I am in the middle of a pretty bad RMA experience with AMD and I wanted to share my experience and thoughts. Overall I am extremely frustrated and dissatisfied with the customer support provided by AMD and their warranty service Modulus Link. With this whole SOC issue I would expect a lot more RMA’s coming soon so this is what you can expect. I had a 7700x with memory controller issues that I sent in for RMA (before this whole blowing up thing). It shouldn’t take a whole month to get a replacement for a CPU that is in stock for below MSRP everywhere you look.
Here's the timeline:
04/15/23: Requested RMA, with details of issues and troubleshooting steps taken.
04/17/23: RMA approved and shipping label sent. I sent it out the same day.
04/20/23: RMA portal says item received, and inspection status changed to passed. RMA claim status updated to resolved. Replacement status not yet shipped.
04/27/23: Submit a support ticket inquiring about the status of the RMA.
04/28/23: Ticket response (received at 2:28 AM). “Thank you for your update. Please be informed as there is no stock inventory in our warehouse. The replacement part will be shipped once the stock arrives in the warehouse. I appreciate you cooperation in this regard.”
05/02/23: Update ticket explaining that I use the PC for work and request to speak to a supervisor to inquire about getting a refund or different replacement. 7700x’s have been in stock everywhere for months and I could go down to the local store and get another one the same day.
05/04/23: Ticket Response (received at 12:20 AM): “Thank you for your email.We apologize for the inconvenience caused, we will investigate with warehouse and get back.”
05/05/23: Call customer support in the US since these emails are obviously coming from somewhere foreign, responses come in 2 days later in the middle of the night. Agent tells me to wait until Monday and call back if it doesn't ship then, meaning it will be at least another week before I get a replacement.
Things that should be improved:
- Communication. If you are out of stock, inform the customer right away. They shouldn’t have to open a support ticket or call an agent to find out why they have yet to get a replacement. I personally have not received any update or news for 15 days.
- Include timelines. Instead of just a typical canned “sorry we are out of stock,” give a timeline with it. (For example, we are out of stock of X processors. Please allow 2-3 weeks for a replacement.) If I would have known I had to wait 3 weeks I would have gotten a cheap PC just so I could get some work done. However, when the last email I received says “Please expect a replacement shipment notification email shortly,” I didn’t think it would be worth it or necessary to get a different machine.
- Refunds, loaners, and upgrades. A lot of people use their computer to make money and weeks of down time is unacceptable. AMD should offer loaners or refunds if stock won’t be arriving for weeks. Or at the very least offer upgrades to an instock part if the customer does not want to wait, even if the customer has to cover the difference. In fact, it is in their own warranty terms that they should do so.
