BFG = full price for refurb cards

Don't get me wrong- I'm happy I have a great card (BFG 6800 OC) but I wasn't so sure when it crapped out 10 minutes after I got it (bought it brand new) and instead of actually doing the smart thing and just returning it to the vendor I bought it from, I see BFG's little note about not doing that and instead calling them for warranty issues... I do. And guess what.....they refuse to ship me a brand new card. So I'm stuck getting a refurbished card for full price. They told me they wouldn't/couldn't guarantee I would get a new card in replacement because that was not guaranteed according to their warranty.
could've paid half from someone who wanted to upgrade for the same card I got from BFG...
sure- good deal.

<strike>buyer beware</strike>

Well, can you still try to get a exchange from the vendor ? Most stores will accept this especially if it's new.

I never thought of that- good call- maybe i will try to contact them about it. thanks for the thought. can't believe I didn't think of that.

Thats quite Ironic. I have always heard good things about BFG's RMAs.
I fail to understand one thing though?
Your card was straight up retail correct?
If so why wouldnt they RMA it for you?
Or did you buy it OEM or from a friend.
Sorry If I am being stupid but it was a late night for me last night.
I hope you get a new card soon.

Or you could contact John Malley. He is one of the marketing guys for BFG who hangs around the forums and has helped others in the past. I suggest sending him an email: Address as posted in another thread: [email protected]

1) BFG is going to take your non-functional 6800 OC back.
2) BFG is going to send you a functional 6800 OC in replacement.

How is that standing behind their product?

No- they did RMA it for me but they wouldn't send a new card- all they would do was send a refurb card. It was pretty obvious it was a refurb too judging by scuffs and whatnot on the card itself. I heard really good things about their company too so I was pretty surprised that that was the answer I got.
I will give Mr. Malley a try and see if there's anything he can do to help.

You should check the vendor first. There is a vendor here in canada, aptly named Canada Computers. They are a bunch of scam artists. My buddy bought a 9600 XT brand new, brought it home, we took of the heatsink and stuck some artic silver under the heatsink.

So the card worked fine for a few days and then crapped out. So he returned it to the store. He returned to the store a week later, the store said they had returned his card and replaced it with a new one. Well wouldn't you know he gets it home, we unclip the heatsink, and low and behold its the same damn card with the arctic silver paste still under the heatsink. And the card still did not work.

What a friggen scam. That have a shrink wrapper in the back, where they re-seal stuff and sell it as new, and on top of this when you return something they take a 15% re-stocking fee *cough BS *cough, from your original purchase price.

Inglix_the_Mad said:

1) BFG is going to take your non-functional 6800 OC back.
2) BFG is going to send you a functional 6800 OC in replacement.

How is that standing behind their product?

Click to expand...

that is standing behind their product to a certain extent, but when I pay full price I expect a brand new functioning card in replacement if it dies through no fault of my own (I know it wasn't my fault- I'm seriously paranoid about static shock and following procedures)- at least for a decent period of time after slae. This was 10 minutes after I got it.

bonkrowave said:

You should check the vendor first. There is a vendor here in canada, aptly named Canada Computers. They are a bunch of scam artists. My buddy bought a 9600 XT brand new, brought it home, we took of the heatsink and stuck some artic silver under the heatsink.

So the card worked fine for a few days and then crapped out. So he returned it to the store. He returned to the store a week later, the store said they had returned his card and replaced it with a new one. Well wouldn't you know he gets it home, we unclip the heatsink, and low and behold its the same damn card with the arctic silver paste still under the heatsink. And the card still did not work.

What a friggen scam. That have a shrink wrapper in the back, where they re-seal stuff and sell it as new, and on top of this when you return something they take a 15% re-stocking fee *cough BS *cough, from your original purchase price.

Click to expand...

I bought it from Outpost.com so I guess they'll be pretty good about a return (at least I think they will)- I've heard some not so good stories very similar to that about Best Buy.

This is pretty standard stuff, I used to work at a box shop that was an authorized repair place for several brands that would do this.

People would always say to me,"I want a brand new HP printer to replace my 11 month old one!".

Just didn't work like that, HP recycles the returns by fixing them and using them for warranty replacements.

You gave them a nonfunctioning used card, they gave you back a functioning used card. It would seem to me you're back at where you started, the owner of a functioning used card.

