Companies, Brand Loyalty, and Warranty

[jaypro]

Okay here are two scenarios that have happened to me, and two almost opposite results

A little backstory: My brother is a crazy Razer fan, and though I wasn't originally, the way I've seen their support being handled changes my opinion on them greatly.

My brother's, while removing the cable from his Razer Mamba, forgot that there is a button to release the cable, and just tried to yank it out, breaking it.

In an attempt to help him, I gathered up all of his Razer gear (mouse, mousepad, laptop mouse, keyboard, and headset), snapped a picture, and sent an email to Razer support, saying something like this:

I broke my cable to my Razer Mamba. I'm a super loyal Razer supporter, and attached is a picture of all my Razer gear. Is it possible for you to replace this cable? I know that I am at fault for breaking it, but it'd be nice to not have to buy another $100 mouse.

A couple days later, a new cable came in the mail along with a note that said that they had a hard time finding the cable which is why it took 2 days to get to me, and thanked me for being a Razer gamer.

Now my backstory: When I built my rig, I was a big fan of corsair. I use a corsair mouse, keyboard, headset, computer case, mousepad, CPU cooler, case fans, power supply. (m60, k60, h1sa, 650d, h100i, sp120 pwm, af140s, hx650, cx600m)

My Corsair H100i pump breaks, so I send it in for RMA. It takes about a week for a response, which was an automated response anyway, telling me to ship it to X address and put RMA number on the package. ~$10 to ship package.

Another week passes, and they tell me that my RMA cannot be processed because I did not include the cooling fans for my H100i. Every RMA I've ever experienced has been to just include the defective part, not the entire product, but apparently Corsair says that their warranty policy was broken because I did not include the fans.

This was the link I was given for Corsair's warranty policy: http://www.corsair.com/en/support/warranty/

I challenge someone to find in there something that mentions including accessories in an RMA.

Anyways, I'm forced to comply and ship my AIO cooler fans to Corsair. Another $8 to ship.

Another 10 days pass, even though the package shipped in 2, according to my tracking from UPS, and Corsair replies that my RMA can still not be processed. This one was kind of my fault, but it is still asinine on their part.

Rather than shipping the stock H100i Fans, the SP120L or whatever, I had forgotten and shipped the fans that I was actually using on my cooler, which were Corsair SP120 PWM fans. (Still Corsair fans XD)

Now, Corsair is asking for me to pay return shipping for the incorrect fans I shipped them, and still asking me to ship the SP120L fans to them, costing me another $15 dollars, which will bring the total I've spent trying to RMA my defective H100i to over $30.

Note the difference between the two stories. Razer: My fault for broken hardware, they send out fix free anyway.

Corsair: Not my fault, need to spend $30 and 5 weeks.

The point of my experience is this question below:

What would you think about if companies had you register all of your products you purchased from them, so when you ask for support, they can see that you are a loyal and more importantly, frequent customer, so they don't treat you like garbage.

[Jagris]

..... I just ordered a h100i... I now regret it after this story... Corsair's water coolers are fantastic but customer support really sells me. I just bought my hard drives from Amazon instead of Newegg, while Newegg had it 10 dollars cheaper, because Amazon's return policy and my experience with them is so much better. I ordered a rubics cube a few months ago and I got energy pills. The sent me a full refund and it took a day to appear in my account.

 

I work customer support. Sometimes I feel like the company does well, other times not. I assume it is the same with all companies. Part of the Razer thing is definitely the loyalty. If someone calls in to where I work if they use us a lot (I can see everything they have ever done with us since 2008.) They get free stuff out the wahzoo. If someone calls in and they don't use us that much they get far less help. Not because we don't appreciate them but because a lot of them are trying to play the system to get free stuff.

[jaypro]

Not because we don't appreciate them but because a lot of them are trying to play the system to get free stuff.

This. This exactly.  Buying alot of their stuff and showing that one of them has gone bad proves to them that we aren't just gaming the system for some free stuff.

[vanwazltoff]

I had to RMA a Western Digital HDD over a year ago, gave me brand new product and even upgraded me to the next size up (I had a 1.5TB, they gave me 2TB) in less than a week. I was very happy about that.

