Asus Monitor Returns - Was Great Now Awful! Avoid like the plague!

I used to sing the praises of Asus warranty exchange in the UK for monitors, a couple of years ago it was the best warranty experience I've had in the industry and I used it a few times. It is an door step swap system; quick and painless. You'd e-mail them, they'd setup the return and nearly always the next day you'd have a courier turn up and swap the panels over with a new or fully checked one there and then. It was done and dusted with the minimal of fuss and wasted time.

I'd now specifically recommend you buy another brand if you are even in the least bit fussy about the quality of your panels because I've had nothing but problems. That or just return it to the retailer under the CCRs (Consumer Contract Regulations), buy a new one until you have a perfect panel, then just hope and pray that it doesn't become faulty!

Asus are clearly just operating a cheap revolving door system and none of them are checked for faults. I suspect as long as the faulty ones coming back in turn on they are issued new serial numbers, packaged up in the same battered boxes and shipped right back to customers. Which basically means they are wasting the customers time as almost every panel shipped to replace a faulty panel will actually be faulty as well.

Since June the 15th when I received my new monitor I've done three returns and I'm about to open my forth return as the latest panel is also faulty. Every single panel I've received has been riddled with faults, be it flickering, damage, backlight bleed or half a dozen dead pixels! It also doesn't help that nearly every single one has been automatically rejected right off the bat even after including proof of purchase and detailed fault info in the initial return. They want crystal clear photos or videos of dead pixels or faults before they'll even consider opening a return. I can understand why but this back and forth trying to get the perfect pictures they'd accept is a waste of the customers time and a couple of years ago it wasn't like that, they'd actually trust customers.

I've asked them to send me a new panel on the last return, considering the number of returns I've had and they have just flat out ignored it. I'm guessing cost cutting and abuse is to blame, but now a once great service has been reduced to something that is barely fit for purpose.

TLDR; The once great Asus Monitor warranty service in the UK is a pain to deal with so just avoid using it. If you buy a new panel and it has any faults I'd suggest returning it to the retailer under the Consumer Contract Regulations and buy another new one. Then pray it doesn't go faulty during the 3 year warranty..

 

TBH I've kind of given up with Asus, I use gigabyte where I can. The Asus tax and returns just doesn't make them worth buying for me personally.

 

Exactly, I mean to show the sort of "quality control" they have on these panels going out to customers the stand supplied with it says it all. It isn't even fit for purpose, its unstable, doesn't stop turning like it should. Just spins around 360 degrees and wobbles.

If there was another IPS high Hz gaming monitor on the market I wouldn't even consider getting the PG279Q. I'm hoping Dell will bring out an IPS version of the S2716DG, which is basically a cheaper PG278Q.

 

Apologies you are having issues. We unfortunately don't personally deal with returns but it is done with the company you purchased the monitor from. Which retailer did you purchase this from and what model? Regards. Will

 

Not sure you have that correct, I used this form here on your website: https://eu-rma.asus.com/pick_eu/uk/

While I'm aware you likely have a 3rd party under contract to deal with the returns (likely Let Me Repair UK) it is still being dealt with through the Asus RMA e-mail addresses. It also has nothing to do with the retailer I purchased the monitor from (Overclockers UK). The model is PG279Q.

My latest RMA number is GBBB670004 and I have specifically asked for a new monitor as this will be the forth return. I've not heard back yet as I e-mailed rma_request_uk@asus.com wanting clarification that this would happen.

 

Well some potentially good news, just got an e-mail from them:

"Due to the complaint you have raised, we have escalated your case for a DOA Monitor (new). This has been approved."

Lets hope this new monitor is fault free.

 

Well after reading through that lot, I'm glad I recently bought an AOC monitor, it's fault free!

A pity Asus have allowed themselves to gain such a poor reputation, with respect to their monitors. BTW, I have an Asus motherboard, not my first and an Asus soundcard, both perfect, although the soundcard (Xonar Essence STX) was a replacement as part of the rf shielding was not soldered in as it should have been on the first one.

 

In the computer industry faults and defects are par for the course; it just isn't financially viable or practical to create components that are 100% fault free all of the time. So if you look at it objectively there will only be slight variations in the percentage of faulty components if you compare X brand and Y brand.

So it is a lot less to do with the faults themselves, more how the company deals with a faulty product and treats a customer when things go wrong and that is the real crux of the issue here. At the end of the day if I have a faulty product, I don't want to have to go through the hassle of having to return more than one product to get one that is satisfactory. I am basically doing the companies job for them, having to do a quality control check on four screens all of which were very obviously faulty to one degree or another. I'm sure my experience is one of the rarer ones and the average consumer is likely to be more forgiving of the lesser faults but I still like to bring it to consumers and the company in questions attention. Things like this don't get better if you just ignore them and let them carry on the way they are at the moment.

 

I agree with what you are saying there. With regard to Asus monitors I've seen many complaints online, in the last year or two, about quality and customer service issues. Notwithstanding the issue with my first Xonar Essence, I have had a number of Asus products and had no problems with reliability.

I bought the AOC Pro-line Q3277PQU because it has the same panel as a Benq BL3200PT and others, in a package around £100 cheaper, without compromising on the versatile stand or performance.

