Canadian Express Replacement a JOKE!

[chasenmusky]

Just got off the phone with EA, I sent in a guitar replacement request dec. 22nd (Canadians were finally allowed to send in replacement requests) and the operator said it seems there is some sort of document or some stupid thing that needs to be dealt with, and this thing is delaying the replacements into Canada by 2-3 weeks....

hahahah, I can't believe this ****, first he said Canadians have to choose the express option (useless hold on my credit card), and that it will take 2-3 weeks for it, not a couple days. I didn't expect the replacements to take 2 days from the States but 2-3 weeks, this really is bull****.

Candians have been screwed around in this whole situation, from the bad news at pre-launch to the stuff still adding on...this is ridiculous. I am supposed to get a call back from EA to see what is going on, but by the sounds of it, we are getting shafted hard once again.


Ian

[AddictedtoKaos]

Hey chasenmusky, Sorry to hear your are experiencing the same sh!t I am! I too submitted my Express Return Request on the 22nd of the month.

I think we need to be more straight forward with this EA Customer service Crap. I know I'm going to be - starting now.

When I called EA and talked to the first-day-working-in-a-call-center idiot on the phone, he told me that there would be a slight delay but I should get the RMAs by the end of next week. I had a feeling he didnt know his ******* from the **** on his forehead since he kept pausing and saying things like "ummm" and "ahhhhh".

:mad: So, obviously I was LIED TO. . . :mad:

Well, I was trying to be patient and courteous when dealing with EA - but not anymore.

I'll keep you, and other Canadians, posted with my success with EA support. Others should do so as well, as this is completely UNFAIR!

I paid the exact same $169 that all the Americans paid - so where the fuk is my replacements!

[AddictedtoKaos]

Dont forget the # is 1-650-628-1001, Press 1, then 3 to get to a REp.

I love how they dont have a fuking toll-free number!

[chasenmusky]

Definitely let me know what happens, I will keep people posted too...I am sick of getting the short end of the stick like we have been getting the whole time...I don't know why things weren't dealt with in time (on EA/Harmonix's end), just seems like they weren't fully prepared for this.

It's true I paid for this game too so where are my replacements? This 2-3 week delay is just unacceptacle.

[chasenmusky]

hahah yeah, don't use a cell phone. i called that **** too, was on hold for like a half an hour...

[AddictedtoKaos]

I know. Im still on hold - WTF! If I hear "We apologize for the extended hold time, an agent..." again Im gonna freak!

Im gonna see if I can get a toll-free number outa them - They must have one...

[AddictedtoKaos]

OMG!!! :mad: - I just got off the phone with a EA Rockband REP - but unfortunately she was unable to get any more information.

She started by saying that their is a 2-3 week shipping time for Canadian Express RMA requests. This additional 2-3 weeks was supposedly due to US Customs - So I called Bullsh!t!

I asked what the process was. Technically I have a REF# but no RMA # yet so shouldnt I have received an RMA before shipping takes over, I asked. She stumbled a bit and then agreed with me. So basically, once again, Canadians are being shoved aside so that the company can finish dealing with their US backlog .

I then asked about a toll-free number... she had not heard of one...

I then asked if they could escalate my requests... no go....

I then suggested they update the support website for Canadian customers to reflect the 2-3 week Express shipment and not falsely claim that their Express replacement program completes in 2-5 days and that they should have a toll-free number for people calling long distance and having to wait on hold for 20-30 minutes.

So, We lose now but Im getting disgusted with EA, I thought they would be taking care of ALL their customers. I know that this will be my last EA game. To bad, as I was looking forward to BF: Bad Company - Oh, well - Fuk you EA!

[Ishamael198]

NICE -

While I'll avoid the drama, I also put in an RMA for a useless guitar yesterday, and gave my credit card information freely thinking yues, 2-3 day service please. Then I read here about the 2-3 week stuff.

So I sent EA Tech support a message asking for clarification (the warranty page doesn't make an exception for Canadians, as previous poster just mentioned), and they tell me that warranty service isn't even active yet for Canadians because the game hasn't officially launched! :D Nice coordination going on at EA tech support.

Makes you feel good that you submitted a credit card number to their website. Man!

I want clarification from EA on this, stat. This is REALLY shoddy customer service.

[chasenmusky]

Figures, they still have a lot of problems to sort out and we are just going to have to wait for them to deal with them.

How come though some people are getting like 4 or 5 replacement guitars or drums and they won't send out anything to us up here (granted those previous 3 or 4 weren't working)?

We got **** on hard here...

[tp500]

Are you f/u/c/k/i/n/g telling me that us Canadians won't even get our s/h/i/t replaced right now because EA is too f/u/c/k/i/n/g slow? At least give us permission to swear freely in the forums until this is over, I need to yell at you EA.

[Dimebag_]

Well I've been playing Rock band for weeks now with no problems. Well tonight My bass pedal snapped.. and my guitar doesn't recognize a down strum. I did the warranty and did express.however after reading this I am pissed that it will take that long before I can play...

[Yateball]

I too had been playing for weeks with no issues and finally my guitar bit the dust (up-strum only.... so at least I can still play if I only use down-strum), so I went to the website and submitted an express RMA thinking "Wow... that was incredibly smooth, I dunno what everyone is griping about with EA's support". The website still gives a couple days timeframe.

Then I came on here and saw this thread. I am not happy at all. They really are giving Canadians the shaft.

Oh well. All things considered, I still love this game lol

[Maherj]

Guess I better buy another replacement set of batteries for my LP...

[QuebecHunter]

well this suks i just checked and they cancelled today my rma from dec 22nd, whats the deal ea we give you our info and you shaft us from playing our money is good enough for you when we buy your product but when we ask for support you guys run to the hills. What`s the problem. Customs that`s alot of bull since you had no problem sending your crap shipments to canada a month late and now were suppose to sit arround and wait for you to tell us whats going on. You better upgrade your warranty for 1 year if you want us to continue buying your products. I know this is the holidays but get off your asses and move with the exchanging program or we will all come to ea directly to piss you off how do you like them apples.

[captmable]

I called yesterday to process my RMA for the XBOX guitar. I was told a week ago that they were not able to process Canadian RMA's until the 27th, the date when the game was supposed to be launched in Canada. The guy I spoke to was very empathetic and apologized several times.

I did call in my RMA on the 27th. After reading all of these posts I am concerned about the 2-week lead time... I was told 3-5 buisness days. It is certainly worth a call to ask them again however I have been on hold with ea for the past hour now.

I have been deserpately trying to buy a GH guitar for the interim but these suckers are all sold out! Oh well, gives me a chance to hone my skills on the drums!

I can't imagine how difficult it may be to engineer controllers that are constantly beat on... after all the kit is worth only $200. There is tremendous pressure by the developers to launch any game that isn't 110% tested. It is a fantastic game and I am certain that the hardware for the next generations can only get better. The look and feel of the Fender Strat is FAR nicer than the any of the GH Guitars. As long as EA is willing to look after the cost of RMA's let's give them some slack. It must be costing them a ton of money to look after all of us when they could be using those resources on selling more units.

BTW... I was told that the replacment guitars were new and not refurbished.

Vancouver, BC

[Jaacar]

I submitted my RMAs but used the 'normal' route rather than express. I've received no RMA number and no update since my original request (also made on the 22nd). I have however received two 'fill out our survey' requests from them, both of them I scored a 1 out of 10 (sorry EA, but you suck and its about time the outside survey company knows it). I have asked for an update on the 'My Questions' page and will wait patiently until Wednesday, January 2nd 2008 to get a reply. If no reply I'll be calling their tech support number and screaming something fierce.

Harmonix (Hmxsean??) are you listening to this? First we get the shaft for a month because it wasn't 'officially' released here in Canada and now it's going to be what will turn out to be another month because they are claiming there is a problem with customs? What kind of bull**** are they spewing? All damaged goods marked as RMA or damaged goods are cleared of customs without duty and customs charges. What they are saying is causing a delay is utter bull****. Lets also not forget that EA has a Canadian office in BC where we could all send our stuff back to and they could deal with it all internally, NOT giving the delay to the customer (ATTN EA: You know, the ones who pay your salaries??).

Yeah anyways, this thread will get locked and disappear because it will be seen as just another 'Oh the Canadians are whining again' thread (subscribe to it and then just watch and see! It will be the 'unaccessable thread' when you try to update your subscribed threads). All in all I agree, between EA and Harmonix, they really don't care about the Canadians.

I for one will definately remember this the next time either of them releases a game in Canada that I am contemplating purchasing. EA has already lost my money on Burnout Paradise (cancelled my preorder and won't buy it after the initial bull**** line of 'not officially released in Canada' and 'delayed due to proper language packaging').

[Dazzle]

I think all Canadians with defective equipment, should slap EA with a Class Action lawsuit. Americans do it all the time, why should we be any different, and then maybe EA will start taking us a bit more seriously.

BTW: I have no idea if my RMA has been cancelled or what, I have Request and cancelled requests, WTF??? Oh and we better get a free EA game outta this, we have been definately screwed over much more then the U.S. from day one and a simple "sorry" just doesn't cut it.
Sand in the Vasoline...

[Rock_Starman]

I didn't even put in the request yet. Thought we couldn't untill today. Luckily my guitar isn't completly messed up and still about 85% useable. Think I'll go through on easy for extra money and bonus rewards. Won't be able to finish hard or expert with it though. Didn't even get any golds on medium,damn overdrive setting itself off. Think I missed I Think I'm Paranoid by 1 point,scored 49,999.

[Jaacar]

So a bit of a follow up.

Called EA after reading there would be a delay (yeah, I know I said I'd wait, but the more I read, the more I wanted an answer). So the guy (Sean) told me DO NOT REPLY to your initial request for an RMA. It pushes is back in the queue. The more times you reply, the more times it goes to the bottom of the pile. I'm not sure I quite understand the reasoning behind it, but he said don't do it (he had to fix my three RMAs so they would ship out).

