Warranty question

Okay heres the deal. I bought a computer not too long ago. January to be exact. It arrived doa. Bad video card and screws cross threaded... Sent it back at the companies expense. It arrived back to me and worked for 24 hours till mobo failed.. Sent it back again at companies expense. They did give me 200$ of freebies due to frustration factor. Got a working computer in febuary. Now its got a failed SATA port and needs a mobo replacement again... The computer has a 3 year warranty. Should they pay this time for shipping? Should they split cost? Should I ask for a refund?

My boss thinks they should pay for shipping again this time as well...or that I should ask for a refund. I am not so sure they should have to do either but it is pretty sad that I paid over 4 grand for a new computer and have had to send it back 3 times in the first 6 months of owning it.

Not intending to smear the company's name, but it's important to know what company this is so that we know who we're dealing with.

That was why I didnt say who it was Jason but if anyone bothers to look they could find out I guess. Its Avadirect

In my opinion,they should pay the shipping,considering the circumstances.Which motherboard did you get in your system?Two failures in a row doesn't sound very reliable.

They should pay for shipping.

kodan said:

That was why I didnt say who it was Jason but if anyone bothers to look they could find out I guess. Its Avadirect

Click to expand...

Thanks for letting us know. No matter who it is, it's always best to discuss it openly. People deserve to hear the good and the bad about everyone. It's important to know how the company addresses nasty problems such as this one.

IMO, yes, they should pay for shipping, and I think they should take some steps to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. Use a different mobo, do some more exhaustive testing, etc.. It's very expensive for them, but that's not really your problem. You need a functioning computer. That was the agreement you made with the company when you handed over your credit card.

It sounds like they've done pretty well in helping you out so far, but it seems like we have a chronic problem. It's very rare for motherboard after motherboard to go bad. I might look at the PSU.

As long as you're under warranty, the company pays for everything. End of story. Now, if you did something deliberate that voids the warranty, that's something else.

Well to answer a few questions it is a EVGA 680i mobo... As far as the PSU its a PCP&C 1kw psu. Tend to blame the crappy build quality of the initial 680i mobos before I would blame the PSU. The original mobo had all the hallmarks of the initial 680 issues and a few more. One of the other initial issues with the mobo was also sata port problems. Since most of the posts about issues with the mobo died out about the time mine was replaced I guess I could have gotten one of the last of the bad ones.

So far you are correct they have been very concerned in making things right with me and I do appreciate that but it is getting old that I have to keep sending it back. Every time I do I lose about 10 days just in shipping time it seems.

Based on my conversation with them this time I will be paying shipping to them but they want me to fax them copies of my reciept. I didnt clarify but I assume that was so they could reimburse me but I am unsure why they didnt do as they did the last time and have a call tag issued and ups pick it up. Seems to me that would be far easier on everyone that way if they intend to pay for shipping.

Maybe based on the fact I have been a retail mananger for 10 years now I am willing to go easier on the warranty issues. I am still not sure they should have to pay shipping both ways. Would be nice to see it happen but its not entirely their fault it died.

I am more frustrated that in the process of finding the issue and getting things semi back to normal both of my HD's ended up corrupted. That cost me alot of time and data to reinstall windows 3 different times. I managed to hit the time between AVA including restore disks/not including them/ and now charging for them. I did ask if we could get me one made even if I had to pay so that in the future I can save alot of hassles with a complete reinstall of windows.

In many years of owning a computer this has to be the worst experience I have had with one. So far I do have to admit that its the best computer performance wise that I have had and that AVAdirect has been very good about taking care of things. The frustration factor is getting to be too much though. Heck this is even worse that the build your own a friend did for me that caught fire and had to be replaced frustration wise. All in all for a computer I paid for on december 26 2006 I have not had it up and working for a month plus of that time and now it will be down again for at least another 2 weeks.

This is an update on the whole situation with my computer.

I bought a computer in Jan from AVAdirect and its had numerous problems. Sure they are taking care of them but since it shipped to me on Jan16th its been back to them for repairs 3 times now for a total of 67 days and counting.

The first repair was a bad video card and screws crossthreaded on second card so you couldnt pull it. It also had some mobo issues (680i) that were well documented. They ignored that and just fixed the vid card. Computer died 24 hours after I got it back and had to be rebuilt. They did pay all shipping and gave me some free software and wiring work to make up for it.

