Interesting thing happened last week. After a lot of ummming and ahhhhing I decided to commence an SB build, based on the B3 GByte UD4. The mobo duly arrived, but as soon as I took it out of its plastic delivery bag, I could see it had either been dropped from a great height on to one corner, or squashed VERY hard on the corner. Looking inside the box, the corner that had been deformed was the corner of the mobo where all the large connectors are fixed. Not knowing whether or not the mobo had suffered any damage in what must have been a really heavy impact/force, I rang SCAN to ask what the position was on this - they said for damage in transit I had 7 days to return it, and I knew at the point I was NOT going to have all the other parts in place to build and test it, and therefore requested an RMA as if I built it after the 7 days I wasn't sure I was going to be in a strong position for an RMA. I think I did the right thing in this case, as I simply couldn't verify within 7 days whether or not the mobo was ok, and I know from personal experience that sometimes problems can take a while to surface, and something like a new PC is the place to have intermittent/complex issues if they can be avoided. Did I do the right thing? One other point; why is the mobo shipped in vans and lorries without some better form of protection like 50p's worth of bubble wrap etc?
I don't think you are unreasonable to RMA it. I ended up buying $200 in parts from a local store that I returned for the same reason: to test my motherboard because the rest of my components wouldn't arrive within the RMA period. Furthermore, if you can tell it was dropped and suffered damage - even if it did work at first, it might stop working after a while. I live in the USA, so I don't know anything about SCAN. I have, however, heard that SCAN participates actively in these forums. Perhaps you will have better luck if you contact them directly from these forums and explain the issue. If nothing else maybe they can make sure the new mobo gets handled with care and wrapped in some bubble wrap. Personally - I think it should have been wrapped carefully - my P8P67 Pro came with foam peanuts + air bags in a box roughly 6 times the size necessary to accommodate the motherboard's box. I thought that was excessive but I have always kept my motherboard boxes so I like that it is in good shape. I'm thinking about framing this one and putting it on the wall jk
Yeah, you could tell for sure that it had either been dropped or squashed - no question of that. To be fair to Scan they did all the right things as far as I'm concerned. The only question mark is that it was shipped in a box that's only designed to go on a shelf in a store. I was definitely expecting it to be wrapped the way yours was, and was disappointed when it arrived without any protection, and sure enough the box turned out to be damaged. The cost of bubble-wrap versus the cost of a man in a van having to come to my house, plus the inventory management costs etc seems a no-brainer...?
At the end of the day it's your money so I don't think you were being unreasonable. I would expect something like that to be taken better care off.
Sounds resonable to me. Seems shoddy on the shipping end of things. I've seen monitors and cases shipped in just their own box, but I haven't seen components other than that shipped on their lonesome. The board in my main PC showed up similar, though it was an open box item. I was able to verify it almost right away though, so I didn't bother sending it back.
Definitely did the right thing with the RMA, nice that scan offered it so easily not sure every retailer would have given the same response without making you work harder for it.
Does anyone know of a UK reseller/distributor that packages mobo's appropriately - i.e. bubble-wrap/polystyrene etc?
definately not unreasonable, i wouldve done the same thing, seems a bit strange tho as every component ive had bought from scan has been well wrapped in bubble wrap and if ive bought a few components theyve always been wrapped and then put in a box full of foam bits and more bubble wrap
I pay good money for computer parts, if there is any damage it goes back. Hell, if there was a minor scratch on my mobo I would be sending it back - if I buy a new item I expect it to be pristine, even if the damage is just cosmetic it isn't good enough. So you were far from unreasonable. I have to admit none of my items from Scan have ever been damaged. Often my items come in a box which as air packages to protect stuff (but then I usually order a lot of items). Certainly items like HDDs are always bubble wrapped, but I guess they figure the delivery service they use should be taking card of items such as the mobo.
Got to say that this is a bit odd, that some items get "properly" packed by Scan and others don't, randomly too by the sound of it - how does that get controlled, and by who? I certainly won't be buying a mobo from anyone who isn't going to pack it well enough that the parcel can stand some back-of-the-van abuse. Especially given that the onus is on me to build the rig within 7 days AND then prove it wasn't my fault that it got damaged. You'd think the resellers would be prepared to invest a few pence in packaging to get a ~£150 order wouldn't you?
I believe the 7 day limit is pretty much a no questions asked kind of thing. They do not require you to prove the mobo does not work, if it is in an unacceptable condition you have the right to return it. So while it is not ideal that they do not protect the item better, it is there problem if anything appears damage (obvious it is also a pain for you as you have to wait for a replacement and likely pay for the shipping). Ther is nothing you need to prove, if you had built the PC immediately and fried the mobo then claimed it was damaged in transit, upon the return it would be obvious to them that you lied. The same would be if you dropped it to the floor and completely smashed it up then questions would be asked as the damage would be rather significant compared to the kind of damage you would see from a poorly protected box in a van RMA is a seperate issue which comes under the items warantee which is for when something arrives in a satisfactory condition yet for some reason does not work.
All returns are generally managed under an "RMA" system - it simply stands for Return Materials Authorisation, so in simpler words, a returns system for whatever reason.
all my items for scan have been received in big boxes tightly packed with my stuff and wrapping they have never come in the retail box as protection
I'm at a complete loss to understand what's happened with this order then - clearly everyone else receives properly packed products, and for some reason I didn't. Maybe it didn't come from Scan directly (do they actually hold the physical stock themselves???). I've asked Scan to comment on this, and pointed them at this thread. Damed if I know what happened with this order...
I've had several items from Scan recently, and the packing varies as to what was ordered. My mobo and several other items arrived in a huge box, with loads of packing material - but this was a multi-item order. Single items have come in the retail box, bubble-wrapped in a plastic shipping wrap. This includes my GTX 560Ti, which is worth more than a motherboard, and yes, had a slightly dinted corner - but not enough to warrant concern.
I ordered a clearance DFI mobo from Scan last year, and it arrived in a huge box filled with packing peanuts. I didn't order anything else. Very odd.
