Some very unfortunate events have taken place within this last month. One day I come home from work and my 1070 is not powering on. No LEDs nothing.
That's ok though, I have a 3 year warranty no worries. Went to cust service, got approved for an RMA. Went to post office, packaged the card up very well paid an extra $6 for insurance.
Then I get an email saying my RMA has been denied due to "cigarette residue". #1, I don't smoke. #2, this card was in a home where a smoker was present for the first couple months of it's life. I admit but since OCT of 2016 it's been in a smoke free home. #3 I own a $420 HEPA air filter, austin air healthmate jr plus. 
Pics of the card are taken from EVGA themselves. That 1070 has not been cleaned one single time since I bought it. Most GPU's would be covered by this point. Pretty clean eh? 
Air filter is good for this.

• Capable of trapping 99.97% of all polluting particulates down to 0.3 microns
• Extremely effective at removing particles in the air including dust, pollens, and smoke element. This filter is good up to 700 sq ft. I live in a single wide trailer. It sits right by me and my PC.
  
  So, does this card look like it was abused in the home of a crazy smoker? Does "cigarette residue" look to be the death of this card? I have a evga 650 ti and a 5670 that is still going just fine.

Wow.

Although I own several EVGA cards and I have never had any issues with any of them,  but based on what I've been  seen  here lately and for a while now at  EVGA forum  I still think they are not as good as people would like to think.
 
From my observation and this is in general... you sending them a card(s) then you receive a junk  due to their mistake as you can see all over this forum, people receiving bed RMA's all the time  and all they say "we apologize for the inconvenience or we are very sorry to hear about your RMA bad experience"
 
Eventually you will get your replacement  but unless you open your mouth, they will try to stiff you with someone else's bad card, pretty much what they trying to do, pushing their luck hoping you wont say anything..pfhhhh
 
Now, I'm not saying your card it's not damaged, the picture really can't say a whole lot, but you must have done some substantial  damage to your card for them to reject you RMA  or it's just a EVGA's one-way street.
 
I still think EVGA is far from being as good as some saying, god forbid If I send them my card, what they will blame me for, but it's OK for them to send you  not even working card..it happens more and more (this is not your case but an example)
 
 
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
 

Shirksr
Some very unfortunate events have taken place within this last month. One day I come home from work and my 1070 is not powering on. No LEDs nothing.
That's ok though, I have a 3 year warranty no worries. Went to cust service, got approved for an RMA. Went to post office, packaged the card up very well paid an extra $6 for insurance.
Then I get an email saying my RMA has been denied due to "cigarette residue". #1, I don't smoke. #2, this card was in a home where a smoker was present for the first couple months of it's life. I admit but since OCT of 2016 it's been in a smoke free home. #3 I own a $420 HEPA air filter, austin air healthmate jr plus. 
Pics of the card are taken from EVGA themselves. That 1070 has not been cleaned one single time since I bought it. Most GPU's would be covered by this point. Pretty clean eh? 
Air filter is good for this.

• Capable of trapping 99.97% of all polluting particulates down to 0.3 microns
• Extremely effective at removing particles in the air including dust, pollens, and smoke element. This filter is good up to 700 sq ft. I live in a single wide trailer. It sits right by me and my PC.
  
  So, does this card look like it was abused in the home of a crazy smoker? Does "cigarette residue" look to be the death of this card? I have a evga 650 ti and a 5670 that is still going just fine.

I see why they are saying that.... because while its true your filter will grab most of the contaminants in the air, tar from cig smoke is really hard to totally remove and other stuff is even worse. I can see the tar on the fan blades in extreme blowup, but if it started to coat the pcb and you have any solder contacts that were close together it could def facilitate a unwanted connection. that's most likely what they are eluding to, although this kinda sounds like something the EU and overseas warranty centers usually pull. The US one is not this retentive. You will have to appeal to the warranty supervisor at the HQ to see if you can have this looked at. 
 
Edit: For any of you who do smoke out there, so you hopefully don't run into this issue yourselves, plants work much better at scrubbing the contaminants and tar from the air than mechanical solutions. Although,  a one two punch of setting up both should work really well. Let this be a lesson to all though, def take pictures of your parts and clean them before you send them in.   
 

gtx480rocks
Well this is interesting, that his got denied..yet they managed to send me someone else's beat up 1080Ti SC2 ICX as a warranty replacement. Either RMA department has rogue employees or they are hoping the person doesnt inspect their warranty replacement when they get it.

