View Full Version : Club 3D RMA Woes... / Help
bOingball
07-03-2007, 19:47
Hi All,
I'm wondering if anyone could help me and give advice on a Faulty card I've got made by Club 3D.
on the 31st / Dec / 2005 I purchased a Club 3D AGP 6800GT 256Mb which from my understanding should come with a 24 month warrenty period from the date I purchased it.
The card decided to give up it's magic smoke about a week ago so I decided to see I could RMA it.
Little did I know my warrenty was already passed by November.
According to Club 3D's RMA dept. there warrenty is started on the day they sell the card to the reseller (which was November 2004)
and won't honour a RMA request due to this fact, even though I bought this card and receieved it in Jan 2006.
I spent over £230 on this card to get it in Jan last year and now it looks like I've got to spend this money again to get another replacement :(
Can anyone else confirm if they have RMA'ed a card and had a simular problem and also can anyone advise me on what I could do to either get some refund or a replacement card.
I never bought it from Kustom PCs (I got it from ebuyer) but this forum seems to be the best place to start.
Any advice would be welcome.
Regards
bOingball
I spent over £230 on this card to get it in Jan last year and now it looks like I've got to spend this money again to get another replacement :(
a £110 7900GS will outperform your 6800GT by a fair bit - an £85 7600GT iirc should be pretty comparable.
& then there's ATi.
Given the price difference between AGP/PCI-E it just might also be worth a mobo change.
bOingball
08-03-2007, 13:55
a £110 7900GS will outperform your 6800GT by a fair bit - an £85 7600GT iirc should be pretty comparable.
& then there's ATi.
Given the price difference between AGP/PCI-E it just might also be worth a mobo change.
The problem is really not me getting a new video card (as I'm purchasing a 8800 soon, well next pay day). (I've got a PCI-Express Mobo and a 4400+ x2 AMD)
But I did want to give this AGP Card to my dad, he's got Windows Vista Ultimate and the 6800GT plays stuff fine, I was playing Half Life 2 Episode 1 and bench marks with x2 AA / 1280 x 1024 was about 57.61fps.
Don't want to have wasted £230 for 13 months :(
bOing
you bought it in Jan2006... but the reseller had it on their shelf since Nov2004 ? i find that very hard to believe.
even if it is true, why have you not contacted the company you bought it from ? you should really be RMAing it to them, rather than to the manufacturer.
because the 12 months is up from ebuyer unless there was a specific 24 month warranty on the site when he bought it.
you bought it in Jan2006... but the reseller had it on their shelf since Nov2004 ? i find that very hard to believe.
Why? It's a 6800GT, they've been around for roughly 3 years and have been out of production for quite a while.
because the 12 months is up from ebuyer unless there was a specific 24 month warranty on the site when he bought it.
the OP did say he had the understanding that it came with a 24month warranty.
Why? It's a 6800GT, they've been around for roughly 3 years and have been out of production for quite a while.
is ebuyer really likely to have an item sitting on their shelf for over a year ? looking at their site they hardly ever have anything in stock :D
I don't see why not. I doubt many people are interested in 6800s a year ago, let alone now.
bOingball
08-03-2007, 14:59
I was interested in it as it was an AGP card, and I only just got an Athlon 64 with AGP at the time, i ordered a Soundblaster X-fi Fidel1ty at the same time so yes a 6800GT at 350 / 1000 clocks done the job good (also 16pipes etc etc) :)
When I bought this card, the 7x00 AGP Models where NOT out. so it was this or new mobo /cpu time again already. :confused:
And no ebuyer might not have had the card in stock that long, Club3D have basically said it started it's 24 months warrenty the day someone bought it from them (a UK reseller) then ebuyer proberly bought it from this UK reseller with it's warrenty gone.
They just ignore my e-mails at club 3d now, which is nice though, only if I ask a simple question instead of demanding something I get answers now.
So better not get my 8800 from Club 3D then :(
bOing
bOingball
08-03-2007, 15:02
If you don't believe I bought it last year, he's my invoice as well (30th Dec, shipped Jan 3rd)
http://www.x-3dfx.com/boing/club3d/ebuyer.png
bOing
If you don't believe I bought it last year, he's my invoice as well (30th Dec, shipped Jan 3rd)
bOing
i wasn't implying that you were lying about the purchase date.
