Seasonic RMA procedure: should I be upset?

[DrMrLordX]

Background: I bought a Seasonic X-Series 1250W power supply not too long ago. Stupidly, I ditched the shipping box (not the retail box, whew) thinking I'd never need it. Once I finally got around to testing an open-air bench rig using the PSU, it (the PSU) died on me after maybe 1-2 hours of intermittent use. It still supplied power enough to light the mobo's power LED, but it couldn't/wouldn't turn the thing on! I fingered the mobo thinking the PSU to be flawless, but then the Seasonic PSU wouldn't power on a different motherboard. So I hooked up my old Corsair HX520 and viola, it powered on the system.

So I started an RMA procedure with Seasonic, got my number and shipping instructions, and followed the instructions to the 't'. The faulty PSU is on it's way to Azusa, CA. I did what I was told to do.

Sadly, this involved no cross-shipping and no paid mailing labels. I'm paying out of pocket to rectify a situation caused by Seasonic selling me a faulty PSU . . . and I'm also suffering downtime because of no cross-ship options.

In 2016, is this an acceptable RMA procedure, especially when dealing with a top-of-the-line unit in what is generally accepted to be a high-quality lineup? There are other companies that do more - much more - for their customers. Seasonic apparently doesn't think it necessary to coddle their customers. Considering the prices on their units, they certainly aren't passing savings from their barebones RMA procedures on to consumers. So . . . what gives?

Don't get me wrong: the specs on the unit I bought are great, and their products are generally hailed as being top-quality. I would still seriously consider buying another Seasonic product, especially if the RMA works out eventually. It's just a pain in the arse that they offered no obvious cross-ship options and that I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for shipping which was only exacerbated by my foolish recycling of the shipping container originally used for the PSU.

 

[UsandThem]

Unfortunately most companies have this policy when dealing with a dead/defective part that is under warranty. There are a few exceptions here and there (I think Asus ROG motherboards still do a cross ship). If my Gigabyte board dies in the next three years, I would have to pay to ship it to them and wait until it was fixed or replaced.

I no longer buy parts and sit on them. I will test them, and if there is a problem I return them to the retailer within 30 days. Paypal, Shoprunner, and Amazon offer free return shipping.

It is what it is. The days of companies having to provide great service are over. The remaining companies are large corporations that act like......large corporations.

Edit:

I generally use EVGA power supplies (which have up to 10 year warranties). I just checked their site for their policies. They do offer advanced RMA, and paid shipping both ways if:

-You register your product within 30 days.
-Buy the EAR (EVGA advanced RMA) service for $29.99-$49.99.

 

[Aristotelian]

I think you should be, but not necessarily at Seasonic. I have bought multiple power supplies from them and they have always been stellar performers. But my old Gigabyte P67A-UD7 was shortly replaced by the "B3" version, and (I believe) free returns in the USA were offered but not in the EU, where I would have had to pay a ridiculous shipping charge to ship it to a country (not the one I resided in), and that exchange program was offered much later. I can remember Western Digital being much better back then (early 2000s where a hard drive died and they paid for the shipping both ways to replace it).

I'm upset - as you are - but more broadly, where basically you can buy products in different places but you often get stuck with the entire shipping cost to return/replace. It's ridiculous, especially when there are clothing companies (Zalando) that will ship you products for you to try on (for free) and then you have free shipping (back to them) for any clothes you choose not to keep. It's seamlessly done, and I think that major PC sellers (even component sellers) should offer that kind of scheme as well, where there's say at least a 30 day window in which you can ship the product back for free.

If memory serves me correctly, Dell used to have a great policy about this (USA only, of course) with its monitors and some kind of free of dead pixels guarantee. But I wish more companies would step up to the plate and improve their service in this regard.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I generally use EVGA power supplies (which have up to 10 year warranties). I just checked their site for their policies. They do offer advanced RMA, and paid shipping both ways if:

-You register your product within 30 days.
-Buy the EAR (EVGA advanced RMA) service for $29.99-$49.99.

Yeouch. I'm surprised they are that strict about it.

And yeah I do appreciate the fact that most companies use the same procedures as Seasonic when it comes to RMA. I had to go through basically the same thing several years ago when I dealt with returning my bricked GD70 to MSI. I try not to feel like some over-privileged jerk just because I bought a premium product. Also there's all those folks out there that fraudulently abuse generous return/RMA options that drive up the prices of consumer goods for everyone.

The sad thing is that individual shipping prices for something as heavy as a PSU can be totally off the chain. If Seasonic had offered a shipping label they could have done it for much less (due to their shipping volumes). I could have and would have paid them the difference to guarantee a cross ship or something. It would have saved me money and would have gone a long way towards making it more palatable for Seasonic to offer me service like that. Instead I get to foot the bill myself.

I do have an EVGA power supply (750W P2) which mercifully did not go dead hours after unboxing. I should have tested that Seasonic supply earlier. Sadly casual testing proably would not have revealed the problem.