He confirmed that they could not ship to Canada yet due to customs or whatever reason they are giving this week. He said it would be at least two weeks before RMA numbers would be given out and that there will be a Canadian 'incentive' given to those who have to wait for this process to be finalized. So for now, neither express or normal return methods will not work for Canadians. Then he said that us Canadians should keep calling every "couple of days" to check on our RMAs, but call in the morning because it's "really busy in the afternoons" (Can you believe that? We should spend money every couple of days to call and check to make sure they are doing their jobs. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.).

Now for the really stupid part. My second Rock Band disc is faulty. It won't read at all in the Xbox. So guess what? I've got a new one on the way. Yeah, you read that right. They can ship a new game to me, but not a box to send my broken crap back in. How in the hell does that work? I mean why in the world is customs going to stop an EMPTY box when they'll let a replacement (warranty) game disc fly right through? Somewhere, someone in the EA chain has told customer service to NOT issue RMAs to Canadians for the peripherals (my guess would be because of the cost). This is 100% proof of this...if they'll ship a game disc, they CAN ship a guitar/drum kit/drum pedal/whatever-peripheral-you-need-fixed. They just WON'T.

So Eaxviolet, what is going on? We deserve an official answer as to whom in the organization has decided that to cut costs they won't ship out replacements to Canadians. I mean hell, I even have a tracking number for my replacement disc, so I know it's been processed so there is now NO excuse. EA is being derelict with their warranty.

To the guy above who mentioned the class action lawsuit, you can try but by the time you got it in the works, this whole mess will have been straightened out and you'll end up getting about a dollar so it's not worth it.

EA - GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND SHIP OUT REPLACEMENTS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. I don't give a rats ass how much it costs you, its not our fault you shipped the same crappy instruments to Canada as you sold in the US. You had a month to deal with it, you knew this was coming, you should have prepared and you didn't. Someone needs to get fired and this needs to be taken care of NOW, not in two or three weeks.

We aren't going away either, we'll keep hounding you until you get us our stuff. :mad:

[Ishamael198]

I think the part that cheeses ME off the most, is the fact that the support website isn't updated to reflect the increased times for Canadian customers.

At least be honest with me, and let me make a truly informed decision when I decide to give you my credit card to hold funds. You told me 2-3 days, not 2-3 weeks. That's a BIG difference, and completely unjustifiable in a global economy.

I could get a friggin dishwasher shipped from the states to my house faster than a huge mega corporation can get me a plastic guitar? Seriously.

[Corndog]

Well I purchased 2 kits for xmas just because I could not find a second guitar.. But the joke was on me.. One of the guitars will not work.
I rma'd on the 26th so i will also keep you posted on progress.

I do not think the delay is customs but the fact that there are a few issues they are trying to fix.. fret keys/strum bar/linking.. They want to fix all and test them better so that they do not keep losing money and looking bad.

At least I have one guitar.. Just how hard are people hitting the pedal to break them.. Now thats rockband !!!

I will do what Canadians do, Grab a beer watch hockey and waite.. PS I did not buy AE sports hockey for my PS3.. My small contribution to the 2 week waite.

[StargazerXL]

Here is another Canadian with a busted Rock Band peripheral. In my case, my guitar won't register to my Xbox 360.

Got the runaround from EA support as well. I submitted my first request for a replacement on the 24th on the support website and heard nothing but a robotic answer. Called EA support today four times and got basically four different answers, including the 2-3 week wait due to "customs." Most recently, I was placed on the wrong "queue" whatever that means, and was told that I should call back in "1 or 2 days" to see if things are fixed.

This is a cool game but I am considering returning it outright because of these hassles. What a colossal screw-up, EA!

[oddroot]

I'd just like to add my name as another on the list of pissed off canadians... I put my RMA in on the 22nd, and have not seen any updates to my ticket at all yet. I understand it's christmas and all, but my guess is people are still answering the phones. (as evidenced by posts here).

It really does make me sad this whole process... The delay for Canadian resale, the delay in supporting Canadian RMA process, and now what appears to be the fact there there is NO RMA PROCESS for Canada, atleast not one that is solidified yet.

EA, HMX, WTF have you been doing for the last month? Certainly not translations, as your RMA letter was alraedy in both languages to start. You had over a month to figure out your RMA process that you knew was going to be as bad as what you were experiencing in the US...

Shame on you. Seriously. Most of us are relatively patient gamers, my guess is a good chunk of us are 25-35, gainfully employeed, joes, just like the people that wrote this game. Imagine the extreme frustration we are all going through as gamers.

We deserve better than this.

[CStick_Sal]

Add me to the long line-up of Canucks with crapped out gear.

I tried to put in my RMA request before Xmas, and had the same "not valid until the game's released in Canada" excuse. Fine, I can see a bit of logic in that.

But now that I've taken the bait on the "2-3 days for an RMA" bullcrap, I feel totally screwed over. If you're going to put a hold on my credit card for 2-3 days, then that's what I've agreed to when I clicked the button submitting my info. Placing a longer hold is a breach of that agreement. No excuse there. I agreed to a 2-3 DAY hold. Not a 2-3 WEEK.

I was quite happy with GH3, and fell for the RB hype. Was it worth it? With the added costs to get it from the US, then all the tech issues (TV delays, Red Pad Issue with the Drum Kit, strum on the guitar, etc.) its turning into the absolute biggest piece of crap I've ever purchased.

I too HAD been a loyal EA fan. I had stuck to all the EA sports games throughout the years. That trust has been shattered by such a shoddy product. If it does really take 2-3 weeks before my technical issues are completely resolved, then 2K here I come.

[civuck]

Another frustrated Canuck here with a busted guitar (no downstrum). I was told by EA that the warranties for Canadians would start on December 26th "when the game is released in Canada". I filled out my Express RMA on the morning of the 26th of the understanding that I would have my replacement guitar in 2-3 days. If it's not here by next week - I WILL SCREAM AT THE NEXT EA REP I SPEAK TO.

C.

[Arreck]

Yeah if anyone gets their replacement please post here. I just ordered mine on the 29th. 2-3 day shipping is probably business day so I expect it to arrive by Jan. 2... if it takes longer, EA better give us a free game or free songs or something like they did in the US...

[oddroot]

Can we please get some sort of official HMX/EA response... since we aren't getting anything through the official channels.

[Ishamael198]

Agreed - Stat please.

My RMA from the 26th is still sitting there. Untouched.
3 business days means my guitar should be here by January 2 or 3rd, at the latest.

I'd like clarification, an explanation, and a reason why no one has seen fit to update the official support page to be truthful to Canadians about expected turn arounds.

[october_midnight]

My guitar actually came with the one end of the plectrum shoved slightly into the unit itself so it clicked (obviously) way too loud and was basically unplayable. Called EA about 6 times and kept being hung up on by the machine.

My RMA was created Christmas afternoon. It's not too much to ask to at least *hear* something by the end of next week (Jan. 4th), since that'll be about the fifth business day, right? Right???

[oddroot]

I had been very much under the impression that i would have my replacement by new years eve (rma'd the 22nd)... please don't give us any more bs... you guys have had well over a month to get your process in place. To leave us all hanging after xmas is just down right bad customer service.

[QuebecHunter]

add my name to list, my rma was created on the 22nd and cancelled on the 28th and now is back up and should be 2-3 weeks before i recieve it. this is full of crap and now im afraid if i do anything else like call or email them it will go down to the botom of the pile so nothing else to do than sit and wait 3 weeks god damm it.

[Arreck]

How do you guys know your RMAs are cancelled or delayed? Did you just call in?

[AddictedtoKaos]

They obviously dont want to ship internationally due to cost - like Jacaar said. I spoke with a Rep from EA HQ last week. He was mentioning how they are having issues getting distributors setup in Canada and that was the reason for the delay.

So the 2-3 weeks delay is most likely EA thinking it will take 2-3 weeks to get distributors setup and and start shipping to Canadian addresses.

I just said the hell with it and bought a brand new set from Futureshop. Let me tell you the way they make the equipment now is how it should have been to being with. The drums work flawlessly, minus the kick pedal - that still needs to be reinforced. The guitar, even though the buttons click like typing on a keyboard they work and the strumming is much more sensitive.

Eventually when we do get our express RMAs 2-3 weeks LOL - I can assure you that a majority of us will not need to come back and post our frustration in this forum any longer!

[Jaacar]

How do you guys know your RMAs are cancelled or delayed? Did you just call in?

If you replied to the original RMA, it will be cancelled (that's right from an EA rep). Otherwise, you just have to call in to find out the 'status'.

[Pro-79]

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!! EA hates me. I got the game in the U.S. (day it came out), when I got back to Canada, my drums were broken. Now, I wait a whole month to replace them. Finally, they give me an RMA. And now, its delayed for three weeks.

[Makosis]

Who didn't see this bull**** coming? Hell EA has screwed us around at every single turn when it comes to this game, and won't even friggen acknowlege us!! Hell first with the release date, then the refusal of warranties, ontop of giving no information as to when, and NOW we're being screwed having to wait 2-3 weeks for EXPRESS!? Hell it seems with this new bull**** EA is just trying to run out the clock so they don't have to honour our warranties.

Maybe if they would give us some official information we atleast wouldn't have to be pissed about still being ignored. We at the very least deserve an official apology!

[civuck]

Ya.... one option is just to buy a new set from FutureShop or Best Buy and then return it back to them with the broken guitar.

[Yateball]

Ya.... one option is just to buy a new set from FutureShop or Best Buy and then return it back to them with the broken guitar.

As a futureshop employee... I urge you not to do this! lol

I know though (at my store anyway) we will NOT accept already opened kits of Rock Band for this very reason... people have already been ripping the company off and lets face it, they aren't stupid.

