Just told warranty was voided by redoing thermal paste...

Jut got off the phone from Asus and they are holding my laptop (G73JH-X1) until I pay for the repairs because there is evidence it was opened, and tampered with. They are not allowed to move forward until they get my credit card information.

Original RMA was sent in due to Screen went black, and GSOD's. Now I have to pay money because I opened up my laptop and repasted their crappy TIM job.

I asked about it being at least covered by accidental considering it would be covered under FIRE WATER DROPS and ELECTRICAL, I was told that since my laptop was shown to be "tampered" with that I am not even covered by "Accidental."

I even asked if they could send it back so I could light it on fire and he said no.

So now what do I do?



I believe the problem was from when I removed the Speaker wire the entire connector came off and I said screw it I have a 5.1 surround sound and a nice headset so put it back on and left it not connected. I can understand MAYBE if I was asking to have it repaired...(even though I dont believe its a fault of my own BAD Engineering!) This is not about something being broken they are denying my RMA just because it was opened...

SO HEADS UP GUYS

If you have "opened" your G73 you have (quoting the rep) "even if you didnt know or was not told you still voided the warranty."

I am about at my end here...4 Asus Laptops, even got my wife to switch from her precious HP's


*sigh*

If only Logitech made Laptops...






###***UPDATE ON FIRST AND LAST PAGE***###





Update on my RMA situation...

I got a call from a gentlemen who acted as a liason between tech services and myself, we got all of the issues hammered out and I am more than being taken care of.

My official response to opening the laptop as voiding the warranty was that

IT IS OKAY TO OPEN IT

BUT

IF YOU SCRATCH, BEND, BREAK ANYTHING THEY WILL LOOK AT IT AS ABUSE.

The "damage" that I had done that was halting repairs was when I took the keyboard off and put it back on it didnt sit "flush" (because of the bending probably from peeling it off and that damn double sided tape) and they took that as possible damage. Also saying that there was a fear of static electricity from it in the future. I told them not to worry about the keyboard and they are repairing everything else.

All is right in the world, Please please

PLEASE

give Gary and the guys some slack and let them roll out as slowly and steadily as they want with the vBios fix so as to let it be working the first time.

Thanks again Gary (and other guy whos name I will not reveal on the phone) you guys have restored my faith in this brand.


P.S. It really doesnt take much to make some of these people happy

 

Oh man, that sucks. Really sorry to hear that.

 

This was my email from an asus rep about two weeks ago.

Also PS "I even asked if they could send it back so I could light it on fire and he said no." - I loled

 

MORE I NEED MORE


Seriously though it was hard to argue with the guy because I Knew that in his Call Center world...that is exactly what they had told him. I wanted to get a hold of the people that actually take the Laptops apart so I could talk and reason with people who have repeatedly actually done what I had. Talking to a customer service person about repair or my laptop was when it went all wrong.

 

I only talk to techs here and they actually told me they prefer if i do everything myself just so they dont have to work (and i prefer that as well so its a win-win situation for me, they order the parts i want and i do the work myself to make sure its done properly). Your expirience may differ since every authorised service center operates as they see fit. Sorry to say but i think you might have come across one that will screw around with you and since you gave them your laptop already (big mistake, always arrange what will be done BEFORE you give someone your laptop) i dont see what can be done now. Keep calling i guess.

 

Hmmm I redid my GPU and CPU.

And I know Mandrake redid his GPU and CPU. He even lapped his heatsink and did modifications to the heatsink. And when he sent his in for RMA, no charge.

There must be something going on. You must have broken something while doing the TIM?

Redoing the thermal paste won't void the warranty unless you break something while doing it.

 

Thats what I am thinking too...but i cant think of what it was a TIM job 4 screws pea sized amount and 4 screws back on

I even sent them my tube of Arctic Silver 5 so in case they were going to redo the the GPU they could use my stuff instead of their stock stuff and save me the repaste job also.

Here is the problem is everyone I have talked to so far has been the 1-888 number from someone sounding like they are in another country I have not talked once to the Fremont, CA (which is supposed to be the good of the two centers in USA) I think I will keep calling till I get someone who knows what they are talking about, or demand they give me a number to talk to someone who actually has my laptop and not just looking at a computer screen.

