Asus Turkey Service Unauthorised Repair and Gross negligence

[IanSilver]

Hello, I own a Asus Tuf 4070 Ti and had to send it to service (ServisPoint) under warranty about 5 months ago due to overheating issues. I have a well ventilated case with 8 fans inside (positive pressure). Despite this gpu had 80 degrees temps with over 100 hotspot. I figured it could be dried thermal paste due to it being 1 year old. The service centre returned the item with an unreported damage on screw. I tried to make a complaint about this but they simply claimed it was there to begin with. I had not sent a proof of this to Asus beforehand as I was unaware of the infamous reputation of the service centre. The repair report also had no information regarding temperatures seen on tests after thermal replacement, effectively denying responsibility of it ever happening.

5 months after, gpu temps were keep raising and I found out that it had a pump out. The temps were 83-84 degrees (throttling) and the hotspot was 110 degrees. This was quite impossible to happen so quickly, I also work in computer repairs, none of the thermal pastes I used ever caused pump out in such a short notice. The shortest one was 11 months. The thermal paste producers also claim to guarantee their products for 2-8 years depending on brand. This could only happen if the service centre wrongly applied the thermal paste or used a counterfeit thermal paste. I sent it to the service under warranty again with proof of benchmark tests and thermals.

This time I well documented my requests in the RMA form and in the email following the RMA form directly to Asus. I pictured the gpu from every angle and sent it to Asus through email right after handing the gpu to the courier. I clearly explained that I did not consent to any of the repair or any actions without me directly notified beforehand and asked before proceeding. I left my personal number and included a formal signed letter that I explained I wanted the repair report to be thoroughly detailed and would not accept any unauthorised repairs. I also mentioned that Asus would be solely responsible if any unauthorised repairs were to happen or the requests in the RMA form to be ignored. Asus approved my RMA form, therefore, legally agreed on the conditions I included within the form. The request also included that under the Turkish Warranty Obligations, I wanted a replacement due to the same issue repeating the second time.

After 2 days of sending the gpu, I noticed that my gpu wasn't registered in the service centre despite them obtaining the delivery package hours before. When I inquired about my concern to the Asus representatives, they assured me it would be entered to the system and I would be called for my requests included in the RMA form. The gpu was registered to the service centre out of the working hours (after 5pm) and finished the repair at 11pm, leaving me with no chance to call or reach to any of the representatives or service centre. This was also Friday and they had told me that service centre did not work on Saturday.

On Monday, I called Asus immediately within the working hours 9am and inquired about the my repair. Asus representatives said that maintenance has been done on my gpu and the thermal paste was replaced. The gpu was also on his way to me. I told the representatives, I explicitly didn't consent to any repairs and only had one request that could be denied or accepted. Either way, I was also had to be notified under the conditions RMA form included. Asus representatives denied my claims, denied everything included within RMA form despite it being agreed upon and approved by Asus. They also denied working outside work hours but it was somehow sent and repaired outside work hours?.

I would like to know what actions I can take regarding this issue. I have documented everything on emails and screenshots. Asus told me that I will be responsible of any damages upon picking up and had to send a complaint to courier if there were any damages. However, this is impossible to do, the gpu package is well protected and Asus legally responsible of the couirer service under warranty. I am worried if I pick the gpu up from delivery, I will be falsely accused of any damages on the GPU the second time despite having proof due to Asus' service centre (ServisPoint) issues. I have no doubt the repair report will also be missing information on the tempature tests again to prevent me trying to have any claims regarding heating issue. 

[IanSilver]

Update: Asus Turkey deliberately proceeded to delete the service update on their end and update it with a more recent one. This effectively removed out of work hours updates from the system view. There was no need for an update as the Asus representatives had already told me the product was on its way to me. The same was also the case for previous service update on Asus' end.

[IanSilver]

Update: Asus Turkey claiming that the GPU's intended working temperatures is between 0-90 and the Vram temperature is 0-100. They also claimed that the case might have inadequate for airflow.

4070 Ti throttles at 84 degree and degrades performance to keep it under 84. It is physically and technically impossible for it to be 90. Hotspot is also over 110, it is right there on the screenshot. Moreover, the cpu in the same pc case is working under its normal temperatures hence the case airflow is actually optimal and this isn't a flaw related to case.

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @IanSilver ,

based on the information you provided, could you please message us the product serial number/RMA number, as well as the RMA form you submitted to ASUS (including the multiple requests you mentioned) and the repair report provided by ASUS via private messege? 
How did you confirm that ASUS agreed to your requests? 
Did they notify you by phone or mail?
Regarding your current graphics card temperature, does it reach 83-84 degrees and GPU hotspot temperature of 110 degrees after using it for a while? 
Does it cause system crashes or any other issues? 
Is the hotspot temperature reaching 110 degrees during normal usage or only during gaming? We kindly request your assistance in confirming these details.
Thank you.

