SCAN bad for RMA's?

[firsttimebuyer]

Hello

I just want to say this is not my first RMA dealings with SCAN where things did not turn out well. I bought a Q9450 from them that has stuck sensors. I emailed them explaining the problem and asked if it was a warranty issue, they said "indeed it would be and that they would issue an RMA". I sent the CPU back and someone tested a Q6600, yes thats right, not my Q9450 but a Q6600 because it showed temperature differences between 10-12 degree's between cores they stated that my Q9450 was not faulty. I phoned them and after a bit of convincing by me they decided to actually test my Q9450, they indeed managed to replicate my "stuck sensors" but because they were stuck within thermal limits and their Q6600 had showed variations in temps similar to mine that it was not covered by the warranty.

So basically they found exactly what i had told them in my first email that they originally said would be considered a fault, covered by the warranty but now they had decided that it was not worthy of being replaced, especially since i had opened the box the CPU was in. I am not quite sure how else i was supposed to find out about the stuck sensors but thats what i was told. I did get a little angry as i had made sure with them before i sent it that if they found that fault it would be covered by the warranty but now it just seemed like they were trying to use any excuse to get out of it, so i guess in an attempt to take the sting out, they waived the £10.00-£12.00 they were going to charge me to send me the CPU back (the guy up until that point was getting ready to charge me that amount to get my CPU back). He did however let me know that SCAN did not really have to worry about keeping people like me happy ( a customer? ) as they are so popular, i guess that means they wont ever run out of customers, even if they do insult a few here and there. I want to add i have never bought anything from SCAN again due to these comments. Also my CPU was returned to me covered in Thermal Paste, they stuck it into the box like that so it was all covered in thermal paste (the bit in the official intel CPU retial box that holds the CPU), so basically there was Thermal Paste everywhere, luckily he had put the cover over the pins but there was enough Thermal Paste to ice a large cake. I guess if "no fault" is found thats SCAN obligations to you over with so they dont bother to clean the CPU, to me it seemed like a petty way to get back at me for not having to pay the Return Fee.

Now on to my new RMA, i bought an ASUS Maximus Extreme motherboard on 6th December 2007 and its supposed to have a 36 months return to base warranty.

A month or so ago i was using the computer for a short period of time when all of a sudden i heard a noise and my computer shut down and restarted. I shut it down right away using the power button but i could smell burning plastic, i noticed one of the fan headers looked a little blackened so i removed the motherboard from the case. When i did this i could see a chip next to the blackened fan header was disfigured, like something had burst out of it. Any fans attached to the header would not operate correctly.

I sent a message to SCAN asking if this was a warranty issue and if i could RMA, they said it was and i could. I sent it back, they received it and everything looked to be going ok, i received an email stating it had been tested and was waiting replacement/credit, "great" i thought, SCAN looked to be redeeming itself from the time before, maybe i could buy from them again, maybe last time i just caught them at a bad time and got their worst employee dealing with it. I checked the online return tracker and it said

Requested
Authorised
Items received
Items tested
Awaiting replacement / credit
Credit authorisation
Completed

It looked like things were going great but then i receive an email stating my RMA had been rejected. To say i was a little gutted after getting the previous email is an understatement. I then receive another email telling me that my RMA has been rejected and they could if they wanted to just send me the faulty board back and wipe their hands of it but because SCAN is such a great company they will send it to the manufacturer to see if they can do anything. They will only do this is i sign a contract and send it to them, i checked the Return Tracker and they had put "Current Stage - Rejected" under what was "Completed" before.

the email with the contract i need to sign says

"This is to confirm that the recent return of your goods resulted in one or more items being deemed *warranty void / physically damaged / out of warranty (* delete as necessary - they did not bother to do this so i have no idea which reason they are using, maybe all 3)

As such Scan Computers cannot take any further direct action in providing a replacement unit at this time. Normal Procedures would leave us no alternative but to reject your warranty and take no further action.

However, as a company with a high priority in Customer Service it has been agreed with a line manager to return the item directly to the relevant manufacturer on your behalf in an attempt to source a replacement

In doing so we have to make it clear this is NOT an acceptance of fault (even though on the return tracking they guy who tested it found a fault) or a guarantee that we will be successful in obtaining a replacement for your, we are acting above and beyond blah blah blah.. please sign".

