Corsair Warranty (Australia)

[d33g33]

Hi everyone, I thought I might bring this up for anyone in Australia that owns a Corsair product.

 

I own a K95, bought in October last year. I just had the LED die underneath the 'G9' key, no biggy, not even annoying but its under warranty so why not get it replaced right?

 

I contact Corsair, they ask me for a receipt for proof of purchase, no problem fine sirs here it is and my RMA gets approved with a shipping label and RMA number provided.

 

One second. Location to return the defective keyboard is Hong Kong? That's not going to be cheap... I email them asking if there is an AU distributor that the keyboard can be returned to to which they advise there is not. I then explain that I didn't purchase the product overseas, so I dont see why I should be expected to pay return shipping overseas for the RMA, I would have happily paid for domestic shipping, but international, no way!

 

Anyways, they came back and said as a "one time exception" they will organise the return shipping for me. If anyone is logging an RMA from Australia and they say send it back to somewhere international, I strongly recommend you question why you should.

 

If I had bought something off Amazon (USA) and it was defective I can completely understand that is on me, but to purchase a product in Australia and then be expected to pay international return shipping costs for a RMA is unacceptable in my opinion. If there are any Corsair reps on this forum i'd love to hear from you because that's atrocious. God help anyone that something like a built in fan controller on a case or even a set of Corsair speakers and be told to send the whole lot back to Hong Kong.

 

Anyways, if you're in Australia, and you need to RMA, and they tell you to pay return shipping, fight it. Fight it hard. I feel sorry for any poor people that have accepted this and already paid international shipping fees for RMA

 

If I have any issues from now on Corsair I'm telling you now, ill be logging them under my parents address, my sisters address, my work address, because I will never be paying an international shipping fee to return a faulty device.

[SirRoderick]

I feel like this goes for a lot of companies, a lot of time you can negotiate them taking the cost of the shipping. It pays to be polite but assertive in those matters.

[ShadowCaptain]

RMA

 

 

One thing I always do first is contact the retailer first. They can often take the product back and send it off to the company on your behalf. Not always possible I know but definately something worth attempting.

 

I believe in most countries the retailer is legally obligated to organise this for you. I have never had to personally RMA a defective product back to the retailer. I just call up the store and go "excuse me this is broken" and they organise a replacment/refund immediately. They then send the stock back to the manufacturer themselves later (I used to do this where I worked too, we did a whole pallet or 2 of returns once a week)

 

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/corporate/media/statements/2011/August/Retailers_must_deal_with_warra.html

 

“Retailers should not be directing customers with a warranty claim to the manufacturer direct, it is their clear responsibility to offer a remedy in the form of a replacement or refund if there is a major fault and repair if it is a minor fault,” Ms Driscoll said.

 

“Consumers should not allow sellers of the faulty item to fob them off to the manufacturer. Their contract is with the trader who is obliged to remedy the problem.

[Blackterror25]

I've sent back my corsair vengeance 1500 and had to send it to the Netherlands (I'm from Belgium), so not to bad. But I also only had to pay for sending the headset.

 

I've had to send back my Nokia Lumia a couple of months ago and Nokia payed for everything, shipping it to them, and returning it. UPS even came to my house to pick up the phone.

[Guest]

You go back to the store you bought it from in Australia. Legally we have to accept you bringing it back to us for the duration of the warranty. However with that being said, displays, laptops and most networking equipment - go to the disti or manufacturer. Laptops and displays are a lot quicker through the disti or manufacturer and with networking equipment, if they can't troubleshoot it over the phone, they'll send you back to the store.  For that keyboard, hit up Altech - http://www.altech.com.au/default.aspx or better yet, the store you bought it from. Just curious - who was it? 

[jmaster299]

 

One thing I always do first is contact the retailer first. They can often take the product back and send it off to the company on your behalf. Not always possible I know but definately something worth attempting.

 

I believe in most countries the retailer is legally obligated to organise this for you. I have never had to personally RMA a defective product back to the retailer. I just call up the store and go "excuse me this is broken" and they organise a replacment/refund immediately. They then send the stock back to the manufacturer themselves later (I used to do this where I worked too, we did a whole pallet or 2 of returns once a week)

 

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/corporate/media/statements/2011/August/Retailers_must_deal_with_warra.html

 

“Retailers should not be directing customers with a warranty claim to the manufacturer direct, it is their clear responsibility to offer a remedy in the form of a replacement or refund if there is a major fault and repair if it is a minor fault,” Ms Driscoll said.

 

“Consumers should not allow sellers of the faulty item to fob them off to the manufacturer. Their contract is with the trader who is obliged to remedy the problem.

 

That really depends on the county, because in the US that is not at all true. Retailers are under no obligation of any kind to offer returns or replacements, even for defective items. Every retailer has their terms posted on their website, or their receipt for physical stores, and those terms are binding.

There are exceptions though, many credit card companies make it part of their ToS that retailers must offer returns or replacements for a certain amount of time. With most American Express (Amex) cards for example, you have 90 days to return a purchase for a full refund, even if the retailer has a different return policy. In order for a business to be allowed to accept that particular credit card, they have to agree to those terms. So if a retailer is unwilling to work with you, check with your credit card company. Debit cards, as in a card tied directly to your bank account, offer no such protection though.

[ShadowCaptain]

That really depends on the county, because in the US that is not at all true. Retailers are under no obligation of any kind to offer returns or replacements, even for defective items. Every retailer has their terms posted on their website, or their receipt for physical stores, and those terms are binding.

