My Experience with XFX Germany and the 7850

[Needalight]

Well, where do I start? Before I moved to Germany I left all my things at home. I gave away my laptop to my dad and I never really owned a real computer, so I decided to build one here in Germany. It was a slow process since I didnt really know what I was doing. After a month of consulting with people on the internet, everything looked fine and I got to ordering the parts. I guess my only mistake was ordering the XFX Double Dissipation 7850 (discontinued) that was on sale for only 103€! The card was actually very good at the start. It played every game I threw at it and it was really quiet. 3 months later, while I was dusting my computer, I noticed the right fan wasnt spinning anymore. I thought maybe there was some dirt stuck in there but after cleaning it with some canned air, it was still stuck. I applied my RMA via Notebooksbilliger and sent my card out....it eventually got to XFX Germany and the card was stuck there for 50 days! After 50 days I get a response saying that my card wasnt able to get fixed and unfortunately they wouldnt even be able to offer me a replacement. (expected since it was discontinued) 50 days though...I guess XFX Germany is so backed up with the defected fans that one has to wait 50 days to get their hardware checked. CRAP...at least im in the process of getting my money returned..

 

 

On Saturday I bought an MSI R9 270 and I CANT wait for that BABY. It cost me 145€ and it came with a silver reward! 

 

Well, what can I say. Try to stay away from XFX in Germany. They take a long time, and I hear their GPU fans fail after a few months...

[Jobbe03]

Can't judge a company by one bad experience. My XFX 6950 is still being used in an htpc and has been running for like 3 or 4 years now.

[Katsu-K1L]

Wait how can something in germany be bad... O_o this world is starting to get weird

[ForsakenLive]

I had great experiences with XFX cards, you can't really judge them for one bad product.

Manufacturer support varies between countries, where I live MSI will never help you, but Sapphire has a lot of customer attention.

[AllTernative]

Wait how can something in germany be bad... O_o this world is starting to get weird

I don't think they were manufactured here.

[Katsu-K1L]

I don't think they were manufactured here.

Not the card lol but XFX Taking 50 damn days lol

[Needalight]

I don't think they were manufactured here.

 

 

The XFX agent told me it was made in CHINA.

[AllTernative]

The XFX agent told me it was made in CHINA.

 

Yeah, manufacturing in germany (or USA, etc..) would be way to expensive.

[Needalight]

Can't judge a company by one bad experience. My XFX 6950 is still being used in an htpc and has been running for like 3 or 4 years now.

 

I read a lot of stuff about fans breaking in XFX cards. Mine happened to break after I read all those reviews. The fact that they took 50 days to update my RMA is a good reason to stay away. If I buy XFX again and have problems in the future with another one of their products, then I know I have to wait a long time. 

[flibberdipper]

This seems like more of a rant or warning...

[Needalight]

This seems like more of a rant or warning...

 

 

Yes, it could have gone on a better section. SORRY.  

[flibberdipper]

Yes, it could have gone on a better section. SORRY.

You're okay.

 

But, it does stink with the luck that you had with XFX over in Germany. Hope MSI will treat you better if you ever have to deal with them.

[FloRolf]

Fan broke=card broke

Xfx logic!

[Tacitus]

That probably applies to the rest of Europe then too. I have heard XFX are one of the less reputable GPU companies, while one of the best for PSUs. Strange.

 

At any rate, I hope you have a better experience with the MSI card

[ShadowCaptain]

@Needalight

 

As far as I know in germany (much like the UK) if a product is faulty within the first 6 months of purcahse you can take it back to the seller/retailer and they are responsible for issuing a repair/replacement

 

You do not have to RMA things under warranty when you can go back to the retailer for a replacement

 

It works like that here in the UK and as far as I know in germany too

 

I bet if you took into into store/contacted retailer they would have refunded/replaced the card there and then

[Hyrikan]

@Needalight

 

As far as I know in germany (much like the UK) if a product is faulty within the first 6 months of purcahse you can take it back to the seller/retailer and they are responsible for issuing a repair/replacement

