Question for those who have claimed warranty on PBTech electronic goods

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#2851316 16-Jan-2022 08:12

Jase2985:
Handle9:

Following their statutory obligations would be a good start.

PB Tech isn’t a small retail store, they turn over tens of millions of dollars a year. They are more than capable of resourcing warranty claims. If they aren’t it’s not the OPs problem.

a warranty claim can be more than just replacing a product. it may require testing or being outsourced to a different company to have the defect verified. it was the xmas holidays and a lot of places are shutdown, or operating reduced staff.

its not as black and white, "you have 2 days to refund", as you make it out to be.

The cga is very straightforward. You should read it sometime.

MikeB4

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#2851320 16-Jan-2022 08:28

Too many NZ companies when presented with a faulty product take the attitude 'how the hell do we get out of this' instead of how do we assist the customer get a rapid resolution and have the product they paid for working as described and legally entitled to.

sparkz25

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#2851398 16-Jan-2022 12:56

Sinuation:

So I've had to send back parts (Motherboard and GPU) to PbTech 2 weeks ago or so. The GPU was tested on the spot and was found dead. The motherboard still has not been tested and instead sent back to the 'Main Branch'.

Does it normally take this long for them to test a motherboard and give back a replacement or refund?

It was weird as a few years back they gave me a DOA Motherboard and they tested it in-front of me and gave me a refund then and there, one even drove out to another branch to get the replacement motherboard.

how old are the components? and how long between the date of purchase and the date of return?

Handle9

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#2851551 16-Jan-2022 16:57

MikeB4:
Too many NZ companies when presented with a faulty product take the attitude 'how the hell do we get out of this' instead of how do we assist the customer get a rapid resolution and have the product they paid for working as described and legally entitled to.

Pretty much. Pbtech are arguably next tier where they deliberately ignore consumer law.

Lias

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#2851728 16-Jan-2022 21:20

PB Tech have always been very hit and miss with the quality of their RMA service.

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eracode

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#2851730 16-Jan-2022 21:27

Lias:

PB Tech have always been very hit and miss with the quality of their RMA service.

The Resource Management Act is not relevant here.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Jase2985

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#2851778 16-Jan-2022 21:28

eracode:

Lias:

PB Tech have always been very hit and miss with the quality of their RMA service.

The Resource Management Act is not relevant here.

RMA is an acronym that stands for return merchandise authorization

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#2851820 17-Jan-2022 03:04

sparkz25:

Sinuation:

So I've had to send back parts (Motherboard and GPU) to PbTech 2 weeks ago or so. The GPU was tested on the spot and was found dead. The motherboard still has not been tested and instead sent back to the 'Main Branch'.

Does it normally take this long for them to test a motherboard and give back a replacement or refund?

It was weird as a few years back they gave me a DOA Motherboard and they tested it in-front of me and gave me a refund then and there, one even drove out to another branch to get the replacement motherboard.

how old are the components? and how long between the date of purchase and the date of return?

The GPU is around a month or two old.

The motherboard is older at a year and a half.

Both are within warranty.

sparkz25

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#2851828 17-Jan-2022 07:30

Sinuation:

The GPU is around a month or two old.

The motherboard is older at a year and a half.

Both are within warranty.

Ahhhh good luck, you need to keep at them! We are still waiting on a main board that failed 4-5months ago for an RMA to be sorted!.

I personally brought a New MSI board when the 5900x came out and it was faulty from day one, took it back 2-3 days later after hours of testing and fault finding and all i got told was that they will have to send it away to get tested!

I was a bit dumbfounded really, no matter how much arguing or reasoning i did with them they would not replace it, as it was clearly faulty, and wouldn't post at al unless you re-flashed the bios every time you started it up, in the end i told the guy at parts/service to stick it and that i would be going higher got the paper work and went to my account manager and told him that it was a load of S*** and that he needed to pull finger.

I Ended up walking out the door with a new Gigabyte Mainboard and its worked perfect ever since!

Ring them now and chase them up! then keep at them every day.

shrub

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#2851832 17-Jan-2022 07:48

From what I gathered from the iphone experience. I have also had similar experiences with a GPU and a motherboard. PBTech do not repair anything they outsource this to 3rd party contractors or back to manufacturers. PBTech are well withing there cga rights to use this option.

Electronics retailing is not as simple as hey I have a broken part you must replace. The retailer needs to test and prove that the hardware is at fault and its not a code 40 or water damage. As they use a 3rd party to complete this you are always going to be waiting on them.(Xmas break they are closed for 3 weeks along with the rest of the country)

Best option is to buy a new part and wait then resell the returned part if its mission critical.

Handle9

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#2851838 17-Jan-2022 08:12

shrub:
From what I gathered from the iphone experience. I have also had similar experiences with a GPU and a motherboard. PBTech do not repair anything they outsource this to 3rd party contractors or back to manufacturers. PBTech are well withing there cga rights to use this option.

Electronics retailing is not as simple as hey I have a broken part you must replace. The retailer needs to test and prove that the hardware is at fault and its not a code 40 or water damage. As they use a 3rd party to complete this you are always going to be waiting on them.(Xmas break they are closed for 3 weeks along with the rest of the country)

Best option is to buy a new part and wait then resell the returned part if its mission critical.