So better not get my 8800 from Club 3D then :(
i don't think Club3d are to blame here. they have a 24month warranty with the person they sell it to. from the looks of it, you are probably the 3rd person to have this card (club3d > original reseller > ebuyer > you)
club3d have told you that the 24month warranty has expired. there really is nothing more they can do for you. your compaint, if anything, really needs to go to the where you bought it from. maybe you should ask them where ebuyer stand on this as they have clearly sold you an item that is "not as advertised" as you didn't get your 24month warranty with it.
this is assuming that ebuyer advertised it as having a 24month warranty in the first place.
ebuyer have not sold it with a 24 month warranty as it would be explicitly stated on the receipt if it was....
basically you have to chuck it away and buy a new card.....
Fireblade
08-03-2007, 15:48
I'd be mightily unimpressed too, if I didn't get the full product warranty!?
If a product carries (i.e.) a 3 year warranty, then the warranty shouldn't start until the date the customer purchases the product - such that he/she gets the full benefit of the warranty period?
That info about the warranty starting from when the product was first stocked by the reseller, is complete nonsense [IMO], and I'm completely shocked and stunned, if that's genuinely the advice you were given by Club3D support :eek: :confused: :(
If a product carries (i.e.) a 3 year warranty, then the warranty shouldn't start until the date the customer purchases the product - such that he/she gets the full benefit of the warranty period?
"who" is the customer in this instance though.
if ebuyer bought it from another reseller then surely ebuyer is the "customer". the OP suggested that ebuyer might not have been the first person to handle this item.
from the looks of it, the item was originally sold on Nov2004 by Club3d to whoever. the OP then didn't purchase it until Jan2006 from ebuyer.
this one is a minefield, i agree, but i think the OP should really be speaking to ebuyer about this, rather than trying to get advice from an online forum (of which is a competitor to ebuyer :D)
bOingball
08-03-2007, 15:56
I'll quote the Club3D's support e-mails I've got from them :
I have contacted our sales department, as soon as I have word from them I will get back to you.
In case this helps it's manufacturing date was xxxxxxxx CGN-G686TVD 2004 WK45 (November)."
" Our limited warranty of 2 years starts with the purchase date on the Club 3D sales invoice for the reseller/distributor."
"
It was most likely purchased by Ingram Micro or JLT ltd., unfortunately without the customerid we can not look it up.
Please inquire with Ebuyer who they purchased the item in question from.
We do not do business direclty with Ebuyer. "
Thats how shocking it was, also another thing, club3d will ignore you after one or 2 responses asking for answers. it took me 6 e-mails to get them to say....
"
As previously mentioned in last e-mail we can not accept your item for RMA.
The item is out of warranty by date (date of purchase with Club 3D)."
Now just thinking, I bought the last 6800GT in stock on ebuyer before there next batch came. - If I got one out of the next batch I might have been more lucky. - seems to be a lottery going on here though with Club3D
Regards
bOing
have you actually spoken to ebuyer ?? if not, i suggest you do.
"who" is the customer in this instance though.
if ebuyer bought it from another reseller then surely ebuyer is the "customer". the OP suggested that ebuyer might not have been the first person to handle this item.
from the looks of it, the item was originally sold on Nov2004 by Club3d to whoever. the OP then didn't purchase it until Jan2006 from ebuyer.
this one is a minefield, i agree, but i think the OP should really be speaking to ebuyer about this, rather than trying to get advice from an online forum (of which is a competitor to ebuyer :D)
I would say that this is a case for Consumer Direct....
Personally, I would say that ebuyer were not club3d's customer but a 3rd party seller. therefore they are only obliged by law to provide 12 months which has expired. club3d give 2 years from date of manufacture, again which has passed. unless ebuyer stated that the item had a 24 month warranty then you basically chuck it in the bin. if you bought it direct from club 3d then you would have a warranty claim but seeing as they only sell through wholesalers you really are peeing in the wind on this one. warranties are not usually transferable from purchaser to purchaser so you are gonna be hard pushed to get any joy on pursuing this claim unless you have it in writing from ebuyer that this item carries a 2 year warranty.
bOingball
08-03-2007, 16:06
this one is a minefield, i agree, but i think the OP should really be speaking to ebuyer about this, rather than trying to get advice from an online forum (of which is a competitor to ebuyer :D)
Yeah I know, ebuyer are being very helpful and have no problem talking to them at least.
