Instrument/Peripheral Warranty and RMAs (North America)

[EAxMetroJack]

Rock Band is covered by a 60 warranty policy that allows you to get a replacement for a malfunctioning peripheral. You will need to provide a provide a copy of a valid receipt to demonstrate that you are within 60 days of purchase in order to take advantage of the replacement policy.

***EDIT - 10/02/08***
The 60 day warranty in now in affect

From October 1st we will require receipt verification and that a defective product be reported to us within the 60 day period.

The full details can be found here (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=N8IGMkfj&p_faqid=19756).


When to Get a Replacement
In cases where a peripheral malfunctions either out-of-the-box or during normal gameplay and cannot be fixed through standard troubleshooting, the warranty policy allows you to request a replacement item. Most any issue that is not caused by abuse or misuse of the game will be covered by this policy.

How to Setup an RMA

There are a few ways to send in your replacement request to us. The primary and easiest way is through the Rock Band Warranty site ( http://rockbandservice.ea.com/) which is available 24-hours every day. This page will walk you through troubleshooting and then, if the peripheral is still not working, will allow you to request a RMA so that you can get a replacement. You will then be contacted to provide proof that you are within the 60 day warranty period, and once this is verified your RMA will be shipped out to you.

If you need further assistance or are not comfortable using the site for any reason, we also have live Support channels open to assist you. The Rock Band Support phone number for your region is in the back of the game manual and allows you to get to a Rock Band Support representative who can answer your questions and get an RMA in place for you if necessary.

Replacement Methods and Policies
The Rock Band warranty process is built to be much faster than any industry standard for warranty (which often take up to 4-8 business weeks to process, use slower shipping methods to save cost, and provide refurbished items for replacement). We utilize UPS Ground for fast and reliable shipping to you as well as the shipping labels we provide you to get faulty peripherals back to us, and that's never at any cost to you. We also use only new peripherals as replacements and in most cases an RMA is processed and ready to ship within 24 hours of submitting the request!

We have different replacement methods to allow you to choose the option that best fits you.

Express - The Express replacement option is the fastest replacement method available. In this method we send you a replacement right away via 3-5 day UPS shipping. You then use the box from the new peripheral to pack your faulty one and ship it back to us with the provided label. This method requires a hold on your credit card which is removed as soon as we process your returned peripheral. Make sure we receive your return within 28 days of submitting your RMA so that the hold is cleared from your account!
Standard - The Standard replacement option is an alternative option for those who do not have a credit card or are not comfortable with placing a hold on their account. In this method, we ship you an empty box and a shipping label that you can use to send your faulty peripheral to us. Once we receive and process the item, we will ship you out a new peripheral. This process takes a bit longer than Express since we have to receive your item before we can send the new one.



How to Pack Your Return
With both Express and Standard options, you will at some point have to send us back your faulty peripheral. For most items this is very straight-forward; you just put the item in the provided box. However, for guitars and drum sets this can be a little more complicated so please be sure to check the directions that come with you box so you know what and how to pack it. If you cannot find the directions with your box, you can also find the information on our Support site.


How to Pack a Guitar (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=18498)
How to Pack the Drum Set (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=18499)



How to Check on an RMA and Get Help
You can check on both the processing status of your replacement through your RMA number and (if you are in the US) the shipping status via your UPS tracking number. This allows you to get the best possible handle on where your replacement is at any time. To view your RMA status, simply visit http://support.ea.com, click on "My Questions", and login with the information you used to request your replacement.

You will see a list of all your Support questions and RMAs with a "Status" listed on the right. The Status tells you a lot about what is happening with your RMA.

New RMA - Your RMA has been submitted and is waiting to be processed.
Label Printed - Your RMA is being processed and a box is being prepared for shipment.
Parts Shipped - Your RMA was processed and staged for UPS pickup. It may take a day or two for UPS to scan the box in at their hub, so expect that your UPS tracking number will update from "Billing Information Received" to a shipping/location status within that time.
RMA Completed - We have processed and verified your return RMA and any applicable credit card hold has been removed.


If your RMA is not listed when you login, if the Status is not one of those listed above or does not update within 5 days, or if you have questions about your RMA please contact our Support team or send a PM to EAxMetroJack or EAxViolet with your incident number and/or RMA number, so we can look into it for you and help you get everything on track.

Please note: If you choose to contact our Support team via the web, make sure to create a new incident that includes your RMA and/or incident number for your replacement rather than updating your existing RMA incident. This helps prevent any issues or conflicts from occurring with your RMA.

A lot of work has been put into this process to make it as fast and simple as possible. If you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions please let us know so we can continue to make improvements and add functionality to ensure this is the best warranty program it can be for you.

[Huskie]

Rock Band is covered by a 60 warranty policy that allows you to get a replacement for a malfunctioning peripheral. You will need to provide a provide a copy of a valid receipt to demonstrate that you are within 60 days of purchase in order to take advantage of the replacement policy.

When to Get a Replacement
In cases where a peripheral malfunctions either out-of-the-box or during normal gameplay and cannot be fixed through standard troubleshooting, the warranty policy allows you to request a replacement item. Most any issue that is not caused by abuse or misuse of the game will be covered by this policy.
...

You might have missed the nice 20 page topic on this 60 return policy enforcement: HMX Now has a 60 day warranty? (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53907)

Not many are liking this one bit including me.

We just got this game less than 2 weeks ago. The label on the bottom indicates a Jan 08 date. This clearly shows it is not the so called "improved" peripherals as mentioned by HMXSean (in that same topic).

How is it that others that bought the game had about a 7 month return policy but I only get 2 months?
Is it my fault the store had old boxes to sell?
How would any other buyer know to look UNDER the box to see when it was manufactured?

