ASUS Xonar_Xense: RMA Issues

[Fire488]

ASUS Xonar_Xense: RMA Issues
This is the product that i purchased back in Jan of 2011: http://www.newegg.co....82E16829132018

I am trying very hard not to make this a rant and hope that it does not generate trolling. That is not my intent here. I am a very loyal ASUS customer and own more of their products than I have toes and fingers. For the most part their products have been good and RMA not much of an issue. Until now that it.

This headset and sound-card combo rendered the best sound that i have ever heard on a PC.
I absolutely loved it. Well here is what happened recently. The mic stopped working at the end of November 2012 and I called ASUS and had it RMA'd. The RMA was set up on Dec 12th and the headset was shipped on that same day. It was received according to my delivery confirmation receipt on Dec 13th 2012. I waited for a reply and the ASUS RMA staus check on the web site said "awaiting customers product". (And still does btw)

It was now Jan 2nd , 2013 and still not hearing a thing from ASUS about my headset i decided to call and check the status by phone. An RMA ASUS technician confirmed that the product was received by ASUS on Dec 13th, 2012 and has no idea what is going on since there are no notes on it. He then told me to give him some time to sort this out.

I waited until today, Jan 8th, 2013 and called again since i received absolutely no correspondence once again. After being on hold for 15 minutes a technician finally came on and i gave him all the info. He came back and told me that an email was generated to my on Jan 4th stating that the headset was out of warranty (I knew that) and that it was also no longer available. That I did NOT know and was shocked. This setup is only 2 years old! I paid almost $300 for it.
I never did receive that email on the 4th either.

The headset from Sennheiser was customized to work with the Xonar_Xense sound card. It also has the larger input/output jacks on the sound card and headset. It seems there is no other headset that will work and the card is now useless.
If this setup cost me $50 dollars i would not be as upset, but for $300 I am very upset and disappointed in ASUS. This product should have lasted more that 2 years for that money.

I will no longer purchase anything with the ASUS logo on it.

Note- Please don't troll this post. this could happen to anyone and companies should know how we feel. I know the product is 2 years old, but considering the price there should have been replacement headsets available to purchase. An expensive product like this being obsolete in 2 years is just unconscionable to me.I don't have $300 dollars to just throw away...
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[Norton]

Your NewEgg link isn't working right but I found the card/combo here:

ASUS XONAR_XENSE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Ex...

It lists a 3 yr warranty for it. Was this a US purchase? I'm a bit surprised that they accepted an RMA and then told you it was out of warranty when they received it

[Jetster]

I feel your pain. I had a Toshiba LCD tv that was 21 months old and quit. It only had a one year warranty. Toshiba would not even respond to my e mails. I paid $700 for it. I did notice that ASUS changed there laptop warranty two one year and not two. I tried a couple of things to fix it (replaced the inverter) but no joy. Sold it for $50

[KingPing]

This is the sound card right: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,1.html

The jacks on that card are standard ones, any headset will work. Besides the headset that comes bundled is not on par with the sound card sound quality, it's good but nothing to write home about.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by Norton

Your NewEgg link isn't working right but I found the card/combo here:

ASUS XONAR_XENSE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Ex...

It lists a 3 yr warranty for it. Was this a US purchase? I'm a bit surprised that they accepted an RMA and then told you it was out of warranty when they received it

I sent it back to ASUS for RMA. They claimed it has a one year warranty. Where did you see three years if you don't mind?

Thanks for responding.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by Jetster

I feel your pain. I had a Toshiba LCD tv that was 21 months old and quit. It only had a one year warranty. Toshiba would not even respond to my e mails. I paid $700 for it. I did notice that ASUS changed there laptop warranty two one year and not two. I tried a couple of things to fix it (replaced the inverter) but no joy. Sold it for $50

That sucks man. crazy stuff.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by KingPing

This is the sound card right: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,1.html

The jacks on that card are standard ones, any headset will work. Besides the headset that comes bundled is not on par with the sound card sound quality, it's good but nothing to write home about.

The jacks on the sound card are 1/4 inch and not the standard 3.5 mm. The sound card is configured to work with a modified version of the Sennheiser PC350's. Also, it is by far the best sounding combo I have ever heard and I have tried most believe me. I think most would greatly disagree with your last statement buddy.