I apprecate good help though and did browse this forum before it broke :)
I do run my own forum and you might notice my website comes first search for Club 3D RMA on google at the moment.... (see made you look at x-3dfx.com) hehe ;)
bOing
I do run my own forum and you might notice my website comes first search for Club 3D RMA on google at the moment.... (see made you look at x-3dfx.com) hehe ;)
sigh... i do hope you didn't just make up this whole episode just to get people to go to your website..
bOingball
08-03-2007, 16:18
I wouldn't make up something like this to be honest!
Have you seen how many news posts I actually put on that website.... theres been 5 in 2 years.... lol
shessss! I'm no into blog spam :)
bOing
Club 3D RMA on google at the moment.... (see made you look at x-3dfx.com) hehe ;)
no you didn't.....
bOingball
08-03-2007, 17:01
Ha the winky was for that fact I guess you wouldn't look ;), if I was in to blog spam I guess I would post the link direct to the news item.
Some good advice to be had though.
Well at least airing this will have some effect - I won't by Club3D after hearing of your probs.
Sorry to hear of your woes by the way...
bOingball
08-03-2007, 19:41
I know, I think I'm the first person to RMA to club3d lol.
Least I'm getting my problem off my 'chest' a bit with posting about it.
Going to send a letter to the "insert office that govens e-commerce and customer service here" after I send a letter to Club3D first to see if they reply to snail mail.
bOing
Well at least airing this will have some effect - I won't by Club3D after hearing of your probs.
Sorry to hear of your woes by the way...
hardly Club3d's fault though.
bOingball
08-03-2007, 20:10
The only problem I can tell from Club 3D is there customer service is below par...
I sent them the invoice after there (Out of warrenty reply)
and also asking for advice, and got ignored for 2 days, until I sent them a nice reminder asking what to do, <some replys / ignore until I wait a few days and ask for more info / and then back to the ignore list :( >
Took a week to get all that info out of them to be honest, I work for a software developer and if a customer even asks if out software works on Mac's or wants to talk, we will answer at least and reply to every e-mail (well not the v1agr4 ones)
Whos to blame, who knows, RMA's from every other company start from the day you get the hardware home, never had a problem before with any other company.
I e-mailed info@club-3d.co.uk asking advice about the 8800 I was going to buy and still awaiting a reply but heh I can wait I guess.
bOing
<some replys="" until="" i="" wait="" a="" few="" days="" ask="" for="" more="" info="" and="" then="" back="" to="" the="" ignore="" list="">I e-mailed info@club-3d.co.uk asking advice about the 8800 I was going to buy and still awaiting a reply but heh I can wait I guess.
bOing
You're complaining about bad customer service from them, yet you intend buying another of their graphics cards? :confused:
Am I missing something?
Stephen
</some>
bOingball
08-03-2007, 22:31
Before my card gave up it's magic smoke and died on me I was considering getting an 8800, so I e-mailed them before that.
Then just after that the 6800GT gives up on me and still awaiting responses of them is like waiting for the number 40 bus next to me.
So not unless there Customer services and RMA improve, there will be no more Club3D for me.
Fact was I paid extra for the Club3D card as I thought there company was very smart in presentation etc. but the way I got handled 13 months into my card purchase it seems to have been the wrong choice.
I'm sure if I purchased the card off anyone else I wouldn't have had the same problem.
bOing
hardly Club3d's fault though.
Eh? Who's fault is it then?
Eh? Who's fault is it then?
the reseller.
Clud3b have stated that their 24month warranty starts from the point they sell it. dates have been given and it shows that the warranty has expired.
therefore clearly not their fault.
Eh? Who's fault is it then?
nobodys fault... the card has just died outside of warranty..
like most things.. they are designed to last for the length of the warranty plus one day.... anything more is a bonus.
remember, this is computer gear... it is obsolete the moment we buy it so in a year i would have expected to replace it anyway. I bought a gfx card recently... i expect to replace it after a year or so and i work out that it actually costs a tenner a month. any more than that is a bonus, reducing the tco.
