you bothered to look at the picture for 2 seconds you would see its not the Gigabyte motherboard. Its the AsRock Socket 1155 motherboard with the bracket stuck on it. It looks completely different if you take two second to look at the photos before continuing your false accusations.

What purpose do you serve here other than to be a troll?

 

[UsandThem]

What purpose do you serve here other than to be a troll?

Just because I don't believe you, does not make me a troll. I've said my piece. You've said yours. Future readers can decide on what to believe.

Why keep quoting me? Do you think I'm going to change my opinion? It's over. Move on. Better yet, like I said in my first post, take your case up with BBB, your credit card company, or Gigabyte corporate. Regardless of the outcome, I guarantee you'll have better luck at that than trying to change my mind.

But feel free to continue to call me a troll, jackass, fanboy, or whatevever else comes to your mind. It doesn't bother me one bit, and it only hurts your case, not mine.

 

[Bavor]

Just because I don't believe you, does not make me a troll. I've said my piece. You've said yours. Future readers can decide on what to believe.

What makes you a troll is you repeatedly ignore facts and make accusations without any facts to back them up then you continue to ignore facts.

Why keep quoting me? Do you think I'm going to change my opinion? It's over. Move on. Better yet, like I said in my first post, take your case up with BBB, your credit card company, or Gigabyte corporate. Regardless of the outcome, I guarantee you'll have better luck at that than trying to change my mind.

I keep quoting you because you keep replying. I don't care about your opinion. I'm just amazed at how long you will ignore facts.

Its obvious that Gigabyte doesn't care about their reputation with the BBB. I'd rather warn potential customers about how Gigabyte handled the situation so they are fully aware of what can happen if they buy a Gigabyte product and have to deal with the warranty/RMA process.

But feel free to continue to call me a troll, jackass, fanboy, or whatevever else comes to your mind. It doesn't bother me one bit, and it only hurts your case, not mine.

The truth hurts you more than me. The fact that you continue to ignore the truth and facts means you look like a troll. The fact that you keep replying while ignoring facts makes you look like a troll.

Other than the information I presented in the original post, I also provided photos of the AsRock socket 1155 motherboard with CPU mount stuck on it that were taken before my post on the Corsair forums. Anyone can view the photo data embedded in the photos by the camera and see the date and time it was taken. The photos of the CPU bracket stuck on the AsRock socket 1155 motherboard were taken on May 4th, 2016 at 9:47 PM and 9:48 PM. My post on the Corsair forums was the next morning, May 5th 2016, at 6:01 AM. Yet you continue to say I damaged the Gigabyte motherboard that I couldn't even mount the CPU bracket on because it was still stuck to the old motherboard?

The lack of logic on your part astounds me. At this point you have to be either intentionally trolling or a person who can't ever admit they are wrong.

 

[UsandThem]

What makes you a troll is you repeatedly ignore facts and make accusations without any facts to back them up then you continue to ignore facts.

The lack of logic on your part astounds me. At this point you have to be either intentionally trolling or a person who can't ever admit they are wrong.

I'm adding you to my ignore list. So feel free to continue to run your mouth about me all you want (Hint: It won't get your motherboard replaced). I won't see anymore of your posts. Your 7 posts have gone from interesting to very annoying, and I like to spend my time dealing with more enjoyable things, and not getting notifications that you keep flapping your gums.

Like I have already said several times, my suggestion is to take your case up with those who can actually do something. Send your "evidence" to them. You aren't changing my mind, try to change theirs.

Goodbye and good riddance.

 

[esquared]

This thread is locked.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director