Warranty replacement with used parts?

[Raw]

What a dunce I can be at times. I never looked closely at the warranty information on most of my computer parts purchased. I will start looking closely from now on when I buy stuff.
I've never really has RMA issues with most stuff. Maybe 2-3 in my pc lifetime.

Anyways, I was surprised at the Asus Warranty for a Z68 motherboard I purchased in November, 2011.
The warranty only covers a rebuild of a bad part or a replacement item that has previously been rebuilt by Asus.
I can not get a new item from them.
I was told by RMA support that's the way it is. NO new. No matter what, no new.
I was surprised. I really was.
What if they can't repair mine? What then? And if they send me a reworked replacement mobo how do I know what that things been through? How can I know if all 3 PCI-E slots work in tri-sli mode having only 1 video card?
How can I truly test the replacement for all functions?

My P8Z68 -V PRO/GEN 3 board lost a PCI Express slot yesterday, the good 16X slot. The blue one.
My video card will not work in that slot. It does work in the other 2 slots, both which are slower (8X and 4X).

So, does anyone know of a different manufacturer with a better warranty, that would replace bad parts with new parts?

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by Raw

What a dunce I can be at times. I never looked closely at the warranty information on most of my computer parts purchased. I will start looking closely from now on when I buy stuff.
I've never really has RMA issues with most stuff. Maybe 2-3 in my pc lifetime.

Anyways, I was surprised at the Asus Warranty for a Z68 motherboard I purchased in November, 2011.
The warranty only covers a rebuild of a bad part or a replacement item that has previously been rebuilt by Asus.
I can not get a new item from them.
I was told by RMA support that's the way it is. NO new. No matter what, no new.
I was surprised. I really was.
What if they can't repair mine? What then? And if they send me a reworked replacement mobo how do I know what that things been through? How can I know if all 3 PCI-E slots work in tri-sli mode having only 1 video card?
How can I truly test the replacement for all functions?

My P8Z68 -V PRO/GEN 3 board lost a PCI Express slot yesterday, the good 16X slot. The blue one.
My video card will not work in that slot. It does work in the other 2 slots, both which are slower (8X and 4X).

So, does anyone know of a different manufacturer with a better warranty, that would replace bad parts with new parts?

They will give you a new part after your third RMA to Asus. Has to be the same part. "New" being with full warranty.

[Kreij]

I got a bad dual-socket server board that had a bad RAM slot from Asus.
They sent me a new board, BNIB.

I wouldn't worry to much about it, a refurbed board is most likely going to be tested in the same QC department as new boards (unless they farm out repair to another country or something).

[sneekypeet]

Has been the "standard" for years. Got used boards from DFI, Abit, Asus, and GB over the years. As TMM says , with Asus they work on a "lemon law". If they cant solve it in 3 tries, you get a BNIB replacement. DFI would just upgrade you to a better used board (one with more features). GPUs will have a similar replacement. I don't remember RMA-ing a card and ever getting one BNIB as a returned card, they were all used refurbs as well.

[qubit]

Damn, I've got one of those boards, bought at around the same time. I hope mine doesn't play up like that. Hope you get it sorted ok. The BNIB policy sounds encouraging.

[Kreij]

It doesn't really matter if you get BNIB as long as the replacement works 100%.
You will still get the remainder of your warranty period either way.
Maybe I'm just not that fussy about stuff as long as it works and is reliable. (shrug)

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Kreij

It doesn't really matter if you get BNIB as long as the replacement works 100%.
You will still get the remainder of your warranty period either way.
Maybe I'm just not that fussy about stuff as long as it works and is reliable. (shrug)

Yeah, I can understand that. Think about insurance policies: they pay out less the older the protected something is. In this case though, imagine your new board dies after just 6 weeks, but your replacement is some obviously used part, you're not going to be happy at having effectively paid top dollar for a used part, regardless of whether it works properly or not.

In my view, companies should always replace with new, even right at the end of the warranty period, as part of good customer service and to keep punters coming back to them. What's that, you've just seen pigs fly?

[Raw]

Thanks for all the input guys.
I guess it is what it is.

I'm not sure I'll RMA it at this time, I am doing some testing to see if the 2nd. 8X slot seems or feels slower than the first or primary 16X slot.
Not in benchmark programs, in real life applications and games.
So far today I don't feel any difference at all.
My frame rates are all the same in games like COD BO (125fps pretty much steady) and Dirt 3 (60fps pretty much steady)

[Raw]

Well, here's an update. I was reading in one of the other posts and I saw something called "advance replacement" with Asus.
I was interested and didn't realize that option was even available.
So, I called Asus and got to speak to a person who could speak good English (a big plus for me...lol) and I explained my situation with my P8Z68 -V PRO/GEN 3 board that lost a PCI Express slot, the good 16X slot. The blue one.
My video card will not work in that slot. It does work in the other 2 slots, both which are slower (8X and 4X).

After asking him about the advance replacement method I decided to go with that.
This way I am not down for 4 weeks waiting for a board.
He will ship to me, hold my credit card info, and I will ship the faulty board back.
After Asus receives the bad board and determines that it is indeed a Asus problem, they will credit my card back.

Now, I think that is a great way to handle this and I am once again a happy Asus camper!