I have normally regarded Asus as a brand with a good reputation for quality and support. And my previous main PC system, with an Asus motherboard and GPU, has run for 12 years without an issue. Because of that, I have liked to choose to buy Asus parts over other brands. However, my latest experience with Asus has been completely different, and I’m still left without a usable motherboard 2.5 months after my purchase.
In this message, I'm going to start with the issue with my motherboard, and a request to replace it. I'll then follow it up with an explanation of the disastrous customer service I've received in the wake of the RMA replacement I did receive.
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I recently received a replacement Asus ROG Strix X670E-A Gaming Wifi motherboard through RMA, due to the one I purchased from the store having a list of issues, the most severe of which was that it would power off randomly. Those issues are talked about in more detail in this thread I made a while ago.
I haven't yet installed the replacement motherboard. And because of potential further complications with this motherboard, I would like to be allowed to send it back and to pay the difference in cost to receive an Asus ProArt X670E motherboard, instead. I’m also willing to pay the return shipping for this motherboard to do this. The reason for my request is that, after the litany of issues I had with the X670E-A Gaming Wifi motherboard, and while the motherboard was with Asus for the RMA, I learned about the Intel i225 network adapter issues. The ProArt escapes the issues with its 10G ethernet adapter.
Whether the issue will be fixed in the future is a big unknown. The latest driver that was meant to address it hasn't solved it for many people, and Asus notes for the driver say that it is only meant to “mitigate” the issues people experience, and not outright solve them. And the latest driver trades that mitigation by disabling energy-saving feature. Some people say that limiting their internet to 1G stops the issue – but that is not a solution and I didn’t buy a 2.5G ethernet motherboard to be capped at 1G. Some people claim their particular issues went away after they changed their network switch. But this isn't reliable, and there's a lack of verifiable data as to what conditions those people have - what speed their network is running at, and what testing they have done since changing their switch. Some people claim they've restrained the issues by disabling IPv6 (which is not a practical solution). Many people believe the issues will not be fully fixed in the future because they’re hardware-based.
At the forefront of my decision to build a new PC now, and to buy high-end parts for it, was peace of mind and posterity of performance. But I have had anything but peace of mind since building my new system. I’ve spent so much time troubleshooting the motherboard I sent in for RMA that I’ve effectively paid more-than double its MSRP for it. And that doesn’t include the money spent on energy running two PCs while one was on the fritz, the loss of positive productivity due to the time spent dealing with its issues, and the value of the stress it caused. And in the time since I ordered parts to build the new system and received the RMA-replacement motherboard, the price on the RAM I bought decreased by $85 USD. So, I’ve paid an ultra-premium, without getting the earlier use I was paying for, and while incurring costs and stress that shouldn’t have been there no matter what time I bought at. Thus far, that motherboard has created a nightmare for me, being like falling into a hidden hole and breaking one’s limbs in the fall.
And now I don’t want to live the next couple of years or so, until I upgrade to internet speeds higher than 1G, in worry and uncertainty about whether the network adapter will work properly when make the move. And I won’t be able to solve a potential future issue by buying an add-in network card, because my extra PCIe slots on the X670E-A Gaming Wifi are already dedicated for a sound card, which I use to connect music production interfaces to, and planned USB-4 expansion. In general, it is unacceptable for me that I would have to wait years to discover whether the ethernet adapter on the X670E-A Gaming Wifi motherboard would turn out to be a problem, and that creates an inescapable cloud over things for years, which on its own would be an experience-souring drain of energy and attention that completely isn’t worth it.
I was going to make a forum post about this while my faulty motherboard was still at Asus' service centre, before it was sent back to me. But, in character with all the other perfect disasters surrounding my original motherboard, Asus' support forum was locked for posting at that time, as it was being migrated to the new forum software. And the new forum came online a couple of hours after I received an email saying that my RMA was completed and a motherboard was being sent back to me.
I believe my request is a reasonable for the reasons I laid out in this message.
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Now, I'm going to mention the continuing frustrations with Asus' customer support. And I wasn't going to make a public post about any of this, before this happened.
When I sent in my faulty Asus X670E-A motherboard for RMA, it had some rubber m.2 spacers applied to it. They are the "bundled rubber for m.2 backplate" on page 2-8 in the X670E-A's manual, and the "bundled rubber for m.2" on page 2-10 of the manual.
The Asus X670E-A Gaming Wifi replacement motherboard which I received back from Asus as a warranty replacement didn't come with those spacers. I can't install my m.2 drives until I have them, which means I can't assemble my PC until I have them.
I contacted Asus support about this a week ago, and was told they will be sent to me and I'd receive an email about it in the next 24 -48 business hours. Nearly a week later, I haven't heard anything about it. So, I contacted Asus support just now to ask what the status is ( chat file N2303046056), and the reply I got was that Asus doesn't have any inventory of them to send me, and doesn't have a part # or a 3rd-party reseller for them.
So, Asus didn't bother telling me that, and just let me sit around not using my motherboard, waiting on Asus to reply with information about sending me those parts? What is that?
Asus support told me the best option for me is to return the motherboard and get a replacement. I received the motherboard directly from Asus. So I asked how I can return it to Asus for a replacement. No solution was offered.
Yet I require those spacers so that I can install my m.2 drives properly. Because the Asus support rep couldn't offer me a solution but wanted to find a way to end the chat, they offered to send another request to Asus inventory to ask about them, which will take another 24 - 48 business hours. But if Asus doesn't have them, or even a part # for them, then that's a futile gesture and one that will only waste more of my time while I sit with. So, this support rep tried to send me on a futile wild goose chase that would leave me with more time wasted while not being able to use my new PC, and obviously more frustrated. When I pointed that out to them, that, according to their own claims, that would be a pointless exercise that would create an endless loop of futility, they replied "The only solution is to check the facility and waiting for 24-48 business hours".
The experience of my purchasing this motherboard purchase and the subsequent support from Asus I'm receiving has been an unbridled disaster, costing me an enormous amount of time, frustration, and also costing me money. I bought my original new Asus motherboard and other PC parts for my new PC build on January 18, and it's now April 5, and, due to Asus, I still don't have a usable motherboard or ability to use my new PC. What is your solution, Asus?
