RMA Advice - BFG FX5900 from GameVE

[Defector]

I just received my shiny new BFG FX5900nu from GameVE yesterday.

Unfortunately it seems to be faulty. It produces a series of short vertical bars on the BIOS screen at bootup, and does the same thing on the XP boot screen. Once XP has loaded, it shows repeated patterns of green dots over the desktop, and will BSOD after a few seconds of 3d (the 3d has so many artifacts you can barely tell what the scene is).

Tried reseating a number of times, disconnecting everything but the mobo, HDD and card from the PSU, tried larger PSU (Antec 350w), have latest BIOS, VIA Chipset drivers and nVidia drivers.

Finally tried this am in a friend's pc, (has Antec 400w PSU) with Win2k, and it does the same thing.

Called BFG tech support and they said "probably bad memory chips"... send it back to where you got it from.


Now the thing is, in the last 24-48 hours, this item has disappeared from GameVEs website.

I haven't returned anything bought over the internet before, (have had good luck with the last 6 rigs!), so does anyone have any good advice on the procedure before I call GameVE... bearing in mind they no-longer list the product?

Should I expect a refund?

Should they pay for shipping back to them, since they sent me a faulty item?

Thanks

 

[Chesebert]

I would just go through BFG replacement

BFG is great to deal with..although you have to pay them $15 if you want your item cross shipped.

 

[Defector]

Sound's cool..... but BFG said to go back to GameVE first, since I have had the card less than 24 hours.

What is "cross shipped"?

 

[Magelord]

Good question on Cross Shipped... I think it means They will ship you a new BFG now, while expecting you to send them your bad one now....

 

[vicwang]

Sounds like we're in pretty much the same situation with the same exact card. Must have been a bad batch of memory chips or something:

Link

The place I got mine from has the card in stock, but OEM only. I'm hoping to at least get an OEM replacement cross-shipped to me.

 

[vicwang]

I guess I should also mention I tried calling the BFG support line, waited for about an hour, then hung up. I wonder if they're getting flooded with calls or if they usually take that long to pick up.

 

[Defector]

Well... GameVE seems to no longer carry it. They said to RMA it to them and then they would send it to the manufacturer, and try to get another one, and then send it to me.

That sounded like a long wait (while they kept my cash).

If I want a refund (since they sent me a faulty item, and no longer stock a replacement), then they want to charge me a 15% "restocking fee", plus I ship it back on my own dime, plus they want to charge $6 "warehouse handling" ...... all in the GameVE fine print of course.

That just doesn't seem right. You buy something in good faith, get sent an item that does not work, have to go through all the hassle, don't have your 'puter working for a couple of weeks minimum, and YOU are expected to pay THEM?

Why oh why did I not stick with newegg!!

GameVE is one outfit to definately avoid.

I will try BFG direct, since they have a "lifetime warranty", and since I have had this thing for <24hrs, hopefully that won't have expired yet.

 

[Defector]

Well... BFG said it would be 10-14 days.

GameVE will not refund you unless either:

1) you pay a 15% "restocking" fee (ridiculous - suppose they get this card back, charge me 15%, and then just send it to another dupe to charge them another 15% when they find out it doesn't work). What a scam.

2) you send it back and wait 30 days from the time they receive it for them to get you one from somewhere to replace the defective part.

Meanwhile they are holding onto your cash, you have no card and have to pay your CC company.

I will NEVER buy from GameVE again.

"doh u understan Engrish!!" lol.

 

[Defector]

Well... BFG said it would be 10-14 days.

GameVE will not refund you unless either:

1) you pay a 15% "restocking" fee (ridiculous - suppose they get this card back, charge me 15%, and then just send it to another dupe to charge them another 15% when they find out it doesn't work). What a scam.

2) you send it back and wait 30 days from the time they receive it for them to get you one from somewhere to replace the defective part.

Meanwhile they are holding onto your cash, you have no card and have to pay your CC company.

I will NEVER buy from GameVE again.

"doh u understan Engrish!!" lol.

 

[Defector]

Well... BFG said it would be 10-14 days.

GameVE will not refund you unless either:

1) you pay a 15% "restocking" fee (ridiculous - suppose they get this card back, charge me 15%, and then just send it to another dupe to charge them another 15% when they find out it doesn't work). What a scam.

2) you send it back and wait 30 days from the time they receive it for them to get you one from somewhere to replace the defective part.

Meanwhile they are holding onto your cash, you have no card and have to pay your CC company.

