Mad Catz (Cyborg Rat) Warranty Service = Terrible

I just wanted to warn anyone who is thinking about purchasing a Cyborg RAT gaming mouse - warranty is just as bad as Skullcandy (worst in the industry).

Introduction:

I've owned the a Cyborg RAT since Christmas 2011 and it's been nothing but a headache.

Issue:

The mouse has to be on an absolute flat surface or else it will only partially work as your moving it - this means you can't game on the couch. With Logitech's gaming mice (G9X and G700), I was able to game on almost any surface with 0 issues.

The major problem came later, when the mouse would randomly change sensitivity settings while playing games and optical laser would not properly feed my direction, sending the cursor in various locations.

Warranty:

I called Mad Cats and kindly asked for an RMA / replacement. The representative then asked me if I had proof of purchase, I said yes. He asked me where I purchased it, I said at a computer tech shop online retailer (gave him the name) and he puts me on hold.

Rep comes back and tells me since the online retailer wasn't an official retailer, my warranty is automatically void and I have zero coverage.

At this point, I'm extremely frustrated and demand to speak to a manager. After 20 minutes of arguing, the manager authorized one single claim.

I'm then told that I (me) have to pay for insured postage from Ontario, Canada to San Diego, California out of my own pocket.

The mouse cost was 70.00$. An insured box to California is about 25.00$.

Manager then says the process takes several weeks and I'd be looking at 4-6 weeks of waiting.

Conclusion:

There's the story - Worst service ever.

They will try to avoid warranty claims as much as they can. These authorized retailers are big companies such as Tiger Direct and Newegg, but no one knows this until they actually make a claim. I had purchased mine from a Canadian computer store that wasn't on their "list".

On-top of that, you'll have to pay 1/3 of the mouse cost in shipping fees and wait 4-6 weeks.

Never, ever going with this company again.

I should of never left Logitech, who's treated me like a king over the years. If I would of had an issue with their gaming mice, they would of 2-day UPS'd me a free replacement and an RMA pre-paid shipping label for the damaged mouse.

 

You said it really here my friend. Logitech is king when it comes to mice. I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the company. The mice are exciting to look at, but most reviews I read say there's something deficient about the engineering/quality control of their products, despite being so new-age and hip looking. This is another black eye for a company I would hope take off on better grounds.

Thanks for the recap of your experience. Sorry it went so poorly. I WILL say that my experience with Logitech 100% mirrors yours - I had a G9x replaced with few questions asked and shipping paid for by them once and shipped quickly. This was mostly to me just being a difficult-to-please customer and complaining the buttons weren't as springy as they were when I bought them 6 months prior (if you game as much as I do, this is GOING to happen) and they handled it professionally and exceptionally. Logitech understands it's worthwhile to just send the replacements out free of charge and keep the current customer rather than to save some chump change making the customer (ie. in this case = you) jump through hoops.

 

I never really liked madcats, I bought a PS2 controller 10 years age and now saitek x52 in 2008! both never last me a year! and the warranty was absolute (***)

you made the right decision leaving this company permanently!

 

That's always terrible to hear. My experience with getting service for a faulty laptop from Dell several years ago was very similar.

I've only ever had to replace one gaming product, a headset from Razer. They made it pretty painless; I just had to email a photo of the cable cut in half with the serial number visible, and they sent a new one right away.

 

I brought a $20 Logi, turn out going crap on me. Ask for RMA(prompt responses), they send me new mouse in UPS box w.o even asking me for the old 1.

 

I've actually not had a serious issue with Cyborg warranty here apart from the fact that it takes a long time and they don't proactively replace your gear like Logitech does, but my problem is the number of times I've had to warranty Cyborg gear in normal use. I have also had a couple of issues where they have refused warranty based on "user abuse", though these were possibly debatable circumstances due to my manly physique (or at least that's what I tell myself) overpowering their puny gear.

However that's mostly past history based on previous Cyborg mice / keyboards and Saitek steering wheels - the RATs are such form over function I've not really used any of the ones I bought seriously enough for them to get any wear & tear.

Just steer clear of the RATs, not on warranty but just on the smoke & mirrors. Actually, just steer clear of Saitek/Mad Catz - never, ever come across anything from them that *worked* truly well.

 

I've a different experience, I've bought a RAT9 and it was DOA. I bought it on ebay. I contacted mad catz and they sent a new one to them. It was really fast, 7days later after I sent mine I had a new mouse.
No problems since then. Really happy with the mouse. I use it daily since a year and a half. no issues at all.