Why my next video card will come from EVGA (long)

[law.of.averages]

Ok, ya'll know my EVGA 8800 GTS (640-P2-N828-A3) died a month or so ago.

Being that this was just 19 months after purchase, the first thing I did was look it up to see if it was under warranty. Here I got my first disappointment. The terms on EVGA's webiste say about it:

The EVGA limited lifetime warranty is only eligible for part numbers ending in: -A1, -A2, -A3, -A4, -AR, -AX, -CR, -CX, -DX, -FR, -FX, -SG, -SX. (with product registration

Note the last comment. Also it says that registration has to come within 30 days of purchase. Well I'd never registered at all. Neither do I recall the original box making such a distinction.

So I logged on here, we talked, and I ended up ordering a brand new EVGA 250 card to replace it. Not because I had any great desire to own another EVGA card, but because it met my price/performance/power usage criteria.

Well I'd learned my lesson about registration, and just 28 days after purchase I registered my new unit. I also went ahead and registered the old one...just because I was on the site, and just because I had the card on my desk with model / serial number right in front of me.

At that point I was greeted with a jolly, candy-like RMA button. And I thought to myself

Law... you should push that button and see what happens.

Well, pushing that button lead to a web form. Submitting that web form lead to this email message from EVGA:

Your RMA request has been declined by EVGA

The reason for this is:

Product outside of 1 year warranty.
http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

Well, I'm not one to give up easily... so I sent this message in reply

Joe,

Please read, and forward to management.

Let's be fair. It's only "one year out of warranty" because I didn't know I had to register in 30 days to extend it to the 3 years. If I had, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and I would only have one card registered on your website instead of two. I've already accepted that ignorance is not an excuse. That is why I've already purchased the newer card. This time I chose EVGA soley because it met my price/perfomance criteria. (If intereseted, *my* performance criteria was "as good or better than the 8800 but using equal or less peak power, the cheapest available")

When I registered the new card, having learned my lesson about your warranty policy, I also took the time to register the faulty one because it was still on my desk, model and serial number immediately available. Once registered, the website offered the RMA button, and seeing how I replaced the faulty card with an EVGA model, I figured I would give you an opportunity to build customer loyalty by granting me an exception.

FYI, I exclusively buy D-Link network products because once long ago they cut me a break when I accidentally broke the antenna off a wireless network card. Despite me telling them it was clearly my fault, they replaced it under warranty, and even volunteered to cross-ship the replacement. Since that time, I've purchased 3 or 4 routers, 2 print servers, a gigabit switch, a wireless gaming adapter, and 2 wireless USB dongles. All D-Link. I've also recommended them to friends. All because of one single support incident.

It was in your power to move EVGA onto my 'preferred vendor list' by doing today what D-Link did then. You failed, but it's my hope you'll take this to heart and help out the next guy to come along with a similar situation.

Sincerely,

Law

And I wated patiently, and just 1 day later received this kick-ass reply:

Law,

I apologize for the issues you have experienced. What I can offer and did already approve is a one time replacement in order to get your card replaced. It will not carry any warranty past a standard 30 days to ensure the card does not arrive damaged from shipping.

I hope in some way this can relieve your feeling of our company and support. And please be sure on any future purchases to Register right away in order to ensure any full warranty that may be available

Thank you

So it's looking like I'll have a spare 8800 landing at my door soon.

[Porkinator]

You having better luck than some of my customers. They flat out told them there was no way they could fixed their failed 8800 ( I know of at least 5 that have failed in the last 6 months from diffrent vendors) but wwe know EVGA doesn't make the chip but glad to see someone having better results.
It clearly stated on their website for years that you could extend the warranty if registered with in 30 days.
I thought it was on the warranty card that came with my 8800. I registeed the card but sold it a year later to get a hd4870 which is a far better card.

I am glad it worked out for you though.

[Yrrek]

Sweet! Thanks for posting! I like supporting companies that take care of their customers. I will store this upstairs in my long-term storage. =)

Kerry

[Duffy]

Yep Law almost same scenario had a 9800 GTX+ and it went out 1 yr 3 months after the warranty and they replaced it I still have the card in a box no reason to use it yet.