So basically i have to sign the letter, post it and hope for the best. I have no explanation why this needs to be done. In a previous letter i was told they may have to send it to the manufacturer due to the nature of the fault to get a replacement but they make it sound like they are doing me a favour and they dont really need to do this.

Whats going on, why is SCAN saying my RMA has been rejected? Is this typical of SCAN, its one thing saying "this company is great, it sent me the items the next day and it was at a good price", a company really only shows what its made of when things go wrong, thats when you see a companies true colors. Any company can box an item and rely on a 3rd party delivery service to get it to you the next day.

Also just to add insult to injury, the ASUS Maximus Extreme they gave me, which i bought new, had opened bags in it, one had been cut by a pair of scissors to make it appear like it was supposed to be like that but i dont think ASUS is in the habit of using uneven bags that are barely big enough to fit the component in and are not sealed. It definatly seemed like this had been a returned item but i gave SCAN the benefit of the doubt that it would atleast work correctly and kept it, i wish i had not done that now

Any thoughts on this? i really just wanted a record of this particular outcome(s) to returns with SCAN for others to read, so they can see what can happen when you send something back. They can make up their own minds, i am hoping SCAN may do the right thing, like it has in other posts but i doubt this will change anything for me.

EDIT I just want to make it clear that everything i have said in this post is true, it may be a little biased in some of the things i just assume, like why my CPU came back covered in Thermal Paste (i made sure it was clean before i sent it to them) but the fact remains that it did come back covered in Thermal Paste. If SCAN wants proof, i did not think about taking a picture, i basically was going to just move on but never buy anything from SCAN again. If they want to they can check their records, up until i had bought the CPU, i had made about 3 or 4 purchases, the CPU however has was my last ever purchase from SCAN, coincidence? I was going to just forget about it, atleast they were sending it back to me for free but after the things the person i had talked to said and then finally getting a CPU covered in thermal paste i thought why should i ever use SCAN again, its not like they are the only one who can send stuff by courrier.

[Mick@SCAN]

firsttimebuyer,

please pm me or post your RMA number and I will look into this for you.

Cheers.

[firsttimebuyer]

RMA Number: *****

thanks

[francium]

Although I personally have not had to RMA anything from SCAN, I have heard that they are actually supposed to be quite organised and reliable with their RMA system. Oh well, it is nice to know that the person above is willing to look into this for you, and good luck with your RMA.

[firsttimebuyer]

I have dealt with Overclockers.co.uk RMA and Tekheads RMA, i have had none of the problems like i am having with SCAN.

I dont go out my way to cause SCAN trouble or try to RMA things that dont need to be (its not like its free to post these things back, especially a heavy motherboard). I dont go around making up lies either to try to make myself look good and the other person bad. I just want to be treated with a bit of respect and not feel like they dont care as soon as they get my money in the bank, is that too much to ask for?

I had tried to make SCAN aware of the CPU incident using SCAN's "The Word" but they deemed it not suitable and stated they would not be using it on "The Word", i wonder why?

I am sure with RMA's they cant get out of, like those within the first 30 days or for small things they are great but this motherboard supposedly has a 36 month Return to base yet they have wiped their hands of it after 11 months. I guess they figure i have had my monies worth and i am no longer entitled to a fully working motherboard.

I have not heard back from them yet, so much for the guy looking into it but i will give them the benefit of the doubt they are just busy. I am expecting them to have some excuse why its out of warranty rather than actually helping me in any way but we shall see.

Thanks for your support, i hope SCAN does the right thing. I am not trying to blackmail them or anything like that but i was not getting anywhere using the usual route and it seems some have gotten somewhere when they posts something other than "SCAN is great, they managed to deliver the next day". All i want is to be treated fairly, i thought i felt drained enough after my first "battle" with SCAN but here i am yet again having to exert additional energy just to try and get them to do something they should be doing anyway. Even if this post doesnt do anything to help me in the end atleast it gives people an honest account of 1 persons experiences with SCAN and they can make up their own minds.

I will keep this thread updated and let you know the outcome.

[Mossy]

The returns depatment are looking into your RMA in fact Wesley will be replying, but just to confirm how have we "wiped our hands with it"

We issued an RMA on further inspection we find a burnt chip on the motherboard which granted could be down to a fault but in another light also be counted as physical damage. Scan are entitled to a second opinion and are in rights to send back to the manufacturer for further inspection to see if this motherboard is viable for a replacement. We have kept you informed of this along the way to which you have replied to our queries and informed Scan you are aware of this. We normally turn returns around as quick as possible most cases 3 - 5 working days in your case because it has to go to the manufacturer it will take longer.

