In my Opinion, Sapphire has a terrible Warranty in Europe. Sapphire Warranty says you MUST take the GPU card to the retailer you purchased it from for Warranty work. If the GPU card is not fixable, the retailer suppose to give you a Pro Rata rate on the cost of the GPU.
Maybe this Reddit Thread about Sapphire European Warranty might explain you situation better: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7xybyp/very_unhappy_with_sapphire_eu_rma_need_help/
Copied from Reddit Thread from a comment from a User:
edited 8 months ago
You haven't been tricked. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm
They must repair or replace the card free of charge. Or they must give you a price reduction or full refund. This refund should allow you to replace the defective good with a similar good. Currently you used the card 1-2 years where the card has a life expentancy of about 4 years. This means that the card has served its purpose for part of the time you should be able to count on it.
Now the reasoning is as follows: They cannot replace the card due to a shortage (unfortunately we are not able to check this). They seem to be unable to repair it (depends on the fault). Therefore they must refund you. However, as the card has already worked for a significant part of the term you bought the good for, they refund you partially.
The idiotic part of the story is that due to price inflation you cannot use the refund to purchase a similar good. Also, we cannot check if they cannot repair the card (depends on the fault) and I assume that Sapphire should have more than enough cards for at least RMA seeing how many end up in miners hands.
If I were you, I would start complaining as much as you can. Even though they followed the rules, the rules do not account for this absurd situation. They should at least come up with an alternative so you can actually have a GPU that fits your needs. Unfortunately, they are not obliged to do so. Perhaps there are similar cards (e.g. a RX 580 or a 1060?) in stock or with a reasonable delivery time?
Nuance: The reseller is responsible for solving the issue for you. If they cannot get another GPU from Sapphire, then that road is impossible for them. However, you should NEVER accept store credit. You paid for the card with money, not store credit. If you want to take your business elsewhere due to their failure, then you should be allowed to do so. Unfortunately for the reseller, the A****** in this situation is Sapphire but they have to solve the situation.
FROM SAPPHIRE WARRANTY:
FROM SCAN in UK concerning Returns:
VOLUNTARY CODE FOR THE RETURN OF GOODS BY YOU TO US
This code only applies as between you and us if you are a consumer. This code is intended to promote good relations between you and us. The code is entirely voluntary and does not affect your statutory rights.
IMPORTANTIn individual circumstances the provisions of the voluntary code may be more or less favourable to you than your statutory rights. You are free to withdraw from the operation of the code at any time and pursue your statutory rights. If you are in any doubt about your statutory rights you may wish to consult a solicitor or your local citizens advice bureau.
THE CODEWe recognise that goods supplied by us to you may not meet your expectations. In our experience there are many reasons why that may happen. Examples of those reasons include a defect in the goods at the point of delivery to you, incompatibility with existing components within your system, poor installation or simply slower performance than you require.
We are not able to establish why the goods have failed to meet your expectations without an opportunity of inspecting and testing the goods.
In any case where the goods fail to meet your expectations we invite you to return them to us with an explanation of the problem.
In any case where we agree that the problem has arisen because of a defect in the goods at the point of delivery to you:
we will refund the cost of the goods to you if returned within 28 days of the date of delivery; in any other case we will replace the goods or provide you with a credit for the cost of the goods.
In every case where you return goods upon the basis that there was a defect in the goods at the point of delivery to you we will inspect and test the goods.
Insofar as it may be established that there was no defect in the goods at the point of delivery to you, we reserve the right to charge you £10 as a contribution towards the cost of inspecting and testing the goods.
In any case where it is established that there was no defect in the goods at the point of delivery to you
- we will nonetheless try to assist you in resolving the problem
- depending upon the age and condition of the goods, we may be prepared to accept the return of the goods subject to a restocking charge and refund or credit the balance of the costs of the goods.
- insofar as the age or condition of the goods is such that we are unable to accept their return, we will redeliver the goods to you. You agree to pay to us the reasonable cost of re-delivering the goods to you.
Seems like this is between you and SCAN retailer. If you truly believe the GPU Card is bad, I would keep pursuing to see if SCAN will give you a better offer as far as a refund. This is under European Warranty laws and Sapphire Warranty terms and really am not at all familiar with it.
(The EU Retailers seems to have most of the Warranty laws in their favor) Just my opinion.