If you got a brand new one, you would have profited.

Rollo said:

This is pretty standard stuff, I used to work at a box shop that was an authorized repair place for several brands that would do this.

People would always say to me,"I want a brand new HP printer to replace my 11 month old one!".

Just didn't work like that, HP recycles the returns by fixing them and using them for warranty replacements.

You gave them a nonfunctioning used card, they gave you back a functioning used card. It would seem to me you're back at where you started, the owner of a functioning used card.

If you got a brand new one, you would have profited.

Click to expand...

I think it has more to do with the milleage on the card. If you buy a Video card and it does not work in the first few days, you should be able to return it for a brand new card. Whats to say you dont get a replacement that is 11 months old, after returning you day old non-functioning card.

Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even.

Who cares if it's used as long as it's the same card.

As others have mentioned, the warranty only covers replacing defective parts with working parts, not necessarily NEW working parts.

Now, with that said, I do think it should be required to send you one back that is in as good condition as the one you sent. (IE - no visible markings or defects.)

10 minutes of use in my book does not make a used card. That's basically DOA as far as I'm concerned.

edit: crap, I forgot I don't post here anymore...doh

Josh_B said:

Who cares if it's used as long as it's the same card.

As others have mentioned, the warranty only covers replacing defective parts with working parts, not necessarily NEW working parts.

Now, with that said, I do think it should be required to send you one back that is in as good condition as the one you sent. (IE - no visible markings or defects.)

Click to expand...

I know I would care if I put the money down on a new card, and all I got out of it was a used card.

bonkrowave said:

I think it has more to do with the milleage on the card. If you buy a Video card and it does not work in the first few days, you should be able to return it for a brand new card. Whats to say you dont get a replacement that is 11 months old, after returning you day old non-functioning card.

Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even.

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. How on earth would I make a profit from a day old dead card?

LOL - My mom bought a brand new Chevy (Buick) stick that came with the clutch assembled backwards, how they got it on/off the trailer I have no clue. They didn't give her a new car, they replaced the clutch. Mind you she had it for about 2 mins, if you include starting it. About 10 Minutes longer if you include all the paperwork signing.

Incidentally it wasn't a new clutch, and it (the car) cost only a few thousand dollars more than the video card.

Dr. X said:

10 minutes of use in my book does not make a used card. That's basically DOA as far as I'm concerned.

edit: crap, I forgot I don't post here anymore...doh

Click to expand...

Inglix_the_Mad said:

LOL - My mom bought a brand new Chevy (Buick) stick that came with the clutch assembled backwards, how they got it on/off the trailer I have no clue. They didn't give her a new car, they replaced the clutch. Mind you she had it for about 2 mins, if you include starting it. About 10 Minutes longer if you include all the paperwork signing.

Click to expand...

Not the same thing. They replaced the bad clutch with a new clutch, right? Not a used one.

I can see your cause for concern, but think about it, its BFG.

Even if you got a refurb thats 11 months old, if it dies 2 years from now you can get it replaced again, because BFG has a lifetime warranty.

That being said, if the cosmetic defects are really bad, I'd complain to BFG and see what they can do for you.

tranCendenZ said:

I can see your cause for concern, but think about it, its BFG.

Even if you got a refurb thats 11 months old, if it dies 2 years from now you can get it replaced again, because BFG has a lifetime warranty.

That being said, if the cosmetic defects are really bad, I'd complain to BFG and see what they can do for you.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean, and I did think of that so on that count, as I said, i am happy I got a BFG card, but I still don't think I should have had to pay full price for a refurbished card. I did just send an email to John Malley explaining the situation to see if there is anything he could possibly do, so we'll see I guess. I've heard so many great things about BFG that I don't want to be annoyed and angry over this. I want to believe they're as great as all the (hopefully not paid off) reviews claim they are.

brainstormoc said:

I know what you mean, and I did think of that so on that count, as I said, i am happy I got a BFG card, but I still don't think I should have had to pay full price for a refurbished card. I did just send an email to John Malley explaining the situation to see if there is anything he could possibly do, so we'll see I guess. I've heard so many great things about BFG that I don't want to be annoyed and angry over this. I want to believe they're as great as all the (hopefully not paid off) reviews claim they are.

Click to expand...