If anything, the policy should be changed to manufactured date, not purchased date and increased to allow for more time for KNOWN faulty peripherals.

$0.02

[CENACHAINGANG54]

I think this is a very bad decision! I could see a 60 day warranty if you had stuff that works, but there are still people out there that has broken stuff and you close up the warranty?

Horrible service! All you are doing is forcing money into the competitions hands.

As far as 3rd party goes. Although I review third part stuff and getting ready to review a set of custom made drums for this game, everyone in the world cannot afford $200.00. For that matter everyone cannot afford to pay $180.00 for a box of stuff that does not work properly either! I think EA should rethink this and rething it quick!

Like Huskie said go and read that forum he left a link to. People are irate!

Just my 5 cents worth.

[ecfirefighter]

Think you guys might have the balls to announce it publicly in a forum where people actually visit on a regular basis?

How about announcing it before you do it to give the loyal customers a chance to get some of this good equipment you keep talking about?

Better yet, how about answering some of the questions from the people who posted in the other post... we know you see it.

[DeadManDrumming]

Yum Guitar Hero: World Tour sales handed out on a silver platter.

I think they just boosted Guitar Hero sales WAY better than Activison (etc)
could all in one day.

[Bearclaw]

This is a poor decision by EA, locking up the warranty has already caused distress amongst people buying the game and it will likely hurt sales. When there is a good chance of getting faulty equipment, people will already be on edge, but once you put a cap on warranty, you've lost a chunk of careful consumers. If the boxed sets were able to hold up, this wouldn't be an issue, but even the RMA's have had numerous issues.

[ZombieZ1010]

I've totally supported Rockband since launch.....even pimped myself out to drum up support for HMX during the "developer tournement".

But, even though I'm still using my original drums and guitar, I've had to spend significant $$ to mod both so they work to an acceptabel degree, and I've only just finished my hard tour on drums. The equipment has not yet proven that it works to your loyal customer base.

Really bad PR move............really, really bad.

[Melchiah]

I think this is a very bad decision! I could see a 60 day warranty if you had stuff that works, but there are still people out there that has broken stuff and you close up the warranty?

Horrible service! All you are doing is forcing money into the competitions hands.

As far as 3rd party goes. Although I review third part stuff and getting ready to review a set of custom made drums for this game, everyone in the world cannot afford $200.00. For that matter everyone cannot afford to pay $180.00 for a box of stuff that does not work properly either! I think EA should rethink this and rething it quick!

Like Huskie said go and read that forum he left a link to. People are irate!

Just my 5 cents worth.

I absolutely agree with this post. I LOVE Harmonix (as well as what EA/MTV has done with Rock Band), but this change (or enforcement...) in product replacement policy is one of the VERY FEW things that could cause me to favor the Guitar Hero franchise over the Rock Band franchise...and that even hurts to say. I have a deep hatred for the bastardizing of the GH franchise by Activision/Neversoft, but one thing still stands...RedOctane (or whoever else they hire to make peripherals) makes damn good peripherals that are very high quality and very durable. That cannot be said for Rock Band...but an unlimited RMA policy undoubtedly fixes that issue for Rock Band, in my opinion...

RETHINK THIS DECISION! I have plenty of faith that Harmonix can trump GH4/GH:WT, but without the peace of mind knowing that if my peripherals break, they will be replaced hassle-free and free-of-charge, the quality of peripherals for your major competitor is going to eat Rock Band alive. As people buy Rock Band, play casually (or hardcore) for a couple months, and then have their peripherals break, they are slowly going to obtain a game they bought for $180 (or so) that now is simply a disc with workking peripherals except maybe the microphone... That's a very sad situation...but casual players of Rock Band aren't going to go buy new peripherals very easily. They'll see GH:WT and be like..."Hey, I never had problems with their peripherals, I'm getting that game! Screw Rock Band and their crappy customer service and quality of peripherals..."

[Michura]

I have been pretty supportive of this game from the beginning. But this alone has changed my stance. I understand that I purchased the game under the assumption that my warrantee lasted only 60 days. But I also purchased this game under the assumption that the peripherals worked accordingly and are durable.

I understand that money is being lost through having to replace products as well as shipping costs. However, that is not the fault of the consumers but of the makers of the equipment. And now, we are the ones who will be paying for this incompetence.

I think you guys are making a big mistake in doing this. I understand that you already have a great deal of my money. I have already bought the game, as well as content for it. But at the same time, you will now have people badmouthing the game, the the companies behind it. This could very well be the last game I purchase from either HMX or EA.

[R4di4ti0n]

/Hulk
/Smash

Honestly. This has completely shut down my DLC buying until GH:WT comes out. Then i will decide if its worth my money, and if so, i will be visiting the local EB. Dropping RB, and picking up GH:WT. I was NEVER even considering jumping sides, but this ninja-change in policy is pretty much the cake on the frosting for most of us.

I don't know how someone can put out crap, call it a Snickers, and expect people not to taste the bitter difference.

Whatever. I can just use my MSP for N+. Should last me longer than a sub-par 3 minute song anywase.

[Drama 313]

I for one like many others have contacted the BBB,also be prepared for an onslaught of lawsuits headed your way.You guys are a joke,its downright disgusting,you people at EA has always been known to put out half assed things and rip your customers off,i dont know why anybodys surprised by all this. Cant believe its a double team too HMX/EA side by side screwing the customers who forked out good money for such a half assed product.

Activision just got another new customer,**** you guys. :mad: :mad: see you in court

[strikeman99]

I know there was a 60 day policy when I bought the game, but I urge you to reconsider. I don't have time to play regularly and I am just starting the hard/ expert songs. 60 days is not a realistic time frame to make sure the controllers are durable enough to complete the expert songs.

