*****SANDYBRIDGE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET ISSUE*****

[Montala]

It's quite simple really, when the revised board is available purchase one, on delivery, remove the old board and send it back for a full refund........oops I mean contact whoever you purchased it from because they will be paying to collect it, install new board. No downtime.

... which was exactly what I said in post #612 earlier.

It is looking as if Intel will just be supplying the replacement motherboards, and then leaving it up to the individual motherboard manufactures, and their suppliers/distributors, to sort out the actual exchange process between them, with (hopefully) the customer having some say in the matter!

 

[ScottiB]

Or is it just incase someone decided to send the box back, without the mobo in it?

This is exactly the reason.

in the past i've seen everything from a box full of cables to a ten year old motherboard returned.

i hand my board over and get a new one, simple.

Unfortunately collect and drop is not a service that any of our couriers offer and it's also open to the same abuse as cross-shipping so it would be subject to the same payment conditions.

Are we expected to believe that someone like MSI as 'currently have no method of processing card payments'

We are MSI UK, we are a subsiduary who act primarily as a channel sales and marketing office. Since we only sell into distribution channels everything is done by bank transfer. Therefore we have no reason to take card payments and hence have no account set up.

I am sorry but these are just the facts, we are taking your objections onboard and I am just attempting to keep you informed. I think you deserve to be treated like valued customers and not kept in the dark or forced to call/email a service centre in Eastern Europe just to be told to wait.

 

[Liquid]

... which was exactly what I said in post #612 earlier.

It is looking as if Intel will just be supplying the replacement motherboards, and then leaving it up to the individual motherboard manufactures, and their suppliers/distributors, to sort out the actual exchange process between them, with (hopefully) the customer having some say in the matter!

Sorry matey missed that, Intel will be supplying a revised chipset to the manufacturers, and they will have to manufacture the boards.

 

[Montala]

Sorry matey missed that, Intel will be supplying a revised chipset to the manufacturers, and they will have to manufacture the boards.

Yes indeed... that's what I meant to say!

 

[robj20]

This is exactly the reason.

in the past i've seen everything from a box full of cables to a ten year old motherboard returned.


Unfortunately collect and drop is not a service that any of our couriers offer and it's also open to the same abuse as cross-shipping so it would be subject to the same payment conditions.


We are MSI UK, we are a subsiduary who act primarily as a channel sales and marketing office. Since we only sell into distribution channels everything is done by bank transfer. Therefore we have no reason to take card payments and hence have no account set up. I am sorry but these are just the facts.

So you must be going to fix the motherboards then, otherwise why need to return a board, we should just need to prove we purchased a board and get a revised one.

Way to go to trust your customers, seems an odd atitude.
Here at our place we send out a new unit and the customer then sends the old one back in the new ones box, sure it can be hit or miss what we get back but its good customer service.

 

[ScottiB]

the boards have to go back to our HQ and maybe from there the chipsets may go back to Intel, I dont know for sure.

Intel are part-funding an exchange program not a free motherboard program because they want the old revision boards out of circulation.

think about it, i'm sure you understand their reasoning

I think it's fair to assume that the boards will not be "repaired", they are based on extremely complex multi-layer PCB's, to remove and replace the chipset without damaging other components and their solder joints would likely be prohibitively complex and expensive.

 

[dave_beast]

Reasons I am disappoint in order of disappoint

1. Having to take 2 days holiday from work for collection and delivery
2. Having to changeout the motherboard for the 2nd time on SB
3. Not being able to doorstep or service centre swap

Whilst I appreciate MSI UK is a subsiduary, surely, in light of Cougar Point problems something would have been put in place, or is that not cost effective to MSI?

 

[robj20]

We obviously have different opinions of good service.
I think i will just accept the issue and keep the board, its not worth the hassle messing about, like the previous poster says i would probably end up having time off work just to send and accept a delivery, which you probably wouldnt guarentee for a certain time and certainly not weekend.
It would end up through MSIs and Intels fault, costing me money, time and effort.

 

[DanielMMS]

think about it, i'm sure you understand their reasoning

OK, so how about reasoning from the point of view of the customer. The customer has bought an item in good faith. Through no fault of the customer it has proven faulty and must be replaced - over this there is no argument. The already annoyed customer will need to go through the irritating process of removing their existing board (and all that such entails) followed by the equally annoying re-installation (and all that such entails). Yet the suppliers are suggesting that the customer should also go without their PC for a period whilst the boards wing their way through the post. Do you really think that that is acceptable from a service point of view?

NB: the idea of buying a replacement then sending back the original for a refund is all well and good for those able to shell out an additional £100+.

 

[DanielMMS]

I think i will just accept the issue and keep the board, its not worth the hassle messing about

Call me cynical, but the more difficult the swap process is made, the more people will choose this option and the lower the cost to Intel/suppliers...

 

[ScottiB]

Reasons I am disappoint in order of disappoint

1. Having to take 2 days holiday from work for collection and delivery
2. Having to changeout the motherboard for the 2nd time on SB
3. Not being able to doorstep or service centre swap

Whilst I appreciate MSI UK is a subsiduary, surely, in light of Cougar Point problems something would have been put in place, or is that not cost effective to MSI?

I can assure you that no expense is being spared to make the disruption as slight as possible, after all, a collect and return policy with same day turn around is far from cheap, Gigabyte's policy of asking the resellers to deal with it all is the most cost effective route. In my opinion this is unacceptable as it could lead to extensive delays for customers not able to swap the product in person.

