BFG card - no serial number!

[Clanger]

I've been talking to Scan for 3 weeks about this. I'm now thinking this process is losing credibility.

Scan replaced a faulty graphics card in my 3XS system with a BFG 9800GTX. And said:

"The card is replaced and the warranty runs with us from when you first got the system so that is till 28th Nov 2008. The card warranty will be direct to BFG it will be covered by their warranty terms, the card has been in stock since June 2008 and it is not a secondhand card."

(Ignoring for the moment that I received the system on December 14th 2006 so it should be to 14th December).

I quoted the above to BFG, and they said it's got a 10 year warranty, but must be registered.

The trouble is there's no BFG serial number sticker on the card. (It also looks pretty grotty in places, but never mind, it's a replacement).

Scan suggested I use the Geforce '006' number. "...maybe thats the same as the serial number?"

But BFG had already told me:

"The serial number should be on a white sticker on the card. That indicates BFG S/N and it would be a 10 digit number starting with a 1. Please try registering with this number. Please do not use the one on the box or the one starting with 00."

I sent Scan a picture of my card, and they sent it to their contact at BFG to check the numbers. Eventually, they said BFG had asked them for my details to arrange the warranty and would be in touch.

Meanwhile, I'd been emailing BFG from the start myself. But after going quiet for a while - after I'd revealed there was no serial number sticker - I got a message from BFG at the email address from which I'd been talking to them (i.e. that Scan don't know about, so I don't think it was anything they'd done), saying my card is now "registered" but still needs proof of purchase to "complete registration".

Then (yesterday) I received an email from Scan telling me BFG had said to try registering with this number: "006....". Which was the very same "006" number that I'd told Scan BFG told me not to use.

But anyway, I logged on to the BFG site and found the card is there with my original login details "registered" using this 006 number! But it still shows it requires proof of purchase to "complete the registration". As I say, it seems to me this is the result of my talking to BFG because it was already "registered" with this number when Scan had told me to try and register it with that number. I assume the website system won't accept that number, but BFG did for me. Anyway, whatever!...

I still need scan to provide proof of purchase (or equivalent in the case of a replacement) to complete the registration - which was surely the point of Scan talking to BFG in the first place?! I told Scan that yesterday.

Today, Scan emailed me this:

"As the card was originally a different manufacturer and we have replaced it for a BFG I will contact BFG direct and state that it is part of a complete system and therefore ask if they can register it regardless"

So, basically, after all Scan's conversations with their 'contact' at BFG, they've not yet reached the point I'd got to 3 weeks ago, when BFG told me in their first response that the card still has a 10 year warranty once registered.

Tell you what Scan..since the registration is associated with an email address anyway, it might be 'safer' if Scan email me an appropriate receipt/invoice as "proof of purchase" so that I can send it to warranty@bfgfixx.com myself. And it might actually get done within the 30 day time frame. Which is MY intention at least.


In case anyone wonders why the bother when the original 2 year warranty is up on 14th December: the 9800GTX card glitches at 1920x1200, 4AA 16AF, in ways the old 8800GTX didn't (others have reported this too), probably because of less memory. Because (and even I've got to laugh at this) Scan replaced by old mobo with an Abit IN9 32X-MAX in a previous RMA, and this won't physically accept the new GTX260/280 cards, it means 2 x 9800GTX's may be my only graphics upgrade. But anyway, BFG say I'm entitled to 10 years, so why shouldn't have it?

[moogle]

If BFG want P.O.P send them the email invoice you received from Scan when you purchased your system and also send the email saying your card got replaced by a BFG 9800GTX. Try it it might get registered

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Clanger

We are sorry you feel the need to complain about the service you have received and the frustration at not being able to register a card with BFG

Your original Graphics card was an XFX 8800GTX which was fitted in a system you received on 14th December 2006, this subsequently became faulty and the card was exchanged here by us under warranty after we offered you this card rather than wait for 4-5 weeks for a replacement/credit from XFX

If the card was changed like for like the warranty would simply be a continuation of your XFX warranty which would run from the day your system got delivered and would not be a new warranty which is what you are expecting for the BFG card.

Please allow me to clarify what a 3XS system warranty covers.
The warranty of a 3XS system is 2 years, 1st Year is onsite or RTB and the second year we cover labour and all parts that are still under a manufaturers warranty are covered.

We have honoured the 2nd Year replacement for you and given you a BFG 9800 GTX instead of the £70 + vat that XFX would have more than likely given as a credit on a vga card that is in its 2nd year warranty due to them not having any replacement cards

We are trying to resolve the matter of an extended warranty with BFG but unfortunately they dont respond within 1 day and I only sent the email this morning on your behalf.

There is no guarantee that BFG will give you a full warranty and this was never stated in any of our correspondance to you, the warranty would be directly with BFG was what was said and it is their decision not Scans as to if the 10 year warranty is applicable for a card changed under our warranty from a different manufacturer, your system was indeed delivered on the 14th Dec 2006 so the card warranty exprires with us on Dec 14th 2008 as this is 2 years from the day you got your 3xs system from us, any extended warranty is upto BFG .

