Hello everyone. Long time lurker here but this current situation with dying FTW3 3080's and 3090's has affected me directly in such a unique way, that I am here to tell everyone about my personal and ongoing EVGA RMA experience. On December 9th I purchased a brand new unopened EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra from EBAY through a third party seller due to widespread unavailability on EVGA's website. After tax I paid $1,317 for the product. The graphics card ran totally fine for 3 weeks. It was updated to latest firmware and latest Nvidia Drivers. Then on December 31st the graphics card dies. Single red light on the left most farthest PCIE power connector slot. I was using a Corsair CX850 watt power supply I've had for several years now. Just to be sure I brought a replacement EVGA 1000 Watt Power Supply just to see if it was an issue on my end. No dice. So I returned the power supply and I registered the card through EVGA's website and had to wait until the following Monday for the Customer Service Department to open back up on Monday January 4th and an additional day for the RMA department to back up on Tuesday the 5th. I spoke to a REP on the phone on Monday and told them I would like to pay for cross shipping and even upgrade the shipping to the $50.00 UPS Next Day Air Saver. I put down $857 dollars on the promise that if all things go smoothly that I would receive $807 back. But before I got off the phone I asked "Hey man several people on EVGA's forums have complained about getting several bad FTW3 3090's and 3080's through your RMA program. What are the chances of that happening to me?" The rep assured me that the chances of me getting a defective card in the first place were already slim but getting multiple bad cards through RMA are even smaller. So in confidence I said. "Cool ok well lets get this process started. Imma ship you defective card right away through USPS right now cuz I can't use it and the sooner you get this card the sooner I can get my money back." I got off the phone, found a sturdy box, wrapped the card up in bubble wrap, paid $20 bucks to USPS and shipped the card off that same day through USPS Ground. On Wednesday the 6th I received an email from EVGA saying my replacement card would be delivered the next day on Thursday the 7th. So far so good. On Thursday the replacement card was delivered and low and behold it lights up, fans don't spin, no video signal. I feared that maybe my PCI Express Slot on my mini itx board was bad. So just to make sure that NOTHING was wrong on my end with my system I build an ENTIRELY new system out of spare replacement parts I had in my closet just incase of a failure because I don't like down time. New motherboard, New ram, New CX 850 Watt Power Supply, fresh OS install. Card still wouldn't work. A full day of trouble shooting. I called EVGA the following morning on Friday the 8th and they did an advanced RMA. Shipping was on them this time and they sent me a BRAND NEW EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 card and it was delivered the following day on Saturday the 9th. Hooked it up and low and behold it works! Shocker! A lot goes right when you send someone a brand new card instead of a refurbished one. So I put the defective RMA replacement card in the box the new card came in, closed it up nice and neat, slapped that prepaid shipping label for UPS on the box and dropped it off at UPS. So finally after spending a total of $2194 ($1317(Original Graphics Card Purchase plus tax)+20(USPS Ground Shipping for Defective Card)+$807(EVGA RMA Cross Ship)+$50(UPS Next Day Air Saver) this whole situation is behind me. I'll get back my $807 for the cross ship and I can go about my business.
 
Or so I thought...
 
On Wednesday January 13th I received an email telling me that my original card that I mailed off on the 4th through USPS was finally delivered and with  "Bracket damage, backplate and PCB corner dented, heatsink bent fins and has result in damage to the product from improper operation and maintenance not covered under EVGA'S warranty."
 
