Hi, welcome to ASUS, how can we fuck you over?

[Reijin]

If you ever need to go through an RMA... just skip it and pay for a completely new product. You'll save yourself a lot of time and spend the same amount in the end.

Here's a sample of the emails I've had with them (one has a quote of a bunch of them in random order back and forth, other is most recent reply)

(Actually I'll sort it, starting at recent attempt where I just sent all info)

---------- Original Message ----------
From : ***********
Sent : 10/9/2007 9:09:19 AM
To : "tsd@asus.com.tw"
Subject : Motherboard K8N-E Deluxe



[CASEID=WTM20071009859181876]



Apply date : 10/9/2007 8:59:18 AM
[Contact Information]
*Name : *****
*Email Address : *************
Phone Number : *********
City : *********
*Country : United States

[Product Information]
*Product Type : Motherboard
*Product Model : K8N-E Deluxe
*Product S/N : 4AMG045869
Place of Purchase : Newegg
*Date of Purchase : 2004/12/1

[Motherboard Specification]
*Motherboard Revision : K8N-E Deluxe - UAY
*Motherboard BIOS Revision : I can''t say

[VGA Card Specification]
*VGA Card Vendor : XFX
*VGA Card Model : GeForce 6800GT
*VGA Card Chipset : PVT40AUD
*VGA Card Driver : I can''t say

[CPU Specification]
*CPU Vendor : AMD
*CPU Type : Socket 754
*CPU Speed : 2.2ghz

[Memory Specification]
*Memory Vendor : Corsair
*Memory Model : DDR 400
*Memory Capacity : 1gb

[HDD Specification]
HDD Vendor :
HDD Model :
HDD Capacity :

[Add-on Card Specificatio]
Add-on Card Vendor :
Add-on Card Type :
Add-on Card Model :

*Operating System : Vista 32bit

[Problem Description]
A week before June 5th, my computer would reboot every now and then
giving me a virtual memory
problem. Then it became more regular. Oddly enough, I found that when I
left a game open all day it
wouldn''t reboot, but if I closed the game, it suddenly did.

Regardless, on June 5th (my birthday) the computer finally just rebooted
on me and entered a
complete dead end loop at the DOS. Every single time it would go through
all the motions, get to the
part where its about to load the first drivers for Windows (at the time
XP Pro SP2) and would stop and
sit there a few minutes before rebooting. I tried in Safe Mode, same
exact thing (only I could see it
stop at the file).

I formatted the HDD and reinstalled Windows. It let me. I go to boot it
up, I''m locked at the same
point. I took a second clean HDD with Windows and tried it, same
situation. I moved my RAM
around between the three slots, no change. I took out the CMOS and reset
it (drained it, etc) and
didn''t see any difference. I then installed Vista on it and it stopped
at the same exact point in booting.
I bought a power tester to test my PSU on and the results came up fine.
I tested my RAM on a
friend''s comp and running a program for it and it came up fine. My BIOS
temp isn''t anything unusual,
my system clock isn''t losing time or anything.

I contacted Customer Support and they agreed that it was definitely the
board that was the issue,
citing something about perhaps onboard sound being the issue (*shrug*).
They tell me to send it in. I
send it there (The shipping was 40$... The shipping to have my entire
system sent to me from
Newegg when I first built it was only 56.70 with rush delivery...)

A month and a half later I receive the board in the mail after hearing
nothing and I open it up to simply
see the board with absolutely no information regarding exactly what was
done if anything. I know
something had to have been done though, because I put the computer back
together and it booted
right up into Vista, perfectly cleanly. For exactly one week. At the end
of the week it just randomly
rebooted on me while working on something and I found myself locked at
the same exact spot in the
boot process loop I''ve been dealing with. Which is quite frustrating
now.

I''ve set my computer to the side since this is a bad time, needing to
focus on some more important
issues, but the warrranty expiration is coming up now and my computer is
still a door stop. I could
send it in again for another 40$, but in doing so, I''ve essentially just
skipped the entire warranty and
bought a brand new board instead. Is there any way that I can get a
replacement board? I need
that system up and have resorted to using my fiance''s computer when I
have a chance to take care
of business as usual.