I will NEVER buy from GameVE again.

"doh u understan Engrish!!" lol.

 

[larciel]

woah.

 

[Genx87]

GameVE is nothing short of a bunch of con artists. I had a faulty monitor I bought from them and they gave me some line about not having it in stock anymore so I would have to call the manufacturer. Since I had the monitor for a whole 4 days I wanted to deal with them.

So I send it back and never get a refund. I call the CC company since these people are nothing but criminals and wont both calling you back or picking up the phone and put a stop payment on the charge. 3 weeks later they write in broken english "Not recieved monitor" on their response to the CC. So I get UPS to fax me over the signed paper one of their cronies happened to put his signature on. All of a suddent their story changes and they want to charge me a refund fee of 15% on a defective item they apparently never got.

Nothing but con-artists if you ask me.

 

[CaiNaM]

i guess i was one of the few lucky ones who didn't get screwed by gameve (phew). i normally get everything from newegg as they have great cust. service if you need it, and they ship fast.

my suggestion would be to

1. call your credit card company and explain what is going on. witholding payment is the only leverage you have.
2. call bfg again, explain the situation to them. ask them if there is any way you can speed up a replacement. also try an email to support@bfgtech.com. sometimes getting the right service rep is all it takes. you might even provide a link to these forums so they might see their "reputation" is getting tarnished.
3. take the time to fill out comments on gameve.com @ resellerratings.com. maybe your experience can save others from the same thing.

as for return shipping, that is common.. if you went to bestbuy and bought something, got home and it was doa, they wouldnt pay your gas to return it.

the 15% restocking fee on defective items is BS however.

good luck.

 

[Rage187]

My ordeal w/ BFG...

I had the exact same problem, green bars all over my screen.






Aug 21th I ordered a brand new BFG 5900 128mb online.



Aug 25th it arrived, and I promptly installed it. To my dismay the card had some issues, displaying artifacts all over the screen in 2d, Windows, and would not even run 3d. I called BFG tech support after trying everything under the sun to get it to work. Both the phone Tech and myself came to the conclusion that the card was indeed DOA, and would need a RMA. The phone tech asked for a credit card number so they could do an advance RMA, and I agreed to put thee original card in the mail the following day. He also asked for a Proof of Purchase, which I also emailed directly to the support desk.

Aug 26th mailed off the original card.

Aug 29th It has been 4 days which was plenty enough time for the RMA to arrive. I then checked my tracking number for the original and saw that it had been delivered and signed for by someone at BFG. I called product support again and asked if I could get a tracking number for the RMA, at which time the phone tech(same tech I spoke to on the 25th) says that they are still waiting for a Proof of Purchase from me. I kindly explain that I emailed it directly to them Aug 25th. He puts me on hold and after about 10-15mins comes back and apologizes that they had overlooked it; then tells me that the warehouse is closed(on a friday at 2pm, bankers hours?) and that they will "overnight" me a card Sep 2nd when they reopen after the holiday. I'm content w/ this and hang up the phone.

Sep 2nd I call to verify that the RMA has shipped out overnight and that delivery is expected Sep 3rd. I'm put on hold(2nd phone tech so far) and after about 5mins he comes back and tells me the card has shipped and to expect a confirmation email w/ tracking info by the end of the day.

Sep 3rd I get an email w/ the tracking info; I happen to notice that the shipping method was GROUND and that expected delivery was Sep 8th!!!


I'm livid at this point. I instantly call product support(and get the same tech again) and ask to speak to a Product Support Supervisor. He puts me on hold then comes back 5mins later and says the card has shipped and he has the tracking info for me. I explain to him that I have the tracking info and that is not the point of my phone call, I tell him that the card was supposed to be shipped out "overnight" which he quips "We don't ship overnight" I'm done talking to him and once again ask to speak to a product support supervisor; I get put on hold again and eventually he comes back and says he is going to transfer me to his manager.

I finally get on the phone w/ a supervisor who seems like he is the man who is going to get something accomplished. He reviews my case and apologizes; he also mentions the fact that it should have been overnighted(thought they didnt ship overnight?), he then says to give him a few hours and he'll talk to Marketing and see what he can do.

Thats where I am now, in Limbo.


I'm hoping this supervisor is worth his water, and trys to rectify this situation. This is piss poor customer support, and a major black eye for this company. This company has flat out lied to me 3-4 times over the phone.


