Asus RMA Experience

[Dcompiled]

I wanted to share with you all the pleasure I had using Asus to RMA my PG278Q monitor due to backlight bleeding. The monitor was sent in for repair and returned in worse condition. I had read horror stories about monitors being shipping in bubble wrap and asked the Asus RMA rep why they would not return the monitor back in the original box. I was assured there had been no reports of damage to monitors and that fedex would cover any damage from shipment. Here is a copy of my email to them after receiving the monitor today:

I just received the monitor back today and I am extremely disappointed in the service. Not only was the monitor packed in bubble wrap and damaged as a result, but there are missing items from the base. I have attached screenshots to show the damage. As you can see, the ribbon cable on the bottom of the monitor ripped, the base was deeply scratched because of the poorly secured wrapping and the base plate is missing from the return shipment. I cannot understand how even with the discussions we had about potential damage, my concerns we completely ignored and precisely what I hoped to avoid occurred. To quote our earlier conversation:

However, ASUS is using FedEx for sending back units that were sent by customers
for repair. You can expect that your monitor will be very well taken care of. Also, we
haven't got any reports of devices sent for repair and returned back damaged. In the
event that you received the monitor damage, you can contact us so we can file a
claim.

Let me share with you some other identical claims of how badly RMA service has been for other customers.

* http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?50168-Problem-with-my-new-ASUS-ROG-Swift-PG278Q-Blurry-text...
* https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/429887-installing-asus-rog-swift-pg278q-monitor-standbase/

You can file a claim with Fedex due to damage with shipping but it is not their fault that the monitor got damaged. Asus RMA put a bunch of heavy objects loosely in a box unsecured and this caused them to bang around and get scraped heavily as pictures indicate. It is unbelievable that the monitor was returned broken scratched and with pieces missing. It amazes me that your company returned my monitor in worse condition then it was delivered for a repair. Asus must replace the damaged monitor base due to negligence of the RMA facility.

[JronMasteR]

Janne-71 wrote:
How about us others who made questions and reports about pg279q backlight bleed etc. I wish someone from Asus staff would kindly comment about these issues. We are your customers and deserve some answers.

I would like to know that as well. There are countless threads and posts about these issues and there is simply NO reply from ASUS.
I've been exchanging these monitors for over 1 month now.

[Bahz]

Janne-71 wrote:
How about us others who made questions and reports about pg279q backlight bleed etc. I wish someone from Asus staff would kindly comment about these issues. We are your customers and deserve some answers.

This is a service related issue and regarding the PG279Q backlight bleeding issue is more of a technology issue, not something I want to comment on. The only thing that will occur is having a lot of people using that as a reason to jump all over the admin/moderator regardless what is said.

[Crashcourse316]

Bahz wrote:
This is a service related issue and regarding the PG279Q backlight bleeding issue is more of a technology issue, not something I want to comment on. The only thing that will occur is having a lot of people using that as a reason to jump all over the admin/moderator regardless what is said.

well put Asus Admin guy. it is a tech issue. I think we just want to know what asus is doing about the issue. Like if they are working with the panel manufacturer to resolve the issue or if asus might have anything planned to phase out this monitor with a "model" number and new panel as this models rep has been destroyed. Us customers just have no idea whats going on from the large scale resolution to this. Should we send our monitor in to fix it because asus has implimented a good panel replacment for the bad ones or are we jsut going to keep getting bad panels and should just wait a year to send you the RMA because if we send it now we are just going to get broken Ribbon cables and disassembled monitors with same or worse conditions than what we sent back.

From my perspective I would just like to hear what ASUS is doing with the possible solutions to the monitor issues.

[JronMasteR]

Crashcourse316 wrote:
well put Asus Admin guy. it is a tech issue. I think we just want to know what asus is doing about the issue. Like if they are working with the panel manufacturer to resolve the issue or if asus might have anything planned to phase out this monitor with a "model" number and new panel as this models rep has been destroyed. Us customers just have no idea whats going on from the large scale resolution to this. Should we send our monitor in to fix it because asus has implimented a good panel replacment for the bad ones or are we jsut going to keep getting bad panels and should just wait a year to send you the RMA because if we send it now we are just going to get broken Ribbon cables and disassembled monitors with same or worse conditions than what we sent back.

From my perspective I would just like to hear what ASUS is doing with the possible solutions to the monitor issues.

Thank you, couldn't have said it better.
I'm going to refund mine to be on the safe side, since ASUS does not offer a solution.
I don't want to keep a defective monitor. Once you're out of your return window, you're screwed.

[bagele]

I actually signed up to complain about this because it is so frustrating, I sent it in for an RMA in the box it came in just to receive back in pieces in some crap brown box. I opened a service complaint but I really doubt much will come of that.

[Bahz]

Crashcourse316 wrote:
well put Asus Admin guy. it is a tech issue. I think we just want to know what asus is doing about the issue. Like if they are working with the panel manufacturer to resolve the issue or if asus might have anything planned to phase out this monitor with a "model" number and new panel as this models rep has been destroyed. Us customers just have no idea whats going on from the large scale resolution to this. Should we send our monitor in to fix it because asus has implimented a good panel replacment for the bad ones or are we jsut going to keep getting bad panels and should just wait a year to send you the RMA because if we send it now we are just going to get broken Ribbon cables and disassembled monitors with same or worse conditions than what we sent back.

From my perspective I would just like to hear what ASUS is doing with the possible solutions to the monitor issues.