Your accusations that we dont care are wrong, we explained this situation to your clearly off forums yet you post a thread on here acting as if you do not understand whats going on with your RMA and why it is taking so long.

With respect we always try our best to receive the best possible outcome for the customer even when its loss to ourselves but it should be understandable as a business we have rights to seek a second opinion before we claim.

Regards

[firsttimebuyer]

i got this reply at today at 9.45 AM, which was after i made the original post and it was not just them "keeping me informed", i had to request this info, i was not replying to anything you specifically told me to reply to. The reason i said i had not heard from you yet was because Mike posted today at 9.47, after that email was sent at 9.45, stating that he would look into it but he has not contacted me yet. The email below only answers i few questions, i also asked specifically why it was rejected.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Avril Barrie,

Hi,

Further to your e-mail I can confirm that all the stages of the RMA are currently listed on our website and the current stage is highlighted. This means the RMA tracking page shows all possible states, whether they apply to your specific RMA or not. In this situation Credit Authorisation does not apply to your return as you are only eligible for repair/replacement. With regards to an e-mail stating the RMA is awaiting replacement/credit this I believe was sent in error before the rejection status has been applied.

The rejection e-mails are automatic and I can only apologise if they seem harsh, the disclaimer is a standard form that needs to be completed for any item that needs to be returned to the supplier/manufacturer.

With regards to the details required for the disclaimer form the date field is for the date you have signed the disclaimer form and the SCIL number for this board is *********.

Regards,

Ian h (technical returns)
Scan Computers**
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This does not really tell me anything, more excuses about how this was not related to my specific RMA, some of which i buy some i dont.

It does not tell me why it was rejected, you only tell me now in the forums its because you believe that may not be a fault but physical damage, i am not sure what the difference is, i guess physical damage would be caused specifically by myself or someone i have let use the computer? If you want a second opinion fair enough but dont make out you have been keeping me informed when you have not, you have partially told me stuff after i have specifically requested it.

this is what i got yesterday at 10.29 am, telling me that my RMA was at the Awaiting Replacement/Credit, which i then told i dont even qualify for

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***This is an automated email. Please do not reply***

RMA Number: ******
Name: Avril Barrie

Current status of your RMA: Awaiting Replacement / Credit

We can confirm your returned goods have now been tested by our technicians.

Please check your emails for further updates and thank you for your patience while we deal with your RMA.

You can also view the real time status of your RMA using our online returns tracking: http://web6.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Suppor...sTracking.aspx


Regards,

Scan Computers

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i then get this at 2.04pm yesterday out of nowhere saying its rejected, would you not be confused?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***This is an automated email. Please do not reply***

RMA Number: ******
Name: Avril Barrie

Current status of your RMA: Rejected

We can confirm your returned goods have now been tested by our technicians and the warranty has been rejected. Please contact our returns staff for assistance.

You can also view the real time status of your RMA using our online returns tracking: http://web6.scan.co.uk/aspnet/Suppor...sTracking.aspx

Please check your emails for further updates and thank you for your patience while we deal with your RMA.


Regards,

Scan Computers
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It seems to me that you have wiped your hands of it because even though it has a 36 Month Return to Base you dont wont to deal with it directly, you want to send it to the manufacturer and its up to them whether to replace it or not (as stated in the contract your making me sign)

This must mean its now down to ASUS, you wont have anything more to do with it, how is that not washing your hands of it?

here is the contract i must sign

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Dear Sir/Madam,

This is to confirm that the recent return of your goods has resulted in one or more items being deemed *warranty void / physically damaged / out of warranty.

As such Scan Computers cannot take any further direct action in providing a replacement unit at this time. Normal procedures would leave us with no alternative but to reject your warranty and take no further action.

However, as a company with a high priority in Customer Service it has been agreed with a line manager to return the item directly to the relevant manufacturer on your behalf in an attempt to source a replacement.

In doing so we have to make clear this is NOT an acceptance of fault or guarantee that we will be successful in obtaining a replacement for you, we will try our best for you, acting above and beyond our normal operating procedures, we will do this as quickly and as swiftly as we possible can, however, no timeframe can be guaranteed.

