ASUS’s troubles seem unending. Following the scandal of abusing AMD Ryzen 7000 series X3D processors by subjecting them to high voltages under the guise of “default” settings and deflecting blame onto AMD, the reputed “premium” vendor is now under fire for imposing exorbitant repair fees on customers for products that have questionable quality control.
A customer from Canada recently recounted his encounter with ASUS’ customer service, alleging that the company demanded an exorbitant sum of approximately $2,748.49 USD (3,761 CAD) to “fix” an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card requiring replacement of its 16-pin power connector.
We recently discussed how an NVIDIA AIB partner, Manli, refused RMA services for an RTX 4090 that suffered from a burnt 12VHPWR connector, a prevalent issue affecting all GeForce RTX 4090s for almost two years now. Repair centers like NorthridgeFix are handling close to 200 RTX 4090 GPUs each month, yet NVIDIA has surprisingly remained silent on the matter.
Even with the known design flaw in the RTX 4090 that could potentially lead to overheating, the exorbitant repair cost for a simple power connector replacement is highly unusual. This is particularly striking since the customer had purchased their prized flagship GPU just two weeks prior for 2799 CAD ($2045 USD)
However, it’s worth noting that the issue with the GPU itself wasn’t a burnt connector, or at least it hadn’t manifested as such at that point.
Mulgoki, pointed out that the plastic clip securing the risky 12VHPWR connector showed a visible chip. Concerned about the potential fire hazard, they opted to send their fully functional device to ASUS for repair.
They posted screenshots of their conversation with ASUS. The request for a repair quote of $2,750 CAD for a power connector replacement was unexpected by anyone. Additionally, ASUS made an unusual offer of a 30% discount after the user sought a re-evaluation of the price quote.
Upon further escalation, ASUS informed the user that the graphics card was deemed non-functional due to the damage and was not covered under warranty, likely imposing that the scratched power connector was user inflicted damage, thus “voiding” their warranty coverage.
The only resolution proposed by ASUS service personnel was a replacement unit at a higher cost than its original retail price.
ASUS intended to levy a fee of $3,758.23 CAD ($2,746 USD) to “replace” the fully functional graphics card submitted for repair. Remarkably, this charge was nearly a thousand dollars more expensive than what Mulgoki initially paid for their GPU just weeks earlier.
There’s utter lack of coherence in this situation. The graphics card was perfectly functional, and the user followed the advice of an ASUS representative by sending it in for repair. However, they were later informed that the scratched connector wasn’t covered by warranty, presumably categorized as user-induced damage by ASUS. Moreover, they were told that their GPU wasn’t operational or eligible for return, and now they’re being asked to pay nearly a thousand dollars more than the retail price to “replace” the supposedly “faulty” device.
There’s a reason why I’ve coined the term “ANUS” for this company, because that’s where they seem to insert their deceit. Over the past decades, ASUS has positioned itself as the supposed “elite” or “enthusiast” brand of graphics cards and motherboards.
This reputation has been accumulated due to their heavy reliance on overvolting CPUs to artificially boost performance with their products, as seen in instances like the AMD Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs burning alive and the Intel “stability issue” debacle resulting from Intel’s failure to enforce to supposed “baseline” settings.
I had a theory regarding ASUS’ outright refusal of RMA requests and their insistence on imposing replacement charges for RTX 4090 GPUs, almost as if they were instructed by NVIDIA themselves to reject requests concerning these units. This could be attributed to diminishing supplies as the generational cycle nears its end.
However, it appears that this issue extends beyond isolated incidents with ASUS RMA services; rather, it seems to be part of their corporate policy.
A recent Gamers Nexus video hilariously titled “ASUS Scammed Us” sheds light on a similar scenario involving the ASUS ROG Ally. Gamers Nexus’ device exhibited a thumbstick drift issue, a drastically shortened battery lifespan within a year of use, and a malfunctioning MicroSD slot which are common problems with the ROG Ally Z1 that remained unresolved despite revisional changes.
