Newegg takes 4-7 weeks to process an RMA?

Has anyone gone through the newegg RMA process before?

So, I bought a V6Va from them early this month, but the laptop arrived defective. The laptop constantly, randomly locked up on the default factory installed windows and my clean installed windows.

Playing with different set of drivers, display card, motherboard, sound card etc but still had the same lockup. CPU/MB/HDD temp were all within the right range according to Everest; nothing was overheat. Looping the Memtest for 12 hours produced no error either. I even tried to run the laptop in safe mode, not loading most if not all the drivers but it still locked up. So I called to request an RMA (replacement) and the laptop was sent and delivered to them last Tuesday. A week has past, and I heard nothing from them. So I emailed them to request an update, and here is part of their reply:

Is it normal that they will spend 4-7 weeks to process a replacement RMA (Asus laptops especially)? Anyone who has experience can fill me in?

 

I think someone posted about this some time ago. NewEgg fully tests the machine before deciding whether to give you a refund.

 

4-7 weeks is not a reasonable period to determine a refund, just contact your credit card company. I am pretty sure they cannot hold your money hostage for that long. Even if their return policy states this period does not mean it is enforceable or not...only the CC will know for certain.

But know that a chargeback is not always right away either. The merchant has a chance in many cases to justify/dispute the situation.

This is one of the pitfalls of buying online from many companies. They want to be paid right away but never want to fix something that went wrong.

 

Large mass shippers neither house their own stock, do warranty work... or take returns (unless you really go at them).

The notebook is most likely at Asus..... For all that is good and cheap about businesses like these, this is the type of "service" you'll typically find. Asus is the one that is the one that has to be taking care of this. You won't be receiving a replacement, but whatever is going wrong will be fixed and it will be returned to you. Since these companies have no control over someone like Asus in terms of warranty support, they're "4-7" week notice is just to save their ends.... If... and it most likely is... as Asus, it'll turn around quickly..... Even though that model went "end of life" a year ago... they should still have parts.

Now... one last thing... If Asus is not the one repairing it, and it does infact come back repaired and not replaced... They would have voided your warranty, because only Asus can work on it. Since they're not in the business of losing money, I doubt this is anywhere but Asus' office. You could probably call up their techs and give them your serial number - I bet if you get the right person they should be able to help you out. If all else fails, drop me a line and I'll help you get to the bottom of it on Asus' side.

 

Honestly, considering the good things I have head about Asus support in North America, I would recommend making a warranty claim with them rather then sending it back to Newegg.

It's probably fastest that way.

 

I'd sure be unhappy with 4-7 weeks for an RMA. But, as others have said, NewEgg is a reseller, so the theory that they send it to Asus for testing and repair makes sense. So, you figure 3 days to NewEgg in Calif., 1 day waiting, 3 days to Asus in Calif. and the same coming back to you, and there's 2 weeks already. So 2-5 weeks to allow for testing and/or repair sounds reasonable.

I would do what Jumper suggested, which doesn't help the OP at all now. Contact Asus directly, ask if you can send it to them under their warranty instead of NewEgg, avoid a voided warranty, and cut some time off the whole process.

 

I don't get it. It clearly states on the notebooks-

Return for replacement within: 30 days (defective items only)


Tell them to get it in the mail NOW or you will do a charge back.

 

Well technically it's not even Newegg's problem... They sold a sealed box with an Asus warranty, they have no responsibility to take returns.

It's nice that they offer a 30 day replacement for defective items, but clearly they have their own testing policy and process for making that happen....

Threatening a charge back wouldn't really help, they are already taking something into their hands they they don't have to..

 

NewEgg's return/replacement policy for laptops says that replacement is for "defective items only. It could safely be assumed that they would want to determine the product is defective before replacing it. Not that I agree with it but the days of getting a consumer item replaced with no questions/follow up is pretty much over. Here's NewEgg's policy from their website:

And Asus recommends going back to the reseller first. Probably doesn't hurt to ask them to handle it directly, but that's their recommendation.

 

As a merchant, the people who threaten "charge back" both, don't know fully their ability to do it, and also just seem not to care that they didn't read certain things before their purchase. Credit card companies are hold up websites posted policies rather well and actually give much more leeway than customers would assume. First and foremost, for an order that is placed, a company technically has 30 days to process the credit card and 7 days from the date of capture to ship an item. With ground being the longest method of shipping, basically the credit card company will give the merchant close to 45 days to get the item in the customers hand. I know people complain about some of the big etailors and how it could take a week to process their order and/or how it takes that long for them to tell them what they ordered is out of stock, etc..... We typically get orders out same-day if in by noon, and if not the next day.... anytime that goes 2-3 days, we always get at least one person every few months to threaten "charge back" because we didn't ship the same day. When it comes to this return, they have their 4-6 weeks or whatever. I doubt it'll come close to that, but if it does, then you have more than enough to go to your credit card company with. Until then, it's nobody's fault that the system gave you problems....... it may be asus' problem, but they need to test it out first.... the best thing to do is relax.