If people bought thing on the assumption that they would be replacing them at the end of the warranty period (i know there is a dispute in this case but normally 12 months...) then work out if it is a justified cost. our washing machine... 400 quid with a 3 year mfr warranty (yes we have the written confirmation) no optional warranty... if it breaks after 3 years then i'll just buy another one. it works out at around 12 quid a month... a reasonable tco.
bOingball
09-03-2007, 14:05
Problem is at the time of sale on there website, Club 3D don't state there warrenty starts on the day it leaves them.
Quote : "For defective cards, please contact the store of origin. You can claim warranty (RMA) when your product is within two years of the purchase date.
Therefore always keep your invoice with you during these two years of warranty period.
If you bought your card second hand, make sure that you get the invoice as well else you will be unable to claim warranty.
In case the store of origin is out of business, you can contact us by email, we will ask you for your invoice and we will forward you to the local distributor. rma@club-3d.nl"
Guess what I'm withing 2 years of the purchase date. Apprently I'm not allowed to have there 24 months as a warrenty.
Now you tell me that it's not there fault again....
bOing
so when did you actually get offered the warranty? did ebuyer state that there was a 2 year warranty? if they did then your beef is with them. if they didn't then you have no recourse at all with anyone.
you could have bought it second hand :D
they've already said they don't deal with ebuyer, so they must have bought it from someone else.
bOingball
09-03-2007, 14:21
eBuyer only stated that it's 1 year warrenty from the purchase date.
Club 3D stated 2 years warrenty from the purchase date. Shame it wasn't stated that this was not going to be my purchase date.
Thats the only beef I've got.
Never mind, I'll purchase a new one, just it's a underhand on the way most companys process RMA's to be honest.
Just I don't like spending money £200+ on hardware to find out I can't ask the manufacturer to help me out.
To be fair I've always got the EC Directive EC/1999/ Section 44 law to demand assistance to get the card fixed. but it's going to be a long haul, but I'm sending them a letter for it.
Handy I know law at least.
bOing
bOingball
09-03-2007, 14:24
you could have bought it second hand :D
they've already said they don't deal with ebuyer, so they must have bought it from someone else.
Wow, I guess I could have bought it second hand without it even being opened.
I'm guessing most people could have then.
Mind you my wholesaler who I purchase cards off used to sell club 3d cards and stopped last year due to problems. (should have purchased this one off my wholesaler)
I'm glad next time I'll buy it from MSI they will warrent the warrenty from the day the card gets to my hands.
If I purchase a £350 video card next I don't want my TCO per month for 12 months to be about £30 if it breaks.
Regards
bOing
eBuyer only stated that it's 1 year warrenty from the purchase date.
Club 3D stated 2 years warrenty from the purchase date. Shame it wasn't stated that this was not going to be my purchase date.
bOing
woah... step back...
So when you bought the card from ebuyer you knew it was only being warrantied for a year. Your only contract is with the retailer, the manufacturer has no legal requirement to answer you or provide support whilst the original seller is still in business. In this case, there is a second middleman, club3d's customer. they would be the only ones that could take advantage of any manufacturer extended warranty.
I'll let you into a secret... there are a lot of long warranty manufacturer deals out there. I took advantage of them many times when i was a pc reseller... they are not transferrable to the end users. They are designed to speed up warranty issues as a sweetener to the dealers so that they buy from that manufacturer rather than the competition. The dealer wins because they don't have to worry about carrying stock to cover warranty faults. The manufacturer wins because they sell cards. The end user wins because if the card breaks in the statutory year the dealer can change it quickly, knowing that the manufacturer will replace it without question.
bOingball
09-03-2007, 14:44
I know,
but from what I've always found out with a manufactures are
1) they reply to questions asked.
2) they reply with a clean and consise response to why something may / or may not be in warranty
3) they don't just start ignoring your questions as they think they have answered it with there 1 line reponse
4) they would offer advice on what to do with said purchase made by them. i.e. offer advice on where to get it fixed?
Club 3D lost it on all of the above points.
Bad customer experiance. :)
Now on my warrenty. bleh looks like I've lost, not too bothered now, anger is out of my system that the card went bang. Just got to buy a 8800 for me and a 7800 for my dad now, I hope that does not go bang and out of warrenty before I get it home.
