Frustrating PCByte RMA process.

Hi everyone,

As preface, I purchased a bundle with a CPU, MOBO, RAM, and GPU from them for about $3200 earlier this year (it was not specified how much these parts cost individually in the PCByte order).

Two months ago, I contacted PCByte for an RMA of my GPU I had purchased with them, which at the start everything was going swell. They issued the RMA request to me and I sent the GPU back to them.

Two weeks later they sent me an email telling me that my gpu is currently being sent back to vendor for repairs. A couple more weeks go by and I ask for an update, they tell me it is still being repaired.

Nearly two more weeks later PCByte sends me an email telling me my GPU was unable to be repaired, offering me a refund. Originally, they mentioned that they would be able to offer a replacement GPU if it were not repairable. So I emailed them back asking for a replacement GPU instead of a refund.

Nine days go by and PCByte come back telling me that they could only offer me a different GPU as a replacement if I pay an extra $640, I then ask if they can offer me an identical or zero-sum replacement, PCByte does not acknowledge this email and tell me they can instead offer me $1649 as a refund, which I was expecting atleast $1900 for considering that's about how much the GPU cost at the time of purchase. I then respond telling them I do not wish for this refund and wish for a refund of the entire bundle instead and asking why they ignored me when I asked for a identical/zero-sum replacement, I am still waiting for a reply.

Am I approaching this wrong? Is it normal to not be able to recieve a working GPU back when I request an RMA? Is it normal to have to pay extra just to get a working GPU from an RMA (even during COVID-19)?

P.S. the GPU is an AMD RX 6900 XT

Thanks in advance

Update:
I have let them know I will be contacting the Office of Fair Trading if they are unable to solve this issue.
As for requesting a refund to the entire bundle, here is their response:

Please be informed that we have received an update from our management that we can accept the other parts from the bundle to be returned to claim for a refund, however, due to the items being used and opened, it will be subjected to 20% of restocking fee.

Kindly return the items below to proceed refund:
1x AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core/24 Threads 3.7/4.8GHz AM4 CPU Processor 100-100000061WOF
1x ASRock AMD X570 Steel Legend ATX AM4 Motherboard
1x G.Skill Trident Z Royal DDR4 3600MHz 16GB (2X8) Desktop Memory Silver F4-3600C18D-16GTRS

Refund details:
RX6900XT Bundle 2 ( $3169 ) - Faulty GPU ($1649) = $1520
(Processor, motherboard & RAM ) $1520 - 20% Restocking Fee = $ 1216
Total refund amount = Faulty GPU ($1649)+ Other item with restocking fee ($1216) = $2865

From my point of view, this doesn't seem quite right. I would understand that they would tag a "restocking fee" and would happily pay the fee if I purchased the parts individually, however, I purchased the parts in a bundle, meaning that the entire bundle would be unfit for purpose.
Another way of looking at it would be the equivalent to buying a pre-built desktop, if you buy a pre-built and it turns out to be unfit for its purpose, you would expect a complete refund. However, they are turning this into a way that it would seem that I purchased all the parts separately in the same order and I wanted comlete a refund because one part was broken, a way of looking at that would be if I purchased for example a motherboard and a mouse and I wanted a refund for both the products if the mouse turns out to be faulty.

Here is some info in restocking fees from When you can get a refund:

In most cases, a business cannot place fees or conditions on a refund or exchange. This includes restocking fees.

They can only place fees or conditions on a refund if they:

aren’t legally required to give you the refund
and
clearly displayed these terms in writing, either in store or on your receipt.

From my point of view, this is being violated as they are legally required to give me the refund for the entire bundle, not just the individual items.

Is PCByte being unfair? Should I fight for the full refund or tank the "restocking fee"?

Update 2:

After the ACCC scare, PCByte have decided to give me a full refund (without the "restocking fee"). If this goes through successfully, I will not be reporting a complaint to the ACCC. However, feel free to share this info as "awareness" to PCByte's shady business practices towards their customers. If you do not jump through the neccassary hoops to get what you are entitled to as a consumer in Australia, PCByte will walk all over you for their own gain.

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Comments

  • +3

    6900 XT RRP is $1599-1699 so that's not wholly unreasonable. You don't know how much they secured them for from supplier. With such thin margins on gear, they probably can't take a significant price hit to offer you a replacement in the current market condition.

    They should however be offering you full refund for returning the whole kit as it's clearly not working nor fit for purpose if they can't fix it. Use the ACL threat card to fight for that. They can't repair or replace, so time to refund.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…

    • +1

      Thanks for the info and further understanding of the situation, I will definitely take advantage of the ACL threat card should I need to.

    • +1

      The RRP is irrelevant when getting a refund, what is important is the price you paid at the time, so if the price of the system is not itemised, them get a refund and return the whole system.

      • +1

        Check the update, I agree with you entirely. PCByte is attempting to the skew this as the parts being itemised rather than a whole system by adding a "restocking fee" for the other items.

        • +1

          I would be reporting this to the accc asap, they can get into alot of trouble doing this.

          • @garetz: They've gone back on this and are going to give me the full refund after I scared them with the ACCC. But the fact that they even tried it in the first place is scummy af.

  • Instead of playing email tennis waiting weeks, why not call them?

  • -3

    In my opinion better to take offer for money refund. You get to use the product and it depreciated once sold, plus the market price drops when new comes out. Get the money.

    • +6

      That's not how warranty refunds work. You get refunded the price paid and not a depreciated amount.

    • If anything the video card appreciated in that time.

  • +1

    What GPU is it? If still in production the manufacturer will replace it eventually.

    It may be that the reseller is wanting to refund your purchase price, knowing that they can sell the replacement for much more than you paid for it.

    • Not exactly.

      The manufacturer may have increased prices since the original purchase, thus, the company is being offered a credit for the amount they paid for the card instead of a replacement.

  • +1

    I recommend you go instore to your local PCBYTE store and complain to them. Might work :)

  • -1

    A different way of looking at the refund is to add up the cost of the other components at PCByte and ask for the difference from your original price to be refunded.

  • +1

    From a cynical perspective i am pretty certain the video card was repaired, they then recognised they could resell it for more than the refund to you, so are trying to get you to accept less, they resell it for $4-500 more and they profit.

    Maybe you should ask for the non working video card back and get warranty directly from the manufacturer instead. If they refuse to do that then you know they are fishy.

    • Might be true but still thats a lot of effort to find a few hundred bucks and that is presuming they can sell a second hand, used/repaired graphics card to the consumer. If they got a new replacement from the supplier, then that would be more likely.

  • Feels weird they weren't given a replacement GPU as part of the RMA with the supplier. Normally companies prefer giving a replacement rather than cash, although that's because prices for things usually go down, not up.

    Charging extra to get a similar product I'd definitely tell them to get stuffed but as a refund on money paid, sadly $1,649 sounds about right. If it was this deal you bought - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/592262 - then that was about the pricing at the time.

    • Yeah that's the bundle. Although prices were higher for 6900 XT's at the time, it seems like they probably got that particular one at RRP. BIG regrets.

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