ASUS support product damage accusations

[Woomack]

This is not the first time I have a situation like this with ASUS support, but this time it's too much ... and what's more, I have no idea what to do with that.

Today I received info from the support that ASUS rejected my RMA because I damaged pins in the socket. Below is a photo of the "damaged socket" that I took before shipping the motherboard to RMA. I take photos of all ASUS products before RMA as I had similar problems in the past.



This is Strix Z690-I Gaming WIFI, so not cheap motherboard. RMA was because the motherboard is crashing in every stability test, RAM, CPU, FPU, mixed tests, anything randomly. If the socket is somehow damaged then it's not visible and the problem had to be in the product as I wasn't using it for longer.

Some months ago, I sent Crosshair VIII Impact to RMA because it wasn't stable with higher wattage CPUs. Support told me I damaged the PCB when there was a little scratch on the hidden part of the audio module's PCB (it's a M.2 type card). The module was never removed but support still made me pay for the repair. The scratch was 1mm long and the trace wasn't even damaged. Not to mention what CPU stability has to do with add-on audio module? It was 100% stable with 5700G but not with 5900X.

I will only add that I buy ASUS motherboards for hardware tests/reviews as my contacts don't include ASUS, so I can't get review samples of this brand. In short, I'm using ASUS and somehow promote this brand in various reviews and as a reward I lose my money. Sounds pretty stupid that I do that for longer years but I always thought that ASUS is the best brand for my needs. Recently I got 2 faulty ASUS Apex motherboards, 2 failed RMA and some more problems.

[xeromist]

Hi Woomack,

If you want to escalate this issue please start a thread in the Service Inquiries section of the forum. Make sure to read the sticky thread for that section before posting. That's the place where you can get HQ staff to take a second look at an RMA gone awry.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?295

[Braegnok]

This is not the first time I have a situation like this with ASUS support, but this time it's too much ... and what's more, I have no idea what to do with that.

Today I received info from the support that ASUS rejected my RMA because I damaged pins in the socket. Below is a photo of the "damaged socket" that I took before shipping the motherboard to RMA. I take photos of all ASUS products before RMA as I had similar problems in the past.

This is Strix Z690-I Gaming WIFI, so not cheap motherboard. RMA was because the motherboard is crashing in every stability test, RAM, CPU, FPU, mixed tests, anything randomly. If the socket is somehow damaged then it's not visible and the problem had to be in the product as I wasn't using it for longer.

Some months ago, I sent Crosshair VIII Impact to RMA because it wasn't stable with higher wattage CPUs. Support told me I damaged the PCB when there was a little scratch on the hidden part of the audio module's PCB (it's a M.2 type card). The module was never removed but support still made me pay for the repair. The scratch was 1mm long and the trace wasn't even damaged. Not to mention what CPU stability has to do with add-on audio module? It was 100% stable with 5700G but not with 5900X.

I will only add that I buy ASUS motherboards for hardware tests/reviews as my contacts don't include ASUS, so I can't get review samples of this brand. In short, I'm using ASUS and somehow promote this brand in various reviews and as a reward I lose my money. Sounds pretty stupid that I do that for longer years but I always thought that ASUS is the best brand for my needs. Recently I got 2 faulty ASUS Apex motherboards, 2 failed RMA and some more problems.

I just had an interesting, unexpected RMA experience with the same motherboard.

Everything worked fine on the bench, during testing for three weeks. I swapped out the CPU and system would not post, or boot into BIOS.

I sent motherboard into Asus RMA, and was informed the warranty was void due to CID.

They sent me a photo of the backside of my motherboard, claiming solder damage,.. CID.

That is crazy, I never expected that response,.. the solder in photo is the connection for the PCIe X16 slot @ bottom edge of motherboard.

Attachment 92997

Attachment 92999

Needless to say I refused to pay the $479.00 to fix the motherboard, told them to just ship it back.

[Woomack]

Hi Woomack,

If you want to escalate this issue please start a thread in the Service Inquiries section of the forum. Make sure to read the sticky thread for that section before posting. That's the place where you can get HQ staff to take a second look at an RMA gone awry.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?295

Thanks, I noticed I can move it myself so I already did it.

I just had an interesting, unexpected RMA experience with the same motherboard.