Regards
bOing
question 1 - the replied to you
question 2- they gave the reason why it was out of warranty
question 3 - if they have already answered your question, why should they continually repeat the same thing to you
question 4 - they told you to refer it to your point of purchase
they have done everything they need to as a manufacturer i believe, afterall you are not one of their customers, you are an end-user.
bOingball
09-03-2007, 16:04
question 1 - the replied to you
question 2- they gave the reason why it was out of warranty
question 3 - if they have already answered your question, why should they continually repeat the same thing to you
question 4 - they told you to refer it to your point of purchase
they have done everything they need to as a manufacturer i believe, afterall you are not one of their customers, you are an end-user.
Question 2 - took 4 e-mails to answer 1 of my questions
Question 3 - I asked different questions which I'm still awaiting answers for
Question 4 - they did after 7 e-mails
Just had a test now and e-mailed them here to ask if they could recommend an 8800, wow never seen a company so fast trying to get me to buy one.
bOing
Never mind I'll never buy off Club 3D again, I guess if your car breaks and the garage can't fix it, and you e-mail the company that made it, they might have more help then Club 3D will ever offer anyone.
Cheers
Never mind I'll never buy off Club 3D again, I guess if your car breaks and the garage can't fix it, and you e-mail the company that made it, they might have more help then Club 3D will ever offer anyone.
only if the car is still under warranty.
2 things that you can do more research on
1. iirc there is something regarding the EU & consumer warranties & a 2 year minimum.
2. the UK (sale of goods act?) also has something about what you can reasonably expect - you can ask for a repair or replacement at any time up to six years after you bought the goods (five years in Scotland), as long as it is reasonable for them to have lasted this long.
I think that you argue that you could reasonably expect a £230 gfx card to last longer than 1 year.
Have a word with the Citizens advice bureau or similar.
bOingball
09-03-2007, 17:07
2 things that you can do more research on
1. iirc there is something regarding the EU & consumer warranties & a 2 year minimum.
2. the UK (sale of goods act?) also has something about what you can reasonably expect - you can ask for a repair or replacement at any time up to six years after you bought the goods (five years in Scotland), as long as it is reasonable for them to have lasted this long.
I think that you argue that you could reasonably expect a £230 gfx card to last longer than 1 year.
Have a word with the Citizens advice bureau or similar.
Yeah all of the above is true -
EU Directive 1999 Section 44 states that the consumer can demand 2 years warranty from the manufacturer if the goods have not lasted that long (as long as the goods are not batterys / food etc)
If the goods have failed, the consumer can ask the manufactuer of the product to support it and fix it.
The sales of goods act also gives you 6 years to ask the manufacturer for help.
So time for some advice from my local office. :)
bOing
EU Directive 1999 Section 44 states that the consumer can demand 2 years warranty from the manufacturer if the goods have not lasted that long (as long as the goods are not batterys / food etc)
it has past 2 years though. was sold to reseller Nov2004. you just seem unfortunate enough to have then bought it from a 3rd party.
Frankly I'm surprised Ebuyer had it sat on their shelves for that long before it was bought.
Cheers,
Stephen
Frankly I'm surprised Ebuyer had it sat on their shelves for that long before it was bought.
Cheers,
Stephen
i said that earlier in the thread - originally sold to first reseller in Nov2004 and then bought eventually in Jan2006... a very long time for a graphics card to sit on someones shelf (especially an online retailer)
i said that earlier in the thread - originally sold to first reseller in Nov2004 and then bought eventually in Jan2006... a very long time for a graphics card to sit on someones shelf (especially an online retailer)
Which makes me wonder who had it in between, if you take my meaning...
Cheers,
Stephen
Chenks,
What you seem to be forgetting in your defence of C3D, is that solely this publicity has meant that they will never receive my hard earned cash and probably never anymore from the OP. The real irony is that, I nearly bought a C3D card from KPC, but didn't because they were out of stock. I now consider that, for me, to have been a lucky escape.
However, if they had stepped up as a strong, customer minded company then this would never have been brought up for discussion.
Given the wide reaching influence of KPC and their prominence in many google searches, how many people googling C3D just might read this....