So here's the deal. I've been building computers for 7 years now. I've built them for friends, for family and for myself. I have never felt more insulted. To tell me that due to "improper installation" my warranty is not gonna be honored?? I WISH I could upload the photos they took. File sizes are too large. Its OBVIOUS the card was damaged in shipping and that box looks like it was left out in the rain and ran over by a car! So I called them up and they said that I would have to go through USPS to have them do an investigation to see if they would refund EVGA the money for the defective and now damaged card before EVGA would give me my $807 money back for the cross ship I paid for! A cross ship that I voluntarily paid an additional $50 dollars for upgraded UPS Next Day Air Saver just to get sent a defective RMA replacement! I was hopping that maybe when the defective EVGA RMA replacement card is delivered they will look at my case. Close out both RMA's and say "Look. The man obviously knows how to install a graphics card into his computer because here is the defective card we sent him delivered back to us in pristine condition. Lets just close out his RMA and give his money back for his cross ship. We're a multi million dollar corporation. Its a pandemic going on. Money is tight. He probably needs that $807. These things happen lets just move on." So here it is. January 18th. The defective replacement RMA card was delivered to EVGA on Friday the 15th via UPS and both RMA tickets have been closed out as "Completed" but nobody is trying to run me back my $807! USPS is impossible to go through so basically I'm just stuck! I called today and support says I can send them back the working card and they will send me back the defective and now damaged one and give me back my $807 but I won't be refunded my time I spent trouble shooting 2 bad cards or the money I spent on shipping! Not to mention I'll be out the money spent on original purchase of the card and I STILL WON'T HAVE A WORKING CARD just a destroyed one!
 
This whole situation is giving me PTSD. I went through a NIGHTMARE with MSI's RMA service and they sent me NINE bad 2080 Ti Founders Editions through RMA cross ship! I swore em off. I only deal with EVGA because I heard their customer service was legendary and so far through the process they did what they could and didn't give me any trouble but this?? This will completely color my opinion going forward. I just want someone to make it right. At this point it makes no sense to cross ship with EVGA because if your card ends up damaged in shipping they'll pin the blame on you and take your money. They have BOTH cards in their possession. The RMA's are showing as Completed. My money is just SITTING there and they could release it with a simple key stroke but instead they rather extend the process even more by having a 3rd party (USPS) step in and take the card from them for an "investigation" meanwhile my money is just in limbo! 

My suggestion is to get ahold of EVGA directly via a phone call and elevate it: https://www.evga.com/about/contactus/ 
 
Second, always ship the product back in the same box  that they sent it to you in - so if there is damage, it's obviously the shipper since they sent YOU that card in that box.
 
Third, when talking with EVGA see about their shipping insurance. If they didn't get any for a cross shipment... you should have words with them. Nicely at first, but make sure to go UP, UP, UP until you talk with someone with enough clout to look into this.

Not EVGAs fault it arrived damaged, its USPS' fault now. Hope it was insured for full value. 

Doc-Marshall

SeanDude05
Not EVGAs fault it arrived damaged, its USPS' fault now. Hope it was insured for full value. 

It's EVGA's fault if they paid for the shipping but didn't insure it.  IMO.

The card that was damaged was the one sent USPS Ground by OP, not the one paid for by EVGA which was the cross-shipped one. So OP is responsible for insurance via USPS.

Why is USPS impossible to go through? Did you not have insurance? If you have insurance, file a claim using the pictures that they gave you.
 
You can also shrink the pictures easily enough with MS Paint so you can post them if you wish. 
 
If you don't have insurance though, then you have a right to be mad (at EVGA) about multiple bad cards I suppose, but not because USPS damaged your card in shipping, I doubt any company on earth is going to automatically accept an $800 loss because of shipping damage. 
 
Edit: 9 bad MSI 2080 TI's? seriously? they don't make founder's edition cards btw so please clarify... 9? N i n e? 

SeanDude05

arestavo

SeanDude05

Doc-Marshall

SeanDude05
Not EVGAs fault it arrived damaged, its USPS' fault now. Hope it was insured for full value. 

It's EVGA's fault if they paid for the shipping but didn't insure it.  IMO.

The card that was damaged was the one sent USPS Ground by OP, not the one paid for by EVGA which was the cross-shipped one. So OP is responsible for insurance via USPS.

Cross ship RMA. There's a prepaid UPS label in the box - I'd know, I used EVGA's EAR (cross ship RMA) a couple months ago for my 3090 FTW3.

Right, but it doesn’t sound like he used that? EVGA doesn’t use USPS, and that’s who damaged the card.

Then his only redress is through the shipper via the insurance that they may or may not have paid for, unless EVGA has someone that is really, really nice that he talks to in upper management.