In this situation, two things:

1. They will not take a return (restocking fee or not), they do not handle taking back an Asus system for someone who just decided they don't want it....

2. You have 30 days from purchase to "return for replacement". The thing is, that's Asus policy for ensembles, which is why they offer it..... but replacement doesn't mean a new notebook, but they'll replace anything that's wrong with it, if they can't they'll replace the notebook. They also have to test it first to find out if there's actually anything wrong with it in the first place and if so, what. You have 30 days from purchase to notify them and get it back to them. From there, how ever long Asus needs, they need..... but they don't need to replace it within 30 days.

Just making sure we're on the same page.

 

Well, as long as ASUS or Newegg pay back my 4-7 weeks after they send me back the notebook after repair. Which mean my warranty extended 4-7 weeks which ever time they needed to repair it.

 

I see. I thought the 30 day return was newegg's.

 

Asus' recommendation is only because they want to weed out the "normal people" that think their computer is broken but they didn't push the ac adapter plug in far enough.... or they got a virus or spyware.... There's a reason I don't answer phones anymore... Even the smart ones that know what Asus has to offer aren't always the quickest. We're all to blame sometimes and often it's the smarter ones like us that overlook the obvious. Well Asus thinks have the end user call us first will weed those out. It's actually legally against their warranty to say that.. and I'm not sure if they changed the term to "they recommend", but before it was "you must call your dealer", and technically their warranty kicks in the second the customer buys it.

The mistake of this reseller, and quite honestly I'm surprised they didn't just kick you to asus in the first place, considering they both have no intentions of testing it themselves, nor replacing it themselves..... and the only thing they have is actually YOUR warranty to go on. IF the screen died or the motherboard died within 30 days of ownership, Asus would replace that directly to you.... So honestly the whole situation is odd. I know that Asus doesn't have any more V6va's though...... technically they do, but they're housing them for this reseller who bought the few that were left a long time ago.. I bet the situation comes down to Asus telling new egg they have to swap it for one of the units they have - or simply fixing it and having the reseller explain why it's fixed and not replaced.

I think it'll all come down to this though. Since you wouldn't know what was wrong in the first place, but you would know if it was the unit you sent in. Here's what I bet will happen - and really it's no big deal. If say the hard drive needed to be replaced, or even the motherboard... you'll never known and the unit is still under warranty. I bet your reseller will get back to you after asus fixes whatever's wrong and simply says - it was software related, it all works fine - and gives it back to you in working normal condition.

In the end, no one should care as long as the notebook isn't damaged or still giving someone problems.

 

No, that's actually industry standard...... but at the same time it has to be handled between Asus and the warranty holder. After said transaction, it's not the merchants, but the end users. It's sort of confusing, but in the end most of these places don't accept returns period. The phrase "return for replacement" isn't exactly a return. If it doesn't work on day one or day 730 (last day of a 2 year warranty, obviously), it'll get taken care of. Even if it's DOA, it's Asus' deal to have to swap it. Knock on wood, but we haven't had any DOA's that I know of, but I have heard of a couple over the years (which really isn't bad for the for all the systems they're getting out), and Asus basically overnights the system back to them and overnights a new one back out...... It's pretty hard for a system simply not to work after QC testing if it's sealed up and the carton is in normal condition.

 

Hmmm, that interesting, that's not how it was presented to me at all (not that I'm disagreeing with you, you would know). When I bought mine (locally, not from any resellers on this form), I was told if anything was wrong, I could come back and trade it for a new one right there as long as it was within 30 days. It also seemed he was going to back that up as I thought there was an issue at first, but was able to correct it myself. But he said if I was uncomfortable, to come down and grab a new one before my time was up. I was quite impressed with that, I guess that's why your post surprised me?

 

I'm going to disagree with you either, we have certain practices for local customers too. When someone has to ship a notebook, regardless how far, and then it needs to be shipped off to Asus, it's a lot easier, cheaper, and quicker for everyone, if we handle the rma process with asus as a rep to the customer. However, if you're local and there's a problem, we can see what it is that's wrong on the spot. If the lcd or motherboard failed, we not only have parts, but Asus will pay for shipping both ways. As long as there's stock of whatever model it was, it's easier in that case to swap it quickly.