As such we need you to sign the agreement form below, which acts as your acceptance to this action.**
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It would not be so bad if this was just "standard procedure", that you need to get the replacement from the manufacturer but as far as i can tell you acting like i have done something wrong so you wont deal with it, your sending it to ASUS to see what they think and whatever they decide will be the end of it. If i just got an email stating "Awaiting Replacement/Credit" and then "Being sent to ASUS for the replacement, could take a while" that would have been fair enough, but you have officially rejected my RMA and i must sign a document stating that whatever ASUS decides SCAN is no longer liable for the warranty. If this is standard procedure you should think about changing it.

Anyway, i will leave it at that, i can feel from the tone thats came from both you and ChrisP that we wont get anywhere and it will just turn into a slagging match but atleast ChrisP edited his reply so it did not come across as "harsh". I guess i should just accept i am wrong and i guess SCAN is right.

I may seem a little harsh but all i seem to be getting is the same uncaring attitude as i did before and i am being made out to be the bad guy. Maybe if the CPU incident did not happen and i did not have to deal with the arrogant person on the phone i could be a little more forgiving. I do apologise for that.

I hope you dont remove this and people can make up their own mind.

thanks.

[not_my_ip]

I hope no one would mind my 3 cents. But in what light burnt chip can be counted as physical damage? Are you suggesting that fisrttimebuyer burn it himself using lighter or matches? Or maybe if it resulted of over clocking, which does not void warranty (as scan stated some time ago) if fisrttimebuyer OCed it at all. Just would like to know out of interest. Sorry to say this but I have never seen RMA dealt in 3-5 working days, it more like estimated but usually it takes more than 2 weeks (I know few cases from mine and friends experience and few from this forum).
I had one RMA (faulty GPU) so far and I was satisfied with outcome (took longer than 5 days). But it is how it supposed to be, scan replaced faulty card under warranty as any supplier should do. So I don't have a negative opinion about scan, rather neutral - shop like many other on the net.

Anyway Good luck firsttimebuyer, hopefully Asus will sort this out for you

Edit I just read your last post:
This is to confirm that the recent return of your goods has resulted in one or more items being deemed *warranty void / physically damaged / out of warranty.

it looks like that you have to sign that you admit that item was damaged (of course means by you), not very nice piece of text to sign

[Saracen]

I hope no one would mind my 3 cents. But in what light burnt chip can be counted as physical damage? Are you suggesting that fisrttimebuyer burn it himself using lighter or matches? Or maybe if it resulted of over clocking, which does not void warranty (as scan stated some time ago) if fisrttimebuyer OCed it at all. Just would like to know out of interest. ....

I don't speak for Scan, but a burnt chip could arise in many ways. One way would be if a component was plugged in or unplugged with the machine powered up. It could also happen if something metallic touched the wrong places inside a nachine, such as a screwdriver slipping and shorting two pins on a transistor.

Another way would be if a PSU failed. That happened to me. A nearly new PSU blew, and wrecked half the machine, not least of which was a couple of hard drives that had chunks about 1/4 inch square literally blown physically off of the controller board on the drive (it wrecked two out of a matched set of Seagate 40GB drives supplied for a RAID 5 TEST).

My point is simply that a burnt chip wouldn't, in my experience, generally arise as a result of a product failure, but certainly can as a result of something being done to it. I am NOT suggesting that this has happened in this case. Merely that it can. And it would make me want an expert opinion too, because if it is as a result of something like my PSU failure, I'd have had a potential claim against the supplier of the PSU, but not of the hard drives (or the rest of the kit) it wrecked.

[Agent]

My point is simply that a burnt chip wouldn't, in my experience, generally arise as a result of a product failure, but certainly can as a result of something being done to it.

I've seen a few cases where a IC has been burnt out by another component failure, although granted it is rare. By far the most common in my experience has been down to faulty capacitors within the circuit. Bad caps can wreak havoc on some systems due to them supplying multiple components with bad voltage.

Of course, like yourself I'm not implying that this is the case here, just that it can happen.

If I was Scan I'd also be sending it back to the manufacture for a their opinion. I just hope the OP has better luck with ASUS customer service than what I've had.

[firsttimebuyer]

only 1 chip was harmed, everything else was ok, so there was not a bunch of stuff taken out.

It did not have a fan connected to the header next to it. (i think its a voltage regulator for that fan header that blew, a fan connected to the header will still work but only at low speed/dim LED).

No screw drivers or anything else were put anywhere near it. I am not in the habit of putting screw drivers into my case whilst playing games, surfing the web.