[civuck]

As a futureshop employee... I urge you not to do this! lol

I know though (at my store anyway) we will NOT accept already opened kits of Rock Band for this very reason... people have already been ripping the company off and lets face it, they aren't stupid.Interesting that there are already enough fed-up Canucks doing this that FutureShop has a "policy" for this specific product.

[Fivestarfrog]

Wait...what? Updating my request moves it to the bottom of the pile or even cancels it? Obviously "If you have any further questions, please contact us by visiting our support website at http://support.ea.com and click on the “My Questions” link to update your request. " uses the term 'update' somewhat loosely then. So, since I've updated it...what am I supposed to do...I really don't want to create a new one and put my credit card down for another 125$, so I guess I either call them or wait it out...wow this blows

[Jaacar]

Wait...what? Updating my request moves it to the bottom of the pile or even cancels it? Obviously "If you have any further questions, please contact us by visiting our support website at http://support.ea.com and click on the “My Questions” link to update your request. " uses the term 'update' somewhat loosely then. So, since I've updated it...what am I supposed to do...I really don't want to create a new one and put my credit card down for another 125$, so I guess I either call them or wait it out...wow this blows

Just be forewarned, if you 'update' your question and it's an RMA it will cancel the RMA - that was right from the mouth of an EA support employee. He suggested if you wanted an update, you should call, NOT update the question. Not that it matters anyways, all Canadian ones are on hold until EA gets their act together anyways.

[TheNiX]

The most mind boggling thing about this is that some of you still call long distance and fork over $125 bucks to them, for what exactly? We already know they aren't shipping them. I've been emailing the **** out of them about the fact that I have to call long distance just to find out if I'll get a replacement.

Time to start turning to the media and stop going with what EA suggests to you.

[Yateball]

The most mind boggling thing about this is that some of you still call long distance and fork over $125 bucks to them, for what exactly? We already know they aren't shipping them. I've been emailing the **** out of them about the fact that I have to call long distance just to find out if I'll get a replacement.

Time to start turning to the media and stop going with what EA suggests to you.

What kind of crappy long distance plan do you have? It would cost like 5 bucks for me.

[Dartagnan64]

Well I phoned to put in a new RMA Jan 2nd and they still said 3-4 weeks at that point. So far I've not received a confirmation email or tracking number for that phone call. And again it was express delivery.

I'm disheartened to see so many Canadian early adopters being given the shaft by EA. The game has been out for 2 weeks in Canada and over a month in the US and surely they knew even prior to launch there would be hardware issues. It's inexcusable to ship a faulty product and have no reasonable process for returns.

I've lost all confidence in EA at this point.

[Jaacar]

Time to start turning to the media and stop going with what EA suggests to you.

Know any online sites or media places to go? Getting an article posted on Google News would be very nice. It's the kind of thing they eat up for breakfast and it spreads fast from there. Unfortunately you can't submit a story directly to them, it has to come from another source. And all the video gaming magazine sites only accept articles from their writers.

[EAxViolet]

Well I phoned to put in a new RMA Jan 2nd and they still said 3-4 weeks at that point. So far I've not received a confirmation email or tracking number for that phone call. And again it was express delivery.

It's normal not to receive a tracking number when you create a Canada RMA. Because of the customs process we are working through, we can't automatically enter your RMA into the shipping system. You should however, see an update with your RMA within about two weeks.

I just like to inform everyone that I've added some Canada RMA information to the Rock Band Warranty sticky (and I'll be updating it as we improve the process) so please check there for the latest.

~Violet

[aryall]

When does the hold on the credit card begin? I've read some people say they're p'd off about having a long $125 hold on their cards. My RMA was created on Dec. 29, and I've yet to see an update or a $125 charge to my CC.

I had planned to update my "Question" looking for answers, but figured I'd check in here first. With this talk about updating my "Question" pushing it to the bottom of the pile, I guess I'll have to call after work tonight instead.

At least my guitar "only" has busted whammy and overdrive - it's still playable. I feel sorry for those of you with inoperable guitars and drums.

[Jaacar]

Because of the customs process we are working through, we can't automatically enter your RMA into the shipping system.

Sorry to have to point this out yet again, but this is the biggest load of crap out there. Stamp "RMA Replacement" on the outside of the box and it'll fly through customs like butter sliding down a hot knife. Because the US was the 'country of origin' for the product, Canada customs will let it go through as a replacement from a reputable (and I'm using that term very loosely right now for the purpose of argument) company, trusting that it is indeed an RMA replacement. I'm sure US customs will do the same upon the return shipment being sent back to you labeled 'Defective Product'. Both ways will not stop the item, charge duty, nor taxes. By the way, this information came from a consumer and corporate affairs lawyer, I didn't make it up. In fact, here is a URL showing it on the internet (sorry, the University of Saskatchewan came up before the Canada Customs site, and the Canada Customs site is a mess, so I posted this one).

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:KWf0eGKPORMJ:www.usask.ca/purchasing/communications/export_invoice3_and_instructions.pdf+Canada+custom s+RMA+goods&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca&client=firefox-a

As far as I see it, the only reason you aren't shipping things out right now is because it costs too much, which really isn't our problem. So now that everyone reading this knows that EA is yet again trying to pull the 'wool' over our eyes about this, can we either hear the next excuse (and make sure it's a real one this time) or have our faulty equipment being replaced NOW please?

[TheNiX]

What kind of crappy long distance plan do you have? It would cost like 5 bucks for me.

I don't know if you've been reading this thread, but EA Reps are telling Canadians to call back multiple times to check on their RMA status. That adds up. Not to mention, y'know, we already paid $200, why am I paying long distance fees to be able to properly use my $200 product?

You're a bit too complacent with the fact that you're paying long distance for the worst out-sourced Customer Service I've ever had to endure.

[devon_the_mack]

I'm absolutely disguested with EA. I sent them an email telling them how pissed I was about it going to take upwards of a month to get my replacement guitar. To think this huge corporation doesn't have a toll free line either is impossible for me to fathom. I can't even begin to understand why or I would hurt my brain.

A recall should have been issued but EA's epeen is a bit too large, and still, the cost of replacing them is cheaper than recall. What Canadian's should do is launch a class action suit against them and we might get a settlement enough for each person to go buy a new, fully functioning set.

[FatD]

As for the hold on credit cards, an EA rep told me today that they are NOT holding that money but instead will use that credit card to retrieve the funds necessary to replace items that have not been returned (for Canadian customers). So no money will be held on credit cards.

After being on the phone for 40 minutes all I received was a $15 electronic coupon for the EAstore, which doesn't have a PS3 item priced under $30. Terrible compensation.

That coupled with the ridiculous long distance fee for calling customer support makes this experience resemble my recent colonoscopy. At least I got pictures from my colonoscopy.

One must go over everything that has gone wrong with this return experience:
1) Canadian customers who purchased defective hardware before the "official Canadian" release date were forced to wait until Dec 28 to apply for a replacement.

2) To check the status of their replacements Canadian customers were forced to call a long-distance telephone number and remain patient for long hold times to get any information

3) A 2-4 week delay has been put on items that were labelled, by EA, to be shipped "UPS Express."

4) On top of the 2-4 week delay no tracking number or shipping confirmation are sent to customers who have requested replacements for defective hardware, both of which UPS supplies.

5) The only compensation proved to be provided to Canadian customers is $15 to an online store which sells items for the latest console for a price no less than $19.95 (The Godfather: Don's Edition). Whether the currency is American or Canadian has not been distinguished.

6) The customer support website has NOT been updated to better inform Canadian customers of the troubles they will encounter when exchanging defective hardware.


In my opinion all these mistakes call for some sort of decent compensation for the woes experienced by Canadian customers. If I'm mistaken in anything I've said please say so.

[Dartagnan64]

It's normal not to receive a tracking number when you create a Canada RMA. Because of the customs process we are working through, we can't automatically enter your RMA into the shipping system. You should however, see an update with your RMA within about two weeks.

I just like to inform everyone that I've added some Canada RMA information to the Rock Band Warranty sticky (and I'll be updating it as we improve the process) so please check there for the latest.

~Violet

I'm aware its normal not to receive a tracking number with a Canadian RMA. My point is that it is unacceptable not to receive one because EA should have sorted out shipping issues prior to launch. Short-sightedness should not be an acceptable excuse.
And when, in two weeks, I see no tracking number or processed RMA, where do I stand then? Phoning the non-toll free number yet again and getting placed in a 3 week queue?

All I care about at this point is that when EA starts honoring their warranty in Canada, that those of us that have been hamstrung by this process the longest get some consideration. Without any confirmation email to that end, I have no idea where I stand in this return process.

[Jaacar]

The saddest part of this whole thing is the lies.

They are either lies or misinformation. Nobody in the support department gives the same story if you call more than once. One person will say the 'normal' option is available and the box will ship this week. The next person will say 'normal' is available but the boxes aren't shipping until the end of January. Yet another person will say 'normal' replacements aren't being done and you HAVE to provide a credit card number to secure the 'express' shipment offered (which is the only option available).

Then there is the lies about the customs delay. As posted above, if they clearly mark the item as an "RMA Replacement" and they provide the country of origin (which is the US if I'm not mistaken), then it sails through customs untouched and undelayed. So they don't need to make any special system or anything, that's all they need to do. I'm sure the Canadian and American customs departments are not making 'exceptions' for EA in the case of Rock Band instruments.

Then as posted above, a $15 certificate is a slap in the face! Why would any of us want to give another dollar to EA after this? So if the new product we buy with that certificate messes up we can go through all of this again? Give me a break.

Violet, are you hearing this? Your company is lying to people. This needs to be fixed.

Sean, are you reading this? EA is NOT supporting your product for warranty. That is the bottom line. We waited until it was available in Canada, just like you asked, and now we are still getting screwed around and lied to. Unacceptable.