[BStu78]

I have to agree that 60 days is really too brief if HMX really wants to stand behind their product. I bought my copy of Rock Band online so I didn't even get it until a week after I bought it. But I didn't play it for nearly 2 months after because I bought it in anticipation of getting my console and I found it on sale. My guitar didn't work out of the box, but I'm concerned about what will happen if my drums fail now that I'm out of 60 days. Its just not enough time for a casual player to use the hardware enough to identify problems. I'd say 6 months is more than reasonable and fairly industry standard. I understand their concern if people are abusing the system, but this is the wrong way to protect against that. Too many people are still buying the older, unreliable product and possibly not putting it through its paces quick enough to qualify for a 60 day warranty. I bought my Rock Band 90 days ago, but I've only played it for 30 days, and even then I haven't gotten that much use out of the drums. They need to anticipate that kind of scenario more with their policy. For me, I just hadn't gotten my console, yet, but what if its a gift? Its too ordinary a circumstance to not have a policy which will consider it. 6 months is a reasonable time period for a consumer to expect a product to work. But especially given EA's understanding for early buyers, they need to realize that some of that merchandise was still sitting out there and got into consumer's hands. The first users got a defacto 6 month warranty, and the rest of us deserve it, too. I hope I won't need it beyond my RMA'd guitar (down strum doesn't work) but its piece of mind and that's got a major value for me.

[Melchiah]

This is truly a ****ty situation. Harmonix leaves the GH franchise to work on bigger and better things (RB). Harmonix works with EA. Activision keeps fighting strong and has GH:WT coming out in the Fall which will be a major competitor to RB. EA pulls this BS move on product replacement, basically nullifying the incredible skill and talent Harmonix has at creating games, because if your customer satisfaction/support sucks ass, the quality of your software doesn't really matter all that much. And now...GH:WT is looking more and more appealing.

This whole fiasco makes me wish Harmonix would've never left Activision... Sure, they'd have to put up with Activision wanting to cash-in on GH as much as possible, but at least GH would still be an incredibly high quality GAME with high quality PERIPHERALS... Now...one game's software suffers greatly (GH) and one game's peripherals suffer greatly (RB). Very sad day for enthusiasts of music games and especially avid supporters of Harmonix.

[Splackavellie]

Way to sneak this thread in here after the cat was already let out of the bag.You guys lost any respect and business you may have had with me.You cant even acknowledge that your screwing us hardcore,well maybe you'll answer our questions in court then,you guys will be hearing from my lawyer in the near future.Hiding behind a stickied thread like we wouldnt notice is just disgusting and a slap in the customers face.

[fecaled]

I for one like many others have contacted the BBB,also be prepared for an onslaught of lawsuits headed your way.You guys are a joke,its downright disgusting,you people at EA has always been known to put out half assed things and rip your customers off,i dont know why anybodys surprised by all this. Cant believe its a double team too HMX/EA side by side screwing the customers who forked out good money for such a half assed product.

Activision just got another new customer,**** you guys. :mad: :mad: see you in court
Now dude, seriously, the BBB isn't going to do anything, nor do you have a class action lawsuit.

Here's the bottom line, in order for something like that to happen a company to has to know they're putting out faulty equipment.

EA is not putting out 100%faulty equipment, there are plenty of people who have RB from release and are still using their things without them having to be RMA

Samething goes with Xbox, the cheaper versions of the 360 are more likely to be Red Ring of death'd than the "elite" xbox, nobody has sued xbox, because not everyone has issues with them.

EA is still allowing rma's, but within 60 days and that's what they have always said, they chose to help and extend the warranty which is why they've covered their asses.

i'm not siding with EA or HMX, in fact it's a total scumbag move, but they've covered themselves and nobody can do anything about it.

sucks for us

[onyxstraten]

Seriously, this is a real dick move guys. I didn't save my receipt from when I bought the game and my guitars is now starting to crap out on me and my drums haven't worked properly since when I first tried them out. So you're saying I'm up ****'s creek without a paddle now?

Think Guitar Hero World Tour's going to get some second looks now. At least I've never had a RedOctane controller not fail on me.

[Riastlin]

While I agree that HMX is perfectly within their rights to do this, it still sucks because they obviously have lousy equipment. The problems have been significant and consistent enough to merit their continued replacement, much like Microsoft did with the 360.

Ironically, tonight I was playing Rock Band and guess what? My whammy bar broke. :(

Needless to say, I am outside the 60 day warranty. I figure its only a matter of time before the drum kit kicks the bucket too. This is frustrating, even if they are within their right.

[Libertad87]

I'm a huge rock band supporter but this is a crap business move. I don't care personally because I do vocals and don't even have a drum kit but this will drive people to GHIV worse than anything.

[Fred G. Sanford]

1.I've contacted the BBB,you'll be hearing from them soon.

2.I've also contacted numerous gaming sites and other websites to let them all know and to put it out there how you people want to treat your customers

3.I will be buying no more DLC whatsoever,im done lining your pockets with money when you basically are ripping is off.

4.you've just lost another customer the GH:WT i use to be loyal and support you guys and blow good amounts of money on DLC,but i rather take my money to a better game and to where im appreciated and listened too.

oh you,ya'll are some coward ass *****es to hide behind this thread,we all know you post this up after the uproar from the customers in the forums,instead of actually addressing us.


Cant wait to see you bastards fall further than you already have.**** YOU!!

[Chris_Gonzalez]

This came as a ****ing surprising blow to me when I was asked to provide a reciept two days ago (a day before you decided to announce this policy shift). Both of my guitars are broken, one bass pedal's about to break, another one has broken, one of my mics won't recognize pitch correctly, one of my drumkits isn't working right, and the other one is showing some potential for dropping some red notes.