 

[UsandThem]

I do have an EVGA power supply (750W P2) which mercifully did not go dead hours after unboxing. I should have tested that Seasonic supply earlier. Sadly casual testing proably would not have revealed the problem.

I agree it sucks. After I responded earlier, I took at look at Antec, Thermaltake, Corsair, Seasonic, EVGA, and Rosewill's power supply RMA policies. Outside of EVGA's program (where you have to buy basically an extended warranty), they all make you pay for return shipping and have no stated advance cross-ship policy.

It seems all companies when they first start making a name for themselves, they go above and beyond to gain loyal customers who will praise their name across the internet. Then they grow so large and inefficient, they basically figure and hedge on most people will experience a defect in the first 30 days and then return it to the seller. If a consumer has to deal directly with the manufacturer on a warranty claim, they usually discover they are undermanned, slow, and almost no communication. There is a thread in the motherboard section where people discuss how horrible it generally is dealing with Asus on warranty claims.

If I was planning on building a system 20 years ago I would buy my parts as they went on sale and sit on them until I was ready to build. Now when I do it, I do it all within days and make sure I have at least two weeks to ensure all parts are good before I hit that 30 day retailer return period.

I understand and agree it sucks, but outside of Noctua (who are awesome if you ever have a problem during their 6 year warranty), all the remaining companies know they have you by the grapes.

 

[Despoiler]

I had to RMA my X750 after a couple years of use. Turned my computer off and then it wouldn't turn back on. PSU tester showing nothing from the unit when powered on. Their RMA process hasn't changed. It standard for a lot of industries. I will say their turn around is extremely fast once they have the defective unit. It was shipped back out to me the day after they received it.

 

[Ketchup]

The best RMA process I have had was with a Bunn coffee maker (I know, a little OT). They shipped a new one immediately, and asked for the failed unit when we had time.

As for computer parts, Amazon was the best. The cross-shipped a power supply that was DOA, and immediately emailed me a shipping label to send the old one back. So I got the new one quickly, at no extra cost.

Yeah, it's stupid. The company that actually made the product won't spend a dime (excluding the Bunn example) to honor the warranty on their own product. Yet the company that did little more than get it into your hands will foot the bill for making you happy.

So the lesson to be learned? Don't buy unless you are ready to use the item, and make sure it works before the retailer's (or etailer's) warranty runs out.

 

[ReignQuake]

I think you should be, but not necessarily at Seasonic. I have bought multiple power supplies from them and they have always been stellar performers. But my old Gigabyte P67A-UD7 was shortly replaced by the "B3" version, and (I believe) free returns in the USA were offered but not in the EU

In my case the retailer sent me the B3 when they came into stock and took my board off of me for free. The retailers were supposed to do that for us. If that wasn't happening then I can understand you not being very happy when it was Intel's big mistake.

Generally OP this is how the world works now. I'm sorry you were unlucky enough to get a bad power supply. In an ideal world we'd all like better return options under these circumstances, I think this should be an exceptional case and should involve support going above and beyond but everyone is trying to save money and jobs. I would choose retailers accordingly.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Generally OP this is how the world works now. I'm sorry you were unlucky enough to get a bad power supply. In an ideal world we'd all like better return options under these circumstances, I think this should be an exceptional case and should involve support going above and beyond but everyone is trying to save money and jobs. I would choose retailers accordingly.

It wasn't so long ago that Newegg used to offer a year's worth of retailer warranty on products they sold.

 

[DrMrLordX]

It wasn't so long ago that Corsair did cross-ships and paid for RMA shipping on their PSUs. I'm surprised to hear that they stopped.

 

[philipma1957]

I buy from amazon and newegg.

A lot 10,000 plus a year.

I have prime I have newegg's version of prime I got year free on the newegg version as someone here pointed out veterans can get it for 1 year free.

Everything I buy gets tested in under 20 days.

As returns are free from both companies.

Frankly this is a burden for newegg and amazon.

The companies like antec,corsair ,seasonic, gpu makers, push the cost to amazon and newegg. They in turn push the cost to us asking us to buy prime and the like.

 

[WilliamM2]

It's just a pain in the arse that they offered no obvious cross-ship options and that I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for shipping which was only exacerbated by my foolish recycling of the shipping container originally used for the PSU.

You will probably be even more disappointed when you get the replacement unit. I sent mine in with the original packaging, and retail box. The replacement was returned in a padded UPS envelope, with no box at all! A quick search on the internet and I found out this is completely normal procedure for Seasonic. I hope you didn't send any of the cables or accessories back with it...they don't return those either.

Not a huge deal, but I always like to keep the original retail packaging, in case I sell the item in the future.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Uh, I sent back all the cables and accessories. You mean they won't return the darn cables? The unit will be useless that way!

edit: the RMA instructions I followed said that I might be required to return all the cables. The email I received said nothing one way or the other. I did not get instructions similar to what I saw people mentioning from 3-4 years ago saying "do not send back cables, we will not be responsible for them" etc. Normally you have to send back everything in an RMA. Not sure why they ever would have adopted such a strange policy.