Everything worked fine on the bench, during testing for three weeks. I swapped out the CPU and system would not post, or boot into BIOS.

I sent motherboard into Asus RMA, and was informed the warranty was void due to CID.

They sent me a photo of the backside of my motherboard, claiming solder damage,.. CID.

That is crazy, I never expected that response,.. just so wrong in every way.

Needless to say I refused to pay the $479.00 to fix the motherboard, told them to just ship it back.

I accepted to repair the CHVIII Impact as they wanted ~$40, and I have no idea what they did as all I saw was a 1mm of paint covering the spot where on the photos from support was a scratch (I haven't seen that or couldn't even see the mentioned scratch before the RMA).

RMA report for the Strix Z690I Gaming included barely any info but the mentioned CID was there too and some ID number. There was no offer to repair it.

The motherboard will be back from RMA today but I already saw everything on the RMA report from the store. I live in Poland so the support is in Czech Rep. while the previous RMA was going through German ASUS support. Anyway, I may post some more later, depending on what will arrive with the motherboard.

[Braegnok]

@Woomack: Good luck with your RMA.

It's difficult to see a scratch, or other types mentioned CID without a jewelers loop & bright light.

Personally, as of today every Asus motherboard I buy,.. I will inspect front and back with an 80X jewelers loop.

I will be looking for the slightest thing suspicious, or something that could be perceived as CID down the road and blamed on me,.. I will return every motherboard same day I receive it,.. till I get a 100% perfect board from now on.

I have never inspected new motherboards in the past, and I have never had any issues,.. this was my first RMA experience.

[Woomack]

The motherboard arrived:

ASUS RMA number - CZA1N43227

There is info that "customer decides not to repair due to hardware issue" - I got no info at all so couldn't decide.

socket after the mobo back from RMA - today, May 10.




Here is again one of the photos from 12th April - taken before shipping the motherboard to support:

@Woomack: Good luck with your RMA.

Personally I am done with Asus. Going forward I will no longer buy, sell, or repair Asus motherboards in my shop.

For years I work in distribution, support, and I'm reviewing products of various brands. I've never had problems with other brands like I have with ASUS. I don't even want to start with the quality of Z690 motherboards - Hero, I skipped it after the issue with turned around caps. Two Apex mobos - both couldn't run stable with RAM at more than 6000 because of production issues, I have returned both and got money back, but the same did many other users. Recently I heard that ASUS is replacing faulty Apex mobos and the new production doesn't have the design flaws. I left with the Strix Z690I Gaming and I noticed it's not stable, made RMA and support says I lost warranty. As I said, it's not the first time that ASUS support does that to me and how in a situation like this can I defend myself?

[DragDay7]

Oh mate I'm afraid I can see it on your first photo:



Have you tried bend them back in position?

Edit: I've removed my other posts cause thread was moved to section where only OP is allowed to write posts. Will remove this too after a while.

[Woomack]

This is what I received from the store support - they got this from ASUS as proof but it proves nothing.

This is the photo sent by ASUS support - the socket is in perfect condition, all pins are in straight line etc.



This is the photo sent by ASUS support where they marked the "damage". As you can see the CPU "key" causes shades exactly in the 2 spots which are marked (the way how the light reflects on the socket pins but passes these 2 spots). The same effect is on the other side of the socket on my photos posted in this thread - because of a different light angle. We thought they meant the area in the center while they marked the sides. How can this be proof of the user's damage?




Btw. the store support said that ASUS actually said that the paid repair would cost 25 EUR (which would be even acceptable considering the motherboard cost). However, they don't offer paid repairs because of the components shortage as all parts go to the warranty repairs. Should I assume they void warranties and look for problems that don't exist because of the components shortage? (this maybe isn't the right assumption but clearly the end user may think this way).

[STARRAIN@ROG]

Hi Woomack,
Please send the motherboard to our RMA again and share the new RMA number to me.
I'll inform our local RMA center to check it again.
Thank you.

[Woomack]

In your zoomed photo the last line is straight. In my last photo, the last line is a bit "moved". The light is causing shades so that's another thing. Pins are exactly where are CPU pads and the CPU works. As I said before, it looks like something else is causing the stability problem, not pins, but it wasn't checked. Count that most, if not all pins have multiple the same values and connections so if one doesn't have a perfect contact then others cover that.