The PSU thing seems false as it still seems to be working with my old P4 motherboard.

Its not so much what SCAN are doing its the way they have went about it.

What would i have to gain by doing this? I dont expect to get the retial price of it back, all i expected was to be treated with respect and get a replacement X38, more than likely a refurb since the board is 11 months old.

Apart from some down time and a bit of agro, i dont see what i would have to gain by doing this myself. Unless i just have some sort of vendetta against SCAN and this is some sort of ploy for me to hurt them in some way (working great isnt it, look at all those people who are outraged at the way i have been treated...) but to be honest i have a little thing called life to be getting on with, i dont really have time for this sort of thing but unfortunatley components break down. Its just some companies deal with RMAs better than others.

I do want to thank those that have shown some support, i dont want you to think anything about my "look at all those people who are outraged at the way i have been treated", i am merely trying to get the point across that if i did it so i could get people to feel sorry for me and turn against SCAN then my fiendish plan is not working very well.

[francium]

Sorry for your bad experience, I hope you manage to get everything sorted ASAP

[RabidDeathGnome]

Mid RMA atm, so far been pretty good. Been a slow turn around mostly due to me taking an age to respond. I've had emails back either same day or next day which is great for me. Being collected Friday for free at a time selected by myself.

I'm hoping it'll get tested Monday/Tuesday, realised it's faulted and a refund will be issued by Wednesday/Thursday. But we shall see.

[Nelly.]

Asus are a nightmare for RMA - If it's sent back to Asus for repair, you wont get it back for about 4-6 weeks as it ends up going back to Taiwan.

Anything over 28 days is deemed as too long by Trading Standards & the retailer will either have to replace it or give you your money back by consumer law.

One reason why I won't touch Asus anymore, Gigabyte has a UK RMA base - expect a few days turnaround.

[SiM]

Anything over 28 days is deemed as too long by Trading Standards & the retailer will either have to replace it or give you your money back by consumer law.

Hmmm... Interesting. Is this true Saracen?

This will work in the OP's favour, as legally he has to get a full refund if Asus are slow (plus Scan have already had it for a few days).

[Saracen]

Hmmm... Interesting. Is this true Saracen?

This will work in the OP's favour, as legally he has to get a full refund if Asus are slow (plus Scan have already had it for a few days).

No, it isn't.

Firstly, while Trading Standards may have an opinion on what's reasonable, any dispute between buyer and seller over replacement/repair is a contract dispute, and determining what time limit is reasonable isn't up to Trading Standards. The law says the repair/replacement must be within a "reasonable" time and without "significant inconvenience" to the consumer. But there is NO defined time limit as such. It will depend on all the individual circumstances of the case, and ultimately is for a court to decide if the time taken is unreasonable. 28 days is probably a fairly good estimate in most circumstances, but it is NOT a hard rule. It could be longer than that in some circumstances and most certainly could be a lot shorter than that in others.

An oft-quoted example is a wedding dress. Suppose someone buys a wedding dress. Plenty of time is given for the order, the dress is made and, on delivery, the sales assistant trips and tears a seam open. It it's being fitted a week prior to the wedding, it's hardly either reasonable or not causing "significant inconvenience" to tell the bride to come back in a month for her dress, is it?

Also, you're likely to find what's reasonable is a bit different if the dress is a £50 second-hand dress from a market stall or charity shop, compared to a £10,000 jobbie from an exclusive haute couture designer.

There is NO specific time limit.

Also, of course, consumer law doesn't necessarily mean a supplier has to give a refund or replacement at all. For Sale of Goods Act (etc) to kick in, the goods have to have been faulty (not conformed to contract) at the time of sale. Take the example I mentioned in my previous post - a PSU blew and took out half a dozen items, including several hard drives and a video card. The video card supplier hadn't supplied the PSU. If I'd sent the video card back to the shop I got it from, they'd have had NO legal responsibility to either repair, replace or refund over it, because there was nothing wrong with the video card at the time of supply. The PSU supplier, on the other hand, did have a liability for the hard drives and graphics card, despite not supplying them. It's the consequential loss provisions. The problem, though, might have been proving it.

This is the type of thing that leads suppliers to examine goods before just replacing them. And, if the supplier isn't happy, to get a second opinion, and sometimes the best expert is the manufacturer.
I'm NOT suggesting that that's what's going on here, as clearly, I've no idea what Scan think or what the board in question looked like. But it's certainly the type of thing that happens.