Intel warranty experience

lazyboy1984 · 15th October 2007, 12:08 PM

Hey guys, first time I've sent something directly to Intel and I must say, very positive experience with their warranty handling.

Long story short, I purchased a socket 478 3.4 Gallatin EE off ebay. When I got it the heatspeader wasn't even which explains the cheap price. Luckily for me it came with the original heatsink so rather than stuff around with the seller and have to pay for freight back to the US, I contacted Intel's warranty dept, created a new return number, sent the CPU and heatsink back and 2 weeks later, they sent me a brand new boxed replacement

I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting a OEM tray CPU with no heatsink to turn up... instead I got a brand new retail s478 3.4 EE dated 2004... Can't complain at all. Hopefully it's a from a good batch and clocks well

2 thumbs up for intel warranty.

oohms · 15th October 2007, 2:55 PM

Wow im surprised they still keep 3 year old retail cpus (especially rarer ones like EE's)

TMM · 15th October 2007, 3:47 PM

Well its not like a 3.4 EE was high demand at the time

DiGiTaL MoNkEY · 15th October 2007, 7:02 PM

Always nice to hear a good experience from a company. Considering how big intel is

your experience is what i'd expect from a company of intels calibre.

SLATYE · 15th October 2007, 8:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oohms

Wow im surprised they still keep 3 year old retail cpus (especially rarer ones like EE's)

They might be keeping them as replacements for all S478 P4s. Nobody's likely to complain if they send back a P4 2.0GHz and get a P4 3.4GHz EE to replace it - and the higher cost of manufacturing the EE would be offset by the advantages of not having to store thousands of each sort of CPU.

Vladdo · 15th October 2007, 8:14 PM

I've been impressed with Intels warranty service.

A couple of years ago we had an Intel server board die on us. The board was 3 years and 2 months old and it was a very specific and rare board. It had an onboard RAID controller so in order to get the data off the drives, we needed that specific motherboard so we could boot it up and grab all the data off it. Anyway, we couldn't source one at all as the board was well and truly obsolete. It seems that whilst you can't physically buy the board off Intel, they will replace it provided its a warranty job. Since we were 2 months over the warranty period, we had to haggle a bit for intel to give us the board. Eventually intel caved and within 24 hrs it was air expressed from Singapore..

I guess Intel MUST keep spares for warranty jobs, even if you can't buy it anymore, they need to legally keep a stockpile.

drunkntigr · 15th October 2007, 11:52 PM

I would believe all large companies would do so. It wouldn't be that much of an expense compared to distribution, wages etc.

chainbolt · 16th October 2007, 1:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazyboy1984

Hey guys, first time I've sent something directly to Intel and I must say, very positive experience with their warranty handling.

Long story short, I purchased a socket 478 3.4 Gallatin EE off ebay. When I got it the heatspeader wasn't even which explains the cheap price. Luckily for me it came with the original heatsink so rather than stuff around with the seller and have to pay for freight back to the US, I contacted Intel's warranty dept, created a new return number, sent the CPU and heatsink back and 2 weeks later, they sent me a brand new boxed replacement

I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting a OEM tray CPU with no heatsink to turn up... instead I got a brand new retail s478 3.4 EE dated 2004... Can't complain at all. Hopefully it's a from a good batch and clocks well

2 thumbs up for intel warranty.

Good to hear that! It's amazing that they still have boxed Gallatins

KAMBO · 16th October 2007, 2:42 AM

I had a old 2.4ghz break a pin and after a phone call to intel -perhaps in the Philipines somewhere?? (supplied number) and answering some questions, Intel sent a courier (DHL) and it was replaced pronto.

scruff · 16th October 2007, 9:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLATYE

They might be keeping them as replacements for all S478 P4s. Nobody's likely to complain if they send back a P4 2.0GHz and get a P4 3.4GHz EE to replace it - and the higher cost of manufacturing the EE would be offset by the advantages of not having to store thousands of each sort of CPU.

That's assuming - of course - that your motherboard supports the new cpu.