Anyone think I could enlist Gary's help?

My motivations are to just have a working Laptop that I paid for, I am not jumping through these hoops for fun. I should be playing Starcraft 2 right now.

 

Maybe you are not in the US. If they knew you were in there they would have probably used your adw to get it fixed. I cut my lvds cable while in there. I left all the cut wires exposed so that they would know which one to replace, they replaced that plus my lcd screen for whatever reason and fixed my non functioning kb lights for no charge. Well, some charge since I had to pay for shipping to them.

 

I even originally asked them this and they said that sending it to a center was my ONLY option...I would love to just do the work myself.

 

Yeah I think it was your post GSTboy that I saw you pulled the Speaker wire (that thing is utter BS the amount of force to remove the plug is the same amount of force that pulls the entire thing) and I felt good that at least I wasnt retarded...

I live in California, Fremont Center is my closest center I wish I could get their number and stop talking to someone in a different country.

GARY....help please

 

PM Asus Customer Care. A few people have had issues with customer service and he or she was able to take care of the issue.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/member.php?u=275694

 

Sorry to hear about your issues, bertio. I did the same exact thing, actually. Since my gaming temps were mysteriously climbing (100-105 C during FFXIV), likely due to a crappy TIM application, I decided to redo it myself. I was repasting and tore off the whole speaker connector by accident... The cable itself is intact, but there's no way for it to connect to the motherboard now. I've been getting by since my subwoofer still works, but I figured that I broke my warranty so I haven't bothered trying to get an RMA. Heh. Temps only reach 85-88 in FFXIV now, so at least I managed to apply the paste correctly.

If you do manage to get it fixed by Asus for no charge, please let me know how you did it- I'd definitely be interested in trying as well. I live in the US so I have the accidental damage warranty, but as far as I know, it doesn't count in my case.

 

I would have been able to resolder the connection myself but I pulled one of the solder pads and a rewire rerouting would have been a nightmare as I didnt have the specs for the board...I am hoping someone from Asus can cut me some slack with that I can only imagine how many techs themselves have probably pulled that piece off during repairs.

Will do thanks

 

hey Antisniperspy, anyway I can get you to forward me that Asus Email?

I sent you a PM

YOUR AWESOME!

 

PM me the RMA case number and somebody will contact you shortly about it.

 

I just contacted Asus technical support about my 2 month old G73 GPU now overheating much like many other peoples.

They simply said I had to send it in when I described the problems I having (gpu hitting 109C and causing windows 7 to go into standby mode while running 3D intensive applications)

Not too crazy about sending in my only personal laptop for 14 days considering I have only had it 2 months.

I asked about reapplying the thermal past myself and if it would void the warranty they said touching any of the screws on the bottom of the case would void the warranty.

This is very disappointing as I am A+ Certified, Cisco Certified, and a MCP with over 7 years of on the job desktop computer support. And still work for a VERY large computer company at this time..

I have taken apart many Dell, HP, IBM laptops and desktops from top to bottom at work while they were on warranty and never had a problem with getting warranty work done after. I have even taken apart both of my previous MacBooks one to remove water I had spilt on it, and the 2nd to replace a HD.

I have also built half a dozen desktop computers for myself, family and friends using asus motherboards and various other components.

Gary Key, not sure if you can advise me also as I am in Canada I would prefer not sending in my G73 off if the problem can be resolved by simply reapplying the thermal paste myself.

 

Well, I'm in Los Angeles, and I contacted the local authorized service center here in the city about getting a thermal repaste done. They said to contact Asus, tell them you need an RMA number and once you get one, bring it in and we'll do a proper thermal repasting and even replace any fans or anything else not providing proper cooling.

So I called Asus tech support today, played dumb and told them I needed to get a repaste do to high temps and shutdowns and that the local authorized center said I needed an RMA first and that's why I was calling, to get one. The CS rep was nice, issued me one right away and I'm going tomorrow.

I don't see why you have to send it back. (Sorry, I quoted the wrong poster! This statement is in response to a different post. Jeez, embaarrriissing!)

Even though I knew what I was doing, I played dumb to appease any static I might get from the rep. Once she understood the authroized center agreed to the gig and just needed an RMA number and I could drop it off, she had no problem setting it up.

