EVGA EAR

[azianai]

So I applied for EVGA's EAR (EVGA Advance RMA) which allows for cross shipping. Originally thought it was a sweet deal, pay 10.99 for ground cross shipping. Applied on the 28th, got approved on the 29th, put in my CC info for collateral on the 30th, and they said it should be shipped withing 1 to 2 days. Spoke with Mike J on friday, who said that since it was 2nd business day, it should be shipped by end of day. Load and behold, friday end of day came with no UPS tracking number. Called Monday morning, spoke with a James M who said there was no information and he did not know why it was not shipped yet, said he escalated the situation and someone would email me or call me to discuss the case. Waited till i was off from work, called EVGA back at their local time of 4:30 since i did not get an answer in email or call. Spoke with a Tony who had no clue about my case (didn't blame him really) and didn't see anything James supposedly did for me. Kept trying to pawn me off to just wait since RMA is 2-3 business days, but i was very firm in stating that the whole point of the EAR was the turn around was 1-2 business days for shipment and if i was paying extra for the service and it ends up not shipping out, then there was no reason for me to pay for the EAR service. Went back and forth for about 15 mins before he said he had to speak with his supervisor. Comes back 10 mins later saying my GPU was scheduled to ship out today and it had a number and everything, just UPS hasn't come to pick it up yet so they had no record.

I dunno, seemed pretty convenient for it to mysteriously be ready for shipping, and I did get my UPS tracking number at around 9PM locally for me (6PM pacific). I guess the point of this thread mainly is I don't see the reason for paying extra for EAR if they handle it the same as their normal RMA status. Heck their own "technicians" didn't even seem to be able to distinguish between normal RMA and EAR.

[polobunny]

If there's no cross-shipping for normal RMA, then I guess that's the difference. Not super though, but at least you got a hold of someone, whereas with many other companies you'll have trouble just getting a proper english e-mail reply.

My hypothesis:
For some reason, someone forgot to pack and send your RMA. Supervisor got to see you paid for EAR and seeing that was already late tried calming things down by telling you some BS story and sending the package ASAP. They're happy, they didn't get yelled at, neither did they get to send you a freebie of some sort. :P

[Badluck Inc]

I went through the same thing when i had to RMA my EVGA card that was DOA . I paid the extra to have it cross-shipped with 2day delivery . It took them over a week to even send my card out and i only think they did that cause i called them and raised hell about it .

[azianai]

small update, got my card on friday (no thanks to UPS who i had to yell at for not leaving a tag on my door and i was jumping through hoops to get the card on time). EVGA sent me a brand new one, still sealed in retail box and all accessories unlike how they say normally they just send the card, so it makes me think me making a fuss got someone to just throw a card in a box to get it out to me. I figured i should be honest and just take the card and return everything else to them even though in theory i'm suppose to only return the card. Oh well.

[One4yu2c]

Keep the accessories, otherwise they'll likely end up discarded, which you can do yourself at home and save on the return shipping costs.

[azianai]

Oh its a prepaid shipping.
I actually packaged my card up with everything already, and was just gonna swap the box before i read its just the card.
So i just took the new card, and put my packaged up one in the box and slapped the return label on it =) Honestly, what do i have use for 2 more DVI -> VGA ports and a S-Dif audio cable that my X-Fi doesn't even support @_@ Oh i know, the EVGA stickerS! lol

[Boy'nBlack]

I've been long animated about stuff exactly like this. Tommy Boy?

Having a good warranty is not enough to say it's both a good product AND good support. I'll take the better product that needs no support. And it ain't eVGA for sure.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Boy'nBlack

I've been long animated about stuff exactly like this. Tommy Boy?

Having a good warranty is not enough to say it's both a good product AND good support. I'll take the better product that needs no support. And it ain't eVGA for sure.

You recommend?

[Boy'nBlack]

I've heard their service is crummy...but have yet to suffer one downfall from using XFX/Pine.

I haven't had to use VisionTek either, but their warranty is so full of holes that the lifetime of it all is open to question as well. If either of these break, I'm left to the retailer.

Lots of XFX units out there with no problems, still holding only 9 or 10 VisionTek items and under 2 years. Still new IMO and in this regard. But when I can't break things, I pretty much say it's a good brand.

I'd still look to support from forums than ANY customer support.

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by polobunny

You recommend?

BFG