Maximum PC

Let me just start out with I have been a long time lover of BFG and have always recommended their product to friends (until today).

I put a call into BFG after they stopped responding to my emails for my RMA # 992848736. It went back to them for repair after working fine in my setup for 1 year (no hardware changes) and I got it back. I was still having issues so replaced everything down to the processor in my machine and still was having the same stability problems with the card artifacting and locking up the machine after boot and the problem was getting progressively worse. Took the card to a friends house, exact same issue as in my machine. Looked and low and behold they sent my exact same card back which is why I started to email them again. I guess it passed their lab testing. I have taken it to 3 other machines that boot normally in the "real world", once I pop this bad boy in those machine they will no longer boot up and remain stable. I am sure there is a problem with this card.

Sorry, back to my call, I talked to Kelsey in Technical support and she was very friendly and looked up all my stuff but then stopped and said sorry couldn't help me setup an RMA because of company policy and that I would need to talk to customer service because I didn't register in the first 30 days you bought your product so you no longer get your lifetime warranty. Obviously shocked, I questioned the fact that if it's lifetime who cares when I register? She stated it just new policy and went into effect this month (June?). She said I may be able to mention the fact that I was calling back about a previous RMA to customer service and they maybe can help and transferred me. The next lady did not give her name in her introduction. I explained the situation and she just kept repeating over and over I did not register in the first 30 days your warranty is not valid and that's the company policy. She did tell me that my original RMA should not have been setup back in March and that was a mistake. I mentioned that was unfair if the policy changed this month but said said that wasn't true. I asked to be escalated and she told me she was the supervisor and there was nothing that could be done.

So has BFG really slipped this much in customer service? Would XFX or EVGA bail on a customer mid issue because of some arbitrary new rule enforcement? I think not.

This is not a new policy.

It has been in effect since February 2008 for BFG.

EVGA and XFX have the same policy, you must register within 30 days to get the lifetime warranty.

I'm not sure why the person told you it was a new policy though, that's strange. Perhaps you were within the 1 year warranty when you sent in the first RMA or they just looked the other way? My guess is since the card didn't work after the first RMA they just issued you another one without looking.

I guess I should have went with customer service on that one. I just figured they were trying to dish me off. I have not really dealt with XFX or EVGA at all. I guess it's time to start checking them out. I'm a little confused on the whole lifetime warranty thing, who cares when I register it. It's lifetime.

Thinking a bit about the conversation, I am thinking that Kelsey meant that they just started strictly enforcing that rule. I get it they didn't have my email address for the past year and now I must suffer with a failed card. I hear good things about the Radeon 5850s based on this month's budget upgrades article from the Maximum PC print mag. Maybe I'll give it a whirl.

Some members of the Folding@Home team here have had success baking various parts (RAM, motherboards and graphics cards), you may try seeing if that will fix the problem.

I have never done this myself, so I don't have any specific instructions, but I know graydiggy has and may be able to tell you what to do, you may want to PM him.

XFX has thrown that "rule" to the side with me before. I didn't register it within the 30-day window, but all they said to do was to go ahead and register it to get it in the system, and then update the Support Ticket. A day later, I had a number and it was on it's way. In an email, I was basically told "I've never seen an RMA turned down".

I guess the question is why now? I mean with the economy the way it is wouldn't you be doing whatever you could to hang on to your customers? I have NEVER had a problem with a BFG rma. I have done several in the past even on cards that are after this Feb. 2008 timeframe and on current cards, heck clearly I even got one back in March of this year without any questions asked besides me explaining the issue I was having with the card. Never once was that 30 day thing brought up before to me. I guess I'm just bitter, I feel I was left hanging mid issue.

I avoid these problems by using a little tactic called RTFM. EVGA, XFX, and BFG all say you have to register your product in the manual. Never failed to register a lifetime-warrantied card within the period.

You're right they got me there. I assumed it was like every other PCI Express video card and I assumed that I didn't need to read it. I guess that's where the fine print was. I'm looking at my new XFX 5850 and yup here it is right on the box. Two year warranty unless I register for the double lifetime. Like I said I just feel more like I was left in the cold by the company even if it was my fault I didn't read over every single piece of material they included in the box. Typically its just like junk mail like wanting me to try demos etc. I was excited I got the card got it installed the box went out with the rest of the xmas trash probably.

'They' didn't get you. You failed yourself. Please stop blaming them.

It takes a couple of minutes to register a product and there is no reason not to do so.

I'd be more curious on how many others are as diligent as you when registering all of their products. For me chalk it up to a learning experience.

The part that gets me is they were able to "violate" their company policy back in March when the original RMA was issued. It wasn't fixed then, which is why I feel slighted. To me it looks like the RMA was setup and they realized they were not supposed to so they sent the same card back. I probably wouldn't have had a problem if they would have told me in March I failed to register for the lifetime warranty therefore I do not get it.

Appliances use to do this, where if you didn't register in 30 days of purchase that you did not get the warranty. It was taken to court and now registration is optional. I believe if someone pushed this on the video card industry the same would happen.

Hooray! Let's force the government to save us with more regulations! Thanks, Nanny USA!

Let's be honest. Look at all the cards available today. Do you see BFG in any of them? It raises more questions than concerns. It's obvious...BFG is out of the business. Don't invest in them and go with good instinct on purchases. If asked here at the time of purchase, I would have broken out the crystal ball and clearly stated that BFG was not a good option.

XFX is laying low on nVidia cards, but that doesn't mean they're in the shitter. It just means they're not ready to support the linage yet. Good choice. They've eat'n too much crow from supporting their GPU's in the past and acted like nVidia's development team for free. Is BFG doing this? Nope...they're flat out wiped.

I have a BFG card myself and I have a question, why didn't you register your product online when you booted up your computer when you first installed it? Did you really need those two extra minutes of gaming? I mean, it literally PROMPTS you to register.

I cant feel bad for you if you were too lazy to comply with a two minute process. If that's the case, then you would kinda be like the guy who was too lazy to sign and return his insurance policy, but complains when he needs to report a claim.

I don't know exactly why they demand registration, but the main reason I can think of, would be that the warranty would be non-transferable.

XFX has exactly the same process that you describe, though, and it is a transferable process.

I agree that laziness shouldn't be rewarded. However, since this thread is almost a month old, I think we can let it die ...