Kingston memory RMA packaging (#R10F1)

Okay, I admit, this is a cheap post this week. But Kingston asked for it.

After last week’s mail, I got two answers.
#1 from the RMA/tech support guy that I discussed the entire exchange procedure with.

Wir bedauern sehr, dass Sie den Ersatzartikel in einem solchen Zustand erhalten haben.
Das hätte nicht passieren dürfen.
Selbstverständlich werden wir Ihnen den Artikel umgehend ersetzen, denn verbogen sollte er auf keinen Fall verwendet werden.
Ich habe in dieser E-Mail die Kollegen der RMA Abteilung mit kopiert, denn nur dort kann etwas in dieser Sache unternommen werden.

(“We’re terribly sorry the replacement part arrived in this condition, this shouldn’t have happened, we’re replacing the thing asap again and that banana should not be used. I also forwarded your mail to the RMA guys that can do something about it”)
[you’re already my RMA guy, are there several levels of “someone needs a faulty part exchanged?]

Two days later, a gal from probably the correct RMA dept mailed #2:

Ich habe am Montag Ihren Fall von unserem technischen Support Team erhalten und habe daraufhin sofort mit unserem Service Center gesprochen, das Ihnen selbstverständlich jetzt ein neues Austauschprodukt schicken wird. Ich wollte Sie also nur auf dem Laufenden halten und Ihnen mitteilen, dass das neue Produkt mit DHL unter der Verfolgungsnummer [long number] versendet wird. Bitte beachten Sie, dass es manchmal bis zu 24 Stunden dauern kann bis diese Nummer auf der Seite funktioniert.

Ich entschuldige mich nochmal für die Unannehmlichkeiten und wir werden sicherstellen das dieses nicht nochmal passiert.

(“I picked up your case this Monday and talked to our Service Center [don’t they communicate day-in, day-out as part of their jobs?] They’ll send you a replacement product. Just wanted you to know that it can be tracked via DHL, #longnumber, but it can take up to 24 hours before the tracking number appears on their website. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience and we’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”)

After a similar delay like for the first parcel the item was posted, and with some Covid delays, a public holiday and DHL messing up the delivery to the Packstation just across the street of their local distribution center, it arrived seven days after the second mail, nine days after the first, or 22 days after starting the RMA. Well, fine by me, in the meantime I picked up a very nice Supermicro X9SRA at a very attractive price point – and switched over to 4x16GB DDR3-ECC Reg by stealing half of the memory of my X9SRW server board. Fuck that plebeian UDIMM shit :mrgreen:

Now, what did I expect? I don’t know. Maybe some half-assed attempt in packaging, say an unsuitable amount of wrapping paper thrown into a slightly larger box. Or some over-the-top fake “here you go – prick!” packaging because someone flicked on the “customer already got a damaged product and wants nice packaging this time” flag in their internal RMA form.

Wrong.

It was THE. SAME. FUCKING. bookshipper envelope as used before.

Only difference: This time I didn’t cancel the auto-redirection to the parcel pickup box that is very much closer to work than it is to home, as it was delivered on a Wednesday instead of Saturday. Picking up mail that needs a signature is currently a PITA so it’s much more convenient to just have it delayed by sometimes one day and pick it up at that station 24/7. So it either had an easier trip through the post sorting machines, or it didn’t get mushed into the the mailbox by an overworked mail man. Maybe both, well, neither. It wasn’t bent – not entirely straight, but certainly in much better shape than the first one.

You bet I sent another mail.
Their reply?

Das tut mir sehr leid zu hören. Meine Managerin und ich haben beide mit unserem Service Center darüber gesprochen und sind sehr enttäuscht zu sehen, dass sich nichts verändert hat. Vielen Dank, dass Sie uns auf dem Laufenden gehalten haben, damit wir dieses Problem dieses Mal auch wirklich lösen können.
Es freut mich wenigstens zu hören, dass der neue Riegel jetzt problemlos funktioniert. Um Ihre Frage noch zu beantworten, der Austauschspeicher ist unter der gleichen Garantie wie der ursprünglich eingeschickte, ja. Da das Problem mit dem ersten Austauschprodukt natürlich nicht Ihre Schuld war, reicht dieses Mal das Abziehen des Labels, und Sie können es sachgerecht über Ihr lokales Recyclingzentrum entsorgen.

(“I’m absolutely fucking sorry [she’s got a psychology degree according to her Linkedin page, so take that with a grain of salt]. My manager and I talked again with the Service Center guys and are disappointed that nothing has changes. Thank you for posting your update – maybe we can fix it this time. I’m happy the new product is functional, and concerning your questions: Yarp, the replacement still has the original warranty, and Nope, no need to send back the banana. Just peel off the label and toss it in the appropriate local waste management bin”)

Well, thank you so much, Kingston. I’m now unsure if I should be looking forward to the next RMA with you…or not. I mean, I like working hardware, very much so, but I’d also like to rip somebody a new one when receiving another “parcel” like this :lol:


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