How long does it take to get my replacement?

[moore91098]

Since so many of us are waiting on replacement equipment, let's see how long it takes. THis will help track the success or lack there of of the warranty program.

Problem: Yellow drum pad not working out of the box, guitar not working out of the box
System: PS3
Tracking number received: 11/22/07
Status: As of 11/25/07 this has not shipped. 2 day express mode chosen. I realize that Thanksgiving will play a part in delaying the shipment, but I hoped that the equipment would have shipped Friday. I really hope there is not a shortage of the equipment.

[mmorgan184]

UPS didn't do any shipping on Friday because of the holiday. My guess is replacements will start shipping today.

[imagine]

It's been over 4 days so I bet it takes like a week - which is really stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[mind_in_rewind]

It's two-day air. But, they can't ship it until Monday. UPS has been closed since Wednesday evening. So really, it hasn't been ANY days yet.

[Graybeard]

When it say Status: Billing information recieved does that mean it hasnt even shipped yet?!?!

[mmorgan184]

When it say Status: Billing information recieved does that mean it hasnt even shipped yet?!?!

That means that UPS has received the information it needs to ship the item to you. That's all.

[moore91098]

Here is the reply I got from EA regarding the hold place on the credit cards. There is a piece of info regarding shipments, so I thought I would include it here.

Hi Brent,

Thank you for writing to EA.com account services.

We can send you replacement equipment immediately via 2-Day Air Delivery, free of charge. The box will include a prepaid shipping label so you can return the original equipment in the same box.

To guarantee that the original equipment is returned, we will need to take your credit card number. YOUR CREDIT CARD WILL NOT BE CHARGED provided you return the original equipment within 28 days. If we do not receive the original equipment back from you within 28 days, your card will be charged a replacement and handling fee of $125.00.

IMPORTANT! A pre-authorization of $100.00 will appear on your card from Electronic Arts, verifying that funds are available by placing a "hold" on those funds for up to 30 days. If you use a credit card, this hold will affect your available credit. However, a pre-authorization to a debit card will hold ACTUAL FUNDS. If sufficient funds are not available on your debit card, this hold may result in overdraft fees.

Most of our requests are processed within 1-2 business days. All shipments are 2-day Air Delivery.

Please let us know if there is anything else needed.

Thank you.

Chandan
EA Online Support.




I could have sworn the original information said 60 days to return the original equipment. Am I wrong on that?

[Graybeard]

I am not sure, that info seems to be changing quite a bit someone else earlier said it used to be a 20.00 holding fee and it changed to 100.00 and so on so who knows.......

[admanimal]

The terms are probably evolving as EA gets flooded with calls asking the same questions about their card being charged and such.

What EA has actually been doing has stayed the same the whole time though, as far as what they are charging and everything else goes.

[xlr8shun]

.....

I could have sworn the original information said 60 days to return the original equipment. Am I wrong on that?

60 day warranty on the peripherals, 28 days to return the broken peripheral that you are getting replaced under the warranty

[Muffster]

Here's what concerns me:

I've submitted returns for both the guitar and drum kit for problems I've already mentioned elsewhere.

These two return requests were submitted over the course of less than three days. Just for grins, I compared the RMA numbers.

There is a difference of almost 21,000 between the two RMA numbers.

Assuming the RMA numbers are being assigned sequentially, this actually answers quite a few questions for me, and none of the answers are good news:

- Controller problems are extremely widespread, and are more the rule than the exception.

- I suspect the reason no standalones are being sold now is that the powers that be (EA, HMX, or whoever you care to point the finger at today) were fairly sure that they were going to receive a landslide of replacement requests. Therefore, they needed to hold back what they already had on hand to satisfy the warranties.

- If the last point is true, we'll simply be receiving the same design defective controllers that broke in the first place. So, I fully expect to have to go through the warranty process multiple times, until they can build controllers that last for more than 3 (well, actually 60) days.

- Unless there's a major ****load of replacement controllers stockpiled somewhere, I don't expect to be seeing replacement shipments occurring in two days for everyone who's asked for one.

I certainly hope I'm wrong about one or all of these points. Otherwise, this is going to be an ugly, ugly mess.

[Badosh]

so if i get all my stuff together and do the warranity thing for another one
ill get it about the same time as someone who did it friday(last week)?

[admanimal]

There is a difference of almost 21,000 between the two RMA numbers.

Assuming the RMA numbers are being assigned sequentially, this actually answers quite a few questions for me, and none of the answers are good news:


I'm not entirely sure what other products EA has that you could return (probably not any kind of game software), but the RMA numbers probably span all of EA, not just rock band.

[Muffster]

I'm not entirely sure what other products EA has that you could return (probably not any kind of game software), but the RMA numbers probably span all of EA, not just rock band.

Good point, but if I were a betting man considering the time frame in question, my money would be on most of these returns being RB related.

Either way, 21k returns in < 3 days sounds like bad news to me, for both EA and the consumer.

[doughnut!]

I called EA customer support.
The confirmation e mail will be sent when your package is sent ( for me they said monday)
the 28 days you have to return yours starts when they ship the package.
they said they were churning em out replacements as fast as they could, and that i should be able to start tracking my package tommorow.

[mind_in_rewind]

I called EA customer support.
The confirmation e mail will be sent when your package is sent ( for me they said monday)
the 28 days you have to return yours starts when they ship the package.
they said they were churning em out replacements as fast as they could, and that i should be able to start tracking my package tommorow.
Good to hear!

[Jaacar]

Here's what concerns me:

I've submitted returns for both the guitar and drum kit for problems I've already mentioned elsewhere.

These two return requests were submitted over the course of less than three days. Just for grins, I compared the RMA numbers.

There is a difference of almost 21,000 between the two RMA numbers.

Assuming the RMA numbers are being assigned sequentially, this actually answers quite a few questions for me, and none of the answers are good news:

- Controller problems are extremely widespread, and are more the rule than the exception.

- I suspect the reason no standalones are being sold now is that the powers that be (EA, HMX, or whoever you care to point the finger at today) were fairly sure that they were going to receive a landslide of replacement requests. Therefore, they needed to hold back what they already had on hand to satisfy the warranties.

- If the last point is true, we'll simply be receiving the same design defective controllers that broke in the first place. So, I fully expect to have to go through the warranty process multiple times, until they can build controllers that last for more than 3 (well, actually 60) days.

- Unless there's a major ****load of replacement controllers stockpiled somewhere, I don't expect to be seeing replacement shipments occurring in two days for everyone who's asked for one.

I certainly hope I'm wrong about one or all of these points. Otherwise, this is going to be an ugly, ugly mess.


Wow, no wonder they won't honor Canadian warranties. They have no product to ship to the US customers, nevermind those of us unlucky enough to have driven across the border to pick up the game.

[irlsanders]

I bought two complete Rock Band bundles, and have two bad guitars. One with the downstrum problem, and the other that triggers overdrive on its own. I will RMA both, but am not hopeful that the replacements will be any better. I imagine a recall will occur at some point as the design appears to be weak. I would so much rather just play with the two GH3 guitars I ALREADY have. The strum bar on those doesn't feel as good, but is MUCH more precise, especially on alternating up-down strums. Here's hoping someone makes a kick-ass high quality third-party guitar by Christmas!

It's also weird that the "replacement cost" is $100 + $20. Is that much of the price REALLY tied up in these bargain basement guitars? I certainly wouldn't spend that kind of money on a stand-alone guitar with these kind of problems, considering that my flawless GH3 controllers can be purchased for only $60.