Well I have to admit they are a great company. The 24/7 tech support is where its at. Maybe while you are at it you could put it a good word for two 6800's in sli for the posters in this thread =)

bonkrowave said:

Well I have to admit they are a great company. The 24/7 tech support is where its at. Maybe while you are at it you could put it a good word for two 6800's in sli for the posters in this thread =)

Click to expand...

You mean tell John Malley how great you guys all think that configuration is? I wish I knew more aobut it- I haven't been too up on video card hardware lately- The last cards I heard you could do that with (aside from these) were the Monster Voodoo 2's- I always wanted to sli a couple but could only ever afford 1.

You would have to have returned the card to the point of purchase to get a brand new one. The RMA is only for exchanging used broken with a working card. I personally don't care how lousy the returned card looks as long as it works. It is only going to sit inmy computer case anyway...

The one RMA I have had to do with BFG was replaced with a perfectly nice looking TI4600.

brainstormoc said:

You mean tell John Malley how great you guys all think that configuration is? I wish I knew more aobut it- I haven't been too up on video card hardware lately- The last cards I heard you could do that with (aside from these) were the Monster Voodoo 2's- I always wanted to sli a couple but could only ever afford 1.

Click to expand...

From what I read it is not the same type of SLI as the old voodoo 2's. For the voodoo 2's one card would render even frames, the other would render odd frames. From what I gather the new type of SLI both cards render opposing horizontal lines in each frame, or something like that.

"Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even."


Not exactly, The car part would be replaced under warrenty so the car was in "like new condition". This is exactly how electronic's Rma's are handled. If the car was to suddenly burst into flames and completely destroyed, the dealer wouldn't have much to worry about except a law suit. The owners insurance would handle the pay out of the cars worth and you would beable to take your cash and buy something else.

Video cards dont have insurance unless you buy a service contract from BB or compusa.

you got what you payed for, you had a used card ( for all the manufacture knows, you overclocked the crap out of the card on the first boot) and you got a used card back. Same deal with a car, the second you drive it off the lot it is considered a used car. For all the dealer knows you could do be doing nuetral drops from the second you leave the dealer.

Superunknown98 said:

"Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even."


Not exactly, The car part would be replaced under warrenty so the car was in "like new condition". This is exactly how electronic's Rma's are handled. If the car was to suddenly burst into flames and completely destroyed, the dealer wouldn't have much to worry about except a law suit. The owners insurance would handle the pay out of the cars worth and you would beable to take your cash and buy something else..

Click to expand...

You are creating an entirely different example. Even if we take your example I would still want a different vehicle, as a new car breaking down in 10 mintues, certainly screams lemon.

Superunknown98 said:

"Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even."


Not exactly, The car part would be replaced under warrenty so the car was in "like new condition". This is exactly how electronic's Rma's are handled. If the car was to suddenly burst into flames and completely destroyed, the dealer wouldn't have much to worry about except a law suit. The owners insurance would handle the pay out of the cars worth and you would beable to take your cash and buy something else.

Video cards dont have insurance unless you buy a service contract from BB or compusa.

you got what you payed for, you had a used card ( for all the manufacture knows, you overclocked the crap out of the card on the first boot) and you got a used card back. Same deal with a car, the second you drive it off the lot it is considered a used car. For all the dealer knows you could do be doing nuetral drops from the second you leave the dealer.

Click to expand...

I do see your point. It's honestly just a little hard to take when I know I didn't damage the card. I can see it from the company's POV but cmon. Why do they charge significantly less for refurbished cards then? Because they are not new and subsequently seen as less valuable. I paid $300 for a card that should be equal to the value of that money, not the value of half that amount.

Got a very nice reply from Mr. Malley a little while ago. I replied back asking if the replacement would be a new card. Waiting to hear.


>Hello again- Thank you for your fast reply, but I just wanted to clarify. It's not the scuffs >and markings that bother me. Rather, it's having paid full price for a refurbished card. If >it's not too rude to ask, will the replacement card be a new card?
>BY