Three weeks ago the computer crashed and started hanging during the post check for ide devices when finding the hard drives. Was a bad SATA port that ended up corrupting both my HD's in finding the problem. Sent it in and they agreed there was a mobo problem and were supposed to order the replacement. Week later I get an email that no it wasnt a mobo they just rewired system and it was now stable. Well before I sent it in I had it up and stable by avoiding that one SATA port. They couldnt tell me if they fully tested all the ports or not but finally agreed to replace the mobo if I wanted them too.

After complaining to Misha about it all they agreed to refund me the 145$ I spent on shipping it back and make me a restore disc. Personally I felt like that this point I deserved a refund even if it was past their 30 day refund date. I think for a $4200 computer to have needed repairs 3 times and have 2 motherboard replacements in 6 months totalling 67 days and counting of down time that a refund was warranted.

At this point I wont be dealing with AVAdirect for any future computer purchases. Sure they have taken care of the complaints but they showed a trend of trying to take the quick fix option and having to be prodded to fix things right.

Kodan: I am really sorry to hear that you are having so many issues with your PC. Would you please post your specs? I would like to see which components you have.

I have also had some issues. I got my PC in May. I have had to RMA the RAM, send the PC back to have an SATA DVD drive replaced with an IDE drive (after numerous crashes) and now a HDD has died.

AVADirect has great support; the staff has been very attentive to my needs and great to work with. However, I am not thrilled with their RMA process – it has cost me about $60. Like you, my PC has had too many problems and been down too many days considering the amount of time I have owned it.

I am in the RMA process for one HDD. I am now concerned that I might have a bad SATA port like you did. (Anyone out there know of a way to test them?)

Right now, my PC is running great (and I love it). But I am always worried about long-term stability. Having read your post, now I am even more worried!

kodan said:

Okay heres the deal. I bought a computer not too long ago. January to be exact. It arrived doa. Bad video card and screws cross threaded... Sent it back at the companies expense. It arrived back to me and worked for 24 hours till mobo failed.. Sent it back again at companies expense. They did give me 200$ of freebies due to frustration factor. Got a working computer in febuary. Now its got a failed SATA port and needs a mobo replacement again... The computer has a 3 year warranty. Should they pay this time for shipping? Should they split cost? Should I ask for a refund?

My boss thinks they should pay for shipping again this time as well...or that I should ask for a refund. I am not so sure they should have to do either but it is pretty sad that I paid over 4 grand for a new computer and have had to send it back 3 times in the first 6 months of owning it.

Click to expand...

Hello [H] Readers,

When this system was first purchased this motherboard was still having its massive share of problems and we replaced hundreds of motherboards in systems because of this. We worked with each and every customer to make sure that they would receive a working system. Still today the eVGA 680i motherboard has been causing some headaches. We now have learned from their engineering team that the hard drive corruption problem this customer was experiencing can be solved by making sure that the eSATA ports where enabled along with internal SATA ports. However, we wanted to replace the motherboard for customer satisfaction, which we did.

We don’t want any customer to ever have to send a system in 2 or 3 times for repair, but if this situation ever occurs we will do what it takes to make a customer happy and to have a permanent working system. In his case we offered to refund ALL return shipping costs, we did refund the first return, purchased a game of his choice, T-shirts and made a restore disk.

It is unfortunate this customer had two defective motherboards in the system but please understand, that we have no way of controlling how long a defect will hide itself before showing up. We test each system vigorously in hopes that if there is a manufacture defect it will arise so we can replace it. I am confident that we provide the very best technical support and repair services to our customers in order remedy the situation quickly.

Regards,

Christopher Mundy
Technical Support Manager
AVADirect
[email protected]
(216) 503-6371 Direct

Chris - I believe the OP would've liked a personal statement versus a blanket statement to EVERYONE BUT HIM.

Just my 0.02

Well another status update... Looks like my computers video cards BOTH decided to crap out on me while they had it in for repairs. Good thing it happened in their shop and not at my house. I have had about all the frustration I can handle from this computer.

They say they tested the PSU and that it was fine but something it going on since thats now two mobos one memory module and now FOUR video cards.