 

Apologies, again in regards to that. You can fill out RMA forms with us, however, Overclockers will do that for you if you return to the retailer. Granted it isn't necessarily their fault, it just means you can get it replaced much more quickly. That panel may have some QC issues, but both us and Acer purchase that panel from a manufacturer in Asia and there are many threads stating this issue. Fortunately you can just get it replaced by the retailer. We are working on fixing this in future.
Regards
Will

 

In my experience dealing with Asus through the retailer is a lot slower than direct, in fact I no longer purchase Asus GPUs because of this and haven't for years. In the past I've been quoted 30 days as a turn around time for a faulty GPU and I've had instances where that has been an under estimate and have waited over a month and a half to get things sorted. Sure things may have improved since I last had an Asus GPU, but the way businesses work these days; trying to save money at every turn at the customers expense (pun intended) I'd be very surprised if that was the case.

For me there are only two brands I'll buy when it comes to complicated items like motherboards and GPUs. Both offer fast turn around either in the UK or Europe and both let me avoid dealing with the retailer directly. My less than positive experiences with certain UK retailers over the years has jaded me I'm sure, but I'd much rather deal with the manufacturer direct or an approved party working on their behalf.

Again to reiterate my points, it isn't the speed of the service that I have an issue with. The turn around is normally pretty fast, it is the hoops you have to jump through and more importantly it is the complete lack of quality control on the "refurbished" products that are being sent out to customers. There is no excuse for sending out monitors that are not fit for purpose to customers who have just returned a faulty one.

In the end my issue was solved simply by providing me with a new product which happened to be almost perfect. I honestly can't see that Asus have saved money by making the customer do the quality control on nearly half a dozen screens when a single new monitor would have done the job in a fraction of the time.

You can apologise all you want, but at the end of the day my experience as a customer is what helps me decide what brand to buy next or to recommend to a friend and this experience has put me off of Asus monitors. You really see what a company is made of when things go wrong...

 

And to think, when I get the cash together for a gaming monitor I was going to go with Asus over Acer as a better company. It seems they are all as bad as each other. Ah well.

 

Unfortunately these come in from Asia, some of the products can develop faults on shipping while the chance of getting pixel issues is very low, backlight bleed is more common and it is almost impossible to avoid for this IPS panel. While QC doesn't check every monitor as it is an expensive process, they are checked so many in a batch like the huge majority do. Apologies you had issues but glad it has been rectified.

 

They may come from Asia in the sense that they were manufactured there, but I'd bet money that the returns most customers get from "Let Me Repair UK" are simply returns that other customers have sent back from the UK.


Anyways moving on; I've just completed another return for a different screen that went quite smoothly I have to say, but part of the return is still laughably misleading.

While I'm now aware of the issue I'm sure it is causing customers and courier drivers heaps of wasted time and energy. This shouldn't be more than a five minute job for the e-mail server admin to adjust the content on the e-mail...

So I wonder if you can be the one to finally cut through the corporate nonsense and get this changed?!

So when you do a return through the Asus website: https://eu-rma.asus.com/pickup_europe/pickup.aspx?country=uk

Once the RMA is approved you get this e-mail from "do_not_reply@asus.com" subject "[LCD], GBBBXXXXXX"

The key mistake is in point 1 and other related points. The monitor should infact NOT be provide to the driver unpacked, it should be provided to the driver in its original box. The driver notes that are taped to each and every monitor state the complete opposite and say that the monitor should be provided boxed up:

What makes this worse is the fact I've informed Asus staff members on at least three separate occasions over the course of well over a year and yet nothing has changed. When I first encountered this and had the joy of repacking a monitor on the doorstep with the courier (who was far from pleased about the wasted time) I made it a point to tell someone from Asus about it. I told a member of forum staff on the 27th of March 2015, he said he would contact the product team and this would be resolved. Yet during the countless returns I've done since then the e-mail has stayed the same.

Even more recently on the 17th of June 2016 I informed your support staff about it, again got the usual "it will be looked into" and yet nothing changed. They obviously know this is an issue as well because there was next to no delay from me sending the e-mail to them replying the e-mail was wrong and the monitor should be provided to the courier boxed up.

It does make me wonder what is going on in these big companies and makes such a small, customer beneficial change so difficult and time consuming to implement.

I honestly expect to return a monitor to you in 2017 and get the same incorrect info in that e-mail.

 

A lot of the monitors are not repaired, a new replacement is often sent, depending on where the product was purchased from.

I have requested HQ to get that changed so that should get sorted.
Don't worry the QC issues have been identified so as to fix potential panel issue on future PG models.
Regards.

 

If you say so, but then my experience does not show that at all. Every single monitor I got was clearly a refurbished example with new serial numbers taped over the old ones. That was until I specifically asked for a new one.

I'll believe it when I see it. You are not the first person from Asus to make that promise.

Sounds like the PG279Q was rushed to be one of the first to market, which has left a lot of customers with poor quality and/or defective panels. A shame that customers have to wait for the next series of models for the serious quality issues to be resolved!

 

As I stated, depends on where the product was purchased from. Retailers all have different replacement policies. Similarly, Acer have the same issue and it is due to the panel being in very short supply from the same producer. I agree, unfortunately that is how it is, however, newer batches are having much less issues. Regards.

 

How would it depend where it is purchased from if as I've stated I'm returning every single monitor direct to Asus?

I find it extremely hard to believe that Asus are providing new monitors if you purchased it from X retailer and refurbs if you've purchased it from Y retailer.

 

Most people purchase monitors through Amazon, Overclockers, Scan etc. We advise to return to retailer for a faster response. Regards.

 

It is too bad that you had that experience, TS. But, as with all other companies, there are going to be some duds. I've had Asus products now and before, and I've only had one dud (a GPU that had fan problems). Other than that, they were pretty good.

Also, consider that Asus monitors are pretty cool in features. Again, I am sorry that you had those ill experiences. I feel for you, to be honest. But, I guess it is just a case of bad products that you've received in succession.