09-02-2007, 10:07 AM
Well, I have had the worst customer service ever from BFG.
Now I am not knocking their usually excellent products; being a long term fan of theirs, but my recent experience with their 'customer support' has left a bitter taste in mouth.
It started when I purchased a new BFG NV 680i SLI motherboard. All seemed fine except when I put my 8800GTX (BFG) in the second PCI-e slot, it wouldn't work stabe for more than a few minutes. I put it back in the primary slot and all was fine and dandy. I assumed (in retrospect wrongly), that it simply wanted the high power graphics monster in its primary if only one card was present.
I added some extra cooling to the chipset as it is hot where I live and my room temp is an average of 29.5 degrees celcius during the summer months.
When I purchased my second 8800GTX card to go SLi, the trouble started. It would work ok-ish for a bit, but BSOD's and game hangups soon became common place. I tried new drives, fresh installs of windows, a new PSU of 1000watts, but all to no avail. It got to the point where the machine would freeze within a minute of booting up.
I removed the new card and tested it on its own in another PC - it was flawless. So I tried it singlyy in the primary slot on my BFG 680i - again flawless. If I booteed with both cards in situ, but SLi disabled - Flawless. so both cards would be perfect on their own in the primary slot, but neither would be stable in the secondary slot. - Pretty much a clear cut case of a fault with the second slot on the mobo.
I sent for an RMA from BFG, and informed them that I had added extra cooling to the board, so I was certain it was not overheating. They issued an RMA and copied the terms of the warranty along with it. I decided to re-itterate my cooling mod and asked if they wanted me to return the board as it was. They replied telling me that as I had modified the board; the warranty was invalid as per their terms.
I was a little miffed at this and so wrote a long letter explaining the entire circumstance of the failure and how I mistook it for a design issue when first using it with a single card.
In the mean time I purchased a second board and this worked flawlessly with both 8800GTX's in SLi mode. I figured I'd RMA the first board that was very defective and keep it as a spare.
After several rounds of my asking for a show of customer good will; I was rebuked again. I am thinking of consulting with the Trading standards office as technically the board was defective when I first received it.
I am aware of many manufacturers warranties regarding modification, and I accept these terms as an overclocker. What I am annoyed about is the complete lack of customer service in this instance, despite my explaining the facts that teh board was defective BEFORE I added my cooling extras, and also the fact that I was 100% honest with them.
I expect honesty when people deal with me, and thus I am honest with others. It seems that honesty is penalised by BFG and their 'customer service' staff. Infact the final email is copied below, along with my reply:
FROM BFG TO ME:
We do apologize for the inconveniences you have experienced. There is not a difference in our warranty when it comes to modification, whether a motherboard or the graphics card. We are very proud of our lifetime warranty and set certain policies to protect it. Again, we apologize for the inconveniences.
Thank you,
Erica P
BFG Support
MY REPLY:
"We are very proud of our lifetime warranty
and set certain policies to protect it"
Including it seems, the outright refusal to honor such warranty when the product was actually broken before any aftermarket fans were added!
Thanks - I will now be posting this chain of communications on the web. Thank you for failing to even try to see my point in this debacle, and then indeed re-quoting your warranty in each email. I am utterly disgusted that your company empowers its 'service' staff in such a way as to totally hinder any kind of customer satisfaction whatsoever.
I have worked in the customer service industry my self and your attitudes shock me. No attempt to satisfy an honest customer, when I know of at least six cases where you have honoured RMAs to products that were modified, then sent back apparently as standard. It is obvious that when dealing with BFG; it pays not to be upfront and honest.
Now I am not knocking their usually excellent products; being a long term fan of theirs, but my recent experience with their 'customer support' has left a bitter taste in mouth.
It started when I purchased a new BFG NV 680i SLI motherboard. All seemed fine except when I put my 8800GTX (BFG) in the second PCI-e slot, it wouldn't work stabe for more than a few minutes. I put it back in the primary slot and all was fine and dandy. I assumed (in retrospect wrongly), that it simply wanted the high power graphics monster in its primary if only one card was present.
I added some extra cooling to the chipset as it is hot where I live and my room temp is an average of 29.5 degrees celcius during the summer months.
When I purchased my second 8800GTX card to go SLi, the trouble started. It would work ok-ish for a bit, but BSOD's and game hangups soon became common place. I tried new drives, fresh installs of windows, a new PSU of 1000watts, but all to no avail. It got to the point where the machine would freeze within a minute of booting up.
I removed the new card and tested it on its own in another PC - it was flawless. So I tried it singlyy in the primary slot on my BFG 680i - again flawless. If I booteed with both cards in situ, but SLi disabled - Flawless. so both cards would be perfect on their own in the primary slot, but neither would be stable in the secondary slot. - Pretty much a clear cut case of a fault with the second slot on the mobo.
I sent for an RMA from BFG, and informed them that I had added extra cooling to the board, so I was certain it was not overheating. They issued an RMA and copied the terms of the warranty along with it. I decided to re-itterate my cooling mod and asked if they wanted me to return the board as it was. They replied telling me that as I had modified the board; the warranty was invalid as per their terms.
I was a little miffed at this and so wrote a long letter explaining the entire circumstance of the failure and how I mistook it for a design issue when first using it with a single card.
In the mean time I purchased a second board and this worked flawlessly with both 8800GTX's in SLi mode. I figured I'd RMA the first board that was very defective and keep it as a spare.
After several rounds of my asking for a show of customer good will; I was rebuked again. I am thinking of consulting with the Trading standards office as technically the board was defective when I first received it.
I am aware of many manufacturers warranties regarding modification, and I accept these terms as an overclocker. What I am annoyed about is the complete lack of customer service in this instance, despite my explaining the facts that teh board was defective BEFORE I added my cooling extras, and also the fact that I was 100% honest with them.
I expect honesty when people deal with me, and thus I am honest with others. It seems that honesty is penalised by BFG and their 'customer service' staff. Infact the final email is copied below, along with my reply:
FROM BFG TO ME:
We do apologize for the inconveniences you have experienced. There is not a difference in our warranty when it comes to modification, whether a motherboard or the graphics card. We are very proud of our lifetime warranty and set certain policies to protect it. Again, we apologize for the inconveniences.
Thank you,
Erica P
BFG Support
MY REPLY:
"We are very proud of our lifetime warranty
and set certain policies to protect it"
Including it seems, the outright refusal to honor such warranty when the product was actually broken before any aftermarket fans were added!
Thanks - I will now be posting this chain of communications on the web. Thank you for failing to even try to see my point in this debacle, and then indeed re-quoting your warranty in each email. I am utterly disgusted that your company empowers its 'service' staff in such a way as to totally hinder any kind of customer satisfaction whatsoever.
I have worked in the customer service industry my self and your attitudes shock me. No attempt to satisfy an honest customer, when I know of at least six cases where you have honoured RMAs to products that were modified, then sent back apparently as standard. It is obvious that when dealing with BFG; it pays not to be upfront and honest.