[Norton]

Originally Posted by Fire488

I sent it back to ASUS for RMA. They claimed it has a one year warranty. Where did you see three years if you don't mind?

Thanks for responding.

The details tab on that NewEgg link I included in my post states 3yrs parts/3 yrs labor (doesn't separate out the headphones with a different warranty, if it is different, in the NewEgg listing)

**EDIT- Crutchfield lists a 2 yr warranty on the PC-350 headset (which are a variant of yours if I'm reading this correctly):

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143PC35....html?tp=59076

So even with this they should have had at least a 2 yr warranty...

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by Norton

The details tab on that NewEgg link I included in my post states 3yrs parts/3 yrs labor (doesn't separate out the headphones with a different warranty, if it is different, in the NewEgg listing)

Looking now thanks.

[KingPing]

Originally Posted by Fire488

The jacks on the sound card are 1/4 inch and not the standard 3.5 mm. The sound card is configured to work with a modified version of the Sennheiser PC350's. Also, it is by far the best sounding combo I have ever heard and I have tried most believe me. I think most would greatly disagree with your last statement buddy.

Both 1/4 (6.3mm) and 3.5mm are standard audio jacks, if your headset comes with a 3.5mm connector, you just need a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adaptor, almost all high end headphones comes with one. And according to the ASUS site the sound card comes with one. http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio...specifications

[twicksisted]

I dont understand...

You purchased it in January 2011 and setup an RMA request on Dec 12th. (11 months)
The Standard warranty should be 12 months and if it breaks before that time and you get an RMA within the 12 months then they should cover it.

EDIT: Diddnt see that it was bought in 2011... Doh


Anyways the setup isnt useless... the input/outputs on that soundcard are 1/4 jacks and you can get convertors to step down the size of the headphone jacks to smaller if need be. There are also a lot of soundcards that will work with that size jack (look at maudio cards for example)

[Bo$$]

ouch, these situations are terrible. Generally they are excellent when it comes to these things. Have you tried return to retailer?

[Fire488]

I have received a PM from an ASUS rep that will look into it for me.
It does say on Newegg on the product specs that it is covered for 3 years too;
Look here: ASUS XONAR_XENSE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Ex...

[AsRock]

If you know for sure the fault is with the headphones i would not be surprised if it was just a simple broken wire.


Although from whats been posted it sounds like you been miss informed about the warranty and that it should be possible for a RMA. I would give newegg a nudge too just to see if they step up and best way i found to do that is though their chat which can be saved for your convenience.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by AsRock

If you know for sure the fault is with the headphones i would not be surprised if it was just a simple broken wire.


Although from whats been posted it sounds like you been miss informed about the warranty and that it should be possible for a RMA. I would give newegg a nudge too just to see if they step up and best way i found to do that is though their chat which can be saved for your convenience.

I will reach out for Newegg and see what they can do as well. Thanks.

[Fire488]

Yesterday I called Newegg since I have not received a reply from ASUS's Scott Billings. Newegg checked out my product and said that according to their information the Xonar_Xense should be covered for 3 years. They will get back to me either today or tomorrow.
This morning I received a call back from ASUS and it was Robbie. He told me that the product was out of warranty and that I was misinformed by Newegg and that there is nothing that ASUS could do and that the headsets that were modified by Sennheiser for ASUS are no longer available anywhere. They are a modified version of the Sennheiser PC350's. I am extremely upset about this and hope to hear something positive from Newegg on it.
I called Sennheiser and asked if a standard PC350 headset would suffice with adapters to connect to the card and they said that stock PC350's use different spec's out equipment. Basically they are not as good as what I had. I'm glad I got that confirmed at least.
I have my Sennheisers back now from ASUS and I may try to see if i can locate the problem myself after i hear from Newegg.

You know what makes me so angry about this? This set up cost near $300 and to not have replacement parts after 2 years is completely unacceptable. I purchased almost $9,000.00 worth of PC equipment from Newegg in the last 5 years and much of that is parts from ASUS. I told the rep that and he could care less. Sad.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Fire488

I purchased almost $9,000.00 worth of PC equipment from Newegg in the last 5 years and much of that is parts from ASUS. I told the rep that and he could care less. Sad.

