Motherboard Warranty

[fadsarmy]

Hi all. You buy a Gigabyte motherboard from a store (not Scan) and it dies after 6 months. You take it to the store and they test it. It's faulty and they say they'll send it to the manufacturer and get back to you even though they have the exact board in stock. Is this the policy everywhere? I've taken boards back to Scan and they've replaced them straightaway.

[Giraffe]

Don't know about replacement, but I bought a Gigabyte mobo for the 3-year warranty and then found out it was from the date of manufacture! Lost me several months - could have been much worse. What would happen if it were 30 months old at the time of purchase?

[fadsarmy]

Don't know about replacement, but I bought a Gigabyte mobo for the 3-year warranty and then found out it was from the date of manufacture! Lost me several months - could have been much worse. What would happen if it were 30 months old at the time of purchase?

I know about Gigabyte and that three-year warranty from date of manufacturer. I was refused rma because manufacturer warranty had expired although it was only 2.5 years old. But I think it's changed now, so I read somewhere.

[EndlessWaves]

Hi all. You buy a Gigabyte motherboard from a store (not Scan) and it dies after 6 months. You take it to the store and they test it. It's faulty and they say they'll send it to the manufacturer and get back to you even though they have the exact board in stock. Is this the policy everywhere?

Any warranty would require you to deal with the company providing the warranty, either the manufacturer or the insurer if it's a third party warranty.

When dealing with the retailer you're operating under your legal rights under the consumer rights act and whatever published policy the store themselves have:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...mer-rights-act

Basically they can choose to repair or replace the board whichever best suits them. But it has to be completed in a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you and you're only required to allow them one attempt at it, after that you can request a refund (possibly a partial one if it's more than six months old).

Of course you can request other resolutions if they're better for you but the store isn't required to oblige you.

[Saracen]

Any warranty would require you to deal with the company providing the warranty, either the manufacturer or the insurer if it's a third party warranty.

When dealing with the retailer you're operating under your legal rights under the consumer rights act and whatever published policy the store themselves have:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...mer-rights-act

Basically they can choose to repair or replace the board whichever best suits them. But it has to be completed in a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you and you're only required to allow them one attempt at it, after that you can request a refund (possibly a partial one if it's more than six months old).

Of course you can request other resolutions if they're better for you but the store isn't required to oblige you.

Not quite.

Broadly, you're right, and certainly about the distinction between a warranty and consumer rights, the latter being what the retailer would normally act on.

BUT .... some manufacturers have a type of 'agency' agreement with retailers (especially large volume shifters) where the shop will act as a sort-of handling centre for manufacturing warranty claims. Exactly what this arrangement is varies, but I've certainly come across arrangements where manufacturers give a retailer a set of criteria jnder which they can just replace a product on the spot, and outside of that, where they collect and ship warranty returns for manufacturer assessment.

There's also a consumer rights cut-off point at 6 months in relation to who has to prove what. It's not necessarily sufficient to determine that a board is "faulty" but to ascertain WHY it is faulty.

Consumer rights cover faults "inherent" in the board at the time of initial sale, even if they weren't showing then. That could include design faults, poor spec components, etc. But they don't include things like accidental damage (user spilt cup of coffee inside machine), or user damage (user connected power supply leads wrong and fried it, or played around with a screwdriver and shorted something, etc).

If a board comes in dead, it might be obvious what happened, or it might require an expert opinion beyond the ability of the shop to provide.

So, when any given customer rocks up with a faulty board, whether a retailer is orepared to simply replace it from stock or not will depend on several things, including whether they have an 'agency' type desl in place and if so, what the provisions are, and if not, whether the likely cause of the fault is obvious or not, for consumer rights purposes. And, of course, which side of 6 months after sale the use comes back.

[EndlessWaves]

Not quite.

Broadly, you're right, and certainly about the distinction between a warranty and consumer rights, the latter being what the retailer would normally act on.

BUT .... some manufacturers have a type of 'agency' agreement with retailers (especially large volume shifters) where the shop will act as a sort-of handling centre for manufacturing warranty claims. Exactly what this arrangement is varies, but I've certainly come across arrangements where manufacturers give a retailer a set of criteria jnder which they can just replace a product on the spot, and outside of that, where they collect and ship warranty returns for manufacturer assessment.

Yeah, but that's not of any concern to the customer. If the manufacturer wants to have the retailer act as a service/drop-off centre or the retailer wants to use the manufacturer for their repairs than that's their business and has no impact on the consumer rights/warranty terms.

[Saracen]

Yeah, but that's not of any concern to the customer. If the manufacturer wants to have the retailer act as a service/drop-off centre or the retailer wants to use the manufacturer for their repairs than that's their business and has no impact on the consumer rights/warranty terms.

Again, not quite.

It's certainly true that no arrangement between shop and manufacturer overrides or degrades your consumer rights, but it might enhance your options.

For instance, the manufacturer warranty might stipulate where the goods need to be returned to, which could be a major retailer. Going direct to the manufacturer might then result in things actually taking longer. I had that happen many years ago when a product returned direct to manufacturer effectively disappeared into a black hole because it was outside their warranty procedure. Naturally, I moaned after weeks of hearing nothing and after kicking up a stink they eventually found my item stuck in a corner of their warehouse's loading bay.

Contractual arrangements between manufacturer and retailer don't impact your consumer rights, and shops that try to deflect returns with the "it's more than 12 months nothing to do with us, talk to the manufacturer" are very wrong. But, if relying on warranty rather than consumer rights, the shop might (or might not, and often isn't) be the best route to take.

Clearly, if relying on consumer rights, then the route to take is via the retailer, not the manufacturer.

There's also the question of whether the best bet is consumer legal rights or warranty claim? The answer to that depends entirely on individual circumstances, what's happened and the specific terms of the warranty.

Consumer rights are relatively limited, but do REQUIRE the retailer to follow them. Warranty terms vary hugely, and MIGHT be much more advantageous but whoever is offering the warranty has far more control over what they offer, and how it works. For instance, it might be much broader coverage but only for very limited periods (like a month or two), or it might be quite restricted coverage but for 10, 20 or more years, which is way longer than your consumer rights last.

[IPBA]

I have been in the same position as OP. Had bought a Gigabyte board and it failed after one month. Retailer sent it back to Gigabyte and once they determined it was faulty the retailer then sent me out a new board. Always thought that is how it works.

[fadsarmy]

I'm thinking of giving Asus boards a go but I've heard terrible stories about their rma. How good is Scan's warranty if the Asus board was purchased from Scan?