Re:It's not a problem it's an opportunity for positive change
2010/06/02 05:34:29
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Like most people who have more than a few high end GPUs and MB from EVGA I also look at this particular forum regularly. I have had an RMA for a MB and it went very smoothly, but the posts here lately indicate significant problems for EVGA which need to be addressed before they go the way of BFG.
First two admissions:
1. EVGA has the best customer service in the industry at least in the U.S.
2. EVGA allows full and frank discussions of its failings in its own forums and only edits obvious unacceptable behavior. They also usually react to correct problems on their own forums - see number 1.
With that said there are some things to which they should give attention:
1. I fully agree with comments above that you are only seeing a small portion of the RMAs and most might go well. This is, however, a two edged sword (or kind of a "catch 22") in that it means there may be a lot more RMAs than we know about which calls into question overall product quality. This, of course, must be offset partially by the fact that EVGA products are for the enthusiast and may get much rougher treatment than normal. To be pro-active EVGA should break the mold and release numbers on the total, products sold, the RMAs (as someone already suggested) and how many are problems. This would, hopefully, give us more confidence in the whole thing. I would be very surprised if this happened but pleasantly so.
2. There are too many multiple returns of cards from individuals with significant computer experience and the means to test the cards independently. This means the comments from EVGA that they test the cards thoroughly must be called into question. Either they are not using the right tests or their tests are not effective. This calls into question their whole stock of "tested or refurbished" cards and MBs. I know I would not have the patience to do the 4 or 5 returns some of the real computer experts have had to do - its probably only EVGA's attitude and customer service that has protected them from legal action already. EVGA should stop the "we know better than you" testing process and really re-certify the cards after testing for the stated problem and running them for a longer time than 24 hours in actual usage not just a 3D Mark number. I'll bet they could actually get volunteers to do some testing for them with the return of a trinket or two.
3. It is obvious that the "lifetime warranty" is a great marketing tool, but a very bad business model unless you stock a ton of new cards just to service your customers (that would still be bad as it would be too expensive). Couple this with the merry-go-round of used bad cards and it is a train wreck for any enthusiast who actually uses the card for more than word processing. The EAR charges and recent attempts by EVGA to pass more damage charges to their customers is evidence of the cost of this business model. We all know the EAR charge is just an attempt to rescue an RMA system that has become a real loser and certainly not tied to the actual shipping costs. Overall, EVGA would be better changing to a 2 or 3 year warranty to be sure they leave a good taste in the mouth of their target customers and not try to replace 5 year old cards with no stock to draw from.
Sorry, I don't mean to tell EVGA how to do business, but I really would like to see them stay around and I have to be honest - I recently changed to a 5850 ATI card in my main computer because of the things I have read on this board and the flakey drivers from Nvidia. I know someone will say the ATI drivers are just as bad, but for my machine they work. This could have been a 470 or 480 just as well.