- Oct 30, 1999
- 11,815
- 104
- 106
Someone was saying "why would you send a board back for credit? You'll get hit with a restocking fee" and "why did you exchange that board for another one? I'd be fed up and get a different board."
Sigh.
For today's lesson we will use a motherboard. Here's the things that usually apply to getting a board RMAd to the vendor and NOT get hit with a restocking fee and NOT be forced to exchange the board:
1. Condition: NO writing on the box or manual. I don't know why people do this in the first place. Do you HAVE to circle where the power switch plugs in? Cable pack sealed. Yes SEALED. I have my own cables. I won't open the new ones until I confirm that everything is working properly. Also, DON'T TAPE THE BOX SHUT when you send it back. Was it taped shut when you got it?!?! No. Is it going to spring open like a Jack in the Box while in transit? Think not.
2. Is it really bad?: Be ACCURATE. Say, "PCI Management issues", "bad USB" or "Won't run w/ PC133 RAM". If you just send the board to the vendor with a note that says "It's BAD" and they get it and it's NOT DOA, they're going to bounce it back to you with a note that says "you're screwed".
3. Time period: Most companies don't take stuff back for credit past 15 days or 30 days or 90 days. Don't dick around with the board if something goes wrong. If you have a video card related issue, don't wait around for a beta BIOS to come out to address the issue. Try a different video card. Still doesn't work? SEND IT BACK..... NOW! ATA100 running at half speed? SEND IT BACK NOW!
Now, that's sending something back for a credit. Now I'm going to touch on why you shouldn't change boards completely just because you may have had a bad one...
You "assume" the board is bad. I say "assume" because you never really know until you have another one just like it that you can put in it's place.
You want to switch it out, but want to try a different board.
Oh that's just dandy. So, if the problem is something else, you have no idea because now you have a different motherboard that reacts differently to the part that actually is causing the problem.
Can you say: "Opening a can of worms?" I thought so.
This is what happened to me yesterday:
A guy has a 900 MHz T-Bird and an A7V. The RAM, video card, power supply and harddrive were from his old Epox KX133 board so we have to assume that it is all PC133, AGP 4X and Athlon compatible. He says it was rock solid.
So the A7V and the 900 crash like crazy. He can't even reinstall ME without a crash or a lock. He brings the board back.
"I heard all sorts of bad things about this board on the internet and I want a different board."
"Well, it looks good. No cables. I can swap it out for the Abit and I'll keep the new cables if you want to swap out boards. I recommend against it, but it's your choice."
He went for the Abit board.
He calls me back later, "This board is still crashing! The thing wont run more than five minutes without a hard lock!!!! Aaaaargh! This Abit board sucks!"
Umm.... "Sir, I don't think this board is bad TOO. I'm starting to think the first board wasn't bad either. The problem must be something else. Can you bring in the whole rig and leave it?"
He first tells me that no matter what, he wants the Asus board back and that now he wants to swap out the CPU. He also told me that he can't leave it, so he won't bring in the whole rig. I take a look at the CPU and he has thermal grease all over it.
Now, the typical thermal grease has metal in it. A very small amount, but that's part of what makes it thermal conductive. Unfortunately, what makes it thermally conductive also makes it ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE and he has thermal grease all over the capacitors on the CPU. Furthermore, AMD recommends AGAINST thermal grease on the socket A because it usually just squishes out under the tension of the HSF!
I cleaned up the CPU and put it on his new Asus. He got it home and he called back to tell us that it was working fine.
Whew! What a circus.
If he had just brought the CPU in the first time around, we could've been over with a long time ago!
Sigh.
For today's lesson we will use a motherboard. Here's the things that usually apply to getting a board RMAd to the vendor and NOT get hit with a restocking fee and NOT be forced to exchange the board:
1. Condition: NO writing on the box or manual. I don't know why people do this in the first place. Do you HAVE to circle where the power switch plugs in? Cable pack sealed. Yes SEALED. I have my own cables. I won't open the new ones until I confirm that everything is working properly. Also, DON'T TAPE THE BOX SHUT when you send it back. Was it taped shut when you got it?!?! No. Is it going to spring open like a Jack in the Box while in transit? Think not.
2. Is it really bad?: Be ACCURATE. Say, "PCI Management issues", "bad USB" or "Won't run w/ PC133 RAM". If you just send the board to the vendor with a note that says "It's BAD" and they get it and it's NOT DOA, they're going to bounce it back to you with a note that says "you're screwed".
3. Time period: Most companies don't take stuff back for credit past 15 days or 30 days or 90 days. Don't dick around with the board if something goes wrong. If you have a video card related issue, don't wait around for a beta BIOS to come out to address the issue. Try a different video card. Still doesn't work? SEND IT BACK..... NOW! ATA100 running at half speed? SEND IT BACK NOW!
Now, that's sending something back for a credit. Now I'm going to touch on why you shouldn't change boards completely just because you may have had a bad one...
You "assume" the board is bad. I say "assume" because you never really know until you have another one just like it that you can put in it's place.
You want to switch it out, but want to try a different board.
Oh that's just dandy. So, if the problem is something else, you have no idea because now you have a different motherboard that reacts differently to the part that actually is causing the problem.
Can you say: "Opening a can of worms?" I thought so.
This is what happened to me yesterday:
A guy has a 900 MHz T-Bird and an A7V. The RAM, video card, power supply and harddrive were from his old Epox KX133 board so we have to assume that it is all PC133, AGP 4X and Athlon compatible. He says it was rock solid.
So the A7V and the 900 crash like crazy. He can't even reinstall ME without a crash or a lock. He brings the board back.
"I heard all sorts of bad things about this board on the internet and I want a different board."
"Well, it looks good. No cables. I can swap it out for the Abit and I'll keep the new cables if you want to swap out boards. I recommend against it, but it's your choice."
He went for the Abit board.
He calls me back later, "This board is still crashing! The thing wont run more than five minutes without a hard lock!!!! Aaaaargh! This Abit board sucks!"
Umm.... "Sir, I don't think this board is bad TOO. I'm starting to think the first board wasn't bad either. The problem must be something else. Can you bring in the whole rig and leave it?"
He first tells me that no matter what, he wants the Asus board back and that now he wants to swap out the CPU. He also told me that he can't leave it, so he won't bring in the whole rig. I take a look at the CPU and he has thermal grease all over it.
Now, the typical thermal grease has metal in it. A very small amount, but that's part of what makes it thermal conductive. Unfortunately, what makes it thermally conductive also makes it ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE and he has thermal grease all over the capacitors on the CPU. Furthermore, AMD recommends AGAINST thermal grease on the socket A because it usually just squishes out under the tension of the HSF!
I cleaned up the CPU and put it on his new Asus. He got it home and he called back to tell us that it was working fine.
Whew! What a circus.
If he had just brought the CPU in the first time around, we could've been over with a long time ago!
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