Not only will this be the very last EA product I purchase in my lifetime, but if Harmonix lets this go on very much longer, it will be the last one of their products as well, which would be a real shame because this game is GREAT, when it works.

[october_midnight]

Got RB for Christmas.
Found out RMA's wouldn't be touched until the 28th and accepted it.
It's now been at least a week and the site still said "New RMA".
Waited 30 min. on hold to be told "uhhh...I see your RMA...2-3 weeks."
Just checked and it STILL says "New RMA".
Pretty much have given up waiting and will just randomly be surprised once the replacement shows up.
Not happy.

[Makosis]

FatD you did miss a few things, no viable reason was ever given about the canadian delay, no french my ass, that should be a well known law to veteran game companies. And no apology for any of the strife EA/Harmonix has put canadian customers through.

Maybe I'm reading to much into this, but violet didn't seem to perk up until someone mentioned trying to push the media to recognize us instead of EA/Harmonix.

[AceTKen]

Indeed. I'm writing to Joystiq and several other blogs as a start and I encourage you to do the same. Then Digg. After that, I'm firing an article off to the Calgary Sun about it. We'll see what kind of crap they pull out of their butts then. (They tend to sodomize companies that treat Canadians like second-class citizens)

[Jaacar]

When you fire that article off to the Calgary Sun, make sure they post it on their web, so it will be spidered by Google, then plastered all over Google New. From there, it flies out like mad. Then the world will know just what EA is doing.

[Morgmaster70]

AceTKen if you do that 1) I will actually STEAL the paper from my dad regardless of where he is in reading it. 2) You will be my hero

The part that REALLLLY pisses me off is that EA says they have no way to distribute... How did the games get here in the first place? What is that giant building in Vancouver doing... just siting around having a party when they can be used as a potential distributer?

EA once again just like with Skate. and almost any recent EA game HAVE FUKED OVER CANADIANS!

[AceTKen]

In progress. I'm collecting quotes from EA from the forum and some stats. (Number of EA posts in a random sampling of 1000 in the Rock Band tech support section) Sent it to Joystiq already. Dunno how they'll take it though.

THE REST OF YOU!
If you want something to happen, you need to submit it around the web as well! If you sit back and wait for me to do it all, it WILL NOT HAPPEN because I am only one person! WE are louder than ME. Raise your damn voices and be heard!

[chasenmusky]

still heard nothing from ea, and my pedal just snapped now, sent in 2 regular rma's, probably won't be seeing those empty boxes till end of jan, still no UPS tracking codes or whatever...i hope we get a free game or something, that $15 coupon is useless, i actually asked about a free game and they said, that was only a 3 day offer to certain customers...we have been screwed over so hard here, but wtf can we really do but wait...hope we start seeing this get dealt with soon, anyone from Canada get any replacement pieces sent yet, or are no shipments at all going through still?

[CStick_Sal]

Folks, this is just plain ridiculous. We can ***** and moan on this forum all we want, Violet will just post her inane platitudes that EA is responding and that things will be taken care of in due course.

Bull.

All they are hoping for is that we'll sit quietly and wait for the RMAs to finally ship to us in Canada, and that nothing will get spilled out into the media.

AceTKen: Please post what you sent to the papers here, so we can all submit it to our local papers. The more, the better. I'm sure Calgary's Sun will love to pass it off to their Wham Gaming division on Canoe.ca, and that should snowball nicely, but lets get this out to all media outlets we can.

No more sitting idly by as we get screwed over by EA. Time to take it to the media and get some real pressure on our side.

[FatD]

There isn't much anybody can do except write their local newspaper, even though there are more important things to report than the dissatisfaction of a minimal number of Canadians with a video game company.

The best thing each individual can do is e-mail EA's customer service with a letter of dissatisfaction. It has to be official. Anything on a forum is unofficial chatter.

If the company gets a HUGE load of official e-mails about one particular issue (especially if media exposure is threatened) they are more likely to respond with the intention of customer satisfaction.

I've written mine, and I'll call again this week.

[Twitch1977]

I'm a Canadian that is also frustrated with the RMA process and waiting on a new guitar to replace the current one that doesn't work at all.

Unfortunately writing to your local papers isn't going to get you very far. While important to us the general public isn't going to give two craps about pretend guitars in some video game and how long it's taking us for replacements.

Secondly, and most importantly, before a paper is going to publish a defaming story about a major company without having to go through the trouble of verifying all the facts, which in this case would be hard to do and very time consuming, for what would amount to a 150 word public interest piece that only a small amount of their subscribers would be interested in reading.

T

[SKACMAN]

My fingers are crossed that I actually receive something tomorrow, if not I'll be disappointed which I should be use to by now.

[Darth_Destroyer]

If you all read the first sticky it tells you that we Canadians are going to get screwed and the reason why..God Bless Customs

[Dartagnan64]

If you all read the first sticky it tells you that we Canadians are going to get screwed and the reason why..God Bless Customs

Blaming Customs is clearly a falsehood on the part of the sticky.
There is no reason for Customs to delay warranty replacements.
There has been no delay in Canadians receiving replacement game disks that are faulty.

The most likely scenario is that all the faulty guitars have led to a shortage of guitars in North America. Rather than stop manufacture of the special editions and support their warranties, they have continued to make games and hardware for retail and delay warranty support, because they can still make money and claim that customs is the problem that way. At least that makes more sense to me than the BS about customs holding up warranty replacements.

[=][=Scorn]

How many of us Canadians have ordered things from the states before and never had an issue with Customs? Raise your hands.
I have ordered numerous things and have not had issues with delays due to customs.

[Dartagnan64]

[=Scorn;238080']How many of us Canadians have ordered things from the states before and never had an issue with Customs? Raise your hands.
I have ordered numerous things and have not had issues with delays due to customs.

Exactly. I've ordered a ton of things from the states over the years and while I often have to pay more for shipping I still do not get unreasonable delays from customs. And that's for purchased goods. Here we are talking about a warranty replacement, which is not subject to taxes, etc.

The delays have been a pile of BS if you ask me.

[CStick_Sal]

I'm a Canadian that is also frustrated with the
Unfortunately writing to your local papers isn't going to get you very far. While important to us the general public isn't going to give two craps about pretend guitars in some video game and how long it's taking us for replacements.

Secondly, and most importantly, before a paper is going to publish a defaming story about a major company without having to go through the trouble of verifying all the facts, which in this case would be hard to do and very time consuming, for what would amount to a 150 word public interest piece that only a small amount of their subscribers would be interested in reading.
T

Oh I'm not talking about the small-town no name paper here. I'm talking about the bigger papers with daily or weekly sections dedicated to gaming. I agree, it wouldn't make the front page of the Globe and Mail, but it would make it onto Wham's front page, and from there, it would get more coverage. Obviously, its going to remain a news story within the gaming community, but isn't that who needs to be warned about EA's underhanded business practices?

[xFiShx]

They should stop making rock band until the problems are fixed. i think they should be worrying more about replacemenets then selling copies.

[FatD]

The best thing for everyone is to call EA and hassle the customer service representative who deals with your problem. Hassling the representative will have them address their stressful calls to their management, who in turn will forward the unforseen amount of complaints to their management.

The more stress there is on EA the more likely they are to shut us up with either faster service or decent compensation (free game, hopefully). EA loses money when their customer service productivity is reduced by our incessant calls.

I plan to call tomorrow, the day after, the day after, and the day after. If half of the Canadian customers with faulty hardware did this sh!t would get done.

[Dartagnan64]

The best thing for everyone is to call EA and hassle the customer service representative who deals with your problem. Hassling the representative will have them address their stressful calls to their management, who in turn will forward the unforseen amount of complaints to their management.

The more stress there is on EA the more likely they are to shut us up with either faster service or decent compensation (free game, hopefully). EA loses money when their customer service productivity is reduced by our incessant calls.

I plan to call tomorrow, the day after, the day after, and the day after. If half of the Canadian customers with faulty hardware did this sh!t would get done.

I agree with the "squeaky wheel" approach. I've been sending emails and phoning several times. The more they have to deal with me the sooner they decide to just shut me up.
Hopefully all Canadians with faulty equip will do likewise and get them to deal with the problem rather than just marginalize us.

[Twitch1977]

I called EA Customer Support (the phone number in the second or third post on this thread) and spoke to someone there about my guitar replacement.

Firstly she was native english speaking and very nice to deal with. She checked with her manager and came back and said that even though on the site it said 'New RMA' it had been processed.

She said that there will be a minimum two week delay in getting replacement guitars out to Canadians and that they will be delivered via Purolator. She was unsure if we would get tracking numbers emailed from Purolator when they were picked up.

She said if it hasn't shown up in two weeks that I should call back for an update.

Waiting a couple weeks sucks, but if that's how it's going to be that's how it's going to be. At least the customer support was nice to deal with.

I would certainly encourage everyone to have patience with the people they deal with when they call in. Remember that it's not their fault we're seeing delays, they're just answering the phones and doing their jobs.

T

[Makosis]

Writing gaming publications, and game focused media is the best thing we can do. I'm already trying to draft an intelligent letter to EGM/!up, in hopes they might actually directly try to ask a harmonix rep, WTF happened, with no bull**** pandering.

It's been well over two weeks and my express RMA hasn't been touched, this isn't a customs issue if it hasn't even been processed and at the very least ready for shipping. Plus your ignoring the fact the EA is, atleast in theory, a reputable company. Replacements being caught at customs is just as absurd as forgetting to put french on the box when you've published hundreds of different games in canada.

[Jonas]

Quite honestly, yes it sounds like it sucks if something is broken, but to comment on some of the previous posts:

1) Seriously how are you guys all breaking all this equipment? I've had multiple rockband parties, and people beating on this stuff and nothing has happened.