Response I recieved:

Hello,

If you feel that the board is causing your issue ( we recommend running
free diagnostic utilities such as memtest86 for RAM, and Drive Fitness
Test for hard disk drives just to verify the problem is actually with
the board) then you will need to contact RMA at (510) 739-3777 option 2,
or fill out an online RMA request at http://helpdesk.asus.com.

Regards,

Chris Johnson
Asus Support Team

Please do not reply to this message. If you need further assistance
please call our technical support line at (812) 282-2787 Monday-Friday
from 8:30am-Midnight EST.

To help us better assist you, please take a moment to fill out this
brief survey.

http://sip.asus.com/Survey/Questionnaire...85120.aspx

Response I gave to THAT forwarding email (with all above quoted):

RMA Email DETAILS
---------------
User: ***************
Received Date: 10/17/2007 2:58:06 AM
Email Subject: FW:Re:<TSD> Motherboard K8N-E Deluxe

Email description:
This is the entire email worth of info. The top is the latest response I
have received that basically told me again to run tests I''ve already
run. I''ve sent this board in already once and have trouble due to my
work hours and other things with doing this over the phone during normal
business hours. My warranty expiration is coming up on 12/1/07 and I''ve
been trying to get this dealt with since nearly June. Additionally, the
old RMA number was EK764560. I tried to locate it on the page that this
email sent me to, and it said there was no such number in the system (I
guess the system is down).

Anyways, I''d really like something to be done with this situation. I was
very happy with this board, and the fact that when I sent the board to
you guys the first time it suddenly started working right for a week and
then stopped again makes it pretty obvious despite all the tests I''ve
done backing this up. Sending the board in again and paying even more in
shipping means I should have skipped 5 months of hassle and just bought
another compatible board from the first computer shop I could get to.
Kinda hoping to avoid that. The entire situation is described below.

Their response:

Dear Valued Customer:


If you have already received an RMA# for your ASUS product, you may disregard this email. Thank you for supporting ASUS.



Please provide the following information so that we may process your request for warranty repair service. Once we have obtained that information from you, we will issue an RMA # and provide the proper shipping instructions. Please read and provide all of the information below. We cannot complete your request, if all of the information below is not provided.

Thank you,

ASUS Computer International





PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH:

-THE MODEL & SERIAL NUMBER OFF OF YOUR PRODUCT

model (name of product) serial# (10 digits/characters long, no dashes) Serial # located on either the top of the purple parallel port (printer port), side of PCI Slots, side of Brown CNR Slot, or the backside of the product itself)



-CASE#, if given one by Technical Support



-YOUR FULL NAME/NAME OF COMPANY (Please provide name of business if shipping to a company for shipping purposes).



-YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS including City, State, and Postal Code (no PO boxes please) Please include Business name if shipping to a company -



-YOUR DAYTIME PHONE/FAX NUMBER



-BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM EXPERIENCING



ASUS Computer International (USA) is a warranty repair service center. Please contact place of purchase for credit, refund or upgrade. Asus does not provide these services under any circumstances.



ASUS Does not cover physical damage (physically broken components on the product). Please refer to page 2 of your users manual. There is a $15.00 - $60.00 fee to replace a broken socket. There is a $25.00 - $60.00 fee to repair all other physical damage. If a product is not repairable, the product will be sent back to the customer. If a product is sent in with physical damage, the product will be rejected and customers will not be reimbursed for shipping charges. A payment can be made by check, money order (payable to ASUS), or a credit card#. The payment must be sent in with the damaged product. Customers from Canada must make payments with a credit card#. ASUS warranty covers all malfunctions that are not caused by physical damage to the product.



Thank you,

ASUS CSR Department

S002

I've been roadblocked with autoresponses since day one aside from actually getting to send it in once.