And you're telling me that I've got to buy two brand new sets of Rock Band if I ever intend of playing as it was meant to be played? **** your ****, EA. If you guys weren't putting out such ****ty hardware, this wouldn't be a problem right now. But my family and I have spent over $642 (me: ~186 for the bundle on launch, Dad: ~186 for another on Christmas, mom: ~270 on EVERY DLC SONG TO DATE), only to spend another $360 on something that should be working anyway, for that kind of money we've spent on it?

I always thought that EA was better than Activision because of their RMA system and how they extended the 60 day warranty because of all of the apparent problems.

There aren't any problems with Activision's stuff. Maybe the Harmonix/MTV/EA and the Neversoft/Red Octane/Activision combos are Yin and Yang, but **** if I care about that. I want to play my games, and I've spent good money on this stuff, and I expect to have quality products and quality service if said product fails.

I won't threaten with a purchase of Guitar Hero: World Tour (I just sent an angry letter to them about the same subject, and I'd rather die before that happened), but I will hold all of my DLC purchasings until this is changed. Which is sad that I must stop my longest-kept promise, which was to buy every DLC song the day it comes out (and I haven't missed a day until now), that I've been keep since launch because EA is being a bunch of *******s.

[anthony.kianvar]

Looks like I'm going to be home-brewing some dependable accessories.

[Tee76]

Looks like I'm going to be home-brewing some dependable accessories.

Sad thing is you shouldnt even have to do that.These accessories should already be dependable right out the box for the money we shelled out for it.

Then to turn around and force us to buy new ones or give you money to fix them EA/HMX is a direct slap in the face.

[ClubberLang]

I for one like many others have contacted the BBB,also be prepared for an onslaught of lawsuits headed your way.You guys are a joke,its downright disgusting,you people at EA has always been known to put out half assed things and rip your customers off,i dont know why anybodys surprised by all this. Cant believe its a double team too HMX/EA side by side screwing the customers who forked out good money for such a half assed product.

Activision just got another new customer,**** you guys. :mad: :mad: see you in court


Way to sneak this thread in here after the cat was already let out of the bag.You guys lost any respect and business you may have had with me.You cant even acknowledge that your screwing us hardcore,well maybe you'll answer our questions in court then,you guys will be hearing from my lawyer in the near future.Hiding behind a stickied thread like we wouldnt notice is just disgusting and a slap in the customers face.


1.I've contacted the BBB,you'll be hearing from them soon.

2.I've also contacted numerous gaming sites and other websites to let them all know and to put it out there how you people want to treat your customers

3.I will be buying no more DLC whatsoever,im done lining your pockets with money when you basically are ripping is off.

4.you've just lost another customer the GH:WT i use to be loyal and support you guys and blow good amounts of money on DLC,but i rather take my money to a better game and to where im appreciated and listened too.

oh you,ya'll are some coward ass *****es to hide behind this thread,we all know you post this up after the uproar from the customers in the forums,instead of actually addressing us.


Cant wait to see you bastards fall further than you already have.**** YOU!!


Sad thing is you shouldnt even have to do that.These accessories should already be dependable right out the box for the money we shelled out for it.

Then to turn around and force us to buy new ones or give you money to fix them EA/HMX is a direct slap in the face.


HMX, I bet my left nut that if you check the IP of these posters they would all be the same. Troll with multiple-personalities.

[nellonasty]

I was just reading this post two days ago because my drums had recently broke.

Did they just add the "60 day" part within the past few days?

This seems awfully unfair.

[Riastlin]

I was just reading this post two days ago because my drums had recently broke.

Did they just add the "60 day" part within the past few days?

This seems awfully unfair.

It has technically always been a 60 day warranty. However, EA had not enforced that 60 day period until this week because there were so many known problems with the gear. That is, I think, primarily what is making people upset. There was an expectation by many of us that EA would continue to honor RMAs for faulty equipment. I know that I personally bought Rock Band in February despite the known issues because of their non-enforcement of the 60 day warranty.

Since day 1 I've had issues with the Overdrive sensor, though it worked well enough that I didn't bother to RMA it. Last night the whammy bar broke. I can still play it, just can't use the whammy bar.

I think that its clear that EA is well within their right to enforce the 60 day policy, but I think it is a horrible PR move on their part. As an example, Microsoft could have simply enforced its original warranty on the 360 and told everyone they were SOL if they got the Red Ring of Death outside the warranty. Instead MS decide to invest a ton of money into extending the warranty because they knew there were so many problems. The result is that the biggest drawback to the 360 largely became a non-issue.

Nobody knows for sure if the GHIV equipment will be any better. However, I know that I am not going to purchase another RB guitar because I assume that it too will break on me. Similarly, right now I am annoyed enough that I'll not be buying any more DLC. While I haven't bought it all, I have bought about $100 worth of DLC to date.

Just for the record too, my complaint is not with HMX, though I think they did make poor equipment for RB. My complaint is with EA for so suddenly changing their stance on the policy. I'll be talking to them in the next couple of days, if I'm not satisfied, then I have no problem boycotting all EA products . . . though I admit I'll be sad to miss Mass Effect 2 since I loved Mass Effect.

[steve_gates]

I think we should all buy the Bestbuy replacement plan for 30 bucks...cheaper than buying new instruments

[Huskie]

HMX, I bet my left nut that if you check the IP of these posters they would all be the same. Troll with multiple-personalities.
Here HMX. Check my IP as well. I'm just as pissed as they are.

What is hard to believe? That there are others here that have the same gripe about this enforcement?

