PowerColor RMA Gone GREAT!!!!

[mhouck]

I have been without a card for a few weeks longer than was the standard stated RMA period on their website. Frustrating but ok because I have a second card in the system right now.

Here's how this went down. I was having issues with my 4890 LCS not sending a signal to my monitor at start up. I would reboot it and most of the time the picture showed up the next try and if not it may take a couple more times to get it going. I got fed up when the signal was taking more restarts and started the RMA process. I shipped the card in January and I hadn't received any update on my status until today when I finally got feed up and called in.

Get this: They apologized and said the card was out of stock and they are going to give me a card of the same or equal value. A stock 5850 at equal trade or they will step that up to a 5870 LCS for roughly $140 more!

THANK YOU!!! I read threads on other forum members being screwed over w/ their 4870x2 or other parts by XFX and other "reputable" vendors and was fearing the worst. Powercolor's customer service has been awesome and I can not say enough.

I just want to get some good news about a vendor that has been doing a good job recently w/ enthusist waterblocked gpus and give them credit.

 

[blanketyblank]

Damn that's awesome. I read here someone had a 4890 OC XFX wanted money to upgrade to a 5850 or would exchange a stock 4890. Maybe it all depends on what stock they have at the time and if they expect more.

 

[Zap]

blanketyblank, maybe you missed the part where the OP mentions it is the "LCS" model?

 

[RussianSensation]

Great to hear about your RMA process. Are you going to take the 5850 for free?

I wanted to ask you if there was any Shipping and Handling Fee?

I have an MSI 4890 OC and on their General Warranty Policy, they will charge a $45.00 S&H Fee to send the card to them. http://us.msi.com/html/popup/CustService/General_war.html

 

[n7]

That's pretty nice, though the wait time isn't remotely acceptable.

 

[Avalon]

Great to hear about your RMA process. Are you going to take the 5850 for free?

I wanted to ask you if there was any Shipping and Handling Fee?

I have an MSI 4890 OC and on their General Warranty Policy, they will charge a $45.00 S&H Fee to send the card to them. http://us.msi.com/html/popup/CustService/General_war.html

If it's in the 3rd year of warranty. That's presumably to also cover the cost of labor, since they state that the first two years of warranty cover parts and labor, while the 3rd year just covers parts.

 

[Quiksilver]

*taps sarcasm meter*

Hmmm... I can't tell if OP is being sarcastic or not...

I mean the OP is getting a vanilla 5850 in place of his factory water cooled 4890 that he had to pay a premium dollar for and his only other option is for him to pay even more money for another water cooled card.

To me that ain't right but hey if the OP is happy with getting screwed over then to each his own.

 

[blanketyblank]

blanketyblank, maybe you missed the part where the OP mentions it is the "LCS" model?

Not at all. I just equated the LCS model to the OCed XFX model.
Of course that could be wrong since I have no idea what the LCS would cost. Still nice they didn't offer a stock 4890 though.

 

[RussianSensation]

If it's in the 3rd year of warranty. That's presumably to also cover the cost of labor, since they state that the first two years of warranty cover parts and labor, while the 3rd year just covers parts.

Good point! I have to read more carefully.

Quiksilver, so you think upgrading from a 4890 liquid cooled to a 5870 liquid cooled for $140 is a bad deal? I would gladly upgrade my 4890 to 5870 for $140 air cooled. Think about it, PowerColor watercooled 5870 is $515 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-322-_-Product

The most someone would probably pay right now for a watercooled used 4890 is $180-$200.

This makes it a good deal.

 

[mhouck]

Not sarcastic. Like Russain said, considering that the 4890 lcs was $330 something when it first came out and I could probably only realistically get a $200-250 for it on resale or I can upgrade to a next gen card for $140 that is going for $514 at the egg I'm pretty happy.

I'm really trying to decide if I'm going to keep the 5870 LCS or not. I'm pretty sure I could get $500 for it, and I don't know how much improvement I'm going to see crossfired at 1920X1200. Also, I have to look at whether I need to upgrade my PSU to crossfire.

I wasn't ever thinking about going w/ the stock 5850 though.

 

[tweakboy]

From what I read, they didn't get back to you for couple months. That is horrible Tech service by PowerColor. Then finally they call months later to say they dont have the 4890 in stock so well give you a 57xx . Too little too late.

A reputable company would get back to you in a week or two. Not forget about you for months. Also I dont think the 57xx they wanna give u is any faster then your 4890. just my thoughts,, on this guys

 

[thilanliyan]

^Please read properly. Nowhere did he say a 57XX card was being offered to him.

 

[mhouck]

Tweak: It's not a 57xx its a 5870 lcs or a stock 5850. It's a couple weeks later but when they realized how far back it was and why they didn't get back they didn't tell me to wait they offered to fix the problem.

It was the last week in January when I shipped my gpu.It wasn't a big deal on the wait being 3 weeks longer since I had an upgrade in my system already. But if it was my only card I would have stayed up on it a bit better and might have sped up the process.

If others aren't impressed by their response then that's cool. You can read it as a reason not to go w/ Powercolor but I think financially I am making out like a bandit on a card that I was done with.

 

[konakona]

Isn't that about normal? I hear XFX warranty takes over two weeks as well... Could be wrong, don't quote me on that

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Even though the RMA took way too long and he had to call them for a status update, I have to agree, seems like a great trade offer.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

You should be outraged, OUTRAGED, that they're selling you a superior product for peanuts after making you wait longer than they were supposed to. It should have only taken a DAY, not a MONTH! And why should you be outraged? Because I WOULD BE!! Damn you for being happy! They're giving you a pittance! You need to take that card and shove it right up their collective ass until they give you a 5970 LCS for FREE! Anything less is terrible customer service, and I refuse to let you be subject to terrible customer service!

Seriously, after reading the responses to multiple RMA experiences on this board, the above seems to be the average expectation from graphics card companies. They're upgrading him to a $500 card from a card he bought for around $300 and requiring he pay $140. Math says $300 + $140 is still less than $500, so they're basically allowing him to return his old card for more than 100% credit. I'd gladly take that deal if it meant having to wait a week or two longer than I expected.

Congrats on your good fortune.

 

[spittledip]

That is good customer service even if the RMA took a bit long. Good deal OP!

 

[Quiksilver]

Good point! I have to read more carefully.

Quiksilver, so you think upgrading from a 4890 liquid cooled to a 5870 liquid cooled for $140 is a bad deal? I would gladly upgrade my 4890 to 5870 for $140 air cooled. Think about it, PowerColor watercooled 5870 is $515 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-322-_-Product

The most someone would probably pay right now for a watercooled used 4890 is $180-$200.

This makes it a good deal.

While $140 alone for a liquid cooled version of the 5870 is indeed a good deal but when I look at the fact he had to pay a premium price for the liquid cooled 4890 and then pay even more seems like a bad deal to me considering some prices I got for google searches suggest the card he had was around the $400 mark. So he would be paying more if he choose the upgrade :X Now if he got it cheaper than I suppose its fine.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Take the 5870 offer. Hell look at what a new card costs at the egg and you can see what a bargain it is.

 

[amddude]

I've had good experience with powercolor rma's in the past. They sent me a NIB card as a replacement.