[ThunderShark]

I would have no problem registering the products for that reason. Customer loyalty is good and it is nice when the company rewards people for it

[MrMurphysLaw]

I had to RMA a Western Digital HDD over a year ago, gave me brand new product and even upgraded me to the next size up (I had a 1.5TB, they gave me 2TB) in less than a week. I was very happy about that.

 

i thought WD sends back refurbs when you rma

[vanwazltoff]

i thought WD sends back refurbs when you rma

Nope, it was brand new, manufactured the in the same month i got it

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

I'm one of those people who don't mind spending an extra buck for a company who stands behind their products ie- have great customer support.

 

I had earlier submitted an RMA request for my dead 600T SE fans controller but it had been over a month and no response, despite me bumpinng it up and requesting a follow up on Corsairs FB page. In the end I wound up closing that ticket and creating a new one, but this time I created a forum post regarding it. Voila, within 2 days I found myself a 600T on my doorstep. Corsair is still pretty much the same although I feel my RMA ticket had some bad luck to it, although it did turn out allright in the end. Regarding their policy- I don't blame them as some customers may have a thing of not sending in attached accessory which came in with the product, and every not sent in accessory means a smaller chance to diagnose the problem and means higher costs for them to make a new one instead of putting the working add ons back in it.

 

Now to the question- I would not prefer that, as that would lead to new customers/ customers who don't buy that often and have few of their products recieving crappy customer care. All customers should be treated equally. [Although I can see your point for frequent, brand loyal customers]

 

PS- Kind of suprising to see Razer getting a good mouth for customer support! In most of the reviews I've read, they are generally the worst for that but a few of the newer reviews on forums and products seem to be generally changing that view in my mind :)

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

I'm one of those people who don't mind spending an extra buck for a company who stands behind their products ie- have great customer support.

 

I had earlier submitted an RMA request for my dead 600T SE fans controller but it had been over a month and no response, despite me bumpinng it up and requesting a follow up on Corsairs FB page. In the end I wound up closing that ticket and creating a new one, but this time I created a forum post regarding it. Voila, within 2 days I found myself a 600T on my doorstep. Corsair is still pretty much the same although I feel my RMA ticket had some bad luck to it, although it did turn out allright in the end. Regarding their policy- I don't blame them as some customers may have a thing of not sending in attached accessory which came in with the product, and every not sent in accessory means a smaller chance to diagnose the problem and means higher costs for them to make a new one instead of putting the working add ons back in it.

 

Now to the question- I would not prefer that, as that would lead to new customers/ customers who don't buy that often and have few of their products recieving crappy customer care. All customers should be treated equally. [Although I can see your point for frequent, brand loyal customers]

 

PS- Kind of suprising to see Razer getting a good mouth for customer support! In most of the reviews I've read, they are generally the worst for that but a few of the newer reviews on forums and products seem to be generally changing that view in my mind :)

 

Edit- Yikes! I seemed to have double posted! My sincerest apologies!

[Ssoele]

EVGA send me a new GTX 590... 2X! :D

[idipss]

Ordered a Motherboard from amazon, delivery company were taking ages to deliver it, phoned them up and their response was they never received it from amazon, so I phoned up amazon who said they had sent it off but then apologised for the delay and sent me another one which I received the very next day even though I phoned them at 8pm. 

 

Can't forget Apple as well, iPhone couldn't pick up signal so I took it in to their genius bar, walked out 5 minutes later with a new iPhone 'as a courtesy' . :D

[ProGearUk]

Okay here are two scenarios that have happened to me, and two almost opposite results

A little backstory: My brother is a crazy Razer fan, and though I wasn't originally, the way I've seen their support being handled changes my opinion on them greatly.

My brother's, while removing the cable from his Razer Mamba, forgot that there is a button to release the cable, and just tried to yank it out, breaking it.

In an attempt to help him, I gathered up all of his Razer gear (mouse, mousepad, laptop mouse, keyboard, and headset), snapped a picture, and sent an email to Razer support, saying something like this:

I broke my cable to my Razer Mamba. I'm a super loyal Razer supporter, and attached is a picture of all my Razer gear. Is it possible for you to replace this cable? I know that I am at fault for breaking it, but it'd be nice to not have to buy another $100 mouse.