I remember the motherboard on my iBook died (had 3 year warranty) and after 2.5 years apple still replaced it and the cpu with identical ones --- I'd say that Intel would keep stock of all the different chips.

ChrisH · 16th October 2007, 1:01 PM

Intel is the best in the world in my opinion. Because they are an American company, they do american customer service. They don't know anything about you at all, you could own 5000 intel CPU's. If they give you bad service, you could jump the boat and go to AMD or VIA. Sure whats one customer? In the USA, 1 customer is everything. This is why America is such a great place to be a consumer.

(speaking form experiance, I am a yank)

I too have had a good experiance with them. I toasted my P4 2.4 M0 a while back (say....1 year ago). I sent it to them and htey returned it with a brand new CPU and HSF, with exactly the same batch number and stepping. Remembering this company can afford to lose $50 to keep a customer who will then use Intel for the rest of their life.

I will never use AMD again.

Oh yea, how much did you pay for the chip?

Jon187 · 16th October 2007, 1:24 PM

I had a great AMD direct RMA with a 2500+ that was only showing half its supposed cache.

I called them, they asked me a few question, and they gave me an RMA number. No receipt required.

They sent me an unoppened retail 2800+.

Took about 2-weeks from when I sent mine away until the replacement arrived.

Just trying to say that AMD was no slouch either.

J.

EDIT: This was in Canada. I had to send it to the USA. High quality service in North America. Really shocking here in OZ as far as I'm concerned.

Jai · 16th October 2007, 2:02 PM

One thing to keep in mind is that all box CPUs come with a 3 year warranty, however if manufacturing ended on a CPU in say December 04, it doesnt mean that you cannot claim warranty after December 07 because it can take upto a year before an end consumer gets the CPU in a system (ie from a small retail seller etc). Its highly unlikely but recently I purchased a brand new Dual Core 930 that was made last year, yet I only purchased it new now. So although the CPU is out of date, it might still be brand new to a customer so really I think any model CPU must be kept for a minimum of 4 years.

JK

Renasc · 16th October 2007, 7:53 PM

Sweet as dude.

dead_man · 16th October 2007, 11:18 PM

alot of places are like this and a re reqiured to keep parts and replacements. i was reading in a magazine ages ago that apple keeps parts for specifics ipods for upto 7 years

15th October 2007, 12:08 PM	#1
lazyboy1984 Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: SE Melbourne Posts: 2,174	Intel warranty experience Hey guys, first time I've sent something directly to Intel and I must say, very positive experience with their warranty handling. Long story short, I purchased a socket 478 3.4 Gallatin EE off ebay. When I got it the heatspeader wasn't even which explains the cheap price. Luckily for me it came with the original heatsink so rather than stuff around with the seller and have to pay for freight back to the US, I contacted Intel's warranty dept, created a new return number, sent the CPU and heatsink back and 2 weeks later, they sent me a brand new boxed replacement I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting a OEM tray CPU with no heatsink to turn up... instead I got a brand new retail s478 3.4 EE dated 2004... Can't complain at all. Hopefully it's a from a good batch and clocks well 2 thumbs up for intel warranty. __________________ \| - Trades - \|

15th October 2007, 3:47 PM	#3
TMM Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 7,545	Well its not like a 3.4 EE was high demand at the time __________________ AWOL

15th October 2007, 8:14 PM	#6
Vladdo Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Laverton, Melbourne Posts: 6,282	I've been impressed with Intels warranty service. A couple of years ago we had an Intel server board die on us. The board was 3 years and 2 months old and it was a very specific and rare board. It had an onboard RAID controller so in order to get the data off the drives, we needed that specific motherboard so we could boot it up and grab all the data off it. Anyway, we couldn't source one at all as the board was well and truly obsolete. It seems that whilst you can't physically buy the board off Intel, they will replace it provided its a warranty job. Since we were 2 months over the warranty period, we had to haggle a bit for intel to give us the board. Eventually intel caved and within 24 hrs it was air expressed from Singapore.. I guess Intel MUST keep spares for warranty jobs, even if you can't buy it anymore, they need to legally keep a stockpile. __________________ Gaming Rig \| i7-3770k @ 4.8 \| ASUS Z77V Pro \| 8gb Ripjaws \| 2x7970 \| Samsung 3xS27A950 \| Sandisk Extreme 2x240gb SSD \| Asus Xonar D2X \| XFX 1000W PSU \| 22mbit ADSL \|