I recently had an argument with a well respected PSU company, recommended by myself and many here when a PSU failed 2 months into warranty. I was unhappy with the delays and when I eventually received a refurb in replacement i admit to being a tad disgruntled. The company did however see sense and i now have a brand-new PSU waiting to go in my next project.
i'm not defending Club3d or any other company.
i'm merely giving my opinion - which is what the OP wanted when he made the post here.
the OP should (and possibly is) be taking this up with ebuyer where he bought it from. it appears that, rather than doing that, he went straight to the manufacturer. this is not the normal process to take when a product you have bought fails. you usually go back to the place you bought it from.
bOingball
10-03-2007, 01:03
I did take this out with ebuyer and ebuyer held me and anserwed every question I put forward to them.
Club 3D promised on there website a 2 year warrenty which I can't get due to the fact I'm a 3rd party customer.
If I buy an xbox 360 from tesco's and it fails in 13 months, I would ring Microsoft. if they said I had a release consol and it was not in warrenty I would be the same I was now protesting that It should cover from the time I receieve it.
Regards
bOing
DanielCoffey
10-03-2007, 10:41
I'd advise taking this up with your local Citizen's Advice Bureau - if a product says it has a 2-year warranty, you should be protected under something like Sales of Goods legislation or your Credit Card company (if you paid for it that way). Keep copies of all emails and phone C.A.B. up.
I'd advise taking this up with your local Citizen's Advice Bureau - if a product says it has a 2-year warranty, you should be protected under something like Sales of Goods legislation or your Credit Card company (if you paid for it that way). Keep copies of all emails and phone C.A.B. up.
we have already covered this... it was sold with a one year warranty...
the manufacturer gives 2 years from date of purchase to dealers. the manufacturer does not deal direct with end users...
bOingball
15-03-2007, 00:27
Just a little update.
Club3D Stayed silent when I e-mailed there info@club-3d.co.uk address as well as Gary's address
Got an e-mail tonight off ebuyer as I've always kept them in the loop, they are going to pick up the card for me, and refund / change card.
Yay!!!!! - £232 not wasted and the way it should have been handeled
Well done eBuyer.
Shame on you Club3D.
Another interesting fact from Club3D is that there website changed.
The old website before about the 13th March said....
"For defective cards, please contact the store of origin. You can claim warranty (RMA) when your product is within two years of the purchase date. Therefore always keep your invoice with you during these two years of warranty period. If you bought your card second hand, make sure that you get the invoice as well else you will be unable to claim warranty. In case the store of origin is out of business, you can contact us by email, we will ask you for your invoice and we will forward you to the local distributor. rma@club-3d.nl"
The new and improved website support section now has....
"All technical problems
First point of contact for RMA and technical issues is your store. The store can help you much faster and have trained employees who can help you with their knowledge. They can also assist you more efficiently for testing your product, as no image on screen is not always the result of a not working VGA card. Especially on completely new systems, build by yourself, it is recommended to test the VGA card in a working system to exclude the VGA card for further trouble shooting. Club 3D technical support is meant for distributors but you can always ask us for advise when you cannot come to a solution with your Club 3D supplier. On this website is a support form which needs to be filled in completely in order to process your request. Requests send in directly, without form, are not processed. Allow 7-days for reply on requests send in."
Looks like there RMA customer services have gone and now it's just mini questions to them via. the webform.
I might have been in the middle of the I don't care stage we are reforming a bit. but heh
Thank you to all that posted, I enjoyed getting this off my cheast and I thought the case was closed with me stook with this card and it going to the bin.
Regards
bOing
bOingball
20-03-2007, 18:54
A little update on this.
Ebuyer Notes
20/03/2007 14:08 You have been refunded for this item as it is currently out of stock.
Dear Darren, This item was tested and found to be faulty. You will be refunded for this item when this RMA is closed - please check your credit notes via the Account > Ledger section for more details. Please note: Card refunds can take 3 working days to clear Regards, Ebuyer Customer Support
Just been refunded the £220 odd for this, wow, at last I can now get a 8800 PCI Express :)
Woot.
Cheers all for the advice etc.
Happy Gaming.
bOing
Fireblade
21-03-2007, 17:49
Cheers all for the advice...
Even though the topic has been resolved, such that the thread could now be closed... here's some more advice for you first...
1. Please don't include links to competitor stores on the forums :eek:
2. Please edit your post ASAP!
You should've had the sense not to include their name in the first place. We'd still have been/will be able to make sense of the important information :rolleyes:
With all that outta the way... I'm glad you this resolved in the end ;)
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