MSI's RMA service [UK/EU]

[Liam-McShane]

This will be a review on MSI's RMA service for UK and possible EU customers. This is my first review ever so criticism will be welcome. Let's get started with my story shall we.

 

So just over a month ago i was starting to have problems with my Twin Frozr III 7870 (see here:  http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/76785-somethings-wrong/ ). After discovering the the problem was my GPU I set about contacting MSI for an RMA request. I went onto MSI's UK webpage and found the RMA section. It had information about replacing a motherboard only and i couldn't find anything about replacing a graphics card. So i did what MSI said i should do for motherboards and contacted my re-seller (OCUK). I made a request with them and i sent the card off the next day. I should note at this point that all the packaging and accessories that came with the card had to be sent off too. A couple of days later and they received the, tested it, found it was faulty and then sent it off to MSI.

 

So a few weeks pass and no news so i contacted my re-seller for an update. Turns out there was no way for the re-seller to contact MSI so i just had to wait it out. Eventually my card arrives three and a half weeks later. I take it out of the protective box to find the card had arrived in an MSI branded box with only the card and some foam. I was disappointed to find that i didn't get an official box with all the accessories included like the one i had sent off. Because of this i feel that card has now lost some of its re-sale value. It's not a massive deal, i know. 

 

Removing the anti-static bag i find the card has a fair few scratches on the shroud, again not a big deal but it is annoying. I insert the card and screw in the top screw. When i move down onto the bottom screw i discover the metal bracket doesn't line up with my case. I take the card out again and find the bracket is bent. Thanks again MSI. I could live with this as at least one of the two screws fits but i was starting to realize the card may not have been looked after too well. ( I will take pictures if you want).

 

The card is now installed, i power on the PC and the screen turns on and i have an image. Great! I test to see if the issue i was having with my old card was solved with this "new" card and it was. Time to fire up some games. Playing some games i notice the card is much louder than my old one. I check the temperature. It reads 83c. Toasty considering my old card never went above 72c. I figure replacing the thermal paste is my best bet. So i remove the heatsink and this is what i discover: 

 

 

Guess the technician was feeling generous. 

 

Cleaning the GPU i found more evidence the card had been poorly looked after: 

 

 

If you can't make the picture out the contact patch on the heatsink was scratched to hell and so was the GPU, which i couldn't get a picture off because it was too shiny but take my word for it.

 

So i spent ages removing the thermal paste and eventually replaced it with some Noctua NT-H1 (Good stuff). I fired up MSI Kombustor to produce as much heat as possible. It reads 58c after 5 minutes with a room temp of 19c. Impressive. (I will post a picture if you wish).

 

So to sum up. It should be easier to find out how to submit an RMA request instead of me guessing. There should be a way of contacting MSI directly instead of going through the re-seller. It would be easier for the customer and the re-seller if that was the case. I will assume MSI do this so they don't have to test the card although by judging how long it took they probably tested it. 

 

Their service should and could be faster than it was from my experience. From reading around i have discovered others have had issues with MSI's RMA but this to be taken with a grain of salt as people often speak only when something is wrong.

 

My replacement card has cosmetic damage which is something to be expected however a bent bracket is not. The thermal paste application was pathetic and i was lucky my room is always cool otherwise i may have had overheating issues. Just to clarify my old card had a good application which leads me to believe it was an RMA technician that did a half-arsed job.

 

There was no way of contacting MSI during the RMA phase. It took three and a half weeks for my replacement to arrive. My replacement was clearly badly looked after but works. Overall i would say i am incredibly disappointed in MSI for this. I know it could have been worse but it also could have been better.

 

Feel free to share you RMA experiences below.

 

Thank you reading 

[lachyman]

Hope I won't have to go trough so much sh*t when I'll be RMA'ing my board which has a faulty PCI-e slot. Did they just repair your card or sent a new piece?

[Liam-McShane]

Hope I won't have to go trough so much sh*t when I'll be RMA'ing my board which has a faulty PCI-e slot. Did they just repair your card or sent a new piece?