Good thing most of the parts in the computer have 5 year or greater warranties. To date on this last repair alone its been 6 weeks tomorrow that they have had it in their shop( I am not counting shipping time to them). So since January they have ahd my comp 3 times to repair it and its taken a total of 78 days including ship time(might be a couple of days off on this but if so its actually MORE time than I accounted for). So out of 31 weeks since they shipped me the computer on Jan 16th its been in transit for repair or in the shop for 11.14 weeks.

Last I heard it sounded like one of the replacement cards was bad as well so I still dont know when I will get my computer back at this point.

Someone asked for specs let me post them
INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E6600 Dual-Core, ZALMAN, CNPS9500 LED Copper CPU Cooler, Blue LED

eVGA, nForce 680i SLI 775 Mainboard,

CORSAIR, 2GB (2 x 1GB) XMS2 Dominator PC2-9136 DDR2

BFG TECH, GeForce™ 8800 GTX, 768MB GDDR3,

BFG TECH, GeForce™ 8800 GTX, 768MB GDDR3,

CREATIVE, Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Fatal1ty™ FPS, 7.1 channels, I/O Module & Remote, PCI

WESTERN DIGITAL, 150GB WD Raptor®, SATA 150MB/s, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache

WESTERN DIGITAL, 320GB WD Caviar® SE16, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

MITSUMI, Black Internal 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive

SONY, DDU1615/B2S Black 16x DVD-ROM Drive, IDE, OEM

SAMSUNG, Super-WriteMaster SH-S182M Black 18x DVD±R/RW Dual Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, IDE/ATAPI, OEM

NZXT, Zero Black/Silver Full Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Aluminum

PC POWER & COOLING, Turbo-Cool® 1KW-Quad SLI 1000W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX EPS12V

CASE FAN, LED Fans Maximum Package, Blue

MICROSOFT, Windows XP Professional Edition SP2b

Well the saga continues. As of yesterday AVA has had my computer a full 8 weeks on this repair and are still not finished with it. I called on Tuesday and my ram had burned out and needed replacement. Unfortunately since its corsair 9136 the replacement wasnt due to be in till the 11th of this month.

So since I sent my computer in to them its taken 8 weeks so far and still counting. They have replaced the mobo, both 8800gtx's, and now the ram JUST since I sent it in this time.

In total they have now done two mobo replacements replaced at least 4 video cards(might be 5 but not positive) and two sets of ram. Never did hear for sure if one of the replacement video cards was bad like they thought it might have been. Was probably the memory going belly up.

This is getting to be really rediculous. I could deal with parts failing I could even deal with several parts failing but that many parts is beyond unusual IMHO. I have little faith in them getting me back a working and functional computer since its been 8 weeks and still isnt fixed. Heck they cant even get it repaired now before a new part fails.They could have built it from scratch 3 or 4 times now. HAHAH Well in a way I guess they have actually done that but still.

I am beginning to wish I had listened to my family when I first got it and it wasnt right and had to send it back two times in the first month of owning it. They all said to get my moeny back and go somewhere else and I didnt listen. I chalked it up to the joys of owning electronics but this situation now is beyond acceptable anymore.

Sure AVA has tried to do right and has bribed me here and there with freebies to help make up for things but nothing replaces the 11+ weeks and counting since january 16th that I havent had my computer to use.

Well you can't really blama AVA if they are waiting on parts.

I am not blaming them for waiting on parts I am blaming them for taking 8 freaking weeks to repair my computer.They never have any parts in so they always have to order it in and that adds constant delays. I am also holding them at fault for the total lack of quality in the build. I mean come on now should any new computer in the first 6 months have 2 bad mobs 2 bad sets of ram and 4 or 5 bad video cards? I am holding them at fault for never calling me to let me know these things. I have to either call them myself or email them to find out whats up.Whats worse is at the rate things are going I will be lucky to get my computer back by the 19th which will push things to over ten total weeks counting the shipping times.

You are due a full and complete refund.
I would start taking steps to that end.
Although they cant be held responsible for defects in products they don't manufacture, they can be held responsible for getting you a working system.

You paid for a working system, and they have not supplied that.

Stop working towards getting it fixed and start working towards getting your money back.

Since AVA reads this, I also vote for a full refund.

Well, here's my take for what it's worth.
You got a LEMON. There are laws concerning this, I'm just not sure if they cover computers. In most states, if an automobile does this, you get a new one or a refund, no questions asked.

