I am having a hell of a time trying to get an acceptable card and am wondering if anyone else is having the same issues or I am just being overly critical? While I may reject something another end user may accept, I do so based on the expectations set by EVGA management and an agreement between them and myself.
 
I am not here to slam or call out individuals. Largely, phone support has been as helpful as they can be and I have no problem with the customer service from them in particular.
 
My issue is there seems to be a clear issue with QC. Chris and his team went above what they had to, to accommodate me, and did so ridiculously fast... almost too fast.
 
TLDR is I had a 1070 FTW less than two months old they agreed to replace with a non refurb, on RMA round one. The RMA itself was screwed up, and I was lied to by one individual multiple times and they sent me a used card. Not refurbished -- used, and repaired. Poorly at that. I rejected it and sent it back with all the documentation of my complaints, emailing Chris the photos. They were helpful in getting me taken care of, promised to take care of it and correct it, etc. I don't want to be that guy that goes posting my support rant on their twitter and social media with all the pictures, etc.
 
I receive the card today, no damage to shipping box but the retail box is crushed in multiple corners and the interior box is all bent, crushed, warped, you name it -- even the very interior inserts are torn. The retail package had a sticker pulled from the inside, ripping the cardboard finish off in the process. Even the EVGA seal/sticker had been tampered with and clearly removed. There was black cardboard stuck all to the sticker/seal itself and it was off centered.
 
I called EVGA immediately before even opening the box, told them to find Chris or someone who could help on that level, and several minutes later the rep came back assuring me Chris assured him and thus me it was new and verified sealed prior to shipment, and anything would have happened in shipping, not prior... Well of course it was sealed because they sent me a bstock card in a c-stock retail box and then re-shrink wrapped it and sent it off to me...
 
Further, even though I can see the shroud is scratched, and warped around the LED panels, with the LED panels not even sitting flush against the edge of the shroud where it is not warped... they make me open it up and verify it is in fact, freakin not brand new. My card was brand new 2 months ago, I'm pretty sure I know what unboxing a new card is like. The Strix I bought to replace the FTW (which I wanted to return and give EVGA another chance) did not look like ass when I opened the box or peeled the plastic.
 
So at Friday at 3PM they basically tell me, well, sorry we'll help you Monday after you send back this card if you want a new, new one.
 
Unintended rant aside, is anyone else having similar issues or am I the only one? I have time to return the Strix still but EVGA is making me work really hard for a proper replacement when I can just as easily opt for a refund on the FTW and save like 70 bucks when it's all said and done.
 
Truth be told, mechanically it is probably a non issue - only cosmetic, and won't even be seen in the chassis... but it grinds my gears hard.

bewsh
I am having a hell of a time trying to get an acceptable card and am wondering if anyone else is having the same issues or I am just being overly critical? While I may reject something another end user may accept, I do so based on the expectations set by EVGA management and an agreement between them and myself.
 
I am not here to slam or call out individuals. Largely, phone support has been as helpful as they can be and I have no problem with the customer service from them in particular.
 
My issue is there seems to be a clear issue with QC. Chris and his team went above what they had to, to accommodate me, and did so ridiculously fast... almost too fast.
 
TLDR is I had a 1070 FTW less than two months old they agreed to replace with a non refurb, on RMA round one. The RMA itself was screwed up, and I was lied to by one individual multiple times and they sent me a used card. Not refurbished -- used, and repaired. Poorly at that. I rejected it and sent it back with all the documentation of my complaints, emailing Chris the photos. They were helpful in getting me taken care of, promised to take care of it and correct it, etc. I don't want to be that guy that goes posting my support rant on their twitter and social media with all the pictures, etc.
 
I receive the card today, no damage to shipping box but the retail box is crushed in multiple corners and the interior box is all bent, crushed, warped, you name it -- even the very interior inserts are torn. The retail package had a sticker pulled from the inside, ripping the cardboard finish off in the process. Even the EVGA seal/sticker had been tampered with and clearly removed. There was black cardboard stuck all to the sticker/seal itself and it was off centered.
 