A couple days later, a new cable came in the mail along with a note that said that they had a hard time finding the cable which is why it took 2 days to get to me, and thanked me for being a Razer gamer.

Now my backstory: When I built my rig, I was a big fan of corsair. I use a corsair mouse, keyboard, headset, computer case, mousepad, CPU cooler, case fans, power supply. (m60, k60, h1sa, 650d, h100i, sp120 pwm, af140s, hx650, cx600m)

My Corsair H100i pump breaks, so I send it in for RMA. It takes about a week for a response, which was an automated response anyway, telling me to ship it to X address and put RMA number on the package. ~$10 to ship package.

Another week passes, and they tell me that my RMA cannot be processed because I did not include the cooling fans for my H100i. Every RMA I've ever experienced has been to just include the defective part, not the entire product, but apparently Corsair says that their warranty policy was broken because I did not include the fans.

This was the link I was given for Corsair's warranty policy: http://www.corsair.com/en/support/warranty/

I challenge someone to find in there something that mentions including accessories in an RMA.

Anyways, I'm forced to comply and ship my AIO cooler fans to Corsair. Another $8 to ship.

Another 10 days pass, even though the package shipped in 2, according to my tracking from UPS, and Corsair replies that my RMA can still not be processed. This one was kind of my fault, but it is still asinine on their part.

Rather than shipping the stock H100i Fans, the SP120L or whatever, I had forgotten and shipped the fans that I was actually using on my cooler, which were Corsair SP120 PWM fans. (Still Corsair fans XD)

Now, Corsair is asking for me to pay return shipping for the incorrect fans I shipped them, and still asking me to ship the SP120L fans to them, costing me another $15 dollars, which will bring the total I've spent trying to RMA my defective H100i to over $30.

Note the difference between the two stories. Razer: My fault for broken hardware, they send out fix free anyway.

Corsair: Not my fault, need to spend $30 and 5 weeks.

The point of my experience is this question below:

What would you think about if companies had you register all of your products you purchased from them, so when you ask for support, they can see that you are a loyal and more importantly, frequent customer, so they don't treat you like garbage.

I always thought that the Razer customer Service was no good. I think that all of the manufacturers should let us register all of our stuff. It would also allow for extended warranties to be obtained by most businesses. I feel for you man.

[ProGearUk]

Ordered a Motherboard from amazon, delivery company were taking ages to deliver it, phoned them up and their response was they never received it from amazon, so I phoned up amazon who said they had sent it off but then apologised for the delay and sent me another one which I received the very next day even though I phoned them at 8pm. 

 

Can't forget Apple as well, iPhone couldn't pick up signal so I took it in to their genius bar, walked out 5 minutes later with a new iPhone 'as a courtesy' . :D

The thing with Apple is that all of the products are so cheaply and badly made they can afford to just give people new ones.

[idipss]

The thing with Apple is that all of the products are so cheaply and badly made they can afford to just give people new ones.

 

:huh:

[ProGearUk]

:huh:

It is so true. I don't use my phone much so I got a particularly average Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and that thing has fallen down a flight of Marble stairs with only a scratch to show for it.

[qwertywarrior]

warranty is an invisible blanket

loyalty is a delusion

[eshbop]

TBH you screwed up in not sending them the fans in the first place, then again in sending them the wrong fans. Chances are they are going to send you a new unit, the way you'd buy it from a shop. The fans aren't accessories, they are part of the product, you can't use them without it (unless you buy other fans of course). I didn't keep my PSU cables (or zip ties for that matter) when I needed to RMA it.

 

I've RMA'd with Corsair before and it took about a week from requesting RMA on their forum to getting the replacement.

 

Anyway, to the question.

 

I don't think how much money you've given a company should mean you get preferential treatment. If you've bought something and it's happened to go bad you should just be thrown on a waiting list like anyone else, no matter how much it cost. If I buy 10 things from 'XYZ' it's not because I'm being loyal, it's because I like their product.

[grayperview]

I RMA'd 2GB pair of RAM sticks back to corsair after one of the stick had failed. it had been in my PC for 3 years...they sent me a new pair within 2 weeks...can't argue with that.