Most recent email I sent back:

Every email I've sent you has had all of this info in it. Every time I've sent said info, I've gotten an email stating that I need to provide the following info.

I'm reading the final part and due to shipping charges alone, I'm completely believing I should have just bought another board from another company back in JUNE rather than waste five months to be told that I'm essentially paying the same exact amount in shipping charges to get this issue dealt with. I've been run in a complete loop of circles for the last few months... Fairly disappointed, but what can I do about it? Guess I'd better learn to call my losses here and just go hit Best Buy or something and try to find a 754 motherboard with my specs, despite having this completely useless warranty on it. I wish the first time I sent the board in I'd have received some official letter stating that nothing would be done about it, would have saved me months of trouble.

Expiration for warranty is Dec 1st.

[Toshiro]

Shoot the customer service assistants?

[Blind Man]

(I guess the system is down).

Win.

Also this is ironic since I think I may have just instructed my friend to buy an Asus motherboard. I could be wrong, it may have been Intel, I forget.

Regardless, that blows a good hard one man. I'd say get a cheap temporary or find somebody else with a spare and keep fighting the bastards.

[Janemba]

I'd say go with Gohan's idea.

[Raditzu]

I've never had a problem with any of my ASUS boards. =(

Anyway, I would suggest calling them on your lunch break or something. Or the next time you have a day off. Five minutes on the phone with an actual person can get more done than days of emails and auto-responses.

[Reijin]

I've never had a problem with any of my ASUS boards. =(

Anyway, I would suggest calling them on your lunch break or something. Or the next time you have a day off. Five minutes on the phone with an actual person can get more done than days of emails and auto-responses.

That is what got me to ship it in the first time just to get it back with no info regarding what had been done if anything, two months later.

[Raditzu]

Wow... that... uh... that sounds sweet, man.

Call back and just start yelling at people. That's usually far more effective than it should be.

[Reijin]

I might let my gf do it. I'm the guy that can stand my ground in text, she's the superbitch that can do it on the phone. On the phone I can be given the runaround a lot easier. She tends to get things done.

I've got a friend I might buy a board from, but this situation is bullshit, nuff said.

[Android 14]

Hey man, that sucks.

I tell you what, I work in costumer service and here's all you got to do. Just know exactly what you want, and keep talking to people till you get it.

I had a bank screw me over on BS late fees and overages, and I kept talking to them on the phone, not taking no for an answer or giving up. Just kept asking to talk to supervisors and finally one of them waved all my fees.

In the end, these guys care about how they look and if their product has a good rep. They'll gladly throw free stuff your way if you bug them long enough on the phone and talk to higher ups.

Lord knows I do. If a costumer complains enough where I work we give them free crap as well as reemburse them for the crap they didn't want to begin with.

As soon as you ask to talk to a manager they'll give you just about whatever you like.

Just my two cents

[Reijin]

Agreed, 14. I'm really disappointed in how this situation is being handled. Since that last email, I haven't received a single response from them.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention. I'm posting this from my own computer, not my fiance's. Yes, I have mine set back up with dual monitor and my gf's computer set up direction beside it in a very nice tri-screen layout (pics to soon come).

Its a bit weird, actually. You see, I am borrowing this DFI LanParty UI nF3 2500Gb motherboard from a friend of mine, and switched it (and only it) with the "completely working" ASUS K8N-E Deluxe I've been arguing with them about and amazingly it booted right up. I now have both connected to the internet, am running music on the other comp, using the internet on this monitor, and have a game patching on my primary monitor. I just need to work out a cost with my friend to keep his board, since it seems ASUS isn't willing to work with me on it.

I know I should probably call and bitch them out until they finally send me another board... but I'm so overexerted about this that part of me just doesn't give a shit anymore and wants to just keep this board now that things are working. Not sure what to do, now that its actually up, I still have things like a wedding to save for. And the Orange Box.

[Waffuru]

Call and bitch until they send you a new one. Then trade it to your friend for the one in your box.