I would start to negotiate one of two ends to this.......
First, I would have nothing to do with the current computer.....I would want a totally new box, with different components of the same calibre, built from scratch.
Second, gimme my money back and I'll just call it a day.

I'm very surprised a builder would sell "hundreds" of computers with shit for motherboards.
It kind of shows they build stuff without really stressing the parts to find out if they fail, before investing their company's reputation on them. I dont want to hear from AVA that "well the customer demands cutting edge products".......it is the builder who is responsible for selling products that work, it's not the buyer who should be expected to cross his fingers and hope for the best............there are a number of other 680i boards to choose from...........as well as a number of 8800 GTX video card producers.
I would expect this from my own build, because I dont have the resources to test different combinations before I settle on a build, but these guys do.......while the evga board had the promise of greatness in the 680i line, it was also wrought with problems from the jump. It's all over this forum and the front page. For a builder to look the other way and install these in their top line computers is rather odd at the least........talk about throwing caution to the wind.....

You have really had a lousy time here, sure AVA has been pretty good about it, but; you shouldnt even have to ask for free anything from these guys......they should just offer you whatever you need to stay happy.............
what a fiasco.
Realistically, by the time you get this box back, some of the stuff will be outdated...............

Well technically it is outdated parts already. One there is now a 8800 ultra video card. Two there is not at least one faster binning of the corsair memory. Three with the price drop on processors there are now several better parts available for the same price. Heck the e6600 doesnt even appear available anymore to be purchased in most computer builds.

I am calling bright and early tomorrow to talk to Misha and I hope we can get this resolved. Its really getting crazy. I just want to get my money back at this point so I can buy a computer that will work. I should have ponied up the bucks and bought a maingear. No guarantees that it wouldnt have happened with them either but at least from everything I see if something fails they do in fact have parts in stock to replace it with on the spot. Everytime something fails in my AVA pc that adds two weeks to the repair since they keep no parts on hand.

I have tried to be a nice guy during all this and work with them since I realize parts can and do fail but this computer has been the worst computer I have ever bought.

At this point,I agree it's time to give up on this system and get a refund and start over.To be fair to AVA,your experience seems to be the exception rather than the rule,they've built up an impressive customer rating since they started.Even the best builders get a problem system from time to time.It may just be a coincidence,but it seems a lot of the "bad seed" systems like yours I've seen cropping up lately from various builders have one thing in common - the 680i.Like I said,it may be a coincidence,but I'm going with a P35 in my next system.

Hey.......I built my own 680i system from scratch..........
Used an ASUS P5N32-E SLI board that has been exceptionally good. I have an early release model and so far have not had problem one.

It is not the super-dooper overclocker that the EVGA model has been, but other than that it has been stable as a rock.

I had an e6700 clocked to 3.35 GHz on air.
4GB Corsair XMS 6400
8800 GTXs in SLI
X-Fi Extreme Music
and PC P&C 850 W PSU.

Currently I have upped to a Quad 6600 and Nautilus 500 cooling wit a Swiftech GTX. The OC on the Quad is a little weak at 3.025 GHz, but right now, thats all she's got Captain.

Check out Overdrive and VelocityMicro as well as Maingear, just my 2 cents,good luck with all this.

i work for a contract exented warranty company, lemme tell you if a system goes thru all that. WE pay for shipping, no matter how many times it need repairing within 90days of original repair. and so on and so forth. for a company to go thru so many parts in such a lil time.

all "NEW" parts. that is a shame. ive had 1 maybe 2 systems that had a domino effect.
replaced HD board went, replaced board psu and cpu went. but mind u i myself move 50 pc's a week. and EVERY system gets at least 12hrs of prime95 or orthos. to make sure its stable.

i would agree with the others take steps for a refund, go for a maingear or abs, ive heard great things about them

I originally wanted to go with Maingear on the computer actually. Maingear wanted about $600 more than ava I believe. I wish to god I had ponied up that extra now though thats for sure.

I talked to Misha though at AVAdirect and he impressed me. He was knowledgeable and professional. He talked me out of some things I didnt need and into some thing I did need. I played dumb and he knew his stuff. He never tried to upsale me or anything and could have since alot of the things I wanted and didnt need were expensive parts. That made me feel comfortable about ordering from AVA.