16th October 2007, 2:42 AM	#9
KAMBO Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Melbourne - 3169 Posts: 423	I had a old 2.4ghz break a pin and after a phone call to intel -perhaps in the Philipines somewhere?? (supplied number) and answering some questions, Intel sent a courier (DHL) and it was replaced pronto. __________________ Successful trades: Sold to: Riquez83, Dennis_B, aTa, zoltaro, StOoPyD, aXLe, bartholemewh, Darko, benyboy, mrees, Ibkikn, iNVaDeR, Dezza Bot, wackywheelz, soupratt, gbtaufae Bought off: Shez76, Pip-Boy, thepowercosmic, WOOFLE, wtneo, Cathar, cyclonite

16th October 2007, 1:01 PM	#11
ChrisH Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3,154	Intel is the best in the world in my opinion. Because they are an American company, they do american customer service. They don't know anything about you at all, you could own 5000 intel CPU's. If they give you bad service, you could jump the boat and go to AMD or VIA. Sure whats one customer? In the USA, 1 customer is everything. This is why America is such a great place to be a consumer. (speaking form experiance, I am a yank) I too have had a good experiance with them. I toasted my P4 2.4 M0 a while back (say....1 year ago). I sent it to them and htey returned it with a brand new CPU and HSF, with exactly the same batch number and stepping. Remembering this company can afford to lose $50 to keep a customer who will then use Intel for the rest of their life. I will never use AMD again. Oh yea, how much did you pay for the chip? Last edited by ChrisH; 16th October 2007 at 1:04 PM.

15th October 2007, 2:55 PM	#2
oohms Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne 3016 Posts: 2,183	Wow im surprised they still keep 3 year old retail cpus (especially rarer ones like EE's)

15th October 2007, 7:02 PM	#4
DiGiTaL MoNkEY Inverted Monkey Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Posts: 26,699	Always nice to hear a good experience from a company. Considering how big intel is your experience is what i'd expect from a company of intels calibre.

15th October 2007, 11:52 PM	#7
drunkntigr Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: MELB Posts: 1,385	I would believe all large companies would do so. It wouldn't be that much of an expense compared to distribution, wages etc.

16th October 2007, 1:24 PM	#12
Jon187 Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Maroubra, NSW Posts: 729	I had a great AMD direct RMA with a 2500+ that was only showing half its supposed cache. I called them, they asked me a few question, and they gave me an RMA number. No receipt required. They sent me an unoppened retail 2800+. Took about 2-weeks from when I sent mine away until the replacement arrived. Just trying to say that AMD was no slouch either. J. EDIT: This was in Canada. I had to send it to the USA. High quality service in North America. Really shocking here in OZ as far as I'm concerned. __________________ Wow I suck at BFBC2

16th October 2007, 2:02 PM	#13
Jai Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 712	One thing to keep in mind is that all box CPUs come with a 3 year warranty, however if manufacturing ended on a CPU in say December 04, it doesnt mean that you cannot claim warranty after December 07 because it can take upto a year before an end consumer gets the CPU in a system (ie from a small retail seller etc). Its highly unlikely but recently I purchased a brand new Dual Core 930 that was made last year, yet I only purchased it new now. So although the CPU is out of date, it might still be brand new to a customer so really I think any model CPU must be kept for a minimum of 4 years. JK

16th October 2007, 7:53 PM	#14
Renasc Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Yungaburra, NQ Posts: 203	Sweet as dude. __________________ TRIBES 2, it lives on! http://www.tribesnext.com/downloads - Laptop: 17" 1600x900, Core i5 540, 4GB, HD5650 1GB, 2x500GB