[Riastlin]

I think we should all buy the Bestbuy replacement plan for 30 bucks...cheaper than buying new instruments


This would definitely be good advice to anyone who has not bought the game, because frankly, your instruments will very likely break if you play with any frequency at all, particularly if you go up to hard and expert on drums.

Or alternatively, you can wait for GHIV and give that a month or two to see if their instruments are any better.

For me personally, after spending about $250 between dlc and the game itself, I'm not going to drop another $60 for another guitar that will also likely break. I hope to talk some sense into EA (not likely I know), but for now, I'm done giving money to EA, and that's for all of EA's games, not just Rock Band.

[Smidget]

I think we should all buy the Bestbuy replacement plan for 30 bucks...cheaper than buying new instruments

This is definitely the best option now. My yellow pad is busted so I'll be doing this when I go to purchase my next set.

[nellonasty]

Riastlin- Thanks for the reply. Seems you have a plan to talk with EA. Whether thats through email or telephone good luck, let us know how you make out.


With my blue pad broken on my drums, I'll be looking to contact EA as well.

However, from what I've heard, it is difficult to get a hold of someone.

Like many others, I will be staying away from further EA products.

What really is aggravating is the high price of the original set. Consumer would expect some quality.

[Riastlin]

Riastlin- Thanks for the reply. Seems you have a plan to talk with EA. Whether thats through email or telephone good luck, let us know how you make out.


With my blue pad broken on my drums, I'll be looking to contact EA as well.

However, from what I've heard, it is difficult to get a hold of someone.

Like many others, I will be staying away from further EA products.

What really is aggravating is the high price of the original set. Consumer would expect some quality.


Well I called them this morning and this is basically what they told me:

1. They said that the decision to start enforcing the warranty was made because the number of calls they've received has dropped dramatically. They said that they now have roughly half as many people working the CS department as they used to because there simply were not enough calls to go around.

2. They said that this lead them to the conclusion that the equipment they are shipping now is better than what had been shipped initially.

3. I countered that one of the reasons for the drop in number of calls is likely that a lot of people are now going to 3rd party solutions either for the entire guitar or for other mods (pedals, etc.). I added that an additional problem was that for those people like me who are casual gamers, and to an extent, who started on the easier difficulties, it likely took longer to expose the flaws in the equipment and that its quite likely that we are still using the older, defective equipment and are just now seeing the result due to our lesser playtimes.

4. Eventually we more or less agreed to disagree, but they did eventually agree to send me a one-time only new guitar with the understanding that nothing else is covered now that I am out of warranty, and that the new guitar will also not be covered.

I'm not entirely satisfied with this solution, but a) its better than nothing and b) its more than they are required to do. I personally think that any new RMA should get the 60 day coverage, but I do not know if this is just the case for me, or if its for everyone. I figure when the new guitar arrives, I'll play the heck out of it for a week or two and try to determine which guitar is more playable, then send the other back.

It should be noted also that the people I talked to were very polite and professional. Also, keep in mind that they are not the ones who made the decision, but are just doing their jobs. As I said, I'm not completely satisfied because I still think that their equipment is not at an acceptable standard of quality, but I'm more satisfied than I had been.

[smashedapples]

IMO, a 60 warranty is implied for every new item, whether it is the result of an RMA or not.

Probably not the way they'll see it, though.

This is partially EA's fault, and partially Harmonix's fault. Harmonix designed the peripherals, right? They should fix them. Everyone knows they suck REALLY BAD, and I haven't seen a good-faith effort to fix known problems.

All of the breaking is due to design flaws. Make better quality stuff or you shouldn't have advertised that they were made to beat on.

[Kyahx]

I realize that EA can't continue with a "trust" based return policy, but that really does an injustice to the loyal customers that were waiting for decent peripherals to be confirmed before they wasted your time and money with an RMA.

I'm in the same boat as many...I have a pedal that's being held together by duct-taped and a guitar with a broken whammy bar and non-responsive overdrive; but because they are still semi-playable I didn't want to waste your time and money RMAing them until they *really* needed it. However now it would appear that I am stuck with what I have for good, as I refuse to buy new stand-alone instruments to replace what I paid for on launch day. (and you can't honestly tell me I should have to)

What I would propose would be a compromise:
Tell us in-advance that the warranty process is going to be enforced 60 days from NOW, giving us a chance to utilize the warranty we should be entitled to. In essence, the return policy will then be '60 days from June 6th or 60 days from purchase, whichever is later'.

Alternatively, you could allow "early adopters" to RMA their equipment ONE more time for free (regardless of date) with a 7-day grace period upon receiving the new equipment in case of a faulty RMA.

Regardless, existing customers need some option to return our equipment at least ONCE (assuming we get the latest and most durable models of said equipment.) Giving us a warning, and waiting to enforce your warranty for 60 days from now would achieve that.

We understand you need to make money, and we understand that you can't have a free lifetime warranty on your controllers (as awesome as that would be). Really we do, we understand companies need to make money, and none of us would want to see HMX or anyone else involved with Rock Band go broke. Just give us a heads up, and allow those of us who have been sitting on semi-broken instruments (in order to SAVE you money I might add) a last chance to receive the equipment we should have gotten in the first place.

[BrokenDrums-BrokenHeart]

I bought RB back in mid Feb. Have been spending all my time mastering lead and bass, and toyed with vocals a bit before setting up my drums and giving them a go. To date, I was able to play the drums five, yes FIVE times before they broke.

I don't know how but the cause was the USB hub shorting out as we were setting up for band play. So I called in to see what can be done, much to my disdain the answer was nothing. They said they can replace "the cheap stuff" ie. the hub or drumsticks. Who breaks the drum sticks? Why would I want them (EA) to replace a hub that I can get for $5 off of ebay? Customer service told me my only option was to shell out another $80 on another set which could potentially brick on me as well.