>
>John Malley wrote:
>
> Brian, thanks for contacting us.
>
> Sorry for the cosmetically scuffed card. That is not typical of one of
> our RMAs. We would be happy to exchange your card for one that is has no
> "scuffs" or "markings". I will have someone from BFG Tech Support
> contact you to make arrangements to take care of this as quickly as
> possible at no cost to you.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> _________________________
>
> John Malley
> Director, Marketing and PR
> [BFG Technologies]
> 28960 Ballard Drive
> Lake Forest, IL 60045
> www.bfgtech.com
> "The Gamer's Choice"
> Check out our new free multiplayer gaming site:
> www.bfggaming.com !
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian Yerk [mailto:XXXXX] Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 12:49 PM
> To: John Malley
> Subject: BFG warranty replacement
>
> Mr. Malley-
>
> I was referred to you by a poster on the HardOCP forums who said you
> may be able to help.
> I recently purchased a BFG 6800 OC card from Outpost.com and was very
> excited about the prospect of it too, from all the exceptional things
> I've heard about your companies cards and support. Unfortunately, when
> I got the card and installed it (quite carefully) it only ran for about
> 10 minutes before dying. As requested by your company, I contacted your
> tech support department about getting a warranty replacement. I tried to
> stress that I wanted to make sure I would get a new card since I had
> paid full price not a few days before. I was told that that was not
> guaranteed by your warranty and was promptly shipped a refurbished card.
>
> It's obvious when you look at the card that it is a refurb due to scuffs
> and markings that a new card wouldn't have. I feel this is very unfair
> of BFG. If it had even been a few months I could see why a refurbished
> card would be in order, but not on the same day I receive it. Is there any way you can help me out with this? Here is the link to
> our discussion on HardOCP forums if you wish to review it-
> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1027524330#post1027524330
>
> I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing form you.
>
> Brian Yerk, A+ Net+
> IT Coordinator
> Elm Terrace Gardens
> 660 N. Broad St.
> Lansdale, PA 19446
>
>
>
>
>
>

I don't know why people are being hard on you. You seem reasonable and are staying level headed. Seems like no one seems to care that you could have just returned it to the store. That little slip is asking you for a favor, so now you are doing the same, quite calmly at that. That slip is not a binding contract or law, and it's not printed on the outside of the box either.

Well the real question should be: Which one clocks better?

If I got a refurb that couldn't overclock as fast, I might be irritated...

However, If I recieved a used card that clocked higher , I would rather have that than a brand new card...

Hmm, I've had a few bad HSF combos on boards, they don't replace the chip, just the fan.

Likewise if a Capacitor is damaged, or an inductor, a cold solder joint, or a memory chip.

Any one of these could cause, and I'm not mentioning a dozen other things, could cause the card to go bad.

Now how electronics RMA Works:

Part is Bad
Obtain RMA #
Send Back to Manufacturer
Manufacturer verifies Serial Number is a real ABC product.
Quick scan done to make sure product not "doorjammed" (skiing enthusiast might get that)
Now if it has been long enough that a few have been returned and repaired you will get a previous card. If it is so new that they haven't got any of those you wait until your card is fixed.

Any questions?

bonkrowave said:

You are creating an entirely different example. Even if we take your example I would still want a different vehicle, as a new car breaking down in 10 mintues, certainly screams lemon.

Click to expand...

J-Mag said:

Well the real question should be: Which one clocks better?

If I got a refurb that couldn't overclock as fast, I might be irritated...

However, If I recieved a used card that clocked higher , I would rather have that than a brand new card...

Click to expand...

no OC is promised by anyone much less warrented by any company...BFG will give a warranty on THEIR OC not yours if my memory is correct. So there fore if you are going above their preset clock speed dont bitch and dont send it back, you got what you paid for nothing more was promised

2nd reply
Ok- I think this company really is great.


>Wow-
>I really do appreciate your great customer service Mr. Malley. I think I can count on one >hand the number of good companies that actually care about their customers, and from >now on the only video cards I’m going to buy are going to be BFG. Good job, PR guy! &#61514;
>This was in my mailbox not long after your last email…
>I will be content with the card you’ve had shipped rather than go the route with >Outpost.com.
>Once again thank you very much. You are an asset to BFG!


>Important Delivery Information
________________________________________

>Scheduled Delivery: 14-April-2005
>Shipment Detail
________________________________________
>Ship To:
>BRIAN YERK
>XXXXXX
>PA
>18960
>US
>Number of Packages: 1
>UPS Service: NEXT DAY AIR
>Weight: 1.9 LBS

>Tracking Number: 1ZYXXXXXXXXXX9177
>Reference Number 1: 42515
>Reference Number 2: RMA 22844


>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Malley [mailto:[email protected]]
>Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:57 PM
>To: Brian Yerk
>Subject: RE: BFG warranty replacement

>Hi Brian,

>You are not being rude at all, quite the contrary. Thanks for being so
>polite.

