XFX warranty sucks.

I learned my lesson buying XFX. I recently put an EK waterblock on an XFX 280 GTX and the card died. I really don't know if it was something I did or not. One thing I know is that I never got a drop of water on the card.

I RMA'd the card a little over a week ago and their support just informed me that the warranty was denied because of water damage. I could understand if they said their warranty didn't cover modification done when installing a water block, but they said there was water damage which is just an outright lie.

Anyway I will be buying EVGA for my motherboard and Graphics cards in the future. There never would have been a doubt in my mind that EVGA would have replaced the card. I really don't know what I was thinking by buying XFX.

Edit
I got an email from XFX showing the back side of the card where I had to peel the sticker off to get to the screws for disassembly. This is what they were calling water damage for some reason, this just makes the support guy ignorant, not a liar, so I take that part back. If it is their policy to not allow anyone to open a card to put an aftermarket cooling device on the card, then I broke that policy. If they do allow this, then the warranty should be honored.

They should cover after-market cooler installation.

I recommend you wait for a response on here, or try escalating to a manager.

intel will flat out refuse warranty if you tell them that you used an aftermarket cooler even though it is fully compatible with the board and much better cooler than standard product

they do that unfortunately and there is nothing you can do about it except not buy the products again if you are dissatisfied but i am not sure sure that evga or anyone else for that matter would honour warranty with an aftermarket cooler installation on their product :shrug:

yea dosnt EVGA have the best warrenty for NVIDIA cards..if they dont give you an RMA ..buy an EVGA

I'm going to call them tomorrow. They emailed me today but weren't in the office, at least to answer calls, because of Veteran's Day.

The problem is that the XFX video card backing is completly covered so that you can't get to the screws. You have to peel the XFX plastic from the backside of the card to be able to take it apart. This is what the technician was calling water damage. I really am unclear on what they warranty, but I will find out tomorrow. I never tried to be dishonest about what caused the problem, and when I initiated the RMA I told them exactly what happened and they still issued me an RMA.

I really don't see how they could stay in business and not allow using an aftermaket cooling solution on their cards. I already bought another 280 and it is EVGA. When I bought the XFX, I wanted an EVGA 280 FTW but noone had one in stock so I went with the XFX XXX edition. If this had been EVGA, a new card would already be on the way back to me.

have you asked evga if they cover aftermarket coolers in their warranty?

I don't have to ask, I already know they do. My first GTX 260 I used for a stepup had been disassembled and MX2 applied to the GPU. EVGA is very overclocking mod friendly, only thing I know of that will void their warranty is if you flash the BIOS, but even then as long as you can flash back to the original, you are still good.

I don't have to ask, I already know they do. My first GTX 260 I used for a stepup had been disassembled and MX2 applied to the GPU. EVGA is very overclocking mod friendly, only thing I know of that will void their warranty is if you flash the BIOS or physical damage to the card, but even then as long as you can flash back to the original, you are still good.

The physical damage to the card is the issue with XFX I am sure. Problem is that with an XFX card, you have to do some physical damage in order to disassemble it. On the back of the card they completely cover the screws with a plastic label which has to be removed for disassembly.

eVGA warranty:

Quote:

---

There is no physical damage to the PCB, GPU/chipset, or components that are caused by: Damage due to improper installation, damage during modification of any kind, damage during any type of Aftermarket cooling installation, and water damage of any kind.

---

eVGA will and does accept back products on warranty that have been after-market cooled, so long as you haven't been a douche and physically damaged the card during the installation.

that's good to see in writing

maybe time for XFX to update their warranty policy

We are very sorry but it wasn't just that the cooler and screws were very scratched and the decals were torn up, the card was still damp. I, myself, saw that card and felt it. None of the board partners would be able to warranty it in its condition. I pulled up the pictures that you were sent and you can visibly see from the paper of the decals that it was crinkled from liquid.

I knew XFX warrantied returned cards that had been used with after market coolers, as long as the original stock cooler was remounted, and in good state. They said it very clearly when they started this forum section. Just fyi anyone ;)

Any pictures to post ?

Always take pictures before and after removal so there is no problems or arguments, if no pictures are available take this as a learning experience and be sure to cover yourself for this situation.:slap:

Damn should have dried it out before sending....

This is just an outright lie. The card was damaged from removing the sticker. They sent me the below picture and said there was water damage. Noone ever mention being wet until I created a stink. The card was dry as a bone when I returned it. I never had a leak in the EK block. If XFX does not want to honor aftermarket cooling solutions they should just say so.

The screws have no damage, it is glue from the top label I had to peel off to get to the screws. There is not a way to take the card apart without damaging this label, so I just peeled it off. It is very thick and the plastic is hard, you can't even tell where the screws are to punch some holes, but if I had punched holes they would have still claimed damage so it doesn't matter.

Here is a picture of the card that they sent to me and it is accurate as far as I can tell. I don't deny peeling off the label. They should have told me before I paid to send it back that they would not honor using an aftermarket cooling solution because you can't do it without damaging the label.
The wet part is BS, if there was water on it they put it there or someone in there office set it in a coffee spill.

I won't ever buy XFX again. EVGA is the only way to go.



http://www.techpowerup.org/uploaded....2/IMG_1366.jpg

I realize this is kind of a cross post but I wanted to make sure everyone here knows this and maybe you do. If you damage the label on the back of an XFX video card in order to get to the screws, your warranty will be void.