I love RB and have all the DLC, it's just a shame to me that I will have to think twice about any future purchases and no, I will not be buying new drums. I'll be taking the whole set back to BB and getting another.

I don't blame Harmonix, you guys did a great job. It's just a shame you are owned by a scum company like EA. EA support STINKS. FYI manufacture date on my set was December.

RROD anyone? I can smell a class action lawsuit brewing.

[Chiefz0r]

this would be a fine idea...if the hardware actually functioned. I'm on my fourth guitar and second drum pedal and if something else breaks and it's not replaced for free I'm giving up

[otherguy15]

this needs too change. I purchased rockband when it was released, i haven't had much of a chance to play it since i've been away from home at school.
I haven't RMAed anything yet.

Two nights ago i tried playing on my wireless guitar and it isn't responsive whatsoever, i went online to return it (not expecting any hassle as i was aware of EA's general good service so far to customers with problems) and was greeted with this great new policy.

The policy should be revised such that the manufacturing date of the product is observed. EA has admitted to there being faults in their products. There's no reason these faulty devices should not continue to be replaced until they are actually functioning as they should.

[b2trumpet]

At least, have everyone send in there stuff (and if they don't want to, oh well. Need recept) and get all of the new versions of the equipment, then put on this policy. Better yet, not put the policy at all.

I understand costs may be getting high, but if I can't play the game beacuse of unreliable instruments and my drums (or even JUST the bass pedal) break, I'm NOT going to go buy another on for $60. I'll just be done with Rock Band. HMX may not care beacuse you already got my money from buying the game, but when this all builds up as to people not buying DLC beacuse they can't play it, there may be issues.

[2blackdogs..]

EVERYONE I talked to has problems with the overdrive on their guitars. We were too but it wasn't until recently that the strum key wouldn't work properly.. That was the final straw... And like most of everybody else, I was basically waiting for it to be pretty much unplayable before going through the hassle of having to send in the guitar to wait for a new one and the usual drama the goes along with having to return stuff online. Had I known the policy was like it is I would have returned both guitars over and over again every 30 days until I got ones that worked great. My family and I are only on medium(we're not hardcore gamers) so the instruments don't get used and abused. Not to mention that I bought a PS3 just to play the game, purchased tons of dlc, and alot of extras that go with it, (Lord, I have NEVER spent so much on a video game) I am EXTREMELY dissappointed in the quality of the instruments. Luckily- I found my reciept and have about 9 days berfore the 60 day limit. Too bad I can't use the same receipt for both guitars....... Definately makes me nervous on what gets sent to me as a replacement.....

[applejon]

Just adding to the list of upset customers. I pre-ordered and picked it up on release day. RMA'd the guitar because of the faulty downward strum. The replacement's Overdrive has worked maybe twice. I wanted to wait until the Overdrive issues were fixed before placing another RMA since the cost of constantly shipping the guitar to and from Hawaii probably isn't trivial, and could possibly get me blacklisted by EA Support. Not to mention that EA messed up my return and charged me for it, even though the tracking number said otherwise (After a call I was reimbursed). Even now I can't do an online RMA because I supposedly still have an active replacement out.

Bought a standalone guitar from BB a month ago expecting it to work, only to find that the Overdrive didn't work at all. Was planning to wait for a working replacement on this one too, but I guess I'd better call it in right away.

[vapspwi]

I bought Rock Band the day it came out, and I've been playing it on and off ever since. Was working on the last few drum songs on hard tonight when my pedal broke, with absolutely no warning.

It REALLY sucks that EA has just changed their return policy, and it sucks even worse that they apparently don't offer standalone replacement pedals.

(I also bought a wireless guitar the day it came out, and I've been having Overdrive problems with it. I think it's probably out of warranty now, too...)

I'm not real happy about any of this. It seems like there HAS to be a market for more robust equipment for these games (from a real retailer, not some guy on eBay).

JRjr

[Kozmo31]

Wow, what bad timing.
I broke my pedal (again) 2 weeks ago.
I was out of town last week so I didn't get a chance to replace the pedal.
So, I went to do it today and found out about this 60-day biz.
BRUTAL. Got my crappy pedal replaced, by another crappy pedal and now I am apparently stuck with it.

I could see not replacing it if you went through all the trouble and money manufacturing new/better ones and then sent those out to customers.
But new garbage should be replaced until a proper solution is found.

I'm not going to sit here and bash RB for GH, because (right now) RB is a SUPERIOR game and I would support it indefinitely. But, I'm having a little trouble with this new policy.

[adam182]

i've been here from the beginning but now im gone.drum pedals crack ALL the time and now mines gona again and the warranty is out. no thanks! guitar hero here i come.

[vapspwi]

Well, the response (as expected) from EA was a very polite "screw you." Basically, "you're out of warranty, we don't sell individual drum pedals, go to Best Buy and buy a new drum kit. Thank you for your support." Very irritating.

I ordered a Pedal Metal hinge repair kit from Amazon - hopefully that'll fix things up for me. I can't say that I'll quit playing Rock Band and go back to GH3, because GH3 has its own issues in the PS3 version that I own. At least Rock Band works for me, breaking parts notwithstanding.

JRjr

[BrokenDrums-BrokenHeart]

Yep, returned my set to the store. If EA doesn't want to do right by me screw them. I returned mine for a new and what seems to be a better product. I'm not sure how to tell the difference in the drum sets though. Either way, EA will be getting their broke **** back from the retailer and reimbursing them. Just think EA, which would've been cheaper doing the right thing by RMAing the drums (since it would be my first RMA) or doing right by the retailer?

I'll definitely be holding off on future DLC purchases until I can see a move in the right direction towards caring for your loyal consumers.