The video also brings attention to two additional cases. One involves the 2022 Zephyrus G15 notebook, sent initially for a display issue but seemingly returned with a cracked chassis. The other case revolves around a TUF series RTX 4090 with instability problems, purportedly replaced with a refurbished GPU sporting a bent PCIe bracket and damage to the PCIe x16 interface.
This once again underscores the apparent lack of quality control in ASUS products, even in a portable PC device starting at $600 USD. ASUS failed to address the thumbstick drift issue or any of the other problems. Instead, they cited an alleged gap issue and surface scratches on the Ally Z1’s casing, along with attaching an image of the unit already opened by the technician, while quoting nearly $200 for a repair.
A repair that shouldn’t have been required, Gamers Nexus discreetly sent in their ROG Ally for RMA repairs addressing thumbstick drift, battery depletion, and a faulty SD card slot. The video aims to illustrate how Gamers Nexus submitted their device for RMA due to the thumbstick and battery issues, which are substantial problems with the device that customers should not be held accountable for.
Additionally, the device suffered from a broken Micro SD card slot. When sending the device in for repair, there was no explicit mention of the broken SD card slot. Instead, this served as a sort of test to see if ASUS support would identify the issue and communicate it back to the customer.
Their device also had noticeable scratches and blemishes on the outside casing, which is where the problems began. Gamers Nexus received an email from ASUS stating that their unit sent in had signs of damage that were not covered under the manufacturers warranty. Indicating that the device has customer inflicted damages.
The so-called “damages” to the device were merely a microscopic blemish on the outer casing, essentially just a scratch, reminiscent of the situation with Mulgoki and their RTX 4090’s scratched 12VHPWR connector.
This tiny imperfection, barely visible, was cited as the reason for the apparent voiding of the device’s warranty, and it served as the basis for ASUS’ desire to levy a repair bill of $191.47 USD.
Steve from Gamers Nexus promptly speculates that this could indeed be a corporate strategy by ASUS to ensnare unsuspecting customers into paying unnecessary repair fees for issues their devices don’t genuinely need, completely separate from any disclosed issues with the device, mind you.
The repair invoice notably listed a replacement LCD screen, a component that wasn’t necessary at all, totaling $191.47 USD. If the customer declined to pay the fee, ASUS would still return the device to the user, albeit in an unrepaired condition.
By claiming that the unit has customer-induced damages, ASUS essentially holds your device hostage. You’re given a short window to pay the fee or risk having it returned to you in a disassembled state. Additionally, this tactic allows ASUS to charge the user for shipping their devices in for warranty repair, as they’re not obligated to cover shipping costs if the damages aren’t covered by warranty.
After engaging with support, as any typical customer might need to do to seek clarification on the charges, ASUS insisted that the dent and scratch necessitated the replacement of the entire LCD bezel, despite it being fully functional, to address the “damages”.
However, they did offer to overlook the blemish and focus solely on repairing the joystick and SD card, which were covered by warranty. This entire ordeal, stemming from a minor issue over user-induced damage, places significant pressure on the customer to either pay for damages they were unaware of or risk receiving a disassembled device in return.
Gamers Nexus proceeded with the repairs solely for the SD card reader and joystick, as those were under warranty coverage. However, a series of emails received suggested that ASUS had contacted their repair team about the repairs, disregarding the dent on the case.
A subsequent email conveyed that the repairs had been cancelled, and the unit would be returned as is.
In essence, the entire video exposes ASUS for manipulating customers with unnecessary repairs, inundating them with conflicting emails, and forcing product owners to navigate unnecessary hurdles to get their devices repaired under warranty. Their customer service tactics amount to outright scamming, pressuring customers to pay unjustified fees.
When you couple this with the RTX 4090 issue, where a perfectly functioning device with a minor power connector issue is deemed in need of “replacement” at a cost exceeding the device’s value, it becomes clear that seeking customer support from ASUS is a risky endeavor.
This is a company notorious for killing CPUs all in the pursuit of topping performance benchmarks and marketing their motherboards. It’s advisable to steer clear if you value reliable customer support, their products have questionable quality control and their customer support effectively bends you over and goes to town.
