This whole wonderful ordeal started when I ordered the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard from Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157293 on 11-23-2012. I thought the price was good and figured the reviews I was reading about problems were from people who didnt know what they were talking about. I was wrong.
First part is my fault but I doubt it would have changed anything through the process from a company who thinks they never have problems but, I did not physically examine the motherboard cpu pins before placing the cpu in the socket. BIG MISTAKE. Hooked everything up, code 55 flashed on the board. Tried other memory since code 55 is a memory issue, never helped. Looked online and all of a sudden a whole world opened up where a LOT of people were having this issue with this board and it turns out there were bent cpu socket pins. Here is one such link - http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showt ... p?t=170736 - and in that the best quote that sums up what I have found is this from user OneMoar - "inspect the socket for bent pins asrock seems to have a issue with there memory slots not working due to bad sockets ". I have found this at multiple places and is easily found by searching for "z77 extreme4 code 55". OK, no problem, lets get a hold of Newegg...talk talk talk...RMA Approved 12-11-2012. Now I told them the issue was bent pins, I told them I did not bend the pins (seriously, how could you bend the pins installing a core i7 gen 3 when the contacts on the bottom of the cpu would have been scratched to hell) but the RMA was approved and I thought my story had a happy ending. In the meantime I had to buy another motherboard to build my system so I figured Newegg would just give me credit or I would have an extra MB laying around.
12-19-2012 - RMA received at Newegg per email
12-21-2012 - RMA: Damaged - huh, what...let me read this...
Oh ok, so the person who talked to me on the phone, approved the RMA and issued the refund after I specifically told them the pins were bent figured it would be fun to waste a bunch of time shipping it back and forth across the country? I would understand if I would have lied to them but i told them they were bent and they had to be bent from factory.Thank you for requesting a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) at Newegg.com.
Your RMA (RMA Number: my number) return was received and sent to our Inspections Department for closer examination.
Unfortunately, the below item# 13-157-293 MB ASROCK Z77 EXTREME 4Z77 1155 was physically damaged and beyond the applicable Newegg.com warranty coverage as indicated in our Standard Warranty Policy. We received the motherboard with several severley bent pins in the cpu socket which were beyond repair. The damage possibly occurred from improper installation.
For further assistance, we recommend contacting the manufacturer directly to see if they can offer repair or replacement of the item(s) under manufacturer warranty. Please use the following link to find the contact info for any manufacturer whose items we carry: Contact Manufacturer.
We greatly apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thank you for your patience and understanding. The item(s) are currently being shipped back to you and should arrive in approximately 5 - 10 business days.
If you have any questions, please visit our Contact Us Page.
Sincerely,
Your Newegg.com Customer Service Team
I was pissed and left a 1 egg review on newegg for the board in which ASRock said to call or email someone to get it resolved.
Well that's ok I will get a hold of ASRock and get this thing solved. Christmas day I get an invoice from Newegg that they sen the MB back to me. Things got hectic around here and I did not have a chance to email ASRock until yesterday..
My email to them including a link on Box to pictures I took.
Their email reply...I was told to call or email and this is the first chance I have had. Been busy building systems already this year.
This was ordered 11-23-2012 and till I got it and had the system built (personal use so it got put on the back burner) it was already close to 30 days, then the time it took newegg to get it back, refuse replacement and then resend it back to me....this has taken WAY longer than it should have already.
I wrote the review on Newegg about the bent pins and Newegg would not replace it so someone from your company wrote a reply and asked me to call or email, so here I am.
I have pictures I took with my DSLR on my Box.net account that you should be able to see here - https://www.box.com/s/fpkvx2z5l80bcfgibzpu - to help determine if it will be replaced or not. No use shipping back and forth (again) across the country if you are not going to replace the board.
Any questions please call...
Now they tell me to call Newegg even though if they would have actually read the email I sent them it states I already had been in contect with Newegg and they told me to call them along with one of their reps telling me to email or call on the Newegg review itself.Dear customer,
Thanks for contacting ASRock America.
Please understand that open-box product / bent pins is not including in manufacturer warranty. Please contact Newegg to get further assistance if you need return or replacement. If you prefer to do RMA with us, ASRock will charge $50 labor & service fee (Non-US customers need to indicate the check or money order will be paid in U.S dollar.) and provide 3 months warranty for the replaced motherboard. We only accept check or money order.
If you decide RMA your motherboard with us, Please complete the attached RMA request form, and then e-mail it back to obtain RMA number and shipping instruction. Any packages received without an RMA number outside of the package or valid RMA number will be rejected and returned by your own expense.
**Please provide ALL of the information requested below**
RMA request form
-You must complete all required fields, or you might be delayed to obtain your RMA #.
Ok, I called voice...
Constant repeating of the fact that bent pins are not covered. I told them this is an issue that has been reported all over the net but they just dont seem to care. Got transferred to another support person who was explaining the exact same thing and when I told her I sent a link to pictures in the email, she said she would look at some. She must have because I have some views on a few pics. I am on hold. Phone picks up and is hung up. Yea, I was hung up on. Now they have my email with my name, address and phone number in it so I figured it was a mistake. I must have been wrong because I waited until now to write this because I did not want to include massive amounts of profanity and to give them time to actually show concern and call me back.
Customer Support means admitting when you have a problem and fixing it, not denying there is one and you are greater than any other company on the planet so we don't have to deal with you. ASRock has proven to me that they think the customer's they supply are morons who do not know how to use a product properly, especially when reports are listed all over the net about the EXACT SAME THING but they don't care.
Maybe it's my fault for thinking a cheaper product could have the same construction and integrity behind it.
I know I am very happy with all my Gigabyte boards I have bought personally and used in numerous builds over the years and I should have never strayed.
so a big to ASRock for thinking the customer is wrong and not standing behind their product.
Mike
Anyone can send this to anyone they wish, post it on a site, etc....I just think the word should be spread about how a company handles problems.
The box.net account is a free one so they limit the bandwidth per month so too many views may make them unavailable till next month.