To be honest, when I removed the label I had a pretty good idea that it was voiding the warranty, but some people here told me to RMA the card because XFX allows aftermarket cooling solutions without voiding the warranty. The label is thick plastic and covers the screwholes completely, at least on the GT200 series. You will have to damage the label in order to get to the screws, there is no way around this(Catch 22).

You can install an aftermarket cooling solution but you can't damage the label to get to the screws under the label. XFX told me warranty denied because of water damage to the card and sent me a picture of the back of the card where I peeled off the label(like it was caused by water). I told them I peeled the label off and then they came back and said the card was wet(this is a lie). I never got water on the card.

I would have been OK with the loss if they would just come out and said that you can't take the card apart to install a WB because this will void the warranty. What bothers me is that they want to be able to claim that they will honor a warranty for installing aftermaket cooling solutions but then they design the card where you have to do damage to the card to take it apart. Now they are lying about the card being wet. I knew I should have bought an EVGA card but I couldn't find the FTW in stock anywhere.

Sorry for the rant.

I don't think this has to do with the label peeling since they allow a aftermarket cooling. I assume they assumed that the label is not sticking due to water damage and denied the RMA, which is correct since warranty is void if there are physical damage on the card :rolleyes:

Call them on their bull:banana::banana::banana::banana:, unless you told them you had a waterblock they have no way of knowing. Just say you installed an aftermarket air cooler, and ask them to show you where it prohibits aftermarket cooling.

Tell them the case was hot and it peeled right off :)

I have evga and their warranty service is really good, though as well all know nvidia based motherboards are just plain horrible.
BFG warranty is probably the best. They are like 15 minutes from my house

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Waxking1

I realize this is kind of a cross post but I wanted to make sure everyone here knows this and maybe you do. If you damage the label on the back of an XFX video card in order to get to the screws, your warranty will be void.

To be honest, when I removed the label I had a pretty good idea that it was voiding the warranty, but some people here told me to RMA the card because XFX allows aftermarket cooling solutions without voiding the warranty. The label is thick plastic and covers the screwholes completely, at least on the GT200 series. You will have to damage the label in order to get to the screws, there is no way around this(Catch 22).

You can install an aftermarket cooling solution but you can't damage the label to get to the screws under the label. XFX told me warranty denied because of water damage to the card and sent me a picture of the back of the card where I peeled off the label(like it was caused by water). I told them I peeled the label off and then they came back and said the card was wet(this is a lie). I never got water on the card.

I would have been OK with the loss if they would just come out and said that you can't take the card apart to install a WB because this will void the warranty. What bothers me is that they want to be able to claim that they will honor a warranty for installing aftermaket cooling solutions but then they design the card where you have to do damage to the card to take it apart. Now they are lying about the card being wet. I knew I should have bought an EVGA card but I couldn't find the FTW in stock anywhere.

Sorry for the rant.

---

IDK dude I read the XFX response in your other thread, he said he touched the card and it was damp and it sounds like the card had some pretty obvious water damage.... please dont pass off you frustration onto bashing a brand

Im also not going to be looking at buying anything else from xfx, They still havent replied to my support question in 23 days.But here in the uk we are used to getting shafted by compainies who tell you outright lies.

looks pretty freaking beat up to me, maybe you should have been more careful when removing the sticker and actually taken the whole thing off as a single piece.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SNiiPE_DoGG

IDK dude I read the XFX response in your other thread, he said he touched the card and it was damp and it sounds like the card had some pretty obvious water damage.... please dont pass off you frustration onto bashing a brand

---

I'm not bashing the brand, I'm bashing their warranty lies. The card was not wet when I sent it in. If I had really had water damage, don't you think I would have dried the card before I sent it in? I admit to peeling the label and putting on an EK water block. The block never leaked. Their bit about the card being wet happened after I called them on the warranty. They called it water damage and sent me a picture of where I pulled the label off.

Their tech told me there was no way they would be able to send the card back for credit with the label removed. Problem is that you can't get the card apart without damaging the label because it is a thick plastic laminate. You can't even see where the screwholes are, there are no dimples in the laminate.

I was prepared to take the loss when I pulled the label off, but then people on this forum told me to RMA it because XFX will honor warranty even if you use an aftermaket cooling solution. This is the lie because you can't get the card apart without damaging the label. You can believe what you want, but I bet there won't be anyone here taking an XFX card(GT200 series) apart again and expecting their warranty to be honored. I can take the loss OK but I want to warn others about making the same mistake if they are expecting a warranty.

I even admitted here that it was possible I damaged the card installing the EK block but I didn't feel like I did. I'm sure a card can be killed just by taking it apart. I really don't know why the card died, but I don't think it matters.

Speak to an attorney and have the lawyer contact them on your behalf.

I trust that the issue will be very amicably resolved after that.

I have encountered zero resistance each time after an attorney, especially a product liability class action lawyer, speaks to customer service. After that, it'll be "yes, Sir" and "OK, Sir."

Its magical how courtesy and expediency improves ten fold upon a lawyer call.

Yep, I'd say this would fall under damage caused by installing the aftermarket cooler. Wet or not.