All the reviews I could find were positive and the few that werent were usually the typical minor things you see from any vendor. Its just went really down hill from there since then. I cant say that AVA hasnt tried to make me happy either. They have given me some freebies and other bribes to make things right with me but at this point thats no longer enough(only thing they have offered at this time for this last 8 week deal is to refund my shipping($145) and a restore disk).

I dont for a minute believe that this is typical of them but at the same point its went well beyond acceptable. I just want my cash back so I can go to a vendor that can get me a computer that will work.

I no longer have faith that AVA can do that with this rig. Might be able to have faith in them if they completely changed all parts(different brand of mobo vid cards psu etc... so that I know for sure they did change everything). But if they do that they might as well just refund me and we can all go our seperate ways.

I dont buy into the "well our suppliers supplied us crap and we cant be responsible for defects that might occur with thier parts down the road" stance. I understand parts can and do fail but thats something they need to deal with their suppliers on. I didnt give their supplier $4200 for a computer. I gave that to AVA and I expect a working stable computer. Since they havent been able to do that I expect my moeny back.

P.S. At no point has the computer been overclocked or changed outside of stock. I did add one HD to the machine. That was when the HD's started corrupting since we thought it was a failed HD and I didnt want to format the data drive I had to get my computer working. I ran out and bought a brand new drive at Fry's while I waited for AVA to "order the part for me". When that drive and my data drive BOTH ended up corrupted I found that it was the SATA port doing it.

what did they say to you today????

I'm beginning to think you should ask for interest on your 4200.

Well I called about 11am their time. I forget I am on central time and they are eastern so I called when I got to work at 10am. Misha was out and due in about noon their time. I called back he wasnt in and they transfered me to his phone which he actually answered. I assume that was a cell phone since he said he wasnt in the office and if I emailed him a phone # he would get back with me.

Chris Mundy the tech who normally works on the computer was out sick today so Misha emailed me and wants to wait till tomorrow because he "want to have all the reason why it took 8 weeks to complete the RMA!' Whats funny is that the RMA still isnt complete...and wont be till at least Friday if they get the ram back in tomorrow like they said. Best case if they wont give me the moeny back is I get my computer on the 19th which is 10 weeks since I sent it in including shipping.

Aren't they taking you on a bit of a goose chase?

Wellllllllll I wouldnt go that far. I dont blame Misha for wanting to get all the info he can from Chris. He needs to and should make sure what all has occured so that he can deal with the situation. I do find it hard to believe that if Misha has read the thread as he said he did that he doesnt know what the situation is or that Chris is the only one that can fill him in on things.

I too had some SATA issues with the same MOBO. Like I said before, I had to RMA a HDD because it became corrupted.

Chris Mundy talked to EVGA at length about my problems and they told him that on some boards you can only use one port on each SATA controller, not both. I was having a lot of stability issues, so I moved my HDDs so only one was on a controller. Now, my system is running fine, but only one HDD is working. Chris thought it might be a bad connector, so he sent me a couple of new ones. I haven't yet reconnected the other HDD -I am hoping that will solve my problem. My fears are that either the second SATA controller is dead or the HDD is corrupt. We'll see....

Unfortunately, the beautiful wiring job (I am not being facetious – it is really nice) covers the other SATA controller, so I only have two available. So, instead of 6 SATA connections, I have 2.

AVA Direct has been really attentive to my needs, but I really wish I had opted for a different MOBO.

Well I got off the phone with both Misha and Chris earlier. They are sticking by the terms of sale and will not offer me a refund at this time.They assure me that they have had extensive talks with EVGA and the issues with the motherboard are resolved. We came to a compromise since they will not refund me.

1. We agreed that if the motherboard fails again that AVA will replace it with another brand/and/or model at their expense.
2. We agreed on an extension of my warranty period to cover the time I have lost with the computer repairs.
3. We discussed upgrades to memory and/or video cards if they fail again as appropriate.

