Corsair HX620w PSU Went Pop 1yr and 4 days after buying

[Anth]

Hi,

I was really hoping if anyone could advise on these two questions I have.

I have the Corsair HX620 PSU which was bought from Ebuyer on 12th September 2008 and delivered by them on the 15th September.

Today on switching the power on the mains, I heard a loud pop. My mains trip switch went off too for the entire houses electricity.

On switching it back on I find my PC is dead. Changing the Kettle Power Lead to another, still dead.

I try the original Power lead and socket in my spare celeron PC and this works fine (I am posting on it right now).

So it seems my PC is dead, I have hooked up my system to check the running wattages and they are zero, (they usually are around 0.3w when the PC is off)

So I check about returning the PSU to Ebuyer as popping noises are generally PSU based, and find it was bought literally a few days over a year, and on telephoning them they wont budge and say I must contact Corsair.

On reading the forums I do not relish the likely cost of £25 to return the PSU to the Netherlands, therefore noticed a topic where someone suggested (but it was not confirmed) that the store you bought it from could possibly handle the Manufacture RMA return for you if you send the product back to them after the 1 year warranty.

Does anyone know if this correct or is it just Scan which offer this service (I am now wishing I bought from Scan),

So does anyone have any ideas or suggestions. As I have just had the RMA number authorized by Corsair and find it is definitely goind to be needed to be returned to the Netherlands.

On the other issue that has came out of this issue, is that I am kind of annoyed my PSU has blown in the first place.

All I had attached was

Core I7 CPU, 3 Sata Hard Drive, 1 SSD Drive, 2 DVD Drives, 3 Molex fans and a bog standard ATI 4550 Card (I was waiting for the 5xxx series next week to get a nice new ATI gaming card - looks like thats out if the PSU cannot handle my setup with only a ATI PCIe port powered 4550).

Any ideas why this could have blown like this, was there too many Hard Drives as I only upgraded to the Corsair SSD last Tuesday and thus added a fourth hard drive. Could this have somehow blown the PSU a few days afterinstall?

Thanks
Anthony.

[TAKTAK]

Ebuyer are entitled to uphold the full warranty period of the PSU, they have to deal with it

As to why it died, sounds like it was just a faulty unit , have you had chance to try another PSU in your system to make sure it hasn't killed anything else with it?

[Anth]

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

Ebuyer are entitled to uphold the full warranty period of the PSU, they have to deal with it

Sorry I am not sure what you mean by this.

Do you mean Ebuyer are entitled to ignore my request as its a few days over the 1 year warranty?

Or I am entitled to get ebuyer to deal with it even though its past the 1 year store warranty date but still within in the 5 year corsair warranty?

[Bane]

Have a read of this site - Consumer Direct and the different sections on it.

Some quotes from above page:

If your goods are not satisfactory you may be able to make a claim for up to 6 years in England and Wales and 5 years in Scotland after the purchase of your goods, for a refund, repair or replacement.

Who do I claim a refund, repair or replacement from?
Your contract is with the trader and not the manufacturer and you should always go back to them to make a claim under the Sale of Goods Act. However if you have paid for goods using a credit agreement like a Hire Purchase Agreement then your rights are different and you should call Consumer Direct for further advice.

[Anth]

Originally Posted by Bane

Have a read of this site - Consumer Direct and the different sections on it.

Some quotes from above page:

Thanks Bane but I know all about the Sale of Goods Act.

But this is an adversarial process of going down this route, i.e threatening legal action and such, and would rather not do it with Ebuyer (for one it could affect future service I receive from them) and generally I really like Ebuyer as a retailer to a very high level.

I would rather it was some kind of agreement in place with PC Manufacturers and retailers where I can do it more out of goodwill and easy on my wallet than trying to force Ebuyer with legal threats.

Any response from Corsair on this?, or has anyone ever actually tried sending their PC parts back to the retailer to get the Manufacturers warranty handled after the 1 year?

I am more annoyed as Corsair's are regarded as the crem de la crem of PSU's. And I had next to no load on mine, a 300w PSU could have likely handled it, so annoyed why my Corsair 620W blew after only 4 days over a year.

[PeterStoba]

The first year is often with the retailer, then with the manufacturer for the remainder.

[Anth]

Originally Posted by PeterStoba

The first year is often with the retailer, then with the manufacturer for the remainder.

I know this, no offence but did you not read the question I was asking?

Someone had said there was a way possibly for the store you bought it from to send it to the manufacturer under the manufacturer part of the warranty on your behalf.

So you send it to the store you bought it from, they then forward it onto the manufacturer.

Scan seem to offer this, but I was wanting to find a way for Ebuyer to offer it too, as paying £25 (possible plus) postage to Holland is a bit excessive for a problem which developed 4 days after the 1 year warranty.

[TAKTAK]

Originally Posted by TAKTAK

i thought it was manufacturers problem after the first year...

Originally Posted by Saracen

No, it isn't.


With any complaint over "faulty" goods, there are always two aspects :-

1) Any warranty that's been offered

2) Legal rights.

Manufacturers (or shops) can offer warranties but aren't obliged to. If they do, and if the consumer knew about it, then the consumer can rely on it and whoever offered it can be held to honour it by law.

But .... the general situation is that it's the retailer that's responsible, not the manufacturer.