2) To the guy that said he'll buy a GH guitar to replace his, good luck with that, since it doesn't even work for RB.

Overall, yes it sucks there's a delay, I'm a canadian and get the fact that it's a huge jerkoff, just like how I can't buy Gran Turismo 5: prologue, unless I get it from some stupid Japanese site right now, otherwise, wait 3.5 months for the North American version.

Bottom line, it sucks, but you need to cut EA at least a little slack. I work in the software industry myself (not for EA, I'm in Ontario), but sometimes its some BS release date you've been told to hit, and realistically I think they made up the story about not shipping to canada because with all the US replacements needed, they really don't have enough replacements leftover for canada after replacing the stuff bought over a month ago in the US.

Anyway, I'll continue to follow this thread and hopefully the RMA stuff will workout before anything of mine breaks...luckily my wife is a lefty, so if the downstrum breaks for one of us, the other can still play ;)

[CStick_Sal]

Here's a good example of Customer Service:

Microsoft was all over the news in the past few days acknowledging they had issues with Xbox Live over the holidays with more subscribers than anticipated, and the traffic was too much for their servers. I for one saw a bit of a hiccup, but nothing major. Still, Microsoft went out of their way to admit they had an issue, and are offering everyone a free DL game off of Arcade. That to me is taking care of your customers.

Conversely, we have Rock Band.

Avoid admitting any fault of your own. Sell units you know are faulty, and have an unacceptable rate of defective units. When they run out of replacement units, what do they do? Screw over those pesky Canadians - AGAIN - and bogusly blame it on customs, hoping they'll just be polite little suckers, and sit and wait for EA to get off their sorry arses and actually fix the problem they've caused themselves, and FINALLY get around to dealing with us Canadians at some convenient point for them.

Sorry, that to me is total Customer Disservice.

My RMA was Cancelled and then a new case was issued on Dec 28th. Its still listed as NEW RMA, and who knows how long it will take before they actually send one out and have it "sit in customs for 2 weeks". Funny, when I entered the information, the website said specifically that turn around was 2-3 days. That's the agreement I entered into when I provided my credit card number. I guess deals are just meant to break for EA.

Anybody have any 2K games available for sale? I've got some EA Sports games I'd like to replace.

[CStick_Sal]

Quite honestly, yes it sounds like it sucks if something is broken, but to comment on some of the previous posts:

1) Seriously how are you guys all breaking all this equipment? I've had multiple rockband parties, and people beating on this stuff and nothing has happened.

2) To the guy that said he'll buy a GH guitar to replace his, good luck with that, since it doesn't even work for RB.


Check your facts man.

1) My guitar NEVER strummed properly. Not an issue of strumming too hard or too soft, it NEVER worked properly right out of the box. Most of this stuff isn't DAMAGED equipment - its DEFECTIVE

2) Funny, I must be imagining things. The only thing I've been able to use reliably on RB is my (gasp!) GH guitar, and unless I'm fantasizing, I'm pretty sure its been working quite well!

As far as cutting them slack, I hold them to the same standards as any other manufacturer. You sell a product, you should back it up with a warranty that you honour in an acceptable way. Their warranty replacement is fine by me - if they lived up to it. The 2-3 day turnaround listed on the website is not. The Express Shipment is not. Blaming customs? That's just icing on the bullcrap cake.

[Jaacar]

And now to top it all off, a full day back, nobody on holidays and no reply from anyone official on their clearly bull**** story. Ah well, WHEN they release Rock Band 2, I for one will NOT be purchasing it, or any other game from either EA or Harmonix again. I've run out of patience with them and their excuses. Not only is EA lying, but Harmonix is letting them. <shrug> Now they both lose.

[FatD]

Check your facts man.

As far as cutting them slack, I hold them to the same standards as any other manufacturer. You sell a product, you should back it up with a warranty that you honour in an acceptable way. Their warranty replacement is fine by me - if they lived up to it. The 2-3 day turnaround listed on the website is not. The Express Shipment is not. Blaming customs? That's just icing on the bullcrap cake.


Well said. EA opted to have the warranty process go directly through them as opposed to a direct return to the retailer. A great deal of Canadians spent $200 on a product that was not only defective but subjected them to an unreasonable degree of trouble to have their warranty guarantee honoured (which it hasn't been).

As above, my drum kit was also defective before it was used. It didn't have to be beaten on to break.

EaxViolet, if possible please check RMA # 071229-016089. I've sent some e-mails and called several times, one of which was tonight. I was ON HOLD for 40 minutes and didn't get to speak to someone. Awful.

[Dartagnan64]

Quite honestly, yes it sounds like it sucks if something is broken, but to comment on some of the previous posts:

1) Seriously how are you guys all breaking all this equipment? I've had multiple rockband parties, and people beating on this stuff and nothing has happened.

2) To the guy that said he'll buy a GH guitar to replace his, good luck with that, since it doesn't even work for RB.

Overall, yes it sucks there's a delay, I'm a canadian and get the fact that it's a huge jerkoff, just like how I can't buy Gran Turismo 5: prologue, unless I get it from some stupid Japanese site right now, otherwise, wait 3.5 months for the North American version.

Bottom line, it sucks, but you need to cut EA at least a little slack. I work in the software industry myself (not for EA, I'm in Ontario), but sometimes its some BS release date you've been told to hit, and realistically I think they made up the story about not shipping to canada because with all the US replacements needed, they really don't have enough replacements leftover for canada after replacing the stuff bought over a month ago in the US.

Anyway, I'll continue to follow this thread and hopefully the RMA stuff will workout before anything of mine breaks...luckily my wife is a lefty, so if the downstrum breaks for one of us, the other can still play ;)

1) My guitar was bricked out of the box. It's never been used, Can't return it. Can't get it replaced.

2) My GH guitar works just fine on the 360 version of Rock Band. It was supposed ot be the bass guitar but now its the lead.

And I cut EA some slack. When they said they wouldn't honor the warranty on my US bought hardware, I said that was OK and I'll wait. Then the release date changed and I said I guess I have to live with that. Then the release date came and I did my RMA and said great, now I can hopefully get my guitar in time for new years. Then I phone back and they say sorry its another 3-4 weeks for Canadian Express delivery. Well I'm pretty sick of being misled and lied to every step of the way. If they'd just owned up to the real reason for the delay rather than making up half arsed customs and language excuses, I'd be willing to cut more slack.

And saying this is similar to waiting for JP made game to be released in Canada is just asinine. We all know that takes time. This is the situation of a purchased product that is defective and should be replaced with the next available unit. When my Samsung LCD TV came bricked out of the box it was replaced within 3 days and they shipped the unit out to me as soon as possible and were very apologetic that it took 3 days.

EA doesn't deserve any slack for the way they handled things.

[Makosis]

Quite honestly, yes it sounds like it sucks if something is broken, but to comment on some of the previous posts:

1) Seriously how are you guys all breaking all this equipment? I've had multiple rockband parties, and people beating on this stuff and nothing has happened.
My guitar has double strum, a well knwon issue. There no excuse for my guitar breaking down because it's not like theres any song in rock band like through the fire and the flames, with fast strum portions. The equipment is faulty.


2) To the guy that said he'll buy a GH guitar to replace his, good luck with that, since it doesn't even work for RB.
That's only for the PS3. Speaking of guitar hero, i've been using my orginal black gibson SG since the launch of the first game, and it's still as responsive as the first day i got it.


Bottom line, it sucks, but you need to cut EA at least a little slack.
No really we don't. They refuse to acknowlege us with plausible answers, or give more specific reasoning to their current ones so they are plausible. There hasn't even been an apology for the bull**** canaidans have been put through.


I work in the software industry myself (not for EA, I'm in Ontario), but sometimes its some BS release date you've been told to hit, and realistically I think they made up the story about not shipping to canada because with all the US replacements needed, they really don't have enough replacements leftover for canada after replacing the stuff bought over a month ago in the US.
The only problem with that is the delayed canada a week before rockband was launched in the US. For this to be true they would have had to known the equipment was faulty and thus it's a whole lot worse for them if they released a broken product.

[Jaacar]

Maybe they should add "Lies Lies Lies" by the Thompson Twins in Rock Band since that is what they keep giving us. It could be their new theme song!

[Alyten]

even better, i sumbitted my rma on the 24th and they just FORGOT to cancel it so i haveto start waiting all over again... wooooooo

[Jaacar]

You mean you're "still" waiting. From what has been said, it's not that you submit an RMA, you wait two weeks, then they process it. They are holding ALL Canadian RMAs and not processing ANY of them for at LEAST two weeks (and I've heard that it won't be until at least the end of January).

Also, another full day and not one word from any official. Violet seems to have abandoned this thread, and ignored any PMs I've sent her (and they weren't even nasty!). Ah well, more dodge tactics and misinformation to throw on the pile I guess. I mean really, what do they care, they have our money.

[Alyten]

just got off the phone with ea, confirming it will be up to 3 weeks for my replacements...

i swear to you EA.. if i wait that long (and there is ZERO chance its customs) i will never ever buy another ea game, i dont care about rockband 2, if EA buys blizzard so i have pay you for my subcription to wow, ill just cancel it.. not ONE MORE DOLLAR EA

[Dirk_P_Ho]

Don't worry, Activision just merged with Vivendi (owns Blizzard), you won't be paying EA for WoW.

Anyways, you guys should submit this plight to the less reputable but widely read gaming blogs. (Joystiq/Destructoid/Kotaku). I'm sure one of them will bite.

[goose1]

You mean you're "still" waiting. From what has been said, it's not that you submit an RMA, you wait two weeks, then they process it. They are holding ALL Canadian RMAs and not processing ANY of them for at LEAST two weeks (and I've heard that it won't be until at least the end of January).

