Yea I wouldn't doubt if people aren't at least a little hesitant in purchasing this with regards to the backlash surrounding ASUS customer service. The bad press has come at an unfortunate time for ASUS.
Eh that's kinda different. The 7000 series CPUs are horrible value against Raptor Lake esp when you factor in the AM5 chipset upgrade. RDNA3 may not be impressive but makes up for it in value and more importantly (hopefully) availability.
Even if Nvidia lowers the 4080 to $999 to match, you still have to deal with the shitty 12vhpwr connector. So add a few hundred to upgrade to ATX 3.0, cablemod 90 deg adapter, or custom PSU cables.
I'd much rather go with the 7900 XTX if the pricing is similar.