What you’ve said isn’t entirely true. Yes the retailer can elect to repair but there are limits.

If the failure is of a substantial character the the consumer can reject the goods and choose their remedy. A motherboard that doesn’t post is a failure of a substantial character. It doesn’t matter if the component that failed is a minor one, the failure is substantial - you can’t use the motherboard.

The other thing with a repair is you are not required to wait indefinitely. That is very clear in the act. If a repair can not be completed in a timely manner then that’s the retailer and/or the importers commercial issue to resolve. It’s not the consumers issue to deal with and they have a right to remedy.

Having a problem resolved the next day probably isn’t a reasonable period to expect. Equally having a return sit for two weeks with no updates isn’t reasonable either. The OP is pretty clearly getting ignored.

grimwulf

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#2852042 17-Jan-2022 10:29

In my experience, PB tech - at least in the Wellington branch have been helpful.

Things that can be easily switched to another machine like CPU/Graphics cards/memory they generally do themselves in store - the one time I had a motherboard issue, it had to go up to Auckland because they couldn't test it in Wellington.

I know it's easy to get worked up and start chanting about the CGA - but for complex technology parts like this that aren't enclosed replaceable devices - the retailer's frankly doing you a favor by testing/troubleshooting before returning to the manufacturer. The RMA process with overseas manufacturers is a hit and miss merry go round.

(There is a flip side, Noel Leemings for example use this 'repair' option as a default - I bought some earbuds from them that had an easily replicatable fault that I demonstrated in store - they insisted that it needed assessemnt/repair and charged me when it came back stating there was nothing wrong with it. Turned them back on in store, and what do you know, same problem. Had to FIGHT them for a refund...)

It may be the case that there's nothing wrong with the motherboard itself, thus, PB's troubleshooting potentially could save you a lengthy month+ of RMA waiting. When mine did have to go off for RMA, when the 'new' one came back PB tested that one and it had the same fault!! So they then offered to swap to a different manufacturer's board and I went away happy.

Echo the other comments here about the time of year too - kinda have to give them the benefit of the doubt - everyone needs a break, and even then, it's a very busy shopping period so that means a higher than usual returns/testing/RMA queue too.

I know firsthand the pain here, but I was happy to have the PB techs handle the RMA for me frankly - there are plenty of horror stories on the web of trying to deal with some manufacturers overseas helplines directly...

By all mean's I'd suggest contacting them for an ETA - but my advice would be to give them a break - at the end of it all if you're not happy with the outcome - you can use that information when making your next purchase.

shrub

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#2852048 17-Jan-2022 10:47

Handle9:
shrub:

From what I gathered from the iphone experience. I have also had similar experiences with a GPU and a motherboard. PBTech do not repair anything they outsource this to 3rd party contractors or back to manufacturers. PBTech are well withing there cga rights to use this option.

Electronics retailing is not as simple as hey I have a broken part you must replace. The retailer needs to test and prove that the hardware is at fault and its not a code 40 or water damage. As they use a 3rd party to complete this you are always going to be waiting on them.(Xmas break they are closed for 3 weeks along with the rest of the country)

Best option is to buy a new part and wait then resell the returned part if its mission critical.

What you’ve said isn’t entirely true. Yes the retailer can elect to repair but there are limits.

If the failure is of a substantial character the the consumer can reject the goods and choose their remedy. A motherboard that doesn’t post is a failure of a substantial character. It doesn’t matter if the component that failed is a minor one, the failure is substantial - you can’t use the motherboard.

The other thing with a repair is you are not required to wait indefinitely. That is very clear in the act. If a repair can not be completed in a timely manner then that’s the retailer and/or the importers commercial issue to resolve. It’s not the consumers issue to deal with and they have a right to remedy.

Having a problem resolved the next day probably isn’t a reasonable period to expect. Equally having a return sit for two weeks with no updates isn’t reasonable either. The OP is pretty clearly getting ignored.

I'd say if its dead on arrival then yes id expect a straight swap and PBtech will test and do this without any issues at the Hornby branch.

The OP has said if they were not DOA new parts so its a standard warranty claim. It will be a send away and wait job.

Also i would not bother calling PB tech for updates. Get it in an email so you have a record of conversations.

1101

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#2852054 17-Jan-2022 11:08

The cga is very straightforward. You should read it sometime.

no its not.

using phrases such as reasonable time etc .
So much just isnt straight forward in the CGA, much is open to interpretation .

Reasonable time : expecting issues to be resolved QUICKLY during holiday periods is not reasonable

Returns/replacements need to be processed/approved by PBT's supplier .

Sinuation

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#2852055 17-Jan-2022 11:16

I'd say if its dead on arrival then yes id expect a straight swap and PBtech will test and do this without any issues at the Hornby branch.

The OP has said if they were not DOA new parts so its a standard warranty claim. It will be a send away and wait job.

Also i would not bother calling PB tech for updates. Get it in an email so you have a record of conversations.

I've sent an e-mail with pertinent details around a week go asking for specifics and they have not gotten back to me. Phone calls were dead to so my only reprise was physically going there. Sucks that I essentially got a shrug.

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