I called EVGA immediately before even opening the box, told them to find Chris or someone who could help on that level, and several minutes later the rep came back assuring me Chris assured him and thus me it was new and verified sealed prior to shipment, and anything would have happened in shipping, not prior... Well of course it was sealed because they sent me a bstock card in a c-stock retail box and then re-shrink wrapped it and sent it off to me...
 
Further, even though I can see the shroud is scratched, and warped around the LED panels, with the LED panels not even sitting flush against the edge of the shroud where it is not warped... they make me open it up and verify it is in fact, freakin not brand new. My card was brand new 2 months ago, I'm pretty sure I know what unboxing a new card is like. The Strix I bought to replace the FTW (which I wanted to return and give EVGA another chance) did not look like ass when I opened the box or peeled the plastic.
 
So at Friday at 3PM they basically tell me, well, sorry we'll help you Monday after you send back this card if you want a new, new one.
 
Unintended rant aside, is anyone else having similar issues or am I the only one? I have time to return the Strix still but EVGA is making me work really hard for a proper replacement when I can just as easily opt for a refund on the FTW and save like 70 bucks when it's all said and done.
 
Truth be told, mechanically it is probably a non issue - only cosmetic, and won't even be seen in the chassis... but it grinds my gears hard.

Your rejecting them based on the expectations set by EVGA management?! I don't understand what your saying in that statement, can you clarify for us? If the card was 2 months old when you RMAed, then technically you get a refurb/bstock returned to you, but that doesn't mean a exception couldn't be made depending on the situation. From what your saying, it doesn't sound like EVGA can make you happy so yes, you really should just return the card and go to another company. Why torture yourself, and evga, going through all this?

Dear bewsh,
 
I am sorry to hear that you feel this way.  I can confirm that your card shipped brand new in perfect condition and sealed. Since you said that it did not arrive this way then the box must have been damaged during shipping and we are here to help.  I can confirm that we have offered to send you another new card to assist and please let us know once you do have one of the current cards placed in transit, so that we can have this shipped first thing Monday to help. chrisb@evga.com 
 
 

bewsh
I am having a hell of a time trying to get an acceptable card and am wondering if anyone else is having the same issues or I am just being overly critical? While I may reject something another end user may accept, I do so based on the expectations set by EVGA management and an agreement between them and myself.
 
I am not here to slam or call out individuals. Largely, phone support has been as helpful as they can be and I have no problem with the customer service from them in particular.
 
My issue is there seems to be a clear issue with QC. Chris and his team went above what they had to, to accommodate me, and did so ridiculously fast... almost too fast.
 
TLDR is I had a 1070 FTW less than two months old they agreed to replace with a non refurb, on RMA round one. The RMA itself was screwed up, and I was lied to by one individual multiple times and they sent me a used card. Not refurbished -- used, and repaired. Poorly at that. I rejected it and sent it back with all the documentation of my complaints, emailing Chris the photos. They were helpful in getting me taken care of, promised to take care of it and correct it, etc. I don't want to be that guy that goes posting my support rant on their twitter and social media with all the pictures, etc.
 
I receive the card today, no damage to shipping box but the retail box is crushed in multiple corners and the interior box is all bent, crushed, warped, you name it -- even the very interior inserts are torn. The retail package had a sticker pulled from the inside, ripping the cardboard finish off in the process. Even the EVGA seal/sticker had been tampered with and clearly removed. There was black cardboard stuck all to the sticker/seal itself and it was off centered.
 
I called EVGA immediately before even opening the box, told them to find Chris or someone who could help on that level, and several minutes later the rep came back assuring me Chris assured him and thus me it was new and verified sealed prior to shipment, and anything would have happened in shipping, not prior... Well of course it was sealed because they sent me a bstock card in a c-stock retail box and then re-shrink wrapped it and sent it off to me...
 