The_0ther_Guy
Hello everyone. Long time lurker here but this current situation with dying FTW3 3080's and 3090's has affected me directly in such a unique way, that I am here to tell everyone about my personal and ongoing EVGA RMA experience. On December 9th I purchased a brand new unopened EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra from EBAY through a third party seller due to widespread unavailability on EVGA's website. After tax I paid $1,317 for the product. The graphics card ran totally fine for 3 weeks. It was updated to latest firmware and latest Nvidia Drivers. Then on December 31st the graphics card dies. Single red light on the left most farthest PCIE power connector slot. I was using a Corsair CX850 watt power supply I've had for several years now. Just to be sure I brought a replacement EVGA 1000 Watt Power Supply just to see if it was an issue on my end. No dice. So I returned the power supply and I registered the card through EVGA's website and had to wait until the following Monday for the Customer Service Department to open back up on Monday January 4th and an additional day for the RMA department to back up on Tuesday the 5th. I spoke to a REP on the phone on Monday and told them I would like to pay for cross shipping and even upgrade the shipping to the $50.00 UPS Next Day Air Saver. I put down $857 dollars on the promise that if all things go smoothly that I would receive $807 back. But before I got off the phone I asked "Hey man several people on EVGA's forums have complained about getting several bad FTW3 3090's and 3080's through your RMA program. What are the chances of that happening to me?" The rep assured me that the chances of me getting a defective card in the first place were already slim but getting multiple bad cards through RMA are even smaller. So in confidence I said. "Cool ok well lets get this process started. Imma ship you defective card right away through USPS right now cuz I can't use it and the sooner you get this card the sooner I can get my money back." I got off the phone, found a sturdy box, wrapped the card up in bubble wrap, paid $20 bucks to USPS and shipped the card off that same day through USPS Ground. On Wednesday the 6th I received an email from EVGA saying my replacement card would be delivered the next day on Thursday the 7th. So far so good. On Thursday the replacement card was delivered and low and behold it lights up, fans don't spin, no video signal. I feared that maybe my PCI Express Slot on my mini itx board was bad. So just to make sure that NOTHING was wrong on my end with my system I build an ENTIRELY new system out of spare replacement parts I had in my closet just incase of a failure because I don't like down time. New motherboard, New ram, New CX 850 Watt Power Supply, fresh OS install. Card still wouldn't work. A full day of trouble shooting. I called EVGA the following morning on Friday the 8th and they did an advanced RMA. Shipping was on them this time and they sent me a BRAND NEW EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 card and it was delivered the following day on Saturday the 9th. Hooked it up and low and behold it works! Shocker! A lot goes right when you send someone a brand new card instead of a refurbished one. So I put the defective RMA replacement card in the box the new card came in, closed it up nice and neat, slapped that prepaid shipping label for UPS on the box and dropped it off at UPS. So finally after spending a total of $2194 ($1317(Original Graphics Card Purchase plus tax)+20(USPS Ground Shipping for Defective Card)+$807(EVGA RMA Cross Ship)+$50(UPS Next Day Air Saver) this whole situation is behind me. I'll get back my $807 for the cross ship and I can go about my business.
 
Or so I thought...
 
On Wednesday January 13th I received an email telling me that my original card that I mailed off on the 4th through USPS was finally delivered and with  "Bracket damage, backplate and PCB corner dented, heatsink bent fins and has result in damage to the product from improper operation and maintenance not covered under EVGA'S warranty."
 
So here's the deal. I've been building computers for 7 years now. I've built them for friends, for family and for myself. I have never felt more insulted. To tell me that due to "improper installation" my warranty is not gonna be honored?? I WISH I could upload the photos they took. File sizes are too large. Its OBVIOUS the card was damaged in shipping and that box looks like it was left out in the rain and ran over by a car! So I called them up and they said that I would have to go through USPS to have them do an investigation to see if they would refund EVGA the money for the defective and now damaged card before EVGA would give me my $807 money back for the cross ship I paid for! A cross ship that I voluntarily paid an additional $50 dollars for upgraded UPS Next Day Air Saver just to get sent a defective RMA replacement! I was hopping that maybe when the defective EVGA RMA replacement card is delivered they will look at my case. Close out both RMA's and say "Look. The man obviously knows how to install a graphics card into his computer because here is the defective card we sent him delivered back to us in pristine condition. Lets just close out his RMA and give his money back for his cross ship. We're a multi million dollar corporation. Its a pandemic going on. Money is tight. He probably needs that $807. These things happen lets just move on." So here it is. January 18th. The defective replacement RMA card was delivered to EVGA on Friday the 15th via UPS and both RMA tickets have been closed out as "Completed" but nobody is trying to run me back my $807! USPS is impossible to go through so basically I'm just stuck! I called today and support says I can send them back the working card and they will send me back the defective and now damaged one and give me back my $807 but I won't be refunded my time I spent trouble shooting 2 bad cards or the money I spent on shipping! Not to mention I'll be out the money spent on original purchase of the card and I STILL WON'T HAVE A WORKING CARD just a destroyed one!
 