 

You do not have to RMA things under warranty when you can go back to the retailer for a replacement

 

It works like that here in the UK and as far as I know in germany too

 

I bet if you took into into store/contacted retailer they would have refunded/replaced the card there and then

 

He's basically right although the timeframe is even longer: "Gesetzliche Gewährleistung" which is a legally mandated form of warranty that every distributor has to offer lasts for 2 years. In this two years the seller of the product is your contact, he has to handle all the RMA with the manufacturer. In the first half year it's really easy, since the manufacturer/reseller has to prove that you purposely or negligent damaged the product if he wants to refuse a RMA. After that you'll, at least by law, actually have to prove that the problem that led to the RMA wasn't caused by you, although most big manufacturers will RMA anyways.

Furthermore there is a reasonable time frame in which a RMA has to be procedured - many courts have ruled it to be between 2-4 weeks. IF that time passes you can give your contact an ultimatum and they have to react or even compensate you for your inconvience.

A common problem I encounter in Germany quite often is that the companies try to get away with bad service much more than they do for example in the USA. You just have to "threaten" them and they will usually get off their butt quite fast.

[ShadowCaptain]

He's basically right although the timeframe is even longer: "Gesetzliche Gewährleistung" which is a legally mandated form of warranty that every distributor has to offer lasts for 2 years. In this two years the seller of the product is your contact, he has to handle all the RMA with the manufacturer. In the first half year it's really easy, since the manufacturer/reseller has to prove that you purposely or negligent damaged the product if he wants to refuse a RMA. After that you'll, at least by law, actually have to prove that the problem that led to the RMA wasn't caused by you, although most big manufacturers will RMA anyways.

Furthermore there is a reasonable time frame in which a RMA has to be procedured - many courts have ruled it to be between 2-4 weeks. IF that time passes you can give your contact an ultimatum and they have to react or even compensate you for your inconvience.

A common problem I encounter in Germany quite often is that the companies try to get away with bad service much more than they do for example in the USA. You just have to "threaten" them and they will usually get off their butt quite fast.

 

Yeah this is the same as the UK, some products have up to 6 years here, mostly electronics, but generally you need an engineer report that proves the fault was manufacturer defect and not user caused

 

"reasonable time" has no specifics but generally longer than 28 days is normally deemed longer than reasonable

[Hyrikan]

Yeah this is the same as the UK, some products have up to 6 years here, mostly electronics, but generally you need an engineer report that proves the fault was manufacturer defect and not user caused

 

"reasonable time" has no specifics but generally longer than 28 days is normally deemed longer than reasonable

 

We have products with longer warranties, too, but these are deliberate warranties that the manufacturer offers to "advertise" his product.

Reasonable time is not really specified in any law text, but I know of quite a number of court rulings where 4 weeks (which correlates to your 28 days) was ruled to be the maximum time frame you'll have to wait for a RMA. After that you have the right to choose between a new product or a refund.

[Needalight]

Notebooksbilliger didnt even bother with the product. They said that they didnt have any technicians that could repair the card so they just sent it out to XFX. Im not sure why I wasnt offered a refund from the start..I would have been fine with some store credit from the start but it doesnt matter now. My new card is from Mindfactory and their gold service looks pretty promising! If i have any problems, apparently I can just send the old product back and wait for a replacement as long as it doesnt exceed 6 months. 

[Hyrikan]

Notebooksbilliger didnt even bother with the product. They said that they didnt have any technicians that could repair the card so they just sent it out to XFX. Im not sure why I wasnt offered a refund from the start..I would have been fine with some store credit from the start but it doesnt matter now. My new card is from Mindfactory and their gold service looks pretty promising! If i have any problems, apparently I can just send the old product back and wait for a replacement as long as it doesnt exceed 6 months. 

 

Mindfactory is generally just really awesome. To notebooksbilliger: They don't have to repair the card or refund you directly, but they have to ensure the RMA process takes place in a timely manner.