You should see this replacement CLC cooler evga had no problems sending out to a customer. Another customer received a DOA replacement CLC cooler that had thermal paste smeared all over the pump. A customer sending in a card that has "smoke" residue, warranty service denied. How long until evga void's customers warranty due to dust on a heatsink.
 
The OP card doesn't look abused. In my opinion, it's looks like a company finding any excuse to not honor the product warranty. 
 
 
@Shirksr
If you feel like it, share your story with the picture on this subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/
 
 

Pretty nuts.. if have to read threw there rma policy.. I don't think I've ever read on any policy warranty void if you smoke!

I don't even smoke! Quit 9 years ago. Though this story pissed me off enough to start thinking about another company and just pay for an extended warranty threw microcenter and not worry about crap.

Like I said, EVGA is not that great like so many are saying. My next cards will be from someone else I have to break the connection I just don't like what I'm seen lately.
 
I think in the past 5-6 years I've spent maybe $15-$20K...just on gpu's time to give someone else a chance and to see if they care or will appreciate the business

Good idea, even if they don't make this right I'll be happy just for the mere fact that I have so many folks agree with me and I'm not alone in this. I think that things hn uave gone a little down hill which really breaks my heart as I have been an EVGA fanboy for a long time.

There needs to be a meeting somewhere on ways they can turn this around.customer satisfaction can make and break company's. I am willing to give EVGA a second chance if they turn this around but if not, I am sorry but when I invest half a grand on a gpu I need to know said company has my back.

Thank you for posting, I thank all of you. Really has made my day a lot better, considering I have a 3mm kidney stone I'm trying to pass. :)

Wow.. if only would of heard if this a month sooner. Would of bought my 1080ti somewhere else.

That is absolutely preposterous I had no idea that the stipulation would be so ridicules.
Its strange, after reading all this and issues with other customers with their RMA experience I see how crazy this is and  I got totally turn off with EVGA product, I'm glad l I see it now I was going to pull the trigger on new Titan V and their high-end Mobo. not happening
 
Good luck
 

Shirksr
And my point again, look at the picture of the card the RMA guy took himself. There is no tar residue, no build up on the fans it almost looks brand new. One customer service agent said he had no idea what they were seeing. Got a hold of another CSR (probably the two you are speaking of) went to the back themselves but didn't say there was residue instead they tell me it smells of it. I opened my case and Got my honker up close and personal and smelled nothing.

 
If evga management won't do anything for you. I would make sure post about your experience on social media. Leave a review about this experience on the retailers website you bought the product from.  
 
 
 
 

Don't have electronics if you smoke. Common knowledge is that regardless of how it dies. Once a cigarette is involved, its Game Over.

ASUS does this as well. All major electronic brands do it.

its considered HAZMAT.

I'm astonished how many people are all OMG!!!! regardless of what his Air Purifier is... it still smells of cigarettes there for void warranty.

Time to purchase another GPU. Good luck!

Try Zotac, but dont hold your breath.

P.S.
Smoking voids your lungs warranty to.. which is generally covered for life...

When you receive the card back take it apart and carefully clean it, just be sure to replace the thermal paste before putting the card back together. Lot's of people recommend using 99% isopropyl alcohol with a clean small paint brush to lightly clean the PCB. Wipe down the shroud, use a napkin or towel to dry it off as you. After that i would sit the card in a box that has new cat litter in it (don't cover the card with cat litter), put a lid on the box, let it sit for a few days or a week. That should take care of the odor.
 
Long as it doesn't have physical damage or an odor, will evga allow you to submit a new RMA?
 
 
 

Okay, good news. First I apologize for getting worked up which made me make a few assumptions. If I had just spoke with RMA dept the entire time I probably wouldn't have made this post.

I will be able to do another RMA. But, the card must not have a single hint of tobacco smoke, tar, etc. Let this be a lesson for the future for anyone, even with my air purifier, me not being a smoker, the 2nd hand smoke around for a short time was enough to do this.

This is also a good thing at the same time because of their good standards. This is the first rma I've ever done unless you count my step up from my 960 4gb to my 1070. I'll update in the future but I am happy to know I am not out of luck. Also passed my 3mm kidney stone last night, thatll put anyone in a bad mood!

Thank you EVGA, Thank you Jayson, RMA dpt.