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ASUS RMA - An Eye Opener

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ASUS has always been there for me when I needed to return items through their serial-based warranty service. I do have to pay for shipping most of the time, but hey, in the end, I always got my product back in working condition.

Well... not this time.

I recently bought (or thought I bought) an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard from a Tom's Hardware member named WickedxJos​h. At least, everything from him wanting to sell an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, to me e-mailing him about the ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, and me meeting him locally to buy the ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard... I thought I was getting an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard. I'm sorry I'm beating a dead horse, but I'm pretty sure I also checked to make sure the board was an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard before I handed him my money.

Well, it turned out that the motherboard didn't quite work when I brought it home to test it out. I'm not blaming him, he was a nice fella when I met him in person, and I'm sure it was working when he last used it. Plus, ASUS has a serial-based RMA policy, so I wasn't too worried. At the price he was selling, I was willing to take a risk, and so I started the RMA, and paid the shipping cost to ship it back to ASUS RMA.

A month later, I finally got a motherboard back. However, instead of an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, it was an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0 motherboard, although it had the same serial number on it.

What?

Let me repeat that.

Instead of an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, it was an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0 motherboard that I got back, but it had the same serial number on it.

So I called ASUS customer service, and after an hour, I got it escalated.

Here's the recording (edited a bit to make it shorter with less mumbling from me):



Now, I really like ASUS customer service and their products. This incident won't change that. However, this was an eye-opener for me.

Some things to keep in mind, even though ASUS has serial-based warranty:

  1. Keep the receipt and box with serial number on your product at all times.
  2. Don't lose the serial number sticker on your product.
  3. If you buy an ASUS product that's used, try to get a copy of the original invoice or receipt, and the box with the serial number, if possible. Unfortunately, WickedxJosh didn't have an invoice or receipt, but I did send him a message to ask if he might at least have the box with the serial number on it, or if someone he bought it from might have an invoice or receipt or box. Haven't gotten a reply, yet.
  4. If you send a product for RMA to ASUS, take pictures showing the model, with the serial number, and a picture of yourself with that information, before sending in your item for RMA.
Basically, what could have happened in my scenario could have happened two ways:
  1. I thought I bought an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, and WickedxJosh thought he was selling an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, but it was really an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0. Hey, mistakes happen. So what I sent to ASUS RMA was indeed an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0 and not an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard.
  2. ASUS RMA, for some reason, chose to return an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0 instead of an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard because:
  • Maybe they ran out?
  • Maybe they wanted to cut costs?
  • Maybe instead of fixing an ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard, they had plenty of refurbished ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0's they could send back to me and hope I didn't notice?
  • Maybe they have a new plan for making more money by reselling ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe GEN3 motherboard's, because ASUS P8P67 Deluxe REV 3.0's are harder to resell?
Anyways, all I can say to anyone out there with any product... before you send in an item for warranty, take lots and LOTS of pictures of it, yourself, and the serial number, and all of it together with indisputable proof, that what you are sending is indeed what you sent. Otherwise, you could just be receiving something else back, and it's just your word against theirs.

Also, someone should get a serial sticker from a Rampage IV Extreme and put it on a cheap, broken P8P67 motherboard, and see what they get back. :)

Anyways, someone posted this link for another situation with ASUS RMA: http://www.overclock.net/t/1310484/asus-motherboard-warranty-rma-denied-plus-awesome-xfx-support

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