Category: Techie

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Different kind of review: Manufacturer RMA Service

RMA stands for Return Merchandise Authorization and is usually used and applied when an item, usually electronics or computer parts or systems, is damaged and/or broken.

I have had to RMA a good share of computer parts as well as electronics for personal usages.  So over time, you begin to associate good RMA experiences with good brands.  Here’s the personal breakdown.

The Good:

Logitech –  I own a LOAD of their computer parts and accessories, mainly computer mice, webcam, and wireless headphone.  Logitech by far has been the best experience when it comes to requesting RMA for a replacement.  Case in point, my Logitech Freepulse bluetooth stereo headphones.  They are great but the power button began to fail.  I called them up, explained the situation, mailed in my item, and within a week, I had my brand new replacement!  They get 90+ score from me!  I have only had to RMA twice and both were very pleasant.

BFG Tech – I purchased their video card two years ago… it was Geforce 6800.  Well, it died within 3 months.  🙁  However, thanks to its lifetime warranty, I was able to get replacement within couple of weeks and since they no longer produced that model, they freely upgraded mine to 6800GT!  😀  Now, that’s freakin’ service!

The Bad:

Dell – Even if it’s because they are such a big company now, it’s no excuse for having such narrow-minded and inflexible service!  My brother’s laptop died just a bit after its 1-year warranty and that was that.  It was cheaper for him to get a new laptop!  Blah…

The Ugly:

Sapphire / Althon Micro –  Then there are truly ugly ones.  Althon Micro handles the tech service for Sapphire Technologies as a sub-contractor.  My video card died on me.  It was X1900XT 512 MB monster… so after some talking, I mailed mine in.  First they tell me it works fine but being a computer nerd myself, I didn’t buy it and told them to find me a replacement.  After six long weeks of waiting, they can’t find a replacement so they offer me a downgrade!  The nerve!  😡  See above about BFG Tech!  They wanted to give me X1950Pro, which, though it may sound like an upgrade, in performance, it surely isn’t!  After two months (total time), I tell them to ship my original X1900XT back with confirmed letter stating that it’s in working condition, yet they tell me that they sent it to Hong Kong for “repairs”!  WTF?!!  If it was in “working condition”, why did they send it to HQ?!!  They eventually “give in” and ship me an X1950XT!  By far, the worst RMA experience thus far!  I won’t buy their cards anymore.

The Rundown:

You treat your customers well, we will come back.  Again and again.  You treat us like crap, we boycott you.  For good!  Learn the freakin’ lesson!!

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Ask not what your God can do for you…

… but what you can do for your God!

That’s what I’d say now. I used to say, borrowing from the words of JFK, “Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church!” But I am realizing lately that even that is a selfish statement and request. In fact, in light of discussion with PS after tonight’s Bible study, I am realizing how selfish I have been and am… and how selfish we all are.

We grew up with everything expecting to be certain way… be it same or different from what/how others perceive that as. And because of that, we, more than another person, are more prone to resisting change. That’s not necessarily bad… but it is when that change is mandated by God! I feel that more than often, that I myself am that factor that resists the change that God wants to bring.. for the good of His kingdom! John Ortberg spoke of many things in the following video from this year’s PGF (Presbyterian Global Fellowship) but one thing that stuck to me was when he used the word “conduits” to imply our role to bring God’s Kingdom to hear on earth.

The way double pane windows and thermos work is by using vacuum inbetween two materials. Vacuum is what prevents the heat from being transferred between two places. If you wanted the heat to be transferred faster, you’d either use better conducting fluid (like water) or just use metal inbetween. Sometimes, we Christians act more like vacuum than water and keep from God’s kingdom from coming down to here on earth. And we must stop that by being less and less selfish. More of Christ, less of me. Less of you.