Welcome to reality. While they may call you a valued customer, behind closed doors they could really care less and will continue to laugh their way to the bank while they leave you in the shit. your error is spending almost $9,000.00 on Asus gear.

though to be fair, their support department used to be a lot better then this but over the years its just gone way downhill.

[Bo$$]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Welcome to reality. While they may call you a valued customer, behind closed doors they could really care less and will continue to laugh their way to the bank while they leave you in the shit. your error is spending almost $9,000.00 on Asus gear.

though to be fair, their support department used to be a lot better then this but over the years its just gone way downhill.

Uk consumer rights ftw

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Bo$$

Uk consumer rights ftw

Yeah - tell that to fire488 who either lives in Canada or the U.S.

[Bo$$]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Yeah - tell that to fire488 who either lives in Canada or the U.S.

they have it really bad there. i feel sorry for them, but then again we pay more for our stuff as a result.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Welcome to reality. While they may call you a valued customer, behind closed doors they could really care less and will continue to laugh their way to the bank while they leave you in the shit. your error is spending almost $9,000.00 on Asus gear.

though to be fair, their support department used to be a lot better then this but over the years its just gone way downhill.

Yeah I'm not naive, but I guess I was hoping for loyalty.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Yeah - tell that to fire488 who either lives in Canada or the U.S.

I live in the US.

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by Bo$$

they have it really bad there. i feel sorry for them, but then again we pay more for our stuff as a result.

Actually, I have it pretty good and have much to be thankful for. If you were being sarcastic I'm sorry. LOL

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by Fire488

Yeah I'm not naive, but I guess I was hoping for loyalty.

Good customer service/support is not be confused with 'loyalty'.

loyalty is for the consumer who swears by or endorses a brand/manufacturer or product while they get nothing in return for banging the drum and promoting the parties that are involved,

Its pretty fucked up how Asus just fobbed you off. despite Newegg saying there was a 3 year warranty.

and whats even more funny is that even on Asus's website it claims the Xense comes with 3 year warranty

ASUS audio device will carry 3 year limited warranty in most territories. ASUS product warranty is based on the serial number printed. Certain countries will offer extended warranty coverage.

Keyword being 'MOST' territories.

You should call into their call center or email them and pretend to be a new customer who is interested in buying a Xense and doesnt already own one. Query them about their product specs first - configurations etc etc then turn the conversation around to warranties and find out which territories apply. Because Im 99.9% sure that it should apply in the U.S as there is such a large consumer base.

once you get confirmation. contact the rep who was dealing with your support claim and quote what the other rep said and also whats shown on their website.

If this rep still refuses to co-operate then you have a court case on your hands if you so wish it.

Asus will settle out of court as it would take them too much time and money to train up someone to fight the case.


Dont let them fuck you about and stonewall you,

[Fire488]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Good customer service/support is not be confused with 'loyalty'.

loyalty is for the consumer who swears by or endorses a brand/manufacturer or product while they get nothing in return for banging the drum and promoting the parties that are involved,

Its pretty fucked up how Asus just fobbed you off. despite Newegg saying there was a 3 year warranty.

and whats even more funny is that even on Asus's website it claims the Xense comes with 3 year warranty



Keyword being 'MOST' territories.

You should call into their call center or email them and pretend to be a new customer who is interested in buying a Xense and doesnt already own one. Query them about their product specs first - configurations etc etc then turn the conversation around to warranties and find out which territories apply. Because Im 99.9% sure that it should apply in the U.S as there is such a large consumer base.

once you get confirmation. contact the rep who was dealing with your support claim and quote what the other rep said and also whats shown on their website.

If this rep still refuses to co-operate then you have a court case on your hands if you so wish it.

Asus will settle out of court as it would take them too much time and money to train up someone to fight the case.


Dont let them fuck you about and stonewall you,

I know the difference , but I guess I am just disappointed in them.

I will NOT let up on this as I have plenty of time. This is wrong and needs to be addressed. ASUS is wrong and if i let it go it ruins it for all of us. I won't let you (or myself) down!