However, the consumer protection legislation that holds the retailer responsible does have limitations. The two major ones are that you can only take legal action (which, ultimately, is how you might have to enforce consumer rights) for 6 years, and it only covers goods that did not "conform to contract" at the time of sale.

So ...... when you first buy goods, if they don't conform to contract you can reject them and get a full refund. But you'll have a short period to do that, and it may be just days. You can also also that right in other ways, such as doing anything with the goods that are inconsistent with not accepting them ... such as selling them or customising them.

After that initial period, goods may still go wrong. If they do, and IF the fault existed when you bought them, then you're still entitled to various remedies, including refund (though maybe not full), repair or replacement. The question is, did the fault exist (i.e. was it inherent in the goods) at the time of sale?

So it comes down to the nature of the fault.

If goods last a period, then fail, did they fail due to damage caused by the user? Or to fair wear and tear? Or to a short life being implicit in the nature of the goods ... I mean, how long do you expect a banana to last?

Generally, with electrical goods, a "reasonable life" would be several years, perhaps up to 10. If the goods fail before that time, and if the reason was, perhaps, sub-standard components that just didn't last the time they should, or a design fault, then they didn't conform to contract.

But then the issue is proving why the goods failed.

For the first 6 months after purchase, there is a statutory presumption that the fault was inherent at time of sale .... unless the retailer can prove otherwise.

After 6 months, that burden reverses and it's assumed that the fault was not inherent, unless the buyer can prove it was.



So, when goods fail (unless it's VERY soon after purchase), you can either rely on either a shop or manufacturer warranty, subject to whatever degree of protection is offered and any limitations placed on it, or you can rely on your legal rights. But those rights apply against the shop and (except for enforcing any warranty offered by the manufacturer) not against the manufacturer.

And to get satisfaction under your legal rights, you might have to PROVE that the fault was due to something inherent when the goods were sold.

That is why most people go the the retailer with problems .... because that's where the law of the land puts the primary responsibility, and it does so for, potentially, up to 6 years. But what it does not necessarily mean is that the retailer has to repair or replace goods. It very much depends on what happened to the goods.

Also, the retailer can't fob you off onto the manufacturer by washing their hands of responsibility, but they can point out that the best course of action might be from the manufacturer, especially if that involves a warranty above and beyond your consumer rights, and they can offer to deal with the manufacturer for you. You can, if you wish, avail yourself of this and then revert to your consumer rights if you don't get a satisfactory resolution.

We all, as consumers, have some fairly strong rights and protections, but they are NOT as strong as many people think. If shops, for instance, think that goods fail because they've been improperly used or somehow damaged by the consumer, then if they're more than 6 months old, they're entitled to decline to repair or replace, and it's then up to the consumer to prove that the goods were inherently faulty. That probably means getting them tested, and probably by an independent engineer.

Scan offers £25+vat for a graphics card which fails after just less than 2 years

Send it to Ebuyer, it is their problem and your contract is with them and not the manufacturer, the retailer has duty of care and they enter into this when they sell you the product.
All they can do is recommend that you go direct to the manufacturer, but you can insist on them handling it all..

Afterall, doesn't the HX620 have a 5 year warranty?
So Ebuyer are liable for the full warranty period of 5 years, it is their problem.

[GoNz0]

scans another story, they downright rob you blind when you cant get the parts any more.

ebuyer will do a full refund while it is in warranty and one of the reasons i no longer use scan.

being cheap and having a section on the hexus website does not make them any good.

(MESH are proof of that)

[Bane]

Did you use the cheapest postal option that can take a week?

If you did, see if have a message for when the goods were despatched. Then may be negotiate that the 4 days past warranty is cancelled out by the time still held at ebuyer, or in transit. Doubt ebuyer will be interested.

[Anth]

Originally Posted by Bane

Did you use the cheapest postal option that can take a week?

If you did, see if have a message for when the goods were despatched. Then may be negotiate that the 4 days past warranty is cancelled out by the time still held at ebuyer, or in transit. Doubt ebuyer will be interested.

Yes I always use the free postage option.

However it does not matter as I telephoned this evening and Ebuyer have agreed to handle it all as if it was still within the 1 year warranty. I just kept reiterating it was only 3 days over and the lady asked the manager and gave permission for it to be RMAd through them.

They are picking it up for free return Monday.

Am very pleased with Ebuyer now.

[blackbirds]

Edit: Ah. nevermind

[Anth]

Originally Posted by blackbirds

Edit: Ah. nevermind

You wrote that entire long war cry response to just delete it straight after?

(I have the topic on subscribe so all responses get emailled).

Thanks for the suggestions though.

[trillock]

My HX620 went 'pop' when the PC was switched on. I tried the black/green jumper test, and it blew the fuse in the plug.

It has cost me £38 to send it off to Holland on an RMA, insured for £100.
I bought it from Novatech 3 years ago when these PSU's first came out.
I contacted Novatech who just told me to contact Corsair Support.

Not happy at the cost of this RMA, since PSU's are heavy little devils, and although I love Corsair products, I'm afraid that when it comes to buying a PSU in the future, it will have to be a brand that has a UK RMA department.

I had another brand of PSU a year or so ago which died after 9 months, and I posted it off on a Friday and a replacement unit arrived in the post on the following Tuesday morning, now that is good service.
Pity the PSU in question is not the same quality as a Corsair unit.

[chadders]

Speak with Consumer Direct / Trading Standards.

[watercooled]

I think if you buy from Scan, they deal with it for you. Could be wrong though...