[AwakenedCloud]

You guy may think just because we're a small internet community there is nothing to know about. But we are a vocal community. Heed my words, there will be posts on other forums,youtube videos, jokes, and just common talk about this nonsense. I'm known as one of the biggest gamers in my area, and when people ask me whether to get Guitar Hero IV or RB/RB2 I'm going to emphasize that RB isn't worth it because of faulty equipment. Word spreads quickly Harmonix/EA, I suggest you smolder the fire before it truly ignites.

[ChessPieceFace]

Everyone's complaining about the 60 day policy... I purchased my drum set just barely under 60 days ago, but was in the middle of moving and only recently set it up. I found it was an EL model (they still SELL those?!), and barely registers hits on the red pad. No problem, I'm within 60 days, right?


Hi,

Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. I apologize for the difficulty with Rock Band.

Unfortunately, only instruments that are bundled with the game are covered by our warranty. Please refer to the retailer where you purchased the drum set on how to get a replacement.

Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts games in the future please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help knowledgebase (support.ea.com).

Thank you,

Francis A.
EA Games Technical Support
I bought from Amazon, whose return policy is 30 days. Awesome. I thought a warranty was a warranty...

*edit* I just dug up my Drum Kit instructions, which very clearly state a 60-day MTV/EA warranty on the back. They're just straight-up lying.

[jeff1920]

This is very unacceptable just called EA today because of error and they said its already out of warrenty because they havnt been keeping track of peoples warrentys.

"Please check out the blockhead replacement bass pedal at bestbuy or look at pedal metal on ebay that replaces the whole pedal." and no it doesnt it covers the top part of the pedal.

VERY UNACCEPTABLE.

Please extend warrenty to extent like MS and the rrods

[komakazi]

I recently discovered that despite popular belief, the warranty for Rock Band peripherals is now 60 days.

Very disheartened because my kick pedal just broke after six months, I sent EA a letter with my thoughts on the subject.

Here it is…

Dear EA,

I have a question, why would EA open the warranty window for Rock Band peripherals only to change it back to 60 days when no one was looking?

Here is what I think. Because thousands of people were posting all over the internet about their controllers breaking and EA was worried that sales would suffer. Understandably so, I would have never bought Rock Band knowing it was just poorly built expensive plastic crap that only had a 60 day limited warranty.

So EA decided to tell the masses “Relax. If you have a problem we will replace it free of charge!” Sales soared. Everyone (including me) just had to try the drums!

But once everyone’s fears had subsided and sales started trending down, it started getting awfully expensive to replace all of that broken equipment. So EA had a meeting and decided “Screw the people. The law only requires us to give 60 days!”

Ridiculous! I can’t think of anything much worse for customer service and I have a very good imagination.

Let me let you in on a little secret. Customer satisfaction is EVERYTHING! It leads to customer faith and loyalty to the company.

I have worked in Quality Assurance for an automotive supplier for four years. When one of the car manufacturers we supply has a problem, we do everything we possibly can to make them happy. Why? Because they are the reason we are in business.

I think the problem with EA is they are too large. They keep gobbling up game developers left and right and now they think they rule the gaming world. Well guess what, they don’t.

I have never like EA and recently I have heard others say the same about the way they are trying to nickel and dime people to death with micro-transactions.

Well you got me this time EA. But let me assure you it won’t happen again.

Fool me once, shame on you……

komakazi

ps. I guess I will go back to playing Halo3, at least EA hasn’t got their hands on that yet!

[SSpeed65]

First of all, I am an adult who treats his gaming equipment with the upmost respect and care and makes sure that anyone who uses them does the same.

I ran down to my local software store the first day Rock Band was available and lay down my ~$200. I loved the game. When my guitar would only recognize upstrokes, I praised EA for their responsive cross-shipping return policy. When my drum pads cracked after only a few weeks, I said "oh well" they have a good return policy. When the drum pedal cracked in half while I was still playing the cracked pads while waiting for the new ones to arrive, I took it in stride. When the microphone stopped working after one time, I said "I never use it much anyway". When the game disk that was shipped with a hairline crack finally cracked enough to stop working, I was a bit miffed. When the drum pads broke the second time, I went to the store and bought mouse pads to modify and use to help solve the problem. When that didn't work and they cracked again for the third time, I figured that sooner or later, they will have to improve the design. When the drum pedal broke again, I taped a board to it to give it more strength. When the drum pads broke for the third time, I let it go. Meanwhile, I keep shelling out cash for new songs through XBOX live.

But Now.... After getting the fourth replacement pads and having them only last two weeks, I am getting fed up. On top of it the support person now tells me that since I bought the game when it first came out, my 60 days are up and I don't get replacements anymore. I haven't had a drum pad that has worked for 60 days yet. As far as I am concerned the clock starts over with each new replacement. The helpful tech further explains that the product was never designed to withstand the forces required to play the game on hard or expert and that I should go buy third party equipment if I want the game to operate as it is supposed to. I figured simple economics would solve the problem. If a game maker puts out inferior peripherals it costs them money to replace the bad units. They would then learn from this mistake and improve the design to keep their customers and reduce the number of replacements necessary. EA has evidentially found a loophole.. claim a 60 day warranty, tell people the problems are their own fault (they shouldn't expect the product to work like REAL equipment), and wait out the 60 days. I mean people have already shelled out the money, and keep paying more for the songs, why actually fix the problem?

Can you spell class action law suit?
Sorry EA, I have tried to see the positive of this fiasco, but this is the last straw.

[ChessPieceFace]

Everyone's complaining about the 60 day policy... I purchased my drum set just barely under 60 days ago, but was in the middle of moving and only recently set it up. I found it was an EL model (they still SELL those?!), and barely registers hits on the red pad. No problem, I'm within 60 days, right?