It doesn't appear to be my old card. I would be shocked if it was new considering the cosmetic damage of the card they sent to me. 

[lachyman]

It doesn't appear to be my old card. I would be shocked if it was considering the cosmetic damage of the card they sent to me.

Well that would mean they just send "trash" from their factories as replacements, basically the ones that should've been wasted bacause they didn't pass the tests. Well if I get a new piece as a replacement and it won't come in the official retail box with all the accessories like the one I originally bought or there will be any flaw, I will just return it, it's basically a "new" product so I should be able to return it in 14 days (not sure) and say FU to MSI and go with Asus or Gigabyte.

[exyia]

shame, my MSi US RMA experience was fine

 

don't feel like typing up a story, but had to RMA a brand new 670 Twin Frozr (earlier this year, before 7 series came out). I called for a status update halfway through the week, didn't get much help. Just decided to wait it out and see what happens rather than stress about it - I got a brand new card WITH full accessories (pretty much a whole new boxed product). They stated on the website to only ship the card and that any accessories weren't garuanteed to be shipped back. Even if I got a new card replacement, I was not expecting a whole retail box with everything.

 

So even though their online status service and their phone service was "meh", I ended up taken care of in a timely manner.

[Altecice]

This is why I would only buy from a few company's.

 

AMD = Asus

Nvidia = EVGA (Had to RMA my old 680gtx to them, they sent me an upgraded version to match, very impressive)

 

they may be more expensive than other brands but you get longer warranty and the best RMA service.

[WCKda]

I also had problems with MSI's RMA service (Canada). Sent in my card to simply get one of the fans fixed because it was making an awful sound. They gave me a different card in return with damaged fins and heat issues. I sent it back again and received another card still with damaged fins, scratches, and heat issues. I gave up after that because shipping costs were eating away at my funds.

[R4STABAN]

Not too impressive. Gigabyte are the best generally for UK RMA, along with KFA2 (galaxy). Other brands such as Asus, palit etc you can expect to be waiting for months rofl

[lachyman]

OP, one more question please, did you get your replacement from OCUK or straight from MSI?

[Liam-McShane]

OP, one more question please, did you get your replacement from OCUK or straight from MSI?

I had to go through OCUK and the card came directly from MSI to OCUK and then OCUK to me

[lachyman]

I had to go through OCUK and the card came directly from MSI to OCUK and then OCUK to me

Why did you accept it then? I don't know about UK laws, but here if you get a new product as a replacement, you can return it in 2 weeks and you have rights for a full refund. That should be stressed even more if your card is faulty right out of the box. I am curious how will my RMA go, because I am thinking of returning the board when I get the replacement and pick up a higher end model because the prices went down, and I will surely do that if I get a refurb in random packaging.

[Luke]

The person i bought my Asus 7970 DirectCU II from told me he originally had a Asus reference 7970 that he RMA'd and got this back. He hadn't even opened the box or tested the card so i got to unbox it and it was literally brand new. All original packaging and had the plastic on the card without a spec of dust, fingerprint or scratch. That (for me at least) is enough reason to choose Asus over other brands (assuming they are all around the same price).

[old reece frost]

Sounds terrible, if this happened to me, I would never buy an MSI product again.

[MdX MaxX]

It's a shame that most of the big graphics card brands tend to have some pathetic RMA services.  It's not reasonable to have someone waiting a month for a graphics card...

 

I'm glad EVGA's service is top-notch (I don't know how it is in the UK but in the US EVGA is spectacular).  If I drop a lump of cash on a high-end water-cooled SLI setup sometime in the future, I'll likely stick with EVGA cards.

[WereCat]

My MoBo is in RMA right now for almost 4 weeks and I still havent got any update. After reading this I hope that nothing bad will happen with it. In my country there is law that if you wont receive product that you RMA untill 30 days then you should be able to ask your money back. So after such long waiting I hope that I will be able to claim my money so that I can get something from gigabyte.

On the other hand - Lord praise Fractal RMA service!