 

[UsandThem]

Uh, I sent back all the cables and accessories. You mean they won't return the darn cables? The unit will be useless that way!

edit: the RMA instructions I followed said that I might be required to return all the cables. The email I received said nothing one way or the other. I did not get instructions similar to what I saw people mentioning from 3-4 years ago saying "do not send back cables, we will not be responsible for them" etc. Normally you have to send back everything in an RMA. Not sure why they ever would have adopted such a strange policy.

I think WilliamM2 is right on that, I just looked at Seasonic's RMA page and it states:

For North America, Central America, South America region only: Please do not ship your power supply with accessories(power cables, power cord, and adapter, cables bags, etc). We are not responsible for them.

https://seasonic.com/rma/

 

[DrMrLordX]

Oh great. So I'm gonna be out another $35+ buying more cables for the damn thing. What the hell kind of RMA policy is that?

 

[mnewsham]

Oh great. So I'm gonna be out another $35+ buying more cables for the damn thing. What the hell kind of RMA policy is that?

at least you didn't have a custom braided set or similar, you'd be out $100+

 

[crashtech]

I blame the legions of stupid and/or dishonest customers that either send back working units or break them due to mishandling. It's not really possible to separate them from honest, knowledgeable customers, so everyone ends up getting treated with caution.

 

[UsandThem]

Oh great. So I'm gonna be out another $35+ buying more cables for the damn thing. What the hell kind of RMA policy is that?

Luckily, I haven't had to do a RMA with manufacturer on a computer part so I can't say if it is normal or not. I had a Noctua fan go bad after 3 years, but they just had me take a picture of the fan with one of blades cut off, before mailing me a new one.

I did deal with Sony on digital camera back in 2012, and on that RMA they said to only send the camera body with no lenses or accessories.

 

[thesmokingman]

Oh great. So I'm gonna be out another $35+ buying more cables for the damn thing. What the hell kind of RMA policy is that?

In the future for rma as a general rule of thumb, never send back any accessories for any part.

Hopefully they will send you a new sealed box. Corsair and a lot of other companies like Logitech, does it that way. They will just send you a new retail package.

 

[Ketchup]

I blame the legions of stupid and/or dishonest customers that either send back working units or break them due to mishandling. It's not really possible to separate them from honest, knowledgeable customers, so everyone ends up getting treated with caution.

No, I am not letting them get off that easy. Amazon will cross ship a brand new product, so the buyer is never out anything, no matter if the product you send back is actually damaged or not. And they turn around and do what the end user would do - send it back to the manufacturer (so long as they deem the dollar amount of the item significant). So no, I am not letting the manufactures get off that easy.

 

[DrMrLordX]

at least you didn't have a custom braided set or similar, you'd be out $100+

In that case I'd assume I would be in technical warranty violation, since I would have modified the cables that came with the unit.

In the future for rma as a general rule of thumb, never send back any accessories for any part.

That's sad. I would feel dishonest doing it that way.

Hopefully they will send you a new sealed box. Corsair and a lot of other companies like Logitech, does it that way. They will just send you a new retail package.

Hopefully. I'll find out when it gets here.

I blame the legions of stupid and/or dishonest customers that either send back working units or break them due to mishandling. It's not really possible to separate them from honest, knowledgeable customers, so everyone ends up getting treated with caution.

Sad but true. Doesn't mean I have to like it though.

 

[crashtech]

No, I am not letting them get off that easy. Amazon will cross ship a brand new product, so the buyer is never out anything, no matter if the product you send back is actually damaged or not. And they turn around and do what the end user would do - send it back to the manufacturer (so long as they deem the dollar amount of the item significant). So no, I am not letting the manufactures get off that easy.

You have a point there, but to be fair, Amazon is in a whole different league when it come to shipping to end users. Maybe Seasonic needs to step up their game, but I have had very similar RMA experiences with other manufacturers, so while what they are doing doesn't meet your expectations, it seems to be the norm.

 

[thesmokingman]

That's sad. I would feel dishonest doing it that way.

Why?? You're generally not supposed to send back the stuff you don't want to be w/o. The RMA/service depts don't give a five about your stuff. You send it in, you will probably lose it. In fact, they don't want your cables, as they don't want that responsibility.

I can't recall the last time an RMA demanded the accessories back, not with Corsair, Sapphire, nor Logitech. In fact, Logitech tells me to keep the broken mouse, they will just send a new one lol. Most of the time, they say send only the product in question, and explicitly do not send accessories back.


* Dug out an rma from MSI

3. For all other products such as Motherboard, VGA, Barebone Desktop PC, you must send in ONLY the item that needs service. Please DO NOT ship any items such as the processor, memory, manual, software, cables, clips, and original box otherwise they will not be returned or replaced. Please do not ship RMA with its original carton box if you wish to keep it.

 

[WilliamM2]

I highly doubt you will get a new sealed box, unless they are out of re-furbs.

 

[thesmokingman]

I highly doubt you will get a new sealed box, unless they are out of re-furbs.

Hmm, don't know about Seasonic but Corsair sends out new sealed psus.