.

im sorry like i said i work for a warranty company, this is complete bullshit.
i get bitched out biig time if i have a system more then 2 weeks. not to mention im dealing with systems that are upwards of 3-4yrs old. im still gettin the last of tigerdirects p4 478's and socket a/462 machines.
they should be phased out with in the next 7-8 months.
and the hard part is we have to source out these boards and etc. some units are so old or so rare we cant even perform warranty repair we have to buy it out.

but these guys are dealing with what? 8month to a yr old parts and cant get there shit right. if you kno the evga 680i board has issues and your having a problem with them. swap the board with somethin comparable. that should have been done immediatly on the third return. hell we arte giving free upgraded boards to certain gateway units because thier oem boards are discontinued. so i have to modify a few things on the internals of the case but it works, and works well. not to mention i stress the piss out of it.

and another thing that kills me is the parts u have picked arent some cheap shit oem msi/ecs/foxconn/pcchips crap. they are considered "quality" brand name parts.

idk thats my .02, pardon me i had a rough day 11 systemboards replaced and stressing in 4 hrs.

Any updates on your plight???

Computer back yet???? Does it work????

Computer isnt back yet. I think it might have shipped today but I am not sure. I didnt get a tracking number. The corsair 9136 ram they got in for me failed on monday. Makes 3 pairs of that stuff thats failed so far. We worked out a swap for some of the Corsaid 8500 ram with them refunding the pricing difference. Its easier to get the 8500 ram in. They have been testing it since Monday. Should get it back sometime early next week.

kodan said:

The corsair 9136 ram they got in for me failed on monday. Makes 3 pairs of that stuff thats failed so far. .

Click to expand...

I call BULLSHIT!!!!!!!

Your one system has suffered more failures than I have ever heard of on my life....first its the Motherboard, then the ram, then the video card...these people don't have a fucking clue!
Its time for you to get a lawyer, and get your money back...
its painfully obvious that they have been feeding you lies for damn near a year now...get a lawyer and end this now.

shame on them for ever letting it get this far without a refund
I would not do business with them now if they were the only computer company on this planet.

AVAChris said:

We don’t want any customer to ever have to send a system in 2 or 3 times for repair, but if this situation ever occurs we will do what it takes to make a customer happy and to have a permanent working system. In his case we offered to refund ALL return shipping costs, we did refund the first return, purchased a game of his choice, T-shirts and made a restore disk.
Christopher Mundy
Technical Support Manager
AVADirect
[email protected]
(216) 503-6371 Direct

Click to expand...

WOW, your covering shipping, and giving away a $5.00 shirt, a game, and a $1.00 CDR...well that more than makes up for 9 months of aggravation......

I dont think I've ever seen anybody have so much trouble since I started reading and posting here.

Wow. I feel bad for you.

Its time to tell AVA to keep the computer and send a check. An attorney (although I hate to resort to those snakes) might be a good idea. Especially if the attorney words the letter to politely explain money back or they pay the attorney fees.

Like I said before, there are lemon laws. I think this qualifies.

Man, I'm sorry this is happening to you. Must be like a bad dream.

I believe they've had your computer for 12 weeks or something like that......man......

I have asked them twice to issue me a refund and they refuse. I have looked at all my options and at this time I dont have any legal means to compel a refund. Dont want to say much more than that about that aspect of things.

Trust me this has been the WORST computer buying experince I have ever had. This nightmare has been going on for ten weeks as of today and its still not over. I just hope that they can send me back a working computer at this point and that it would stop having parts failures so that they can send it back. I am deffinately not happy about how the situation has been going but I dont have alot of choice in it.

Just got an email from Chris. My computer is shipping later today. So I might have it on Tues/Weds next week. Tuesday will be 11 weeks since I shipped the computer to them. If there are reports of a howl of rage and frustration heard around the world next week thats probably me. I pray that things work right when I get this back. I will be beyond mad if after 11 weeks it doesnt work when it comes back.

Really hope your nightmares are over and you get a stable system back. Don't want to hear that blood curdling scream! Best of luck to you....

-1 for AVA in my book. sorry for your troubles bro, hopefully this time it works.

It's hard to figure how a company with such good ratings could mess up this badly,they just seem to have a weakness when it comes to handling problems with the 680i.If it doesn't work this time,they should just admit defeat and give you a refund,dragging it out this long is completely unfair to you and just hurts what was a good reputation for them.

Well Michael I can pretty much assure you if it fails again I will be right back in the same damn boat I am in now. We discussed that possiblity and that was why they agreed to change brands/models of motherboard if I have another failure. Misha pretty much told me that I could forget ever getting a refund on this machine(not his exact words of course).