If we are able to get everything arranged I hope to be able to offer a choice.
* To those of you happy to be temporarily charged for a replacement we will offer cross-shipping.
* To those of you not we will offer collect and return.

in answer to point 1) To minimise disruption we will offer to arrange collection and delivery to any convenient address which should remove the necessity to take a day or two off work.

in answer to point 2) I'm afraid that there is nothing that we can do about that, MSI did not create the problem.

In answer to point 3) hopefully a cross-shipping option will cover that

 

[Lairdy77]

Gigabyte Sandybridge
If this helps Gigabyte has set up a email address for any questions on Sandy bridge
[email protected]

After speaking with Gigabyte UK on the phone, they are awaiting confirmation on the replacement policy, but ensured me that this would all be dealt with in the UK, Due to a Local Returns centre.

 

[dave_beast]

I can assure you that no expense is being spared to make the disruption as slight as possible, after all, a collect and return policy with same day turn around is far from cheap, Gigabyte's policy of asking the resellers to deal with it all is the most cost effective route. In my opinion this is unacceptable as it could lead to extensive delays for customers not able to swap the product in person.

If we are able to get everything arranged I hope to be able to offer a choice.
* To those of you happy to be temporarily charged for a replacement we will offer cross-shipping.
* To those of you not we will offer collect and return.

in answer to point 1) To minimise disruption we will offer to arrange collection and delivery to any convenient address which should remove the necessity to take a day or two off work.

in answer to point 2) I'm afraid that there is nothing that we can do about that, MSI did not create the problem.

In answer to point 3) hopefully a cross-shipping option will cover that

Thanks for the answers

 

[robj20]

Call me cynical, but the more difficult the swap process is made, the more people will choose this option and the lower the cost to Intel/suppliers...

Probably why they have gone down this route, not daft are they.

And saying MSI arent to blame, what rubbish you made the board and presumably tested it at the QA stage. Of course its the manufacturers fault, you made and sold a defective product. It certainly isnt my fault yet i will be treated like i am a thief and will rip you off by sending you a box full of cables instead of a faulty board.
Like i said before when i had a faulty playstation 3, sony sent a courier handed me a brand new console and he took my old one, downtime next to zero, they did this without needing any details other than the serial of the machine.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Like i said before when i had a faulty playstation 3, sony sent a courier handed me a brand new console and he took my old one.

I think it's probably unfair to make a comparison with Sony, who have control of the entire system and supply chain from start to finish. Motherboard makers do a very complicated job, but they're not controlling the components in the same way.

Having said that, I agree with the idea that companies won't make this painless because they know a lot of people probably won't bother, especially enthusiasts comfortable with working around this issue.

However a lot of people *will* be using this as a test case for customer service. I know I've already made my mind up about the company I bought mine from for a variety of reasons. They'd have to send a Taiwanese lap-dancer round to swap my motherboard for me in order to get my money again.

Andrew McP

 

[robj20]

Its no different to the motherboards we make, using chips from other companies if there was a fault, and there have been in the past, we sort it as quickly and as efficiently as possible at our own cost.

We have an issue currently where the bootloader on some of our machines gets corrupted after a few restarts. The customer has been given the option of return and repair, get a new unit and send the old one back, or we send the replacement software and they do it.
Option 1 lets them keep there recorded file, 2 and 3 means they start from scratch.
Its all about keeping your customers happy so they will trust you for future purchases.

Sadly i wont be getting an MSI product again, this has let me down big time service wise.

 

[DanielMMS]

I suppose at least MSI are talking (although some of the comments might exacerbate the situation). There's not a jot from ASUS. Perhaps OC could use their contacts to get a representative to field some questions.

 

[ScottiB]

Probably why they have gone down this route, not daft are they.

on the contrary, we are trying to make the process as quick and simple as possible within the logistical limits that we find ourselves.

I can't exactly visit every customer personally to swap the board out for them can I? Instead we are trying to offer the quickest, most painless exchange process that we can possibly arrange.

Don't forget, it's in our interests to get as many of the affected boards off the market now, whilst Intel are covering most of the costs, rather than have to deal with them in 18 months time.

We found some issues with the chipset prior to launch during our Q&A testing, these were all reported back to Intel and fixed. This issue is solely down to a component which we did not manufacture ourselves and takes much longer than Intel's launch schedule allowed for Q&A to manifest. We are doing our best to minimise disruption to the end user. And I, personally, am doing my best to keep you informed, despite, it seems, most of my words being twisted

 

[VoG]

I suppose at least MSI are talking (although some of the comments might exacerbate the situation). There's not a jot from ASUS. Perhaps OC could use their contacts to get a representative to field some questions.

i suspect in ASUS's case, as they don't have a uk RMA base they'll either offer a refund, or get the supplier ( ocuk/whom ever you bought from ) to replace it like for like, if it's the latter, don't expect any cross shipping is all i can say.

 

[robj20]

I understand what your saying. Just feels like the company isnt willing to go far enough for what i would expect.

There are plenty of couriers that offer swap at the door service why not take out a temporary contract with one of them?
Fair enough it costs more, but whats it worth in return customers.

Be interesting to see what the other manufacturers choose to offer.

I have to admit though its good having an MSI rep on here i cant imagine i would be getting such quick responses with the other companies via email or such.