As soon as we get a response from BFG we will be sure to let you know

There is no Proof of purchase as the card was a replacement for an XFX 8800 GTX so there is only a Zero value warranty invoice that has the 9800GTX on it.

Regards

Ben

[Clanger]

There is no guarantee that BFG will give you a full warranty and this was never stated in any of our correspondance to you, the warranty would be directly with BFG was what was said and it is their decision not Scans as to if the 10 year warranty is applicable for a card changed under our warranty from a different manufacturer, your system was indeed delivered on the 14th Dec 2006 so the card warranty exprires with us on Dec 14th 2008 as this is 2 years from the day you got your 3xs system from us, any extended warranty is upto BFG .

Ben, as I said above, I emailed BFG 3 weeks ago, telling them the history of the card:

Me to BFG:-------------------------------------

"BFGR98512GTXE
Serial number: 006xxxxxxx

Hi,

My system builder (Scan, in the UK) has just put the above BFG 9800GTX in my system to replace a faulty XFX8800 GTX that was just coming up to the end of it's manufacturer's warranty of 2 years. I'm confused about my warranty entitlements on the BFG after they said the following (btw the date mentioned should be 'till13th Dec 2008' - which is 2 years from delivery):

Quote:
"The card is replaced and the warranty runs with us from when you first got the system so that is till 28th Nov 2008

The card warranty will be direct to BFG it will be covered by their warranty terms, the card has been in stock since June 2008 and it is not a secondhand card."

Does my warranty extend with you beyond the date with them? I've not registered it yet btw. I also have no physical documentation from them about the card.

End Quote-------------------------

BFG's response:----------------------------

"> > Yes the card has a 10 year warranty and will need to be registered for
> > it to
> > take in effect."

End quote-----------------------

I sent them a number of emails including the picture of my card I sent you. They have registered it, and are awaiting P.O.P. (or equivalent)


Moogle: Thanks, it's so crazy it might work. I'll post the emails but they don't rally prove anything because I could alter the text.

[moogle]

Moogle: Thanks, it's so crazy it might work. I'll post the emails but they don't rally prove anything because I could alter the text.

Well it's how I proved my purchase of my BFG card. I just copy and pasted the relevant emails in and bang! the card was registered the next day!

Can't hurt trying eh

[Clanger]

We are trying to resolve the matter of an extended warranty with BFG but unfortunately they dont respond within 1 day and I only sent the email this morning on your behalf.Ben

Just noticed that.

Ben, back on 6th Nov you said this:

"I have sent the picture to our contact at BFG they will get back to me after checking the numbers in the photo"

I won't bore everyone quoting the other examples where you've told me you were sending my details to BFG, reminding them, etc. You did not just contact them today, as that implies to - anyone not paying attention!

Look, if this is a cock up, I'll hold my hands up and apologise. ( I said I know you guys are busy). But this doesn't look right to me and gets worse as we go on.

Hey moogle. I've sent the emails. Thanks.

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Clanger

I will scan and email the original invoices for the system both to you and to BFG and I hope this helps resolve the issue, I have no email as yet from BFG :-(

I will let you know as soon as I hear back from them or if you hear from them first please let us know

Regards

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Clanger

I have been speaking with the European Marketing Manager from BFG this morning regarding the registering of the card and he has tried to contact you but not been able to reach you as yet.

He has asked that I clarify a few points for you and other Hexus Forum Users regarding the warranty cover of a complete computer system as opposed to buying seperate components.

a) The Graphics card in a System should technically only be covered by the length of the system warranty and not by any extended manufacturers warranty as it is replaced as a zero value item and therefore there is no proof of purchase.

b) The Warranty of your entire system expires in December 2008 as does the warranty of all components that may have been fitted inside the system as the system was sold with an inclusive 2 year warranty to cover all components within that period.

c) Any parts purchased seperatley once registered with the manufacturer (where applicable) are covered by the manufacturers warranty.

BFG will be in touch with you soon regarding this matter


Regards

Ben

[Clanger]

So what they told me was incorrect. Idiots.

Regarding the invoices. It would have been too late for a 10 year warranty anyway as it would have had to be fully registered (including proof of purchase) within 30 days and it can take 2-3 days to process.

The point regarding Scan...

Despite informing Scan 3 weeks ago that there was no serial number, and them purporting to assist with this warranty by sending a picture of the card to BFG to identify numbers, and giving my details to them, it's only yesterday revealed that they hadn't actually submitted the fundamental fact to BFG that the card was a replacement so that it could be determined either way whether the warranty would be granted. Total waste of 3 weeks because Scan obviously weren't seriously doing what they said they were doing or we'd have known from the start.


Summary of this comic sketch:

Scan replace graphics card.

BFG tell me it still has a 10-year warranty. I tell Scan this, but also that it has no serial number.

Scan imply they don't know what a serial number looks like; they suggested that a number BFG said isn't it, might be. (I've only ever seen 2 Nvidia graphics cards, and I can tell the difference).