This whole situation is giving me PTSD. I went through a NIGHTMARE with MSI's RMA service and they sent me NINE bad 2080 Ti Founders Editions through RMA cross ship! I swore em off. I only deal with EVGA because I heard their customer service was legendary and so far through the process they did what they could and didn't give me any trouble but this?? This will completely color my opinion going forward. I just want someone to make it right. At this point it makes no sense to cross ship with EVGA because if your card ends up damaged in shipping they'll pin the blame on you and take your money. They have BOTH cards in their possession. The RMA's are showing as Completed. My money is just SITTING there and they could release it with a simple key stroke but instead they rather extend the process even more by having a 3rd party (USPS) step in and take the card from them for an "investigation" meanwhile my money is just in limbo! 

https://www.usps.com/ship/mail-shipping-services.htm
 
>
USPS Retail Ground®
2-8 days
At Post Office
 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I honestly don't think USPS is gonna give a damn or do anything about it. I'm gonna head there tomorrow and see if there's anyone who can put me in touch with the right people to see if they can look into this but right now I'm not optimistic at all. I especially if there's no insurance discovered on the product. I was NOT given a UPS prepaid shipping label for the cross shipment of the product but I was given a prepaid shipping label for the Advanced RMA done to get me a brand new working card on Saturday the 9th.

dalten22
It looks like best way to start a USPS claim is online. 
 

I just tried for the 4th time. Keeps saying my tracking number is invalid. I'mma have to go to the post office tomorrow.

Yeah, I just had to spend 62 dollars for shipping and insurance for my dead 3090 ftw3. It definitely says in the instructions sent by evga that they encourage insurance. I'm not happy about it, but I'd rather pay an extra 40 bucks to know if something happens I'd be covered since evga doesn't cover it.

Why send it in a box small enough that it's possible for it to get damaged to begin with?  That's my first reaction... Better packing, bigger box, and this likely would not have happened.
I've RMAed quite a few things, ship electronics at least a few times a year/ever other year when I upgrade, via reselling things on EBay, and I've never had anything get damaged in shipping... not that I ship exclusively with USPS when I'm sending stuff out.
Sounds like you just had a world's best run of bad luck to me... getting a bad card to begin with is pretty bad luck because the failure rate is NOT that high, otherwise eVGA would have to address it publically - and since they haven't, it's not higher than "acceptable norms" (whatever the heck that is, it's a number we don't know, percentage wise)... then, you got a replacement card that was deadski on arrival, that's next level bad luck.  And to top it off, your returned card got merced in shipping, which, as I said, I've never had happen to me in all my years... I've only had TWO items in all the things I've ever had shipped to me arrive damaged, and one of them was shipped damaged so it wasn't even damaged in shipping... so yeah, that's monumental, earth-alteringly bad luck there all together.
 
#1 Lesson though is A: don't buy off ebay "new", it's not worth it, and B: take better care when shipping & ship with insurance if you're really that worried about it.

Always wait for the cross ship its designed to protect you in case of a faulty Replacement. Your impatience has turned this into something much more difficult then it should have been. 
 
I have to admit when you described the condition the package EVGA received I couldn't help but think a USPS worker was having a really bad day.

That's a tough loss man. Another first-world side-effect of the pandemic. YOu can't just go into a store and buy it and carry it home yourself.

Have you tried to contact the one who shipped the card? Seems like it's more their fault than anything else.

I hope in a year or two we'll all be able to laugh about how hard we worked to get video cards in 2020 & 2021