>We will make sure the card you get as a replacement is in excellent, if
>not perfect condition. Of course, this card will be fully backed by our
>lifetime warranty as well.

>If you are looking for a brand new card in brand new retail packaging,
>may I suggest returning it to the retailer directly, where you would get
>a brand new card as a replacement? Otherwise we would be happy to take
>care of this card for you.

>Please let me know how you would like to proceed and we will do our best
>to accommodate your needs.

>Regards,
_________________________

>John Malley
>Director, Marketing and PR
>[BFG Technologies]
>28960 Ballard Drive
>Lake Forest, IL 60045
>www.bfgtech.com
>"The Gamer's Choice"
>Check out our new free
>multiplayer gaming site:
>www.bfggaming.com !

once again that is why i only buy BFG stuff

I must be the only guy who combats getting recycled used parts for warrenty support.

When I have a bad part, I take a LARGE permanent marker and write 'BAD' right on the part, in plain sight.

It makes it a lot harder to send back to the next unsuspecting customer. Especially if it's a weird failure the average plug it in and turn it tester would likely miss.

bonkrowave said:

I think it has more to do with the milleage on the card. If you buy a Video card and it does not work in the first few days, you should be able to return it for a brand new card. Whats to say you dont get a replacement that is 11 months old, after returning you day old non-functioning card.

Its like buying a new car, driving it for a couple hours, it breaks down, and the dealership giving you a year old car and calling it even.

Click to expand...

Sure that's one way it could work. On the other hand, you could trade in a two year old card and get a two day old card in return.

With lifetime warranty, you're not "out" anything to have a working card. It's not like you're trading in Sarah Michelle Gellar and getting Rosie ODonnell back.

BBA said:

I must be the only guy who combats getting recycled used parts for warrenty support.

When I have a bad part, I take a LARGE permanent marker and write 'BAD' right on the part, in plain sight.

It makes it a lot harder to send back to the next unsuspecting customer. Especially if it's a weird failure the average plug it in and turn it tester would likely miss.

Click to expand...

I think so. I generally expect to get a refurb product back when we're talking warranty service. That is of course unless the product had one hell of a short warranty period. For instance, I RMA motherboards on occasion, and whether it's ASUS, Abit, or whoever, I always get a refurb back in return. It doesn't bug me one bit as long as it works as advertised and doesn't look bad.

As for writing BAD on a product, I strongly disagree with that methodology. If I ever RMA a product with a weird malfunction, I usually attach a note to it with tape or something so it won't be overlooked. I'd rather the company know what happened, possibly learn from it, and repair it accordingly than do them harm by writing BAD on it so they can't use it again. I wouldn't be surprised if someone didn't honor your warranty because of that one day.

Rollo said:

Sure that's one way it could work. On the other hand, you could trade in a two year old card and get a two day old card in return.

With lifetime warranty, you're not "out" anything to have a working card. It's not like you're trading in Sarah Michelle Gellar and getting Rosie ODonnell back.

Click to expand...

We are talking about this specific example here. The op said after 10 minutes. The likelyhood of him getting a used card which is less then 10 minutes old is nill.

J-Mag said:

Well the real question should be: Which one clocks better?

If I got a refurb that couldn't overclock as fast, I might be irritated...

However, If I recieved a used card that clocked higher , I would rather have that than a brand new card...

Click to expand...

This is totally irrelevant.
A. Your "clocking better" may well be the reason the card died, and BFG doesn't owe you anything if you ran the card above spec
B. All they owe you is a card that runs at their spec speed

As BFG has a lifetime warranty on their cards, do you think you have the right to run them at whatever speed you like, and exchange them as many times as you like?

If so, you are what I'd call a "thief".

bonkrowave said:

We are talking about this specific example here. The op said after 10 minutes. The likelyhood of him getting a used card which is less then 10 minutes old is nill.

Click to expand...

Why is that?

The card he gets could have failed after ten minutes and been repaired?

Someone like JMag could have bought it and said,"Nuts- my $400 6800GT doesn't run at $600 UE speeds- I'm sending this junk back! How dare they rip me off buy not giving me a UE when I paid for a GT!"