Powercolor RMA Problem - OK Now, Kudos to PowerColor

LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, Alaska Icrontian
edited July 2004 in Hardware
I recently had a Powercolor ATI 9700 Pro video card go bad on me. The problem started with a crosshatch-like pattern covering the entire display. I flushed the drivers and installed the newest Catalyst drivers; uninstalled, then reinstalled again. Crosshatch patter was still there. Tested the card in another computer - exact same problems. With both computers, the POST screens were also corrupted. Eventually, the card would make no display at all, showing a black screen.

I also flashed the card's BIOS in DOS, taking care to use the original, correct BIOS code. The flash operation completed with no errors, reporting success. This accomplished nothing. (The card continued showing a cross-hatched screen, going black well after the flash.)

I described this problem to Powercolor via their North American support site using their online RMA request form. Their reply was prompt:
"The serial number that you provided, [number I provide] is not a correct number. The serial no. should be G3546995020 something like that. If we don't get this number, we cannot check the card whether belongs to us or not. You should be able to find it at the back of the card and on the side of the box. If you have problem to look for it, you may contact your vendor. Please provide the correct serial no.

Thanks
PowerColor"

I don't understand. I followed Powercolor's online request directions, taking the card's part number and supposed serial number from the label on the back of the card. I even peeled back the label finding a permanent stencil on the card's PCB stating it was the spot for the label that bears the part no. and serial number. Next to the aforementioned label is another label - "CN-094219-A32CP-366D-[xxxx]"; but this bears no relationship to the pattern for the S/N shown at Powercolor's site or in the email they sent to me.

Anyone have any suggestions here? I can afford to eat the cost of the card, but obviously I'd rather not.

Leo

Comments

  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2004
    Leo, did you by any chance buy the card from Newegg? Also, how long ago did you buy the card? If it was Newegg, then RMA the card through them; that's what I ended up doing with my Gigabyte 9700 Pro I had bought from them and when it died I had problems getting any kind of response from Gigabyte. My vid card was about 8-9 months old when I rma'ed it with Newegg.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    I purchased the card second hand from another member of S-M. He purchased it new December 2003 from ExcaliberPC. I emailed them last night explaining my problem. Hope I don't get caught in a runaround.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Good news. The original purchaser, from whom I purchased the card still had the original box. He emailed me the S/N from box side; I contacted PowerColor again and they gave me an RMA number.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2004
    Man, that's great news Leo! :woowoo:
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited July 2004
    :thumbsup:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Well, we'll see, won't we. I shipped the card a few days ago. The instructions were a bit contradictory: bold letters stated to send nothing but the card; but another paragraph stated the sticker on the back of the card must have the same serial number as the number entered in the RMA request. Hmm, I just enclosed a copy of the email correspondence I had with PowerColor discussing the lack of S/N on the card itself. I'm optimistic. So far, PowerColor has answered all of my emails withing 24 hours of each inquiry.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    I received my RMA-exchange PowerColor 9700Pro two days ago. It fired right up and runs perfectly. It appeared to be only slightly used, with just a smidgen of dust on the heatsink's fan. Have not overclocked yet.

    Credit where credit is due: Thank you, PowerColor. (but please ensure that ALL of your cards have serial numbers on the cards themsleves, ok?)
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