This is not the first time I have a situation like this with ASUS support, but this time it's too much ... and what's more, I have no idea what to do with that.
Today I received info from the support that ASUS rejected my RMA because I damaged pins in the socket. Below is a photo of the "damaged socket" that I took before shipping the motherboard to RMA. I take photos of all ASUS products before RMA as I had similar problems in the past.
This is Strix Z690-I Gaming WIFI, so not cheap motherboard. RMA was because the motherboard is crashing in every stability test, RAM, CPU, FPU, mixed tests, anything randomly. If the socket is somehow damaged then it's not visible and the problem had to be in the product as I wasn't using it for longer.
Some months ago, I sent Crosshair VIII Impact to RMA because it wasn't stable with higher wattage CPUs. Support told me I damaged the PCB when there was a little scratch on the hidden part of the audio module's PCB (it's a M.2 type card). The module was never removed but support still made me pay for the repair. The scratch was 1mm long and the trace wasn't even damaged. Not to mention what CPU stability has to do with add-on audio module? It was 100% stable with 5700G but not with 5900X.
I will only add that I buy ASUS motherboards for hardware tests/reviews as my contacts don't include ASUS, so I can't get review samples of this brand. In short, I'm using ASUS and somehow promote this brand in various reviews and as a reward I lose my money. Sounds pretty stupid that I do that for longer years but I always thought that ASUS is the best brand for my needs. Recently I got 2 faulty ASUS Apex motherboards, 2 failed RMA and some more problems.
Today I received info from the support that ASUS rejected my RMA because I damaged pins in the socket. Below is a photo of the "damaged socket" that I took before shipping the motherboard to RMA. I take photos of all ASUS products before RMA as I had similar problems in the past.
This is Strix Z690-I Gaming WIFI, so not cheap motherboard. RMA was because the motherboard is crashing in every stability test, RAM, CPU, FPU, mixed tests, anything randomly. If the socket is somehow damaged then it's not visible and the problem had to be in the product as I wasn't using it for longer.
Some months ago, I sent Crosshair VIII Impact to RMA because it wasn't stable with higher wattage CPUs. Support told me I damaged the PCB when there was a little scratch on the hidden part of the audio module's PCB (it's a M.2 type card). The module was never removed but support still made me pay for the repair. The scratch was 1mm long and the trace wasn't even damaged. Not to mention what CPU stability has to do with add-on audio module? It was 100% stable with 5700G but not with 5900X.
I will only add that I buy ASUS motherboards for hardware tests/reviews as my contacts don't include ASUS, so I can't get review samples of this brand. In short, I'm using ASUS and somehow promote this brand in various reviews and as a reward I lose my money. Sounds pretty stupid that I do that for longer years but I always thought that ASUS is the best brand for my needs. Recently I got 2 faulty ASUS Apex motherboards, 2 failed RMA and some more problems.
This is what I received from the store support - they got this from ASUS as proof but it proves nothing.
This is the photo sent by ASUS support - the socket is in perfect condition, all pins are in straight line etc.
This is the photo sent by ASUS support where they marked the "damage". As you can see the CPU "key" causes shades exactly in the 2 spots which are marked (the way how the light reflects on the socket pins but passes these 2 spots). The same effect is on the other side of the socket on my photos posted in this thread - because of a different light angle. We thought they meant the area in the center while they marked the sides. How can this be proof of the user's damage?
Btw. the store support said that ASUS actually said that the paid repair would cost 25 EUR (which would be even acceptable considering the motherboard cost). However, they don't offer paid repairs because of the components shortage as all parts go to the warranty repairs. Should I assume they void warranties and look for problems that don't exist because of the components shortage? (this maybe isn't the right assumption but clearly the end user may think this way).
This is the photo sent by ASUS support - the socket is in perfect condition, all pins are in straight line etc.
This is the photo sent by ASUS support where they marked the "damage". As you can see the CPU "key" causes shades exactly in the 2 spots which are marked (the way how the light reflects on the socket pins but passes these 2 spots). The same effect is on the other side of the socket on my photos posted in this thread - because of a different light angle. We thought they meant the area in the center while they marked the sides. How can this be proof of the user's damage?
Btw. the store support said that ASUS actually said that the paid repair would cost 25 EUR (which would be even acceptable considering the motherboard cost). However, they don't offer paid repairs because of the components shortage as all parts go to the warranty repairs. Should I assume they void warranties and look for problems that don't exist because of the components shortage? (this maybe isn't the right assumption but clearly the end user may think this way).