I see all these threads with others posters asking which company should they buy their card from and does it make a difference; and I found out these last 2 weeks, that customer service is sometime more important then the hardware itself.



I finally received it, a BARE card, missing everything I sent. And it can craptasically packaged.

 

[Keysplayr]

Hey Rage,
Are you sure your case wasn't just one of a few isolated incidents? I say this only because most review sites place BFG at the top of their lists for support and service. I guess I will know soon enough for myself though. I ordered the same 5900 from GameVE and should arrive tomorrow according to tracking through FedEx. I hope my card didn't come from the same bad batch that everyone is complaining about with bad memory or what not.

Keys

 

[Chesebert]

My experience in dealing with BFG was generally positive.

I RMAed 2 time with them and both time they 2nd day my package and paid for the return shipping as well.

I always asked them to ship the card to me first, which they have done on both occasions so I wouldn't be left w/o a card.

They are a new company, some rep may lack experience, just be patient.

 

[Bucksnort]

LOL, its not bad memory. Have you not seen the boards on like futuremark or 3dguru where all the kiddo punks are flashing their cards and screwing them. They obviously rma them and those are the cards going back out.

 

[Keysplayr]

Wonderful. So flashed 5900's are being RMA'd, repacked, and sold without being tested? WTF!!!
So there is a chance that I could get a "brand new" card that some other punk tried flashing and failed?
Again, WONDERFUL!!!

bizitches

 

[Ackmed]

Wow, glad (I guess) I found this post. Here is my post from another forum;

Got a brand new BFG 5900NU in today, for my daughters SFF (my 2nd game machine), and its not working correctly. She has a Biostar 200V SFF, and I get graphical errors booting up, and in Windows, then anything 3D (3dmark or games) the monitor just goes black, but the green light stays on like it has a signal. I tried to set it to AGP 4x in the bios, and turn on fastwrites. Same thing. So I thought perhaps its the PSU not being strong enough to push it, and move the card over to my main machine. However, my 9800XT works fine in her PC.

It has the same effect, plus another on my main machine. The DVI doesnt work for my LCD with it. I have a CRT on the SFF so that wasnt an option to try. I know my PSU is good enough on this PC. The molex was plugged in, and double checked. Its all the way in the AGP slot, and screwed in tight. It just will not do anything 3D, and I have those graphical errors.

Im on the 53.03 drivers, and have tried two other sets to make sure it wasnt just the drivers. I didnt think it was, because it does it before it gets into Windows.

Im 98% sure its the card. Just seeing if any other BFG 5900NU users have had the same problem, and perhaps found whats wrong, before I labor thru their tech supports. Im pretty sure its RMA time already.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dfall/Comp/5900errors/1.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dfall/Comp/5900errors/2.JPG
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dfall/Comp/5900errors/3.JPG

Newegg no longer carries the card either.

 

[ZimZum]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Wonderful. So flashed 5900's are being RMA'd, repacked, and sold without being tested? WTF!!!
So there is a chance that I could get a "brand new" card that some other punk tried flashing and failed?
Again, WONDERFUL!!!

bizitches

No, they cant repack RMA merchandise and sell it as new. Even if they test it. If they did they wouldnt be in business very long.

 

[g3pro]

it's called newegg. learn it, live it, love it.

 

[Bucksnort]

No, they cant repack RMA merchandise and sell it as new. Even if they test it. If they did they wouldnt be in business very long.


Wake up, It's done all the time.

 

[ponyo]

Well I received my BFG FX5900 from GameVE also. It was retail box w/ COD. It came in FedEx box with zero packaging material. Worst packaging I've seen. I doubt I will ever order from this company again.

As for the card, it's defective. I get the same blue/green vertical line during bios boot screen and no image in Windows. I guess I'll have to join the rest of you guys and try my luck with BFG support. I really think bad batch of cards got released.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: g3pro
it's called newegg. learn it, live it, love it.

Its called not wanting to pay 9.25% tax on something.

 

[crzylgs]

I ordered a BFG 5900 NU from www.enpc.com

so i payed 20$ for overnight, i knew it was a rip off but no one else had the card for that cheap at the time, and i wanted it bad. they shipped it ground and then fedex lost it...took em over a week to get it to me. However it was well packaged, everything was there and sealed. The tech support was really helpful and quick when i emailed to bitch about the shipping. However they have a long distance number which is kind of lame. but overall a good experience.

i ALMOST bought from gameve.com im so glad i didnt. good luck fellas...