Since UK is still part of European Union, here is Guarantees and Returns for your country: Guarantees and returns - United Kingdom
Copied from Link:
Guarantees and returns – United Kingdom
Legal guarantee
How long is the legal guarantee for new and second-hand goods?
The duration is 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 5 years in Scotland. This applies to new and second-hand goods.
If the product is defective, who is responsible for putting things right?
The seller, including purchases made on an Internet platform. In addition to this, the consumers can make claims against credit card and finance companies if the product is paid for by credit card (directly to the trader) or by finance arranged for this particular purchase. This applies to purchases of the goods of value between GBP 100 and GBP 30 000.
By when must the consumer notify the seller of a defect?
The consumer must act within a reasonable period of noticing the defect but there is no specific deadline other than the legal prescription period of 6 years (5 years in Scotland).
Who has to prove the presence/absence of a defect and how long do they have to do this?
The seller must prove that the item was not defective for the first 6 months after the delivery of the product ("reversal of burden of proof"). After this time the consumer must prove that it was defective.
Is there a third party testing body that can help to provide proof?
The consumer can ask any repair shop for an expert opinion, but they do not have to give one and their opinion might not be accepted by the seller. In the event of a court procedure, the judge may accept the consumer's expert's opinion or ask for an independent expert opinion. There is a limited number of bodies offering industry-specific expertise, but these reports can be costly to obtain with the consumers possibly needing to pay for the report upfront with a view towards it being reimbursed.
What remedies is the consumer entitled to free of charge? Is there a deadline for implementing the solution?
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 consumers can argue short term right to reject the item, if the fault occurs within the initial 30 days from delivery date. This law also allows consumers to ask to reject the goods or ask for a price reduction after one failed attempt to resolve the problem through repair or replacement.
In practice, companies will at first offer to repair or replace the item. Consumers can insist on a different remedy if the one offered cannot be provided without causing the consumer significant inconvenience (consumer detriment) or when the remedy is considered disproportionate to the value of goods or impossible (trader detriment).
Any solution should be provided within a reasonable period of time.
Is the repaired/replaced product covered by a new guarantee?
No. The guarantee period is only extended by the time necessary for repair or replacement (subject to terms and conditions of the commercial guarantee).
Can the consumer take action against the importer or any intermediary in the supply chain up to and including the producer?
It is normally only possible to claim damages caused by a faulty or unsafe product, but not necessarily remedies under the legal guarantee.
If no amicable solution can be found, what is the deadline for taking the case to court?
The prescription period is normally 6 years (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) or 5 years (Scotland) from the delivery of the goods. This is unless the limitation period is suspended.
Are any other legal guarantees laid down in national law coexisting with the legal conformity guarantee?
Yes. Commercial guarantees given after 31 March 2003 are considered to be legally binding.
I saw the video you posted on Dropbox. Did this intermittent blackout occurred after updating AMD Driver?
Have you tried to install a previous AMD Driver to see if it works better? faster?
It is possible that either Sapphire gave you a refurbished or repaired GPU card after the retailer sent it to them. You can check the serial number of the GPU card that you purchased with the serial number of the GPU card you got back. But generally, if Sapphire did repair or gave you another refurbished GPU card, they should have informed you of that fact.
I suspect as you do that Sapphire did do something to the GPU card since the original symptoms were fixed. No more Blackouts, am I correct? Now it is just extremely sluggish.
I would open a new RMA Ticket for the GPU card you got back since now it is a different issue. SCAN believes the card you got back from Sapphire is good now so they are not interested in your opinion. Seems like now they are using the excuse the GPU card is good so that they wouldn't need to replace it or offer you any kind of refund. Just my personal opinion.
If the Retailer tested you GPU card and said it was defective and even agreed to give you a partial refund, then, to me that indicates the GPU card was probably defective. If you have all that information in writing from Scan saying it was defective and agreed to offer you a partial refund, at least you have a hard copy of proof that the GPU card was bad.
Did you try the returned GPU card in another computer with the same results - extremely sluggish?
I really don't know how to advice you in this situation. I would contact European Consumer Centre and see if they can direct you to the proper agency for your situation in the UK. Even though the European Consumer Centre deals with product sold between two EU countries. They may still direct you on how to proceed.
Here is the UK European Consumer Centre for your country. UK European Consumer Centre - Home
From the UK ECC LINK:
Good luck. Just chalk this up as one bad experience .