 

 

Thats true, America have very different laws (read shit) but I know Australia, UK and a lot of European countries follow this rule

 

Credit cards are a good idea. I get an extra 2 years warranty when I buy with my credit card so I buy everything with it

[d33g33]

You go back to the store you bought it from in Australia. Legally we have to accept you bringing it back to us for the duration of the warranty. However with that being said, displays, laptops and most networking equipment - go to the disti or manufacturer. Laptops and displays are a lot quicker through the disti or manufacturer and with networking equipment, if they can't troubleshoot it over the phone, they'll send you back to the store.  For that keyboard, hit up Altech - http://www.altech.com.au/default.aspx or better yet, the store you bought it from. Just curious - who was it? 

 

CPL, West Melb. 

 

I'm trying to find the thing but I can't but I'm sure on the product pamphlet that comes with the keyboard say, don't take it back to the store go through us, or something to that regard.

 

I can't see CPL being very helpful I wonder if its worth taking it back there to see... Saves me downtime and saves Corsair ridiculous shipping costs... 

[Nathanv31]

Thanks for the heads up (: might come in handy one day

[Guest]

CPL, West Melb.

I'm trying to find the thing but I can't but I'm sure on the product pamphlet that comes with the keyboard say, don't take it back to the store go through us, or something to that regard.

I can't see CPL being very helpful I wonder if its worth taking it back there to see... Saves me downtime and saves Corsair ridiculous shipping costs...

Force them to take it back for warranty - legally they have to

[Leonard]

Hi everyone, I thought I might bring this up for anyone in Australia that owns a Corsair product.

 

I own a K95, bought in October last year. I just had the LED die underneath the 'G9' key, no biggy, not even annoying but its under warranty so why not get it replaced right?

 

I contact Corsair, they ask me for a receipt for proof of purchase, no problem fine sirs here it is and my RMA gets approved with a shipping label and RMA number provided.

 

One second. Location to return the defective keyboard is Hong Kong? That's not going to be cheap... I email them asking if there is an AU distributor that the keyboard can be returned to to which they advise there is not. I then explain that I didn't purchase the product overseas, so I dont see why I should be expected to pay return shipping overseas for the RMA, I would have happily paid for domestic shipping, but international, no way!

 

Anyways, they came back and said as a "one time exception" they will organise the return shipping for me. If anyone is logging an RMA from Australia and they say send it back to somewhere international, I strongly recommend you question why you should.

 

If I had bought something off Amazon (USA) and it was defective I can completely understand that is on me, but to purchase a product in Australia and then be expected to pay international return shipping costs for a RMA is unacceptable in my opinion. If there are any Corsair reps on this forum i'd love to hear from you because that's atrocious. God help anyone that something like a built in fan controller on a case or even a set of Corsair speakers and be told to send the whole lot back to Hong Kong.

 

Anyways, if you're in Australia, and you need to RMA, and they tell you to pay return shipping, fight it. Fight it hard. I feel sorry for any poor people that have accepted this and already paid international shipping fees for RMA

 

If I have any issues from now on Corsair I'm telling you now, ill be logging them under my parents address, my sisters address, my work address, because I will never be paying an international shipping fee to return a faulty device.

 

 

I feel like this goes for a lot of companies, a lot of time you can negotiate them taking the cost of the shipping. It pays to be polite but assertive in those matters.

Let me make you feeling a surety.

 

This is so for many companies and it is not just for PC parts. This has happened to me so much that i do not bother with purchasing or registering a product unless i contact that company before i purchase the item and make sure i know about the "fine print" of the product warranty. I have stopped purchasing most products in my country as the warranty is almost always some local 6 month warranty with different criteria from the parent company of the product and most of the products do not seem to be first rate products but that is another story. I purchase everything except groceries, utilities and medical from amazon.com and a few other e-tailers that i have had good experiences with.

 

One company that i can say has been exceptional in honoring their warranty is NZXT. I had my i/o LEDs and one fan die on me and i contacted NZXT as they were one of the companies i contacted before i purchased to check they policies and to my amazement they just said to provide proof of purchase, they verified it and bam they sent me replacement parts and explained that if i need help installing the parts to contact them again when i get the parts. I live in the Caribbean and they did not require me to send them any defective part or anything like that.

 

I will purchase from NZXT again and ASUS falls under this relationship as well. Galaxytech has horrible horrible support unless you live in one of the countries that has their subsidiaries. They don't even respond to your e-mails. This is by no means to say that their products and as bad, they make great GPUs.

 

If ever anyone want signatures for petitions about this problem to send to companies or some governing body, just give me a PM i can get about twelve signatures.  

[SirRoderick]

Let me make you feeling a surety.

 

This is so for many companies and it is not just for PC parts. This has happened to me so much that i do not bother with purchasing or registering a product unless i contact that company before i purchase the item and make sure i know about the "fine print" of the product warranty. I have stopped purchasing most products in my country as the warranty is almost always some local 6 month warranty with different criteria from the parent company of the product and most of the products do not seem to be first rate products but that is another story. I purchase everything except groceries, utilities and medical from amazon.com and a few other e-tailers that i have had good experiences with.

 

One company that i can say has been exceptional in honoring their warranty is NZXT. I had my i/o LEDs and one fan die on me and i contacted NZXT as they were one of the companies i contacted before i purchased to check they policies and to my amazement they just said to provide proof of purchase, they verified it and bam they sent me replacement parts and explained that if i need help installing the parts to contact them again when i get the parts. I live in the Caribbean and they did not require me to send them any defective part or anything like that.

 

I will purchase from NZXT again and ASUS falls under this relationship as well. Galaxytech has horrible horrible support unless you live in one of the countries that has their subsidiaries. They don't even respond to your e-mails. This is by no means to say that their products and as bad, they make great GPUs.

 

If ever anyone want signatures for petitions about this problem to send to companies or some governing body, just give me a PM i can get about twelve signatures.  

That sort of thing moves NZXT up on my list for sure.