Also, another full day and not one word from any official. Violet seems to have abandoned this thread, and ignored any PMs I've sent her (and they weren't even nasty!). Ah well, more dodge tactics and misinformation to throw on the pile I guess. I mean really, what do they care, they have our money.

I submitted my RMA on the 22nd (the first day we could submit RMA's here in Canada.) My status has been "New RMA" since then...I better not find out that they "forgot" to cancel my RMA and have to start over again.

Violet had told me to PM her as well if I hadn't seen an update by this past Monday...no update, so I PM'd her, but I haven't received a response either. I don't buy the excuse that it is customs that is causing a two week delay. The warranty sticky clearly indicates that the status "New RMA" means that no EA agent has looked at this RMA yet to process it...if it was a customs issue, then I would expect the product to get help up in shipping, and not processing.

Meanwhile, while we wait to be "processed" here in Canada, EA has sent out 100's of other guitars to people in the states....it would have been faster for me to have one shipped to someone in the states and have that person ship it to me by now!! And also, I know that EA compensated those Americans that had to wait through "delays" in processing with a free EA game.....what can they do for us who by the end I'm sure will have waited over 1 month!!

I wasn't really bothered by this until now I can't even get a response....unless I want to pay more $$ to sit on hold while I dial the California support centre :mad:

[mel22b]

I guess EA is thinking that everyone will buy two sets so that they have backups for when the gear fails. That way they get twice the money.
I sent of my request yesterday....2-3 weeks, f'me that sucks.
I got 5 hours whole hours out of it.
Also I just read that the hardware has a 90 day warranty. Perfect.

stephen
Vancouver

[HardStylez]

I dont mean to take over the thread or anything but i have a question if i bought my RB over the internet i still have a warrenty right? my bundle should be hear monday and i really hope everys a.o.k

[Makosis]

I dont mean to take over the thread or anything but i have a question if i bought my RB over the internet i still have a warrenty right? my bundle should be hear monday and i really hope everys a.o.k

I see no reason why not with the way RMA's work. Though don't quote me on it. But I truely hope you want need to use the warranty process because as you can see, it's truely awful.

[CStick_Sal]

Okay, here's someone who might be interested in our warranty run-around. His name is Steve Tilley, and he writes for Wham, the gaming division of Canoe.ca, part of the Sun newspaper chain. He might be interested in this tidbit of news. His e-mail address is steve.tilley@sunmedia.ca, and I think we should all tell him our horror stories. Maybe he'll be swayed to follow up. I just sent my e-mail. Please send yours and lets get this ball rolling.

[=][=Scorn]

Just sent Mr. Tilley an email with my opinions and my story of defects and delays etc....
next might have to be our omnebus (spelling...) or MP's, MPP's

[Howdog]

Add me to the screwed Canadian list.

Wouldn't a class action law suit hit them in the pocket?

We're doing what we're asked and getting up the ass from the other end.

Guess they didn't do any testing with their equipment!! :confused:

[ACK_MindsEye]

Well, all of this seems to be a complete fiasco.
You know, I don't really mind too much that I have to wait for my replacements as long as they work and as long as they realize that they are not keeping my credit card hold of $125 if this goes over 28 days for us Canadians.

AND IT WILL!!

In all of this, if they try and claim that it was our fault for not returning the faulty peripherals on time and try to keep our money on the credit cards, we could have a lot of angry Canucks up here.

I understand the frustration of everyone here but you should probably just accept that they don't really give a damn about us until the Americans have been taken care of.
Much like launch, I'm sure they will blame it on some French instructions thing for all the delay. I thought that was a pretty original excuse. That was a good attempt. Too bad games have been released up here on time for years without a problem from the addition of French correspondence.

Stop the foolish back pedaling, EA and just tell us EXACTLY what it is that we Canadians can expect from you in regards to our replacements.

There must be a moderator reading this, (or at the very least, pretending to ignore it) so I believe that this is a simple request.

While My Broken Guitar Gently Weeps................

[Yateball]

It's pretty unbelieveable to me that there's been NO official response to all this yet. Granted Violet has been posting here and there but honestly (no offense Violet) it's been useless.

EA HASTA know this is going on.... yet they don't give us any official word. Insane... I didn't know customer service could even be that bad.

[cdnrocker74]

Add me to the long list as well. My story is pretty much the same thing. I opened an RMA on Dec 26th, never heard ANYTHING back from anyone, so I asked for an update and again heard NOTHING! Finally 5 days later I get an email that a new RMA was made on Dec 31st and not to respond to any messages they send me otherwise I'll get put on the end of the queue WTF??!

Finally, I've had it I call in ready to rip someone's head off and the CSR is actually really good and helpful but I still end up getting the same BS regarding customs. I ask to speak to a manager, so I speak to the Manager and he says he'll fast track me because I've been waiting far too long and he'll give me a tracking number immediately. What a bunch of lies!!! What a shocker the system is down and he can't give me one so he says he'll email from his ea account to tell me the tracking number. No email EVER arrives! I call back the next day and find out (after escalating to a Manager) that my original RMA was cancelled once the new one was created!!! So now I'm back in the end of the queue AGAIN!!!!! The guy has the nerve to tell me that it appears my original RMA was not cancelled and I might have a chance it goes through as my odds are better now that I have two in the system!!!! Apparently, it's a hit of miss if these RMA even get processed, sometimes they just "vanish".

Seriously EA you are a friggin joke and the way you are treating Canadians is criminal!!!!!:mad::mad:

[tattooer24]

My wammy Bar broke the second day i had the damn game and refuse to deal with this bull*hit so i make due but i would like to get it replaced 169.00 almost well spent

[CStick_Sal]

Add me to the long list as well. My story is pretty much the same thing. I opened an RMA on Dec 26th, never heard ANYTHING back from anyone, so I asked for an update and again heard NOTHING! Finally 5 days later I get an email that a new RMA was made on Dec 31st and not to respond to any messages they send me otherwise I'll get put on the end of the queue WTF??!

Finally, I've had it I call in ready to rip someone's head off and the CSR is actually really good and helpful but I still end up getting the same BS regarding customs. I ask to speak to a manager, so I speak to the Manager and he says he'll fast track me because I've been waiting far too long and he'll give me a tracking number immediately. What a bunch of lies!!! What a shocker the system is down and he can't give me one so he says he'll email from his ea account to tell me the tracking number. No email EVER arrives! I call back the next day and find out (after escalating to a Manager) that my original RMA was cancelled once the new one was created!!! So now I'm back in the end of the queue AGAIN!!!!! The guy has the nerve to tell me that it appears my original RMA was not cancelled and I might have a chance it goes through as my odds are better now that I have two in the system!!!! Apparently, it's a hit of miss if these RMA even get processed, sometimes they just "vanish".

Seriously EA you are a friggin joke and the way you are treating Canadians is criminal!!!!!:mad::mad:

This is EXACTLY the kind of info that needs to get put out to the public. Please CDNROCKER74, send this in to Tilley (e-mail address above) and lets get this issue out in the open, and really put pressure on EA.

[craz76]

Has anyone from Canada received their replacements?
I submitted my RMA request on 04/01/08 and the status is still "New RMA".
I guess I can expect to wait for a long time.

If anyone from EA/HMX cares to inquire and give me an update my reference number is 080104-006566.

Thanks,
Jason

[jedidomer]

Mine is still "New RMA" and it was submitted on the morning of January 3rd. I was under the impression it takes 2 weeks though, so i guess by the 17th i'll have an update on my Drum Pads! :)

[Yateball]

Mine is "Updated by the Customer" which unfortunately from my understanding means it has been completely ignored by EA

[alexands]

I am pretty shocked at how poor the service is from EA for this game in Canada. I think I this will be the last EA product in my house. At least I won't have to be in the line up each fall waiting for NHL whateveryear.

THIS SUCKS! I would remove the word express from your website for Canadians.

[Yateball]

hmmm.... we're now over 100 posts, and they still don't care.

Pathetic

[hotelqueen]

wow, it's pretty shocking how badly they are handling this whole issue. i put in my RMA request at the end of december and it appears to have been randomly canceled. :confused:

that was for my broken drum pedal, i still have to do one for my broken guitar :(

[vladimir]

Luckily I haven't had any instruments breaking, but what they should do is every Canadian that files for a warranty, and that takes over 2 weeks to receive it, should get 3 free DLC songs, plus 1 additional song per each week of waiting... Sure it doesn't get your instruments faster, but at least you get something of value in meantime..

[Dartagnan64]

Yeah its sad they haven't offered any sort of rebates, free offers, coupons or anything for people that have waited over a month for replacements. initially the US customers were offered free games until EA found out that they were gonna run short on replacements and cut that offer off as well.

I think free DLC would be a nice gesture. But I think EA is out of nice gestures at this point. Hopefully they are regretting the decision to launch an untested product early just to make a Xmas deadline.

It's a great game and would have sold even without the Xmas rush. Now there's been enough sour taste in peoples mouths to question buying further Harmonix and EA products due to faulty hardware and slow replacements.

[Yateball]

Well I know for sure that (since I've already bought it) I'm gonna be playing Rock Band a lot... but I CERTAINLY am not gonna be buying Rock Band 2. EA has lost all my faith... unfortunate too because the NHL and Need For Speed series were 2 of the best there were.

Unless EA goes WAY (and I mean WAAAAY) outta their way to make us Canadians happy... they're getting no more business from me.

[october_midnight]

Mine is still "New RMA" and it was submitted on the morning of January 3rd. I was under the impression it takes 2 weeks though, so i guess by the 17th i'll have an update on my Drum Pads! :)

No you won't. Mine was from Christmas and I haven't heard a thing...

[FoKFill]

Hey, be glad you can play at all... us euros get shafted on a daily basis. They wanted $500 to ship Rock Band, add taxes to that and you have yourself a fine bill. I'll just have to buy the game separately and wait for the drums to arrive in Sweden... in March.

