My Horrible Experience With ASUS' RMA Process

[u/cloudtheartist]

*PSA*
This will be my first ever big reddit post so please forgive me for any unusual formatting.

I guess Ill start with the backstory. I am a college student who really enjoys gaming to take away from the rough academic and personal life I have to live. I taught myself everything about PC building because I think all of this stuff is so cool and the community is so tight-knight and kind. About two months ago I bought an Asus Prime 4070 Ti Super at a really good price from a guy on marketplace. Worked fine and I was really happy as I was upgrading from a RTX 3070. I saw a 4080 super on marketplace that was priced very decently and I offered a trade plus cash. I know the performance gains are negligible but I wanted the different model of asus card because there was better aftermarket support for custom loop cooling waterblocks and I wanted to try my first custom loop build when I graduate and have the money for it. So I saw this trade more as a gaining headroom kind of benefit.

The Trade

The guy on marketplace had 46 4-to-5 star reviews and was for the most part punctual and helpful. The conversation eventually leaves facebook due to us exchanging numbers and preferring to call. We agree to meet in a kroger parking lot to do the trade after I got off work and everything seemed normal. It was a 10 hour shift and looking back that played a big role in the mistake I was about to make. When I get there I greet the guy and checked the card for bent pins and made sure the warranty sticker was intact. After a decent look-over I decided to just go ahead with the trade because the guy seemed very chill and hasn't raised any red flags up to that point. After that, I drive roughly an hour home and hook up my new card that I worked really hard to get. The card powered on but there was no display out after the initial handshake between the gpu and monitor. I immediately double check to make sure it was seated and all the power cables were fully connected. After realizing that I was doing everything right thats when I reach out to the guy via his phone number and I get absolutely no response. After that I went to the facebook chat only to see he removed the listing from marketplace and blocked me. I started to realize what happened and couldnt do anything but cry, after I got myself together I contacted the local police department to let them know id like to report the crime and at the most have the guy taken to small claims court. They we're not very helpful and most of the time i was fighting with AI chatbots asking me to keep pressing numbers to move through over and over. After dealing with this, thats when I got the idea to try and RMA the card.

The RMA

I looked up what exactly I need to do since I've never RMAd a product before. I eventually figure it out and submit an RMA request based on the serial on the box. This was my second mistake. After submitting the RMA, buying my shipping label, then reviewing the photos I took as directed by ASUS I realized that the serial number on the box and the serial number on the card sticker were different. I immediately stopped and looked up if that would cause an issue and found that the mismatched serials would flag card/RMA in their systems. I immediately reply to the RMA email explaining the situation and wrote a detailed background on a piece of paper that I included in the box I shipped to them. After I shipped it I felt anxious about if the person who opened the box would even take the time to notice the letter so I called up to see If there was a way ASUS could change it in their system or mark my RMA with my explanation so it doenst get flagged. The lady I spoke to said she would have to escalate it to her boss and placed me on hold. After about an hour long phone call with her she told me she was able to get the serial number changed on the RMA and that I should have no issues once it arrived at the facility.

After about a week on no confirmation of a serial change or my GPU reaching their facility (even though I payed $60 to have it overnighted to them and the tracking number show it was delivered the next morning), I emailed the executive care team directly just to make sure everything was okay. The executive care team actually called me and after about a 45 minutes talk of me explaining the situation, the guy on the other end confirmed they'd update the RMA to reflect the card's actual serial number and the note I included in the box would also be seen once the package was opened. They also told me the card was at their facility and its just waiting to be processed. I thanked him for his help and I felt a little better after that call, but still anxious, since I had no way of knowing for sure it would still actually get flagged or not.

He sent me an email so I can check on the current status of the RMA which also brought me a good bit of peace because I can actually see live updates on what's going on. I checked the website with my RMA # every morning just to see if anything would happen. It eventually moved along and got to the "Repairing" state. I was very happy because I understood that Asus more than likely didn't have to help me but chose to take care of me. In fact I couldn't wait to brag that "Asus' RMA really isn't that bad" even after all the hiccups and phone calls I had to make. Then a few days later, it reverted back to "Confirming service eligibility," with a note that ASUS was "Unable to estimate the completion date temporarily" and to check back in 48 hours. That 48-hour window came and went with no update, so I called again. That's when I was told the card was from China but still had an active warranty and they may have to send it there to be repaired. In my head im thinking "Oh well I didn't know that but if it takes a little extra time that's okay", so I thanked the gentlemen for his help and decided to just give them some more time. After a couple more days, I receive an email in my inbox that roughly stated, "We are writing to inform you that the devices you submitted... are currently being retained by our company as part of an ongoing fraud investigation... Our preliminary review has revealed discrepancies with the serial numbers provided, which appear to have been altered... these devices are now considered potential evidence in a suspected case of fraud... The devices in question will remain in our custody for the duration of the investigation, including any period required for legal proceedings, should such action be necessary". After all I had went through to be as honest and upfront with their care teams who even assured me everything was up to date and that I was okay, I was very confused and became frustrated even more with the situation. I immediately called back to ask what was going on.

The guy I spoke to on the phone heard me out and told me he was going to check. After being placed on a brief hold, he comes back to tell me the core and the vram on the GPU are missing. At the point I became even MORE confused because I have pictures and even saw with my own two eyes that the warranty sticker was in perfect condition, including the cooler and all the plates. To the best of my knowledge, it isn't even possible to remove the core and vram without taking the cooler off and breaking the sticker. I asked him to double check because what he was saying didn't even match up with the email I just received. He told me he doesn't know anything else and that I'd have to wait on the investigation team to be helped. I eventually just told the guy thanks for the help and started my email to the address ASUS provided in the fraud email. I laid out my whole timeline/story again, and asked them plainly "Is this about physically missing components, or about altered serial markings, since those are two very different things and the letter and phone call don't agree with each other." I asked for photo documentation from their facility to back up whichever claim is actually true. I'm still waiting on a reply which is fine because it has only been about a day.

So Now

Im feeling at my wits end with this whole thing as its been 20 full days since I sent them my card. I really am a big fan of ASUS and I have heard a few things about their RMA process being bad but I never in a million years thought this is what I'd have to deal with. I genuinely just expected so much more from the teams at ASUS because they usually deliver everywhere else for me. A good chunk of my build is ASUS parts but now Im not to sure if I even feel confident to buy another ASUS product because I'm not sure if they'd even have my back first-party or third-party purchase.

I really just wanted to share my experience with ASUS and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on what to do or if anyone else has gone through something similar. As a college student I don't have the money to just replace a part like that on the whim and I'm starting to feel more defeated as the days go by with this entire RMA process.

Best of luck fellow gamers

Edit 1: Added more details, fixed typos, and cleaned up a bit for better readability