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zokuva
Adept I

AMD Customer Service ignores european/german laws regarding legally required guarantee

I'm a second hand owner of a reference 6700 XT which doesn't work anymore.

 

I am trying to convey to the customer service that I am not trying to make use of their own limited warranty which only applies to the original purchaser of the product.

There is an european 2-year guarantee which is not the same as "AMDs Limited Warranty".

I am trying to convey to the customer service employee that this european guarantee is not something that they can just dismiss. 

There are laws in germany that allow the original purchaser to assign claims (in this case, the legal guarantee) to another person.  (German Civil Code, Section 398 "Assignment) (in German: BGB § 398 "Abtretung")

A verdict from a higher regional court in germany even decided that the clauses like "The assignment of claims for defects is excluded" violate the German Civil Code (BGB) because it unreasonably disadvantages private buyers. (Oberlandesgericht Hamm, 4 U 99/14 (note: every link that refers to it is in German, but Google Translate should be good enough to understand the gist of it).

The original Address on the invoice is from germany and I am from Germany aswell. AMD sells their product to Germany and even their website has a German version, which means that laws that apply in Germany should apply to AMD in this case aswell.

I tried to convey this to the customer support, but they think I am trying to make use of their own warranty.

To make it even worse, it takes an entire day between every single message, which makes it really hard to communicate with the Customer Service, especially when their responses seem like they're just copypasted. 

  • "Please note the warranty is applicable only for original purchaser and cannot be transferred. We do not have the option to change shipping address. Please get in touch with the person from whom you bought the graphic card for further assistance."

    I am not asking for AMDs own warranty, but for the guarantee that is given by EU laws.

How do I get to contact someone (maybe a higher up at AMD) that actually responses to my messages? I have the original invoice from AMD/Digital River.

9 Replies

Maybe you should contact their office in Germany, would expect they know more on the consumer laws for there.

Have look in the 'Contact us', bottom of page.

 

 

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I already contacted the german customer support email and they replied that they have no influence in decisions regarding this topic.

Even their replies seem like they don't understand what I am talking about and, just like the international customer service, they tell me to contact the person i bought the graphics card from, which unfortunately is not an option I have right now.

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Try contacting European Consumer Centre - Germany.

The link I provided is where you can file a complaint concerning a Product you purchased online or to get information concerning European Consumer laws: https://www.evz.de/en/index.html

Screenshot 2021-07-14 172859.png

But in your case you purchased a used AMD GPU card. As far as I know AMD doesn't sell Pre-owned GPU cards so if the Retailer you purchased it from is based in Europe then they are under the 2 year EU Consumer act and not AMD.

What is the name of the Retailer did you purchase the GPU card from?  Is the Retailer based  in Europe?

lawfuleverything
Journeyman III

Hey zokuva,

that sucks, but maybe I can help you a bit.

First, you have to differentiate between AMD's warranty (Garantie) and the defects liability (Gewährleistung). Warranty is optional, which means anyone can offer warranty as well as the warranty period and its extent. The defects liability on the other hand is regulated by law though with a few restrictions, one of which is that:

  • the regulation (§437 BGB) only counts between seller and buyer (I won't talk about b2b/b2c/c2c/c2b differences)

Now the difficult part.

Depending on the contract between you and the person you bought the card from, you either have a claim against AMD or the seller or no claim at all. As far as I understand §398 BGB (A claim may be transferred by the obligee to another person by contract with that person (assignment). When the contract is entered into, the new obligee steps into the shoes of the previous obligee.) the previous seller already needs to file a claim against AMD to assign the obligation to you later in the process. I make this assumption because §398 BGB states "... claim may be transferred by the OBLIGEE to another person..." that you become the obligee (Gläubiger) which means there needs to be an ongoing claim because otherwise there wouldn't be an obligee.

 

All in all, the situation is complex and really depending on the (written)contract you have with the previous owner. The reality is that a letter from a lawyer may cost you up to 400€ and won't change anything at all. My advice is to be extremely polite and explain your situation again. Maybe AMD will replace the card out of goodwill (Kulanz).

 

Notes: I'm not a registered lawyer in Germany, so please take my thoughts with care. Also, your point Oberlandesgericht Hamm, 4 U 99/14 again only counts between seller and buyer (b2c in this case). Maybe take a look at §399 BGB too.

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As far as I understand, the contract mentioned in § 398 is between me and the owner, which I have. It's called "Abtrittserklärung" where the name of the graphics card with serial and product numbers, my name, the name of the previous owner and assignment for the guarantee ( Gewährleistung ) are mentioned.

Regarding § 437, I thought that it ends up as B2C because I take the place of the previous customer because of § 398.

I even included it in the photos I sent next to pictures of the GPU and the invoice of the original purchaser, but I still got the default "you are not the original purchaser which is why the AMD limited warranty does not apply to you" answer I mentioned before. 

It didn't even come to a point where they say that the Gewährleistung does apply or not because they just ignore that part completely.

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In my opinion if the Owner isn't a legitimate European Retailer/Store (the person that sold  you the used GPU card) then the European Consumer laws may not apply. The European Consumer laws applies to legitimate Retailers/stores in Europe.

In this case, AMD Warranty doesn't apply since it is a Used GPU card and your are not the original owner nor does it apply to the European Consumer Law since the person you purchased the GPU card from isn't a legitimate Retailer/Store.

If the person you purchased the used GPU card is a legitimate European Retailer or store then the consumer laws does apply and the Retailer will need to guaranteed their product for 2 years at the date of purchase.

AMD does follow the European Consumer laws when applicable. In this case AMD doesn't fall under the Consumer Laws of Europe. Only the person that sold you the GPU card might fall under the European Consumer laws.

IF you want your GPU card repaired under AMD Warranty then send it back to the original owner and have that person open up a AMD Warranty ticket if the GPU is still under Warranty and the original Owner still has all the documentations from when he purchased the GPU Card.

Or you can sue the person that sold you the Used GPU card.

Found this link from the European Consumer laws concerning purchasing a Used product from an private individual: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/shopping-consumer-rights/index_en.htm#from-...

Screenshot 2021-07-14 172859.png

hitbm47
Forerunner

This is not unfortunately not related to your main problem, but I also find it bothersome that AMD only replies once a day (if you are lucky).

I find that it is a tactic they use to get you to give up; I know they probably get millions of support requests; but really it does not work if AMD only replies once every day- or two with responses they copy and paste from some troubleshooting list they seem to have.

Kind regards

lawfuleverything
Journeyman III

The problem is that in general, the defect liability (Gewährleistung) doesn't follow the product. It's only applicable between the seller and the buyer (there are cases where it works c2c). §398 BGB states "A CLAIM may be transferred..." which means that only the claim is transferable and not the right to claim (there is an exception that it can be transferred before the case of damage, but that is super complex).

So even if §398 BGB works the way you think it works, there is still §399 BGB. This regulation allows the obligor (Schuldner) to exclude any claim transfers. Lets say the previous owner starts a claim, so the claim can be transferred. §398 BGB can still be excluded by agreement (see §399 BGB).

In the end, you may have a chance by going the §398 BGB route, but that definitely needs to be decided by a court. The sad truth is that AMD is a big company and starting a lawsuit will exceed the cost of the GPU almost instantly. If they don't replace it because of goodwill, your only option will be a lawsuit.

Again I'm not a lawyer in Germany and might be wrong but that's my conclusion.

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The only solution, I see here will be to contact the seller directly and ask him to open a RMA request and then transfert that RMA " Clain" to you to follow German law.