[dailo23]

ref # 071226-003407 request sent on dec 25th

strum bar went double strum after 2 days

no use here calling customer service at all (866-543-5435) they're pretty clueless about whats going on

please give us an update of the situation ea support, and inform your employees of whats happening to avoid misinformation.

[oddroot]

I put my request in on the 22nd, asked about when it would arrive on the 25th, got informed on the 31st that cause I actually responded to the ticket, that my ticket was cancelled, and that they would repost my ticket for immediate RMA as quickly as possible.

Great that you can't respond to them via their webpage when all they give you is a direct phone (no toll free)... So it's been 2+ weeks, with basically no action.

Personally I think this deserves atleast what the Americans got, a free EA game, considering these guys have perpetuated 2 day express shipping.

I'm still bitter over paying 1.99 for .99 cent DLC, and 2.99 for 1.99 DLC, but that bitterness is directed at Sony.

[cdnrocker74]

This is EXACTLY the kind of info that needs to get put out to the public. Please CDNROCKER74, send this in to Tilley (e-mail address above) and lets get this issue out in the open, and really put pressure on EA.

No problem, be glad to, I am PISSED OFF!!!!

[Twitch1977]

As far as I'm concerned EA can keep their free games and coupons and just put that money they save towards getting me my replacement guitar. :(

T

[winnipegguy2236]

I submitted Jan 3rd and heard nothing. To be expected since no one from December has heard anything yet. The strum stopped working on December 21st but i didn't submit until Jan 3rd because every other time i checked it wasn't available in Canada yet. I at least got a couple weeks out of my equipment which is better then some of you. Maybe i should be happy i got to play my $170 game for that long. Oh but they've gone far enough to put the hold on my credit card from day one. I'm not impressed with everything i've been reading. Maybe i should put an RMA for the drums now so by the time they get around to replacing them i'll have broken them by then.

[aryall]

Silly me, thinking 2 days meant 2 days. My Dec. 29 RMA is still not updated. At least Violet reassured me that it was OK and that it would be processed about 2 weeks after entry... so we'll see if it's updated this weekend.

Not to mention how the game was released on the 22nd but the system wouldn't accept Canadian replacements until around the 28th.

[Makosis]

Hey, be glad you can play at all... us euros get shafted on a daily basis. They wanted $500 to ship Rock Band, add taxes to that and you have yourself a fine bill. I'll just have to buy the game separately and wait for the drums to arrive in Sweden... in March.

That's a lil different. Canada and america's release dayes have always been the same. Europe has always been last, it sucks, but it's nothing new.

[FatD]

I just got off the phone with EA Escalations at their customer service line.

Breaking news.

1) The representative as escalations said that UPS is no longer responsible for shipments to Canada, and that EA has found a new vendor for shipping defective products. Unfortunately the rep couldn't tell me who the vendor was. This information may or may not be updated on the Rock Band Support website.

2) I spent an hour on the phone, 30 minutes of which were spent with the escalations rep. I went over the numerous reasons this has been the worst customer service experience, ever. He was exceptionally nice but essentially told me, "There is nothing I can do to rectify this. I will forward notice of your dissatisfaction to the appropriate people and inform you of any changes that occur in your order and with customer service policies."

3) The rep had also mentioned that people with an earlier replacement request (closest to Dec 28) were first in line to receive their replacements.


The rep made it clear that people in the Escalations Department are asked to give their input on their experiences dealing with customers. He had informed me that he would mention my situation to the appropriate people.

The best thing everyone can do is speak with Escalations at EA's customer service. You can call them at 1-650-628-1001. The impression I got was that the more complaints they have to deal with, the more likely Canadian dissatisfaction will reach the ears of people who can actually do something about it.

So call, and spend a lot of time detailing what you've been dissatisfied with. If you don't want to do that, sit back and wait. I personally intend to call often.

[Stryfe]

I just got off the phone with EA Escalations at their customer service line.

Breaking news.

1) The representative as escalations said that UPS is no longer responsible for shipments to Canada, and that EA has found a new vendor for shipping defective products. Unfortunately the rep couldn't tell me who the vendor was. This information may or may not be updated on the Rock Band Support website.
In my eyes this does add some credibility to EA's claims of customs problems. I've ordered quite a number of items from the states and the only time I ever have any problems with customs is when the item is shipped via UPS (like having to pay $40 in brokerage fees on a $60 item). Anything that comes to me via USPS/Canada Post or FedEx has come quickly and without issue. It's the reason I request ebay sellers not to ship to me via UPS.

Now let's hope that this gets the ball rolling on the replacements! My RMA was submitted on Jan 3rd. and is (like all Canadians) still in New RMA status. I'm just lucky it's a dud guitar and I have two GH guitars anyway, at least I can play. I feel for those who spent a significant amount of money and have nothing to show for it.

[MattNaylor]

As someone who works in the industry (customs brokerage) I have absolutely no idea how it could take longer than one day to get your junk cleared across the border. Now, I have no involvement in clearing rockband shipments across the border specifically, but seriously - they're video games. They're duty free. HS code 9504000010. Any idiot could get them across the border.

[alexands]

I was told by Sean/Shawn that they are now using Purolator in Canada and my Dec 25th RMA should arrive any time after 2 weeks from input + holidays.

I really enjoyed NHL08, but that will be the last EA game in my house. I have called my local paper and they are sending their tech reporter to my office tomorrow to cover the story. I guess it helps when you work for the largest IT company in town and your getting the run around from an American firm.

Going to bring my broken guitar and drums in for photos for the paper. :) ENJOY EA.

Oh yeah, if someone starts a class action, please contact me.

[CStick_Sal]

Hey Alexands - which paper is potentially covering your story? If it does get published, post a link on here will ya? The more press, the better.

Microsoft's Xbox Live had a few tiny glitches, and they're giving subscibers some free DLC. EA's Rockband instruments have been a massive pile of crap, and their warranty is specifically discriminating against Canadians. DLC would only be the tip of the iceberg to compensate their customers for this fiasco.

The only way Madden 09, NHL 09, or any other EA title enters my house will be if its shipped to me free of charge by EA as an apology for this blatant disrespect for their Canadian customers. I just counted, and I have 22 EA titles in my library - and Rockband is the very last one I'm buying.

[joca223]

put my RMA in on Dec 25th. Just checked and my status is now
01/09/2008 | 08:55 PMhttp://support.ea.com/rnt/rnw/img/enduser/skin/spacer.gif Parts Shipped
Looks like they are actually getting to us Canadians finally!

[bbc z]

The RMA I put in on the 22nd has also moved to "Parts Shipped".

I honestly never thought I'd see the day :-)

[FatD]

Same. Just got the e-mail tonight that my drum pads shipped out.

Too bad the whammy on my guitar busted and I had to put in for a replacement for that too.

Even if the item has shipped, we have not received tracking information. So as far as I'm concerned I'm still in the same place I was. Until I can track where my item is I will not be any more satisfied.

This changes nothing. I chose UPS Express service.

[aaron rogers]

I put in a request for a replacement guitar on the 24th and all I have so far is the reference number...I read they are only doing the 2 day option for canadian replacements...is that true? cause I chose the other one because I dont have a credit card

[Jaacar]

You will notice it says 'Parts Shipped' however there is no RMA number (just the incident number) and more importantly, no tracking number.

This and what the escalation department have stated are probably just another in the series of lies to keep us hanging on to a thread of hope. My guess is that the replacement instruments that you can purchase seperately will be available before we get these replaced.

Guess we'll see in the next fifteen or so days and see if anyone gets a replacement instrument/empty box/spare part/free game/scrap of paper/whatever from EA. Personally I'm not holding my breath.

[Yateball]

Jaacar is probably right, unfortunately.

On my RMA, I did the "customer updated" thing that supposedly deleted the RMA from EA's system completely, however even my RMA is now showing as "Parts Shipped"

I'm with Jaacar, I doubt it's true.

[craz76]

Mine is still "New RMA"... but I only submitted it on the 4th, so I guess I gotta wait another month before I get upgraded to "Parts Shipped".

Is there any other guitar that I can use for RB on the 360 so I can at least play the game?

[winnipegguy2236]

Mine now says part shipped, just for the hell of it, what time is your update showing? wondering if it's just a mass update to keep people at bay.
01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped

[Dartagnan64]

Mine is showing Parts shipped as well as of 1/09/08 8:55pm.

Either they've processed all those replacements or they've just done a mass response to get everyone off their back for a bit.

We'll know in a while I guess. But no tracking number means they could just be pulling the wool over our eyes again.

[winnipegguy2236]

Maybe next will all get the same tracking number and when the box gets to the border will open it up and it's just say F U Canada inside.

[TooNudie]

I decided to join this site just to voice my dissatisfaction as well. Placed my claim on Dec 22. Emailed customer service on the 27th to check on the staus, and got a response saying it was still being processed. Ever since then every question I have sent has gone unanswered. I guess EA feels that if they ignore their problems that eventually they will just go away. Pssssst......EA let me tell you a secret.....I tried this when I was a kid.....IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!. Is it too much effort for a multi-million dollar company to make sure that thier customers stay their customers? You guys want to know how you can do that.... and it doesn't even cost all that much......ITS CALLED BEING HONEST WITH THEM.

[Jaacar]

Mine now says part shipped, just for the hell of it, what time is your update showing? wondering if it's just a mass update to keep people at bay.
01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped

Heh, bad news folks:

1 071215-010450 EA RMA Customer Request 01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped
2 071222-006189 EA RMA Customer Request - Standard 01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped
3 071222-006191 EA RMA Customer Request - Standard 01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped
4 071222-006198 EA RMA Customer Request - Standard 01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped

You know what that means! Mass update to shut us up. And yes, I have 4 RMAs (2 guitars, a set of drums and a faulty disc). Hey EA, the Thompson Twins are going to want royalties for you using their "Lies Lies Lies" song as your new theme song.