I totally understand that you guys want more answers and updates, however anything we say gets magnified and criticized regardless what we say. We haven't been transparent with this issue because it's a widespread issue with IPS panels welding these specs. We're doing everything in our power to improve the QC and filtering process for these panels. From internal communications where was I part of the loop, I've seen countless discussions regarding this and our product teams are working extremely hard on trying to improve the situation as much as possible. Also note that there's no way to define what is an acceptable level of backlight bleeding and what isn't, so it differs from person to person. In addition, majority of the photos shared online are not accurate and make the issue look far worse than it is. The ISO settings, angle, HDR, and shutter speed all play a role in determining how severe the blacklight bleeding looks on camera.

I'm not going to comment further regarding this issue. I just wanted to let everyone know that we weren't just sitting there doing nothing, it's just that this issue is definitely more of a technology limitation where in the short term there aren't any real solutions to guarantee each panel has acceptable levels of backlight bleeding/informity.

[Slitzerikai]

Bahz wrote:
I totally understand that you guys want more answers and updates, however anything we say gets magnified and criticized regardless what we say. We haven't been transparent with this issue because it's a widespread issue with IPS panels welding these specs. We're doing everything in our power to improve the QC and filtering process for these panels. From internal communications where was I part of the loop, I've seen countless discussions regarding this and our product teams are working extremely hard on trying to improve the situation as much as possible. Also note that there's no way to define what is an acceptable level of backlight bleeding and what isn't, so it differs from person to person. In addition, majority of the photos shared online are not accurate and make the issue look far worse than it is. The ISO settings, angle, HDR, and shutter speed all play a role in determining how severe the blacklight bleeding looks on camera.

I'm not going to comment further regarding this issue. I just wanted to let everyone know that we weren't just sitting there doing nothing, it's just that this issue is definitely more of a technology limitation where in the short term there aren't any real solutions to guarantee each panel has acceptable levels of backlight bleeding/informity.

And just with that little bit, you yourself have already given us way more courtesy as a whole than ASUS has, so for that I thank you, Bahz.
High end technology, no doubt technology that's still more or less in it's infancy even, is of course going to have problems.
I think for the majority of us here it's not so much the problems themselves that are the worst part, it's the complete radio silence from ASUS as a whole.

Either way, regardless of what anyone here may say, I do thank you for taking the time to at least do something within your power to improve things with the ASUS customers. ^_~

[Mackan]

Bahz wrote:
I totally understand that you guys want more answers and updates, however anything we say gets magnified and criticized regardless what we say. We haven't been transparent with this issue because it's a widespread issue with IPS panels welding these specs. We're doing everything in our power to improve the QC and filtering process for these panels. From internal communications where was I part of the loop, I've seen countless discussions regarding this and our product teams are working extremely hard on trying to improve the situation as much as possible. Also note that there's no way to define what is an acceptable level of backlight bleeding and what isn't, so it differs from person to person. In addition, majority of the photos shared online are not accurate and make the issue look far worse than it is. The ISO settings, angle, HDR, and shutter speed all play a role in determining how severe the blacklight bleeding looks on camera.

I'm not going to comment further regarding this issue. I just wanted to let everyone know that we weren't just sitting there doing nothing, it's just that this issue is definitely more of a technology limitation where in the short term there aren't any real solutions to guarantee each panel has acceptable levels of backlight bleeding/informity.

I would still appreciate if you could comment on "it's more of a technology limitation". It's been mentioned countless times that BLB is inherent to the IPS screen technology, but no one really explains why. To me BLB is what it sounds, light from the backlighting leaking through the edges. How can it leak through? Because of gaps I assume? Which means this seems like an assembly/mounting issue of the panel.

It must mean that IPS panels are much more sensitive to an even pressure being applied to the panel, when it is mounted/assembled into the monitor plastic housing. And that Asus does not have a good enough assembly process for these panels? Is this what it ultimately means when you say "it's more of a technology" limitation.

Because, as many users have demonstrated, BLB can be reduced or eliminated when people put pressure on the bezels, tighten or loosen certain screws, etc. Therefore I doubt that the panels come as defect from AUO. It's just that no monitor manufacturer has a way of putting them together in accurate enough assembly process.

[Bahz]

Mackan wrote:
I would still appreciate if you could comment on "it's more of a technology limitation". It's been mentioned countless times that BLB is inherent to the IPS screen technology, but no one really explains why. To me BLB is what it sounds, light from the backlighting leaking through the edges. How can it leak through? Because of gaps I assume? Which means this seems like an assembly/mounting issue of the panel.

It must mean that IPS panels are much more sensitive to an even pressure being applied to the panel, when it is mounted/assembled into the monitor plastic housing. And that Asus does not have a good enough assembly process for these panels? Is this what it ultimately means when you say "it's more of a technology" limitation.

Because, as many users have demonstrated, BLB can be reduced or eliminated when people put pressure on the bezels, tighten or loosen certain screws, etc. Therefore I doubt that the panels come as defect from AUO. It's just that no monitor manufacturer has a way of putting them together in accurate enough assembly process.

Frame is only part of the issue, the real issue are the panels themselves and at this moment in time it's definitely a technology limitation. As I mentioned in my previous post I'm not going to further comment about the details. For this it's not suitable for me to spew anything further that's based on my own understanding as it would be taken by the public that it's the "official" explantion from Asus, which it's not. For this part I recommend to wait for official statement/article from Asus to further clarify the details.

[Juston_Gold]

It is a disgrace how Asus is flat out ignoring everyone regarding the PG279Q disaster.