I mean, it's 31 days right? Not 30 days? So they're following their rules that are spelled out, and not cheating you, correct?

And you do know that, if you registered your card within the 14 day window or if not can purchase the extended warranty to have the option as well, you can step up to a 1070 or even a 1080 for the price difference? Which is negligible for a 1070 (non founders edition).

When are the 1070s being released? On the 970 product page it says the EVGA 970 2.0 is not eligible for a Step Up. Besides that, even for the new card that I may get, EVGA's RMA is so anti-consumer. I don't know if I'd even want to still own a EVGA product. The very thought of a card going bad after 4 weeks, and them sending you a used card that could be years old is such bad business practice. I could understand if it was a year later, but a month? I've most always bought ASUS cards. Their RMAs were never this shady. Plus spending another 50 bucks on top of the 380+, even if it is more powerful, is a little much. I could barley afford the 970 as it was. 

Larom
So my EVGA GTX 970's fan went out in 31 days after my purchase. According to an EVGA customer representative passed 30 days, if I go through an RMA process, I will be given a refurbished card in its place. After spending almost 400 dollars, this company tells me they're going to give me a replacement card that could, for all I know, have hundreds of days and thousands of hours of use on it. I'm probably going to have a local PC repair shop fix the fan, then sell the card. I will never buy another EVGA product as long as I live after this. I hear all the time about EVGA's AMAZING customer service. What a bunch of lies that is. 

How long after purchase should you expect a brand new product in return? There has to be a line somewhere.  I'm surprised you'd praise ASUS for their warranty. I've read many stories of how horrible it is...if you can even get a timely response. Their warranty doesn't even mention providing a new product even if it fails the first day you have it and if you modify the GPU in any way, your warranty is void. EVGA allows you to modify the GPU extensively as long as you return the product to it's stock condition prior to requesting warranty service.

Larom
When are the 1070s being released? On the 970 product page it says the EVGA 970 2.0 is not eligible for a Step Up. Besides that, even for the new card that I may get, EVGA's RMA is so anti-consumer. I don't know if I'd even want to still own a EVGA product. The very thought of a card going bad after 4 weeks, and them sending you a used card that could be years old is such bad business practice. I could understand if it was a year later, but a month? I've most always bought ASUS cards. Their RMAs were never this shady. Plus spending another 50 bucks on top of the 380+, even if it is more powerful, is a little much. I could barley afford the 970 as it was. 

So because they won't give you a brand new one for the the one you had for over a month, they're anti-consumer? LOL!!!!!!
This sounds like some ASUS fanboy coming in here looking to give EVGA  a bad name

Larom
When are the 1070s being released? On the 970 product page it says the EVGA 970 2.0 is not eligible for a Step Up. Besides that, even for the new card that I may get, EVGA's RMA is so anti-consumer. I don't know if I'd even want to still own a EVGA product. The very thought of a card going bad after 4 weeks, and them sending you a used card that could be years old is such bad business practice. I could understand if it was a year later, but a month? I've most always bought ASUS cards. Their RMAs were never this shady. Plus spending another 50 bucks on top of the 380+, even if it is more powerful, is a little much. I could barley afford the 970 as it was. 

The 1070's are supposedly going to be available mid-June.
 
The RMA process is spelled out, and you may get a brand new card. When I had to RMA my X79 Dark motherboard (three times) I got a brand new board each time - so there is a chance you'll get a new card. And it is covered under the same warranty, and if it is bad out of the box you can get them to give you free shipping (you may have to ask for a pre-paid label).
 
As for spending more for a step up, you really don't have to. For the record, the 1070 is about TWICE as fast as your 970. That's a huge upgrade, and if you get the NON- founders edition it won't cost $50 as they should retail for $379 - meaning you wouldn't have to pay in except for shipping.
 
If you don't see an option for Step-Up, you didn't register within the 14 day window, or are outside of the 90 day step up eligibility window. If you didn't register the card within the 14 day window, it's my understanding that if you buy an extended warranty (5 or 10 year, and it carries over to the new card), you will be given the option to step up.
 
Here's a full list of the program - http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/