PS: Hey Violet, if you think I'm wrong (and now that we see that they were updated en-mass so I doubt it, there are the reference numbers, take a peek and see what is REALLY going on.

[jedidomer]

Mine is the same too:

080103-003137 EA RMA Customer Request - Express 01/09/2008 | 08:55 PM Parts Shipped

[jedidomer]

To be honest it looks like they just did a search and replace for "New RMA" and replaced with "Parts Shipped" to cut down on support calls or something

But Perhaps all of our RMA's are in various stages close to being shipped, so they needed something better than "New RMA" to put. Though saying they are shipped and not providing a tracking number is a bit fishy though...

[Yateball]

Violet has officially posted a sticky about the now shipping out Canadian RMA's

[winnipegguy2236]

sticky here
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21818

[EAxViolet]

To be honest it looks like they just did a search and replace for "New RMA" and replaced with "Parts Shipped" to cut down on support calls or something

But Perhaps all of our RMA's are in various stages close to being shipped, so they needed something better than "New RMA" to put. Though saying they are shipped and not providing a tracking number is a bit fishy though...

We don't provide tracking numbers for Canadian RMAs at this time as we are not going through UPS. Hopefully, we can offer that as we continue to make improvements, though.

To clarify why the timestamp was the same for all the Parts Shipped updates, they were batch updated since we were able to ship such as large set all at the same time. Going forward you will see more fluid updates in the Status.

Check out the new sticky here for more information: http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21818

~Violet

[jedidomer]

Thanks Violet, you rock!

[bbc z]

I think this thread needs a new title.

[Yateball]

I think this thread needs a new title.

Lets wait until we actually RECEIVE our stuff before we go and say things like that..... The Canadian express replacements currently are still a joke, until proven otherwise.

[Dartagnan64]

I think this thread needs a new title.

If and when we get our replacements, it will still have been a joke. I've been playing RB since Dec 6th with no guitar. A replacement 6 weeks after receiving a broken product isn't what I call great customer service. That and all the runaround I've heard over the last few weeks and the money I've spent on hold to a long distance support line, makes the warranty process less than a resounding success.

Still, I'm happy to hear some good news for once and hope the guitars start showing up in the mail soon for everyone.

[CStick_Sal]

Call me a skeptic, but I truly doubt every single word uttered by EA on this subject. "Parts Shipped" or "New RMA" mean the same to me until I receive my product. And either way, its way too late to ever be categorized anything but a Customer Service fiasco and a TOTAL JOKE. No need to change the thread title in my opinion, now or when we do receive the guitar (whenever that day may be).

[Makosis]

I'll be skeptical until I recieve my new guitar. But it's about damn time we finally got an apology violet. I can assume it was coperate bureacracy that prevented official comment to us, and whether it's sincere or not. I'm glad we finally got one.

[TooNudie]

Well glad some of you have heard back from EA. I on the other hand still have no response. Guess my December 22nd is not important enough. Thanks for everything EA. Such a wonderful organization. Should be really proud of what you guys do.

[=][=Scorn]

My shipping status changed to shipped yesterday. Today Purolator dropped off my new guitar. So there is hope guys. Btw, my RMA was DEC.27'07 for my guitar.

[Jaacar]

[=Scorn;248829']My shipping status changed to shipped yesterday. Today Purolator dropped off my new guitar. So there is hope guys. Btw, my RMA was DEC.27'07 for my guitar.

What what what?!? Are you saying you live in Canada and you actually received a replacement guitar today?! For real?

[SJCHS_Zeppelin]

What what what?!? Are you saying you live in Canada and you actually received a replacement guitar today?! For real?

Yep, same with me. Works great, even after a little use the buttons get less clackity.

Well, my yellow button sort of sticks but now but it's fine. Just needs some getting used to.

[=][=Scorn]

Strum bar feels the same as the old one. We'll have to see if it lasts.

[Dartagnan64]

[=Scorn;248829']My shipping status changed to shipped yesterday. Today Purolator dropped off my new guitar. So there is hope guys. Btw, my RMA was DEC.27'07 for my guitar.

Did the new guitar come with anything stating you didn't have to ship back the old hardware?

The reason I'm asking is I have two RMA (Dec 22 and 30th) that I requested and they said they couldn't cancel one of them. So I've got two guitars on the way with one broken one. If I don't have a credit card hold or a box to return the guitars, I may as well keep both and have a lead and bass and give my GH3 guitar a breather.

[civuck]

I think my replacement guitar got shipped too although I wasn't home today to receive the Purolator shipment - I did get the notice. I'll stop by the depot in the morning. FYI - My RMA was originally submitted on Dec. 26th and I'm in Toronto.

UPDATE: Decided to pickup my guitar tonight as the Purolator depot was open late. Lo and behold - the box the replacement guitar came in did not have a return packing slip. There was a single white sheet with instructions saying there should be a "zip-lock pouch" and to "remove the Packing Lists and UPS Label". This was not included in the box at all.

[=][=Scorn]

Did the new guitar come with anything stating you didn't have to ship back the old hardware?

The reason I'm asking is I have two RMA (Dec 22 and 30th) that I requested and they said they couldn't cancel one of them. So I've got two guitars on the way with one broken one. If I don't have a credit card hold or a box to return the guitars, I may as well keep both and have a lead and bass and give my GH3 guitar a breather.

the guitar came with the single sheet of paper with return shipping instructions. However, the return zip locked shipping label was not in the box. I would assume this is due to the fact that we do not have to return our old ones.

I also just received an email from EA regarding the RMA dates:

Hello,

I know that many of you have been waiting for quite awhile, but we have good news.

All Canadian RMAs placed before January 9th, have shipped!

You should see that your RMAs have all been updated to Parts Shipped to reflect this. Depending on where in Canada you live, you should receive your replacement item within the next six days. If you have not received your new peripheral by January 16th, please contact customer support at www.support.ea.com. Be sure to create a new incident rather than updating your RMA incident to prevent any possible issues.

In appreciation of the patience of our Canadian customers who placed an RMA prior to January 9th, we are not requiring customers receiving this set of RMAs to return your faulty peripheral to us and we will also be removing your credit card hold within the next few days.

Thank you again for your patience as we build and improve our Canadian Rock Band warranty program. Please accept our apologies for the wait and any inconvenience.

EA Customer Support


With my drum RMA dated Jan. 4th and being updated to being complete, I am hoping that I will be receiving it tomorrow or Monday. Hoping...

[JammingJeff]

"In appreciation of the patience of our Canadian customers who placed an RMA prior to January 9th, we are not requiring customers receiving this set of RMAs to return your faulty peripheral to us and we will also be removing your credit card hold within the next few days."

Does this mean that I don't have to send them my faulty guitar AND they are going to take the hold off of my credit card?

[=][=Scorn]

Yes it does

[bbc z]

I got my geetahr, anyone get replacement drums yet?

[Wrassle]

I am a Canadian who works for an American company. When i have hardware issues, they send me stuff from Houston Texas (to Toronto Canada).. This gets to me with 24 hours.

There wass no customs issue. They were just appeasing te Americans issues first. Period.

Don't take this decision out on the folks who answer the phone though. Those guys have a tough job. All they can do is repeat the lines told to them by their managers, or not eat/pay rent that month when they get fired.

Hopefully the channel will be able to support this replacment effort.. I just got RB yesterday, (build date of Oct 27th) and my guitar seems to be affected by the strum issue (not registering strums about 10% of the time). I thought it was just crap batteries, but apparently not.

[Dartagnan64]

I am a Canadian who works for an American company. When i have hardware issues, they send me stuff from Houston Texas (to Toronto Canada).. This gets to me with 24 hours.

There wass no customs issue. They were just appeasing te Americans issues first. Period.

Don't take this decision out on the folks who answer the phone though. Those guys have a tough job. All they can do is repeat the lines told to them by their managers, or not eat/pay rent that month when they get fired.



I'm sorry but I disagree. If you are a customer service representative it is your job to give service to the customer. That means keeping current with what's going on and if you can't answer a question you offer to find out the answer and get back to the customer. Or you put the customer through to the people that can answer your question.

I don't know how many times I spoke with someone over my broken guitar but everytime I got a different set of responses and poor information and was never offered a solution, just a vague apology. The only way to respond to this poor service is to tell the CSR that you are unhappy so he can refer this to his superiors.

[craz76]

Still waiting for a replacement. Not much has changed for the Canadian Express Replacement! With all these problems I am surprised that there has been no Class action against EA...

[Dartagnan64]

Well I received my replacements.
Finally have had a few days to try out this RB guitar (my first guitar was DOA so I never had a chance to experience it).

Overall it still feels cheaply made. But I actually like the fret keys (they are less clicky than on my original guitar). The strum bar is mush compared to the Les Paul, but everything seems to register. The mushiness makes it tough to hit real fast note sequences though, forcing you to double strum more. I do prefer the longer neck since it feels more authentic.

I don't have great confidence it will hold out, but for now I'm enjoying it over all. I've been using it over the Les Paul for solo tour and as the lead guitar when we do BWT.

[veryunhappycustomer]

I got a great IDEA, lets make this a sticky so the idiots at EA can see how much of a bunch of @$$HOLES they have become. I HOPE to god EA goes down, and ROCKBAND developers made a HUDE mistake dealing with them....


Sincerely,

A Canadian customer that EA screwed over.

[chrischob]

I finally got my guitar replacement. First thing I noticed is that something broke off inside and is rattling around. Then I start to play it and it works better then my first one but the strummer still is missing notes. It is really stuff and hard to play 2 or more notes fast back to back. Its like it's really slow to spring back into position.

I bought the game from the states when it first came out and I still can't play guitar with it properly...

I really wish the GH3 guitars worked with the PS3's.

Chris