Hardware nightmares

[Terry Rock]

Durge's recent experience prompted this question.
I just put PNY on the list of companies I will no longer be buying from moving forward.
It really is sad because I've liked buying and using their products.
I personally bought their GTX1070XLR8 prior to my 1080Ti Duke, which was among the best cards I've ever owned.
Story behind my decision: The company I work for recently purchased two GTX1060XLR8 cards for testing graphical simulation software.
One card was utilized and the other set aside for another test machine.
I just pulled it out of the box..brand new and still shrink-wrapped, to find it badly artifacted immediately.
A call was placed to PNY and despite the card being within the 3 year warranty period, support was denied.
Their basis: It was not purchased from one of their approved vendors.
So essentially, a new card...(which the company paid $210 for)...is now e-waste.
You guys may want to check approved list prior to shelling out large sums for new cards from these vendors.

Visiontek has also been on my 'no buy list' for years due to not replacing a failed fan.
I had to actually void the warranty by taking the void sticker off the screw to gain access to the fan header. This was for a card still within the warranty period from the original Visiontek company.
Visiontek had changing hands and stating they were not honoring warrantees from the previous owner's sales.

 

[Fennario]

"Void if removed" stickers and authorized vendor requirements are not enforceable in the US. You are entitled to your warranty support.

 

[Terry Rock]

"Void if removed" stickers and authorized vendor requirements are not enforceable in the US. You are entitled to your warranty support.

Good to know.
I will have my lead teammate call PNY's management tomorrow.
It is utter crap that they can walk around telling folks they won't cover a warranty for a brand new card.
This is disingenuous at the very least.
I won't be buying anything from them based on this.
I'll shop with my wallet and my principals.

 

[Fennario]

May not be 50 state... NY, CA, and NC laws cited below:

1. NY: https://www.vorysecontrol.com/blog/anti-diversion-efforts-vs-new-york-warranty-law/

2. CA:

https://www.severson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-California-Song-Beverly-Consumer-Warranty-Act-Overview-w-019-7946.pdf

https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2005/civ/1792-1795.7.html

3. North Carolina:
https://law.justia.com/codes/north-carolina/2015/chapter-25/article-2/section-25-2-314

https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi...e.com/&httpsredir=1&article=5137&context=nclr

[/URL]

Void if Removed: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/ftc-warranty-stickers-illegal/

 

[Terry Rock]

I politely spoke with a lead representative and sent a copy of that statute to PNY.
A day later they responded stated the warranty policy (as expressed on their site) supersedes any other warranty requirements.
They have now denied the company's request to fix or replace that GTX1060-6GB card.
What's really stupid... is the fact that the company I work for, is the World's leader in the flight simulator business.
They purchase thousands of video cards for their core business.
Each fixed-wing simulator uses at a very minimum...three cards.
Helicopter sims can use nine to twelve depending on views.
There then the graphical fixed flight simulators, which typically use five cards on average.
It is not a smart business decision on the part of PNY to deny repair or replacement of a $200+ item.
If asked for a recommendation, I can't in all honesty say I'd refer them moving forward.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

I have had several hardware issues that were addressed with no issues:

• Fractal Design - I broke a part when I was installing my motherboard. Company replaced the part with no problems
• Bose - Speaker volume control unit stopped working after 2 year. Part was replaced with no issues.
• BenQ - I thought my display was not working correctly. Display was replaced. Ended up is was an error on my side
• NewEgg - Bad video card a few years ago. Replaced after a few months. No issues with the replacement.

 

[Terry Rock]

More and more companies seem to give a damn about customers or customer service during this pandemic.
It is a vast difference from a time when they were trying to establish a foot-hold in their respective segment.
As to PNY's position....It is a rather short-sighted one to take purely from a business stand-point.
You'd think given our core business and the sheer volume of high-end graphics cards the company purchases every year, they'd have sorted it out.
The card in question was a GTX1060-6GB XLR8, purchased to test a new static graphical flight simulator..so not an expensive card to replace.
It did have the potential for multiple sales had it worked for what we intended during testing.
Sadly we will never know, as it severely 'artifacted' right out of the box regardless of driver used. It'd artifact just sitting at the Windows desktop.
Our company purchases thousands of very high-end cards for current and future flight simulator builds every year.
The company itself is under the umbrella of one of the wealthiest conglomerates in the World, so we can 'chuck' this defective item and write it off to a bad experience without the blink of an eye.
Most people cannot do that.
How businesses handle after-sales customer support or lack thereof is a good indicator as to whether I personally buy their products.
PNY has denied this claim on a defective but brand new factory-sealed item they manufactured.
Their basis for denial; it was not purchased from one of their approved vendors.
It is no wonder businesses fail every day. Common sense and the ability to see long-term business prospects seem to have gone right out the window.
If you currently own a PNY product you should be asking yourself the question..."Is the company I purchased my hardware from on a PNY approved vendor list?"
I suspect most probably do not or will not know the answer until an issue arises.