Is this how Gigabyte usually deals with their warranty?

[Tim_The_Myth_Smith]

I purchased a P35Wv2 Gaming Laptop from NewEgg on 11/7/2014. Sadly, it is a lemon. Even worse, Gigabyte has done its best to make this my worst experience in 26 years in the IT industry. Is this par for the course with Gigabyte?

My first issue occurred on 3/3/2015, and it had to be sent in for warranty repairs. Because of the extremely slow response times from tech support and customer service, I was not issued and RMA until 3/6/2015. They notified me on 3/17 that they had received it. It remained in their possession for 43 days because the repair depot did not have the parts to fix my laptop. Apparently a motherboard (ironic considering its Gigabyte's repair depot) had to be ordered from Taiwan. I was without my brand new laptop for 60 days. This was unacceptable. I demanded that my warranty be extended for 2 months because that was how long they had my laptop for. It was extended for 6 months.

On 6/2/2015, just weeks after coming back from repair, the laptop quit charging or even recognizing that it was plugged in. Once the battery died, it was no more than a paperweight. Gigabyte tech support requested I send both the laptop and the AC adapter power supply since it could not be determined which one was causing the issue during the troubleshooting process. Again, thanks to incredibly slow tech support, an RMA was not issued until 6/23/2015. Three weeks after reporting the initial problem! At this point I was thoroughly disgusted with Gigabyte and rather than go through the headache and expense of shipping a defective product back, I packed the laptop up, put it in my spare parts closet, and forgot about it.

While doing inventory this Spring, I found it and decided to pursue the repair before the warranty expired. I requested the RMA be reopened on 4/24/2016. By 4/27/2016 it was reopened. I packed up and shipped back all of it: laptop, power supply, everything. On 5/19/2016 they emailed me stating they had received 3 pieces. My laptop was finally returned to me on 6/1/2016 however, they failed to return my power supply, so the laptop is still just a useless paperweight. I called the customer service number listed in the RMA emails, but after sitting on hold for 20 minutes, I left a message. My call was never returned. I also emailed customer service telling them about the mistake. They asked me to verify that I sent a power supply because they had no record of ever getting it and do not direct people to ship them back because they have them on hand. Thankfully I still have the email they sent stating they received 3 pieces.

At this point, I still do not have a resolution on how they plan to correct this latest mistake. Gigabyte needs to do something to fix the issue it created. They need to fix their support system so it doesn’t take weeks to get tech support and RMAs, and they need to drastically improve their record keeping process so that when an email in sent stating 3 pieces were received, 3 pieces get returned. Customer service needs access to this information so that when a piece is not returned, they can immediately fix the issue instead of claiming the part was not sent in the first place. Response times in all cases must be improved. And when their customer service "all agents are busy" recording tells you to leave a message so that your phone call can be returned as soon as possible, it should be returned as soon as possible instead of being forgotten and swept under the rug.

I am so incredibly unhappy with the service I have received. I even logged on to Facebook for the first time in 2+ years so I could tell my friends and family about the exceptionally poor service I have received. I will never buy another Gigabyte product.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get these idiots to provide the service I thought I was buying, I'd be happy to hear them.

 

[greens]

Gigabyte makes laptops?

I had no clue, and is probably not a good sign.

ASUS for days, MSI for gaming, Lenovo for the office...

But Gigabyte? Nope. They make some good Mobos and GPUs, but i'd be willing to bet the only thing Gigabyte about that laptop is the logo.

 

[Tim_The_Myth_Smith]

After sending them the email they sent to me stating they received my power supply, they finally replied via email that they would "double check" and "get back" to me. Yeah, probably a week from now considering they still haven't returned my phone call from 2 days that the recording said would be returned "as soon as a customer service representative becomes available".

I am so incredibly disappointed with Gigabyte. Imagine going to the store and placing 3 items on the counter. The clerk checks you out, bags your items, and gives you a receipt for 3 items but you only have 2 items in the bag. Would you expect the clerk to say, "We'll double check and get back to you"? No. You would expect your 3rd item. If that 3rd item was not at the register, you would expect them to go grab one from stock as a replacement since your receipt clearly shows 3 items.

 

[greens]

How much did you pay for this laptop that you expect quick service?

Why did you not diagnose the power brick yourself? You can go buy one at walmart that is undoubtably significantly higher quality and will provide your laptop with more accurate power.

Your posts are kind of ranty, and just trying to bash Gigabyte. But honestly, what kind of service are you expecting? They are an electronics company - you'll get the same result anywhere.

Break an axle on your brand new car? Wait 4 weeks for the part to arive, a week to install it, etc. And that is at a major car dealership. Service isn't instant. Attitude goes a long way when dealing with CSRs.

 

[Tim_The_Myth_Smith]

I paid $1700. I do not expect next day service, but 2 months? For a motherboard? From a motherboard manufacturer?? That's where the car analogy breaks down. I did not return my "car" to some "major dealership", I returned it to "Ford" at "Ford's" designated repair depot where they do all their repairs. To expand on the car analogy, if I took my car to a dealership to get the axle replaced and they returned it without its gas tank, would that be adequate service? If I pointed out to the dealership that they signed for the car and gas tank when they received it, should I expect them to tell me I didn't give them the gas tank in the first place? Is it to be expected when the dealership says "we'll deliver your car tomorrow" that they finally start sending it 4 days later?

I did attempt troubleshoot the brick myself. The alternate PS I used also would not make the laptop work. However, the Gigabyte power supply also failed to make another computer work. By my troubleshooting, the issue appeared to be with both the laptop and the brick. Good luck convincing any tech support that you might have a clue though. I got my start doing tech support for Gateway 2000, and it seemed every other caller was a computer expert, so I'm not surprised when support makes me duplicate efforts and eventually comes to the conclusion that I need to send both the laptop and power supply back.

Am I ranty? Yes. I am deeply unhappy with them, and I'm wondering if my experience is par for the course. They emailed me stating they received the laptop and power supply and then failed to return the power supply. When I pointed out that I did not get my power supply back, they told me they never got it in the first place. They finally emailed me this last Monday that they would be shipping a power supply "tomorrow". It just shipped. Today is Thursday. How much praise should I give to a company that takes 4 days to do something "tomorrow"? What kind of glowing review does a company that loses your stuff deserve? Their customer service and support has been the worst I have experienced in 27 years, and I feel its my duty as a decent human being to look out for my fellow man. This is why I'm wondering if my 3 bad experiences have just been terrible horrible luck on my part or if this is how Gigabyte normally treats all their warranty work.

Attitude does go a long way, but when the service becomes too bad you have to quit tipping the bartender.