Not sure if explained that right, but it makes sense to me and that is what we do, but in most cases we simply get on the horn with the people we know in RMA and tech support and get them to set up a pickup and make everything as quick as possible for the customer.

 

That makes sense when you put it that way.

 

So Justin, I should have called you before sending my notebook to ASUS for repairs?

 

You could have, it's by no means required. We can strong arm Asus if need be. For local customers who simply want to drop their system off with us, like I said, we do whatever repairs can be done in house. For warranty repair stuff, it's weird, it'll be changing shortly, but for the last year and half, no one but Asus could do repairs under warranty but Asus, without voiding their warranty.... Anything anyone else did also wouldn't be covered cost wise. So basically, it made no sense to ship a notebook in here, look at it first and then send it to asus.

In terms of setting up an rma with Asus, we've always been there to mediate the process with Asus for anyone that calls. Anyone that knows their problem isn't some little driver glitch, Asus doesn't mind talking to you... but if Asus ever gives anyone a hard drive, the support guys get me and I talk to some people I've known over there for a every long time... things seem to get sqared away very quickly.... but you don't need to call us... you're more than welcome to though.

 

My experience dealing with Asus RMA so far says use your dealer if they are familiar with the people at Asus RMA.

Just got my laptop back from Asus RMA with a 1280X800 screen in it vs the 1440X900 that it is supposed to have (I verified they installed the wrong one in device manager, ATI control panel sees max res as 1280X800 etc). My screen had died about 2 weeks after I got the laptop so I went through Asus as Newegg had none in stock, and I thought it might end up at Asus anyway.

Anyway they told me repeatedly they would replace my laptop (Asus) but they just repaired the one I sent (by installing the wrong screen.. hmmm). Not sure if there was a language barrier or they just wanted me off the phone, but I'm sure one of the guys on here who resells will have a better time than I am having.

 

update:

Just received a pacakge from Newegg. They have sent me a brand new one. Not sure if it was Asus who decided not to fix the broken one or just I harassed Newegg enough...anyway, hope this one works okay...

and thanks guys for all your helps/inputs!

 

Congrats on the new one and the quick turn around time, 7 days isn't too bad, even though every day probably felt like a week, lol. Enjoy the new toy!

 

update two:

So....the replacement laptop arrived with a dead battery....at least the laptop itself worked perfectly this time so i thought it was no big deal. I gave Asus a call and faxed the cross shipping forms to them last Tuesday, waited another 2-3 days, called them again last Friday afternoon (1-888-678-3688 x4) to check the status. The lady said the replacement was just shipped out. I then asked her for a tracking number; she said she did not have it right now and told me their system would automatically generate one and email me later that night. I was like okay cool I would just wait then thanks and hung up.

Not receiving no email/no tracking in the past three days, I called them again this afternoon. The same lady answered. I told her I did not receive any tracking number. She then put me on hold for like 20-25 mins and came back with a tracking number. I tried to track it with my computer while I was still on the phone, but the tracking number did not work. The lady then told me it might take some time for the package to show up. But the package was shipped three days ago I said. She did not directly reply and just asked me to wait.

10 mins after I hung up, the package showed up on the fedex system...the package was pickup today at 5:10 PM, and that was the time she put me on hold...

well, at least I will have a replacement battery tomorrow after a week of waiting and being lied to.....

 

Well, at least while u r on hold, that lady did send you the replacement in a hurry lol....

 

weird that I see this thread now. I just went through the exact same thing. Well it was a different model number, but I bought it at newegg as well. About 2 hours after I opened the box the first time the hard drive started failing (lots of bad sectors). I called newegg and got an RMA. I honastly didn't hear any mention of how long it would take when I had them on the phone. The next day I got my RMA number in the mail along with shipping directions. I got the same sort of 4-6 week thing. Long story short, I shipped it CA, and about a week later I got a new tracking number with a new laptop coming from their warehouse in NJ. 3 days after that I had a new laptop. 2nd one is working fine.

I think Newegg just puts that 4-6 weeks thing on there as a CYA. I figure at most all Newegg did was open my box and make sure I sent everything back in. It's possible that someone tried to turn my defective one on, but I doubt they even did that. Newegg will just send it back to the manufacturer and ship a new one.

Newegg may not be the best company out there, but I've ordered a lot from them over the last 10 years or so. All my RMA's come back in 7-10 days.

 

Well, at least Newegg never let their customers down although it take some time for them to sort out things. That, we all should understand