Further, even though I can see the shroud is scratched, and warped around the LED panels, with the LED panels not even sitting flush against the edge of the shroud where it is not warped... they make me open it up and verify it is in fact, freakin not brand new. My card was brand new 2 months ago, I'm pretty sure I know what unboxing a new card is like. The Strix I bought to replace the FTW (which I wanted to return and give EVGA another chance) did not look like ass when I opened the box or peeled the plastic.
 
So at Friday at 3PM they basically tell me, well, sorry we'll help you Monday after you send back this card if you want a new, new one.
 
Unintended rant aside, is anyone else having similar issues or am I the only one? I have time to return the Strix still but EVGA is making me work really hard for a proper replacement when I can just as easily opt for a refund on the FTW and save like 70 bucks when it's all said and done.
 
Truth be told, mechanically it is probably a non issue - only cosmetic, and won't even be seen in the chassis... but it grinds my gears hard.

Eh just another unfortunate story of EVGA's lack of QA.
 
Exactly the reason why I didn't bother RMA'ing my just over 30 day old 1070's for the thermal pad mods.
 

EVGATech_ChrisB
Dear dexters,
 
I can confirm that we try to take the precautions necessary to avoid damage to the product during transit and this includes 2" of padding inside of the product box and then that box inside of a shipping box with air pillows.  Unfortunately sometimes a shipping box can take an impact during transit, but I can confirm that the product itself will usually remain safe and if it is somehow damaged then we are here to help. 
 
If anyone ever has a problem with the condition of their product once it is received then please let us know.  http://www.evga.com/about/contactus/ 

 
Chris if you read his initial post he states that the shipping box arrived without damage. Therefore the inner box could only have been damaged that way before shipment. Unless the shipper opened the outer box, smashed up his box and ripped his inner foam padding then resealed it in shrink wrap 
 
I understand this is one persons word against another but if he can prove the card is damaged as he describes then clearly a breakdown occurred at EVGA and he was shipped a refurbished card instead of a new one. Unless you personally packed and shipped it off yourself Chris?

Couple of things;
 
My bad; Misread OP. Looks like the shipping box that the 1080 came with was unadamaged but the 1080 box itself was.  If customs was involved, it's possible it was opened for inspection and was damaged, but it looks like EVGA tech support has responded to the thread and the issue is being addressed. I can only say from my own experience my RMA card was more or less a retail boxed copy undamaged and it had to cross into Canada for my case.
 
2nd, with respect to EVGA vs Retailer RMA.
 
I had to RMA my card twice as my 1st issue was the black screen + fan 100% issue. That went through the retailer as I ordered all my parts from them,my card was less than 3 weeks old and they offered great support for their customers.
 
The risk with retailers is of course their stock is not always 'up to date', with my case, the tech guy there was kind enough to give me the low down on the issue and told me EVGA had recalled their stock and shipped them a new batch, so I was fairly certain the RMA card was unaffected.
 
2nd RMA was about a week after my 1st when the thermal pad/BIOS issue came out. I wasn't comfortable doing the mod myself and decided to just get it through EVGA (advanced RMA).  I was warned of the risk I might get a refurb card on this forum, but EVGA tech was understanding and assured me I would still be eligible for a new card not refurb, which I did get.   Even if I did get a refurb card, I was fine with that, so long as the thermal mod was applied.  
 
This is where I'm coming from.
 
OP has stated his issues with the RMA cards are mostly cosmetic and he's already used his original card for 2 months.  Even if it wasn't new, the FTW cards are so new, that the oldest manufactured batch would have been from the June/July launch, which is <6 months old.  So assuming even distribution of probabilities, avg age of a refurb card is 3 months.  It's not really unreasonable if you ship a 2  mo. old card back and get a 3 month card back in return
 
I know it kind of sucks that it's not  brand new, but the service at least for North Americans is pretty good. There's no inherent advantage to retail RMA over EVGA unless your retailer is like mine, even then I still went through EVGA to get my issues addressed.  
 
In anycase I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase now and will consider EVGA cards 1st for my next upgrade.