I send picture of card to Scan. They say they've sent it to BFG. Eventually, they say they've given my details to BFG so that a warranty can be arranged:

Quote:
>I have got a response from BFG and have spoken to one of
> their guys regarding this missing serial number, I have been
> asked to forward all of your details to them in order to
> arrange the warranty, they will be in touch either by phone.
> letter or email regarding the warranty of the new card.


---Meanwhile, I get it registered by emailing BFG myself. But it still needs Scan to provide some equivalent to proof of purchase. (I'd assumed that was happening)---

After more delay, (3 weeks since Scan informed) Scan tell me BFG said to try and register it using what was, in fact, the same number I'd told them didn't work.

I tell Scan I've got it registered now anyway, and it's just awaiting proof of purchase (or equivalent invoice) to complete - (which *surely* they had provided to BFG?)

Scan respond with this:
"As the card was originally a different manufacturer and we have replaced it for a BFG I will contact BFG direct and state that it is part of a complete system and therefore ask if they can register it regardless"

[Return to top (repeat until no of iterations > personal gullibility factor?)]

Wasted far more of my time than the card's worth.

[moogle]

Regarding the invoices. It would have been too late for a 10 year warranty anyway as it would have had to be fully registered (including proof of purchase) within 30 days and it can take 2-3 days to process.

Aha Clanger but I bought my card in Dec 07 and just registered my BFG card less than a week ago. It can still happen I suppose!

So what has really come out of all of this? No registered card and a waste of time sending emails about?

[Clanger]

Ooh, I think I've learned a couple of other things.

But yes, that's about the size of it.

[Clanger]

Development!

The esteemed European marketing manager of BFG (he prefers this description to what I called him when I initially suspected he was a Scan employee posing as someone from BFG (not that I'm paranoid or anything by now )) has phoned me. It's been concluded it was cock-ups and cross wires all round. As a gesture of good will in this case (presumably because I'm so convivial, ahem!) he's arranging I get the full 10 year warranty even though I'm not entitled to it. And I've duly fowarded to him my emails to BFG tech support, so he can sort out what went wrong.

So assuming a positive outcome (I'll confirm here when the full warranty is flagged up on my BFG account), I can conclude that apart from someone in their US support needing reading practice, they're a pretty sound organisation. And I'd probably get another of these cards from BFG.

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Clanger

I am please that BFG have contacted you and that between us all the issue is soon to be resolved

I have had a good chat with the European marketing manager of BFG regarding the situation and the warranty etc and he is a decent bloke and I can confirm he was definitely not a Scan employee

Regards

Ben

[Clanger]

Ben,

Well, you northerners all sound the same to us down here.

And he said "they" referring to BFG. So I aggressively interrogated him and he sounded slightly unclear about something at first. Turned out "they" were the US. Fortunately he's got a thick skin, and robust sense of humour; was roaring with laughter at the end. His politeness under fire won me over to BFG in itself!

As for you lot. I still don't understand why you didn't tell BFG anything useful about the card from the start if you were trying to help with the warranty.

And I can't see how the card's appearance can be the result of a battered box - what you told him. It looks more like something's been spilled over the back of the circuit board at one end and removed the shiny surface. My 2 year old 8800GTX still looked mint.

One minute you guys seem solid, the next I don't know what you're up to, as my paranoid incident showed.

Maybe Scan need to spend less time polishing the image, and more getting stuff right? I don't mind cock-ups, but like most customers I can't abide being told things that aren't completely straight. Something I've felt on various occasions over 2 years.

Btw, any chance of that missing SLI bridge you said you'd send me 2 weeks ago? There might even be an associated sale with it (BFG of course)!

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Clanger

I sent the bridge out as promised, I will send you another one out today as it sounds like its got waylaid somewhere

I have double checked the movement history on the VGA card and it was definitely direct from the supplier to us and is 100% brand new stock

Regards

[Clanger]

--------------------FORMAL APOLOGY TO SCAN and BEN (in particular)-------------------

I've had pictures of the replaced graphics card sitting in iPhoto for some time. I took them to send to Ben when we were trying to resolve the missing serial number.

2 of them show this:

http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/o...G9800GTX-1.jpg

And when you zoom in within iphoto, which is higher resolution than this, the effect looks much worse; like a texture effect.

I've just looked at the card itself, and re-taken pictures to confirm, and the discoloration - which in my (obviously paranoid) mind was recalled as an actual texture, has GONE!

It was these photos that, combined with the missing serial number and the claim it was "not a second hand card" rather than e.g. "it is brand new" which led me to suspect it was of dubious history. I will point out that I'd had no expectation of a brand new replacement as the old card was approaching the end of it's 2 year warranty. But combined with the - let's be honest - pretty inefficient efforts by Scan to help register it fully (it would have been too late in fact), it led me to think they were deliberately obstructing this process. Why - makes even less sense to me now!

If this is, as Ben says - and I have no reason to doubt it anymore - a brand new card, then Scan have treated this customer very well indeed, and I have in return treated them very badly by impugning their integrity.

Ben, and Scan, I'm really sorry. embarrassed! Again, dammit!

If you like I'll put this in a new thread, for anyone who doesn't see it?

What a pillock!