[IanSilver]

I will be sending you the information and documents as soon as I can.

I have confirmed that Asus agreed to the requests by Asus Turkey representatives approving that RMA forms are taken into account on multiple different phone calls. They have also claimed RMA requests are approved only if the details within are applicable. Hence, by accepting RMA form and agreeing to RMA requests, it meant that the requests are appropriate and applicable. I highly believe this is a case of Asus Turkey repair centre disregarding the protocols and trying to erase any liability on their part as seen in hundreds of other complaints from Turkey regarding the very same repair centre.

I have never been notified about repair service actions, I only ever learned about them after the service was complete and I was sent a service number to see the updates. Other information has been through phone and email both.

The temperatures did reach 83-84 while playing and hotspot reached over 105. I first noticed it when my gpu started to get louder during playing games with RT enabled. The issue wasn't the case when I first received my gpu 5 months ago from Asus repair centre but it became more apparent after 4 months and was very noticeable at 5th.

It didn't cause system crashes but performance would visibly reduce and gameplay would start to freeze momentarily on occasion when the temperatures reached 83 and hotspot was over 105. The render durations in blender would also extend considerably outside the estimated times, hinting a performance slowdown.

Hotspot reaches over 105 during gaming (especially games with RT enabled) and while using blender. The framerates for these games are often locked to 120 or 150 at 1440p, well within the capabilities of 4070ti.

[IanSilver]

Update: After confronting Asus Turkey over email that it is technically impossible for 4070ti to go over 84 degrees and explaining the built in thermal limit, Asus Turkey denied all responsibility and the technical info. Further responded as there is nothing can be done on their end.

Asus Turkey is very clearly avoiding any legal responsibility. Not only they are refusing to share any data regarding thermal issues and tests they have done during RMA but also denying any and all facts of technical information about Nvidia 4070ti series GPU.

Simply put, under Turkish Warranty Law, the company responsible for warranty (Asus, as the manufacturer in this case) must provide proof to counter the claims made by the consumer. Avoiding the topic by saying "there has been no issues found" after the repairs are done won't be valid in court without data to back up that counter claim.,

This is a very clear cut case for me and I intend to take it to furthest as possible. I am already in talks with my lawyer and prepared a lawsuit. I have yet to receive the product from RMA, hence waiting for the GPU to arrive before proceeding. I hope to receive an official response from Asus soon.

Short Update: Asus Turkey started to remove evidence from their service tracking system. This is the detail I included in the top main post where there was out of work hours service tracking registry.

I asked Asus Turkey again for the service tracking details on 17/05/2024. Asus Turkey responded that the GPU was registered to the service tracking on 17/05/2024 at 12:07. This is not possible, I have a phone call with Asus representatives on the same day at 15:38 which lasted 10 minutes and 3 seconds. In this very phone call, I asked the representative why my GPU wasn't registered despite it was showing as shipped and received according to the shipping tracking id. The representative had verbally confirmed it wasn't registered and it should be registered today. This can only happen if the service tracking information has been tampered with to hide out of work hours registry.

[Aureliannn_ROG]

Hi @IanSilver ,

after conducting an investigation, we have confirmed that you have received your graphics card after the second repair. 

As you initially sent in the graphics card due to high temperatures, the service center has re-applied thermal paste and conducted internal testing to ensure that the temperatures are now within normal range. 

We kindly ask you to use the graphics card and verify if it functions properly and if there are any abnormal temperature readings. 

Thank you for your cooperation. 

Regarding the legal matters you mentioned, we will inform the local team accordingly. 

Thank you.

[IanSilver]

Unfortunately your conclusion will not suffice and I have to strongly deny your request. I will be starting legal proceedings immediately as it seems you are unwilling to assist me any further despite the overwhelming proof of documents that I never requested a thermal paste replacement or any other service repairs of which all written very clearly even on the service report. Unauthorised actions by the service centre against the requests agreed upon Asus Turkey and with no temperature data by the service to back up these claims conflicts with your repair policies and Turkish Warranty Service legal requirements. As such, the RMA form holds a legal claim similar to a contract over the warranty repairs under Turkish Legal System and anything written within the form is required to be carried out by the party accepting the form to go through, in this case Asus Turkey has agreed the conditions and verbally concluded so on numerous calls through Asus Representatives. I see no reason to not proceed with legal actions to take the most out of Asus Turkey for damages and misconducts, and then proceed with criminal court for the contractual negligence.

I will do my best to take the case furthest as possible including the erasure of evidence by Asus Turkey themselves to cover their gross negligence. If you have any further to inquire or assist in this regard, you are welcome to do so, but I will not be backtracking on the lawsuit unless you have a compromise for me due to all the misconducts by Asus Turkey.