I know there's another authorized service center in San Francisco and one in Irvine.

I'll post results once I get it back.

If anyone, even if you're an expert, lives within driving distance of an authorized service center, I'd go that route first just to avoid what Bertio is going through. Then if they screw it up first, there's a record of them doing the job, and then, if you want to do the work yourself and have an accident you can blame it on the service center.

Bottom line, if they do it right the first time, it's a win. If they don't, then you can open it up your self and if they try to not honor the warranty for anything going wrong you can say you got it back like that from the service center and didn't touch it.

Again, I'd only do this if you're in driving distance to a service center, as to go through this by mail, the wait on the turnaround time might be too much of a hassle.

Cheers

 

All is well with the universe.

Good Luck with the vBios release Gary!

GO GET 'EM TIGER!

 

Update on my RMA situation...

I got a call from a gentlemen who acted as a liason between tech services and myself, we got all of the issues hammered out and I am more than being taken care of.

My official response to opening the laptop as voiding the warranty was that

IT IS OKAY TO OPEN IT

BUT

IF YOU SCRATCH, BEND, BREAK ANYTHING THEY WILL LOOK AT IT AS ABUSE.

The "damage" that I had done that was halting repairs was when I took the keyboard off and put it back on it didnt sit "flush" (because of the bending probably from peeling it off and that damn double sided tape) and they took that as possible damage. Also saying that there was a fear of static electricity from it in the future. I told them not to worry about the keyboard and they are repairing everything else.

All is right in the world, Please please

PLEASE

give Gary and the guys some slack and let them roll out as slowly and steadily as they want with the vBios fix so as to let it be working the first time.

Thanks again Gary (and other guy whos name I will not reveal on the phone) you guys have restored my faith in this brand.


P.S. It really doesnt take much to make some of these people happy

 

Good to know, since I live in San Francisco

 

Here is my fixit email from asus

Hi Bertio

I just spoke with you on the phone regarding your RMA with the G73. We decided we would repair your notebook except for the KB which we would leave alone. However, we have decided to go ahead and replace the KB so it should basically be like a brand new unit when you get it back. I do want to let you know that there will be a short delay because we don't have the motherboard in stock right now. I guess that means that we are going to replace the MB as well. If you don't hear anything from us by early next week, you can call and ask for me and I'll be able to check on the status for you. I don't think it will take very long for us to get the MB we need for your G73.

Best Regards,

XXXXXX

Technical Support department for further assistance can be reached by the following methods:

ASUS Troubleshooting: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-
ASUS Member: ASUS Member Login
ASUS Technical Mail Support System: ASUS Online Service

Thank you very much.

Customer Service Center.
ASUSTek Computer Inc.

 

that sounds full of confidence...

 

Imagine how I feel.

 

I just got told that my warranty was voided because i removed the rear cover of my 2mo old g60jx. (removed rear cover to troubleshoot a rattle that i thought was the DVD drive, and found that the lower fan mount/standoff over the GPU is BROKEN)

 

the guy also said that my problem sounded like CID(customer induced damage)

 

how would they know that until they looked at it?

 

I just went through a similar thing with Dell and the battery on my M11x.

I really wish customer support at these places was on site and only staffed by real tech's that know and understand the product instead of outsourced to a guy who reads answers off a script. I wouldn't even have a problem with outsourcing if the reps were real techs and not just a phone worker one level above a telemarketer. Where each respond to the customer not by product knowledge but by a guided company script.

THIS is why I buy as many EVGA products as I can. 24hr tech support by real gamers and PC certified experts all here in sunny southern California.

Sorry to hear that. What a crock. Often when I feel I am getting the run around from a CS rep. I just call back and try different rep. I try to state my case a little clearer and slower, and more often than not I get the result I wanted or better.

How? Because one rep is more of a decent human being than the other.

You just gotta keep fishing

 

And never take no for an answer.

Sad part is I work in customer service and I hate it when someone acts like a *womens feminine cleansing product* because they know if they escalate the problem they will be taken care of out of fear from the company.

Other sad part is I tried being nice then after being a *womens feminine cleansing product* I got what I wanted...the cycle continues