Please do not buy from Gainward (My experience)

[TriangleDragon]

I just want to share the experience I had with a Gainward GTX 970 blower graphics card. (426018336-3460)

The card failed after 1 month and because the sticker covering one of the screws came off during installation they refused to even look at the card when I sent it in on warranty. What's more after complaining about this on their Facebook page I got official responses like this:



I know that other manufacturers have policies like this, but I have heard stories from customers of other companies that they were able to claim warranty successfully under similar circumstances. At the very least they got decent customer service.

So please, given that most graphics cards brands are similarly priced don't buy from Gainward. Because not only did their card fail after just 1 month, they honestly really do not care about their customers.

[kalniel]

In the UK returns are with the retailer, not manufacturer, so it shouldn't be such an issue. Your rights under the sale of goods act are quite unlikely to be affected by the presence of a sticker either, though it might help either side with evidence of tampering/cause of failure.

[OilSheikh]

Shouldn't have bought from Gainward mate.
CAT posted a link sometime back showing manufacturers and warranty lengths and how each honour the warranty.
If I recall correctly, top brands to buy were MSI and ASUS.

I once asked Leadtek for a warranty repair for my 7900GT. They asked me to send it to a UK UPS forwarding address and I got a new card all the way from Taiwan

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Gigabyte,KFA2 and EVGA have UK based RMA.

Also it is up to the retailer to cover the first 12 months.

[virtuo]

Does look like they need a new community manager, that's no way to correspond with customers, especially in a public forum (although I'm not sure what they are responding to, how sweary was your post?)

If you are in the UK, you should be covered by warranty from the retailer (as already mentioned), I'm 50% sure that the warranty void stickers are only used as leverage by the manufacturer.

In any case, I wouldn't have mentioned to them that the sticker "came off during installation" (which sounds like it was thrown in from across the room). I know from experience that those stickers aren't always there. I sent a Sapphire 270x in on RMA (with sticker) retail shrink-wrapped replacement didn't have one anywhere on the board.

[Saracen]

....

If you are in the UK, you should be covered by warranty from the retailer (as already mentioned), I'm 50% sure that the warranty void stickers are only used as leverage by the manufacturer.

....

A UK retailer is only responsible for a warranty IF that retailer explicitly offers one, whether 12 months or not. Some retailers do, some don't. It may also be convenient to return product to the retailer who may, as an agent for the manufacturer, then pass on product to the manufacturer for examination, testing, etc,

What the UK retailer will always be responsible for is the consumer's rights under the Consumer Rights Act (used to be Sale of Goods Act).

But "warranty" and those consumer rights are not the same. Consumer rights last for up to 6 years (England & Wales, slighty different in Scotland) but are much stronger in the first 6 months. Warranties usually come from manufacturers, though some retailers do offer a warranty of their own, but both of those may be 12 months, or either might be much less or much more than 12 months.

Warranties also cover essentially only what the warranty says it does, which may be far more or less generous than those consumer rights.

Basically, either manufacturer or retailer, or both, can offer a warranty, and if they do, they can be held to it. But within some very basic restrictions (such as being in plain English not legalese gobbledegook) it can be as long or short as they wish, and as generous or restricted as they wish. But statute defines the length, extent and nature of consumer rights and there's nothing the retailer can do to avoid those ... though plenty try.,

[shaithis]

Didn't even realise Gainward were still in the game.....not a name that inspires confidence in me either!

[Agrippa]

I've never owned a Gainward product, but if I'd received the kind of uncouth response given to the OP I would certainly never buy from that brand again. I've had my share of unhelpful customer service encounters through the years, but never anything like that.

[TriangleDragon]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, Im glad my experience has influenced at least a few people.

that's no way to correspond with customers, especially in a public forum (although I'm not sure what they are responding to, how sweary was your post?)

My post wasn't that friendly, but I didn't swear or say anything offensive.

[MrRockliffe]

Where did you purchase the card?

[DanceswithUnix]

Didn't even realise Gainward were still in the game.....not a name that inspires confidence in me either!

They are part of Palit, the biggest graphics card company out there will sales of around 7M cards last year. So yes, they certainly exist. My support experience with them was about 7 years ago and was good, but then that was handled by Scan. I say good because the card was 11 months into a 12 month warranty and I guessed there wasn't a snowballs chance in heck of them having spare stock to swap out, but it was an expensive card so I wanted it repaired. In the end it dragged on long enough that Scan get me a new card sent out, better than the original, so I was a happy bunny.

Helps to buy from a reputable retailer.

[SlickR]

You took off the stickers, your fault. You can't possibly blame this on Gainward for following policy. Who's to say you didn't damage the card physically? Those stickers are there for a reason. I don't know why you complain about bad customer service when the terms in the warranty have been broken by you!

Plus I suspect in order for the card to die in less than one month, you've likely damaged it somehow. I'm not saying its impossible for cards to die that fast, its just that its extremely rare.

[peterb]

You took off the stickers, your fault. You can't possibly blame this on Gainward for following policy. Who's to say you didn't damage the card physically? Those stickers are there for a reason. I don't know why you complain about bad customer service when the terms in the warranty have been broken by you!

Plus I suspect in order for the card to die in less than one month, you've likely damaged it somehow. I'm not saying its impossible for cards to die that fast, its just that its extremely rare.

I think it was more the tone of the response as much as anything, that the OP was complaining about.

I can't comment on the sticker, which the OP claims came off during installation, but one might have expected the company to accept the card back for examination. Faults might be rare, but a failure so early on may indicate a faulty component, perhaps a batch which might need to be taken up with their supplier.

[SlickR]

I think it was more the tone of the response as much as anything, that the OP was complaining about.

I can't comment on the sticker, which the OP claims came off during installation, but one might have expected the company to accept the card back for examination. Faults might be rare, but a failure so early on may indicate a faulty component, perhaps a batch which might need to be taken up with their supplier.

That is what he says, who can tell? Either way if he'd been more careful during installation none of this would have been an issue.

[Agrippa]

It doesn't matter one whit what the OP said or did, a customer service representative responding in the way quoted above should be fired on the spot. Turning down an RMA request is one thing and perfectly acceptable in the circumstances described; berating and insulting a customer is a very different one and always totally unacceptable.

[74Saturn]

Should have bought a sticker and put it on the card before sending it in.