[BrapYeah]

Well I feel ordered an M65 off of corsair website a couple weeks back. I couldn't find the mouse any cheaper on other websites (always $69.99) but RIGHT after I ordered it (on a Friday evening) I sent an email to support with all the information asking for the order to be cancelled and refunded. I explained that I'm in Canada and I found the mouse on NCIX for cheaper shipping and I wouldn't have to worry about potential brokerage fees. Needless to say, Monday I got an email saying that the mouse was shipped out. I thought fine whatever, if there are brokerage fees I'll just refuse it from UPS. I called corsair Monday just to make sure my plan would work, and I'm not sure he may of been having a bad day or what, but he was rude, had me on hold a long time (not that I really mind) but ticked me off most, afterwards, didn't say good bye, thanks for calling, have a good day or ANYTHING. He's in frigging sales!

Just kind of erked me as I thought they were one of the "good" customer support people

[TB-303]

Pretty much everything that can be in my system, is Corsair. I have had 2 H80i's break, the first got replaced and the second time I got no response. I really think Corsair have failed to sort out the problems with the H80i/H100i and should have recalled the products a long time ago to save a lot of customers headaches. In the end I bought a Xigmatec Dark Knight for £30 which nearly matches performance of the H80i.

 

I think generally customer service that you get from computer part vendors is a lot better than most other sectors.

[jaypro]

TBH you screwed up in not sending them the fans in the first place, then again in sending them the wrong fans. Chances are they are going to send you a new unit, the way you'd buy it from a shop. The fans aren't accessories, they are part of the product, you can't use them without it (unless you buy other fans of course). I didn't keep my PSU cables (or zip ties for that matter) when I needed to RMA it.

 

I've RMA'd with Corsair before and it took about a week from requesting RMA on their forum to getting the replacement.

 

Anyway, to the question.

 

I don't think how much money you've given a company should mean you get preferential treatment. If you've bought something and it's happened to go bad you should just be thrown on a waiting list like anyone else, no matter how much it cost. If I buy 10 things from 'XYZ' it's not because I'm being loyal, it's because I like their product.

 

I can understand what your coming from, but they make zero mention of it anywhere on their warranty policy, which I read over multiple times.  I decided not to ship the fans because I did not want them to not give me fans back.  For example, here is XFX's RMA Policy:

 

Only the faulty item is required. Please do not send any accessories (including games,

cables, manuals, etc.) originally supplied with the product. Such items and the package

used to ship the product in are recycled and will not be returned. All replacements are

sent in non-retail packaging with only the product included. This includes modular

power cables for power supplies, only the core PSU unit is needed.

 

If Corsair did something similar, which I have no way of knowing because they have no form of viable support communication, then I would end up with no fans.

 

I don't consider posting on their forums and hoping an employee sees it as a viable form of communication.

 

Another thing that seems to be comparable: If you had to RMA your CPU, do you think Intel would be asking for your stock cooler?

[eshbop]

I can understand what your coming from, but they make zero mention of it anywhere on their warranty policy, which I read over multiple times.  I decided not to ship the fans because I did not want them to not give me fans back.  For example, here is XFX's RMA Policy:

 

 

If Corsair did something similar, which I have no way of knowing because they have no form of viable support communication, then I would end up with no fans.

 

I don't consider posting on their forums and hoping an employee sees it as a viable form of communication.

Yeah fair enough i guess.

 

The forum is actually really good. There are a couple of guys that will reply to your RMA request/questions within a day.

[Ghost]

I don't think your warranty should be treated differently if you are a "fan boy".

 

Sure, they can send you gifts if you are but not treat you differently as a customer.

[jaypro]

Yeah fair enough i guess.

 

The forum is actually really good. There are a couple of guys that will reply to your RMA request/questions within a day.

Yeah next time I'll be sure to ask anything I'm unsure of to their forums or try everything I can to get a human answer to my question.

 

This only happened because I assumed that the worst case scenario for not shipping my fans to them was that they would "open" the box and take out the fans that I already had before shipping.  I never expected them to ask me to ship the fans before accepting the RMA.

[jaypro]

I don't think your warranty should be treated differently if you are a "fan boy".

 

Sure, they can send you gifts if you are but not treat you differently as a customer.

I'm not trying to say it is like preferential treatment to fan boys.

I'm trying to make the argument that because you bought a lot of stuff from them, it is less likely that you are trying to take advantage of the warranty and trying to game the system.