I bought from Amazon, whose return policy is 30 days. Awesome. I thought a warranty was a warranty...

*edit* I just dug up my Drum Kit instructions, which very clearly state a 60-day MTV/EA warranty on the back. They're just straight-up lying.
As an update, I responded to the support denial with a copy of the warranty, and received an apology for the first response and a UPS tracking number for my new drum pads. It's sad that their first line of defense is to turn their customers away, but I'm glad they're making it right.

[Zetsumeisuna]

So wait, what happens if say, you get a drum pedal replaced.

Does the 60 days restart for that pedal when you receive the new one?

An EA rep. for customer service just told me there was nothing she could do, because they had a "No warranty" policy.

[PieFace]

Parts Shipped - Your RMA was processed and staged for UPS pickup. It may take a day or two for UPS to scan the box in at their hub, so expect that your UPS tracking number will update from "Billing Information Received" to a shipping/location status within that time.


A day or two? Mine has been sitting at "Parts Shipped" for a whole month now. I've had to call EA TWICE now, and yet still all they do is say "We don't know what's taking so long." Both times I called they said they'd try to have it out to me soon, but apparently the first time I called nothing was set up at all. Hopefully 2 calls is all I need to make to get my drum kit.

[adam22]

I have a question..do I need to send my broken drum pedal back? There's no sticker or anything nor directions like the drum box came with. I'm pretty mad because my box is crushed and doesn't even close right..thanks a lot UPS and possibly that warehouse in Michigan..

[chico76]

I submitted an RMA for my drums today, mostly because I want to see if they'd do anything or not. I bought my bundle back in December but only started playing Drums in late April (I was a guitar junkie, what can I say). In only about 6 weeks of usage on Easy & Medium:

- Yellow & Blue register MAYBE every other hit
- Red registers a double-hit at least once every 10 hits

But, hey, the Green pad works fine! WOO! :rolleyes:

Anyway, if EA won't replace them, I bought the extended warranty from Best Buy when I bought the game. I always buy extended warranties. Most manufacturers just can't be counted on to go any extra mile for their consumer.

Now, I thought perhaps EA was one of those rare companies that realized they were putting out a defective product. But, it looks like the bottom line became more important than their image... so, we'll see what they do this time... but at least I have an out if they deny my RMA request.

[bruinsfan37]

I have a question, reading through this whole giant thing I clearly have seen the 60 day warranty factor, and After that is up there is NO possible way I could get anything replaced?

[The real Anteraan]

I have a question, reading through this whole giant thing I clearly have seen the 60 day warranty factor, and After that is up there is NO possible way I could get anything replaced?

In theory, that is correct. However, other people have mentioned (in other threads on this topic) ways to get around the policy. I won't post them, for fear of the mighty ban stick, but if you use your head, you should be able to figure it out anyway.

But the worst part is this. As I understand it, the "new" item (sent to you via the RMA process) has no warranty coverage whatsoever. So, if they send crap back to you, you're stuck with it...sorta. ;)

[jeff1920]

Yeah since my warrenty expired right when my 2nd pedal broke I bought the pedal metal mod to fix it but i sent a pic to the guy who makes pedal metal and he said he has to make the last holes lower because the crack is on the last drill hole.

[flymewrf]

Well after having my usb hub replaced (right out of box) and a guitar replacement for the strum bar - both under warranty, I'm now faced with a guitar with a non-responsive whammy bar and no warranty (7 months since purchase, 3 months since came as a warranty replacement).

How can a company produce something with this low quality and not have a better warranty replacement?

I was on the phone complaining to two different people for close to an hour and will not give at all.

[itsnotmyfault]

It's truly wonderful to know that, despite numerous hardware malfunctions that have absolutely nothing to do with the consumer, EA looks to screw its own customers. My original bass pedal snapped in half back in January only a month after I bought the game. Now, at the time, EA replaced it no questions asked. I was pleasantly surprised that I received a new pedal at no charge. Now, I was away at college for a good portion of the time after I received the new pedal. Truly, it had almost no use until I returned home early May. Now, from another month of use, my second pedal snapped last week.

I am not sure how this could be at all my fault, seeing as I press far more lightly on the pedal than I have witnessed from others who believe they are playing correctly. In fact, if it were a real bass pedal I'd be pressing much harder. But no, the crappy hardware breaks through regular use and I am not guaranteed a replacement. The company should be sued, and I sure hope that such a lawsuit goes through. Why should I have to pay for a replacement to something that will surely break again because of a horrendous design flaw? There aren't enough expletives to share just how pissed off I am.

Of course, the drum pads themselves have needed to be sock-modded so that the green pad and red pad even so much as register rolls. Crappy hardware should never be the responsibility of the consumer. PR lesson #1

[atx1980]

Nothing is worth the money anymore. Its bull****! $180 and a strum problem and they you only have 60 days. You pay 450 for a console that dont read disks right or 500 for a console that under delivers. or rockband for the wii with no downloadable content! The gameing industry sucks! i am about out! i can spend my money on better **** that works!

[Angry_Games]

Well now, I've had my share of issues with the RB drums (http://digg.com/xbox/Rock_Band_Down_Drums,_Guitar,_What_Will_Die_Next_) , as well as on my 2nd replacement guitar (and the whammy is broke on this one as well).

Here's the thing...I treat my GH and RB equipment like I do my REAL guitar and amp and effects. No one, NO ONE plays the drums with shoes on. We've padded the heads since day 2 when we realized they were so loud we'd all go deaf trying to drown out the drums by turning the audio up. I've had a pedal snap, a green drum head snap completely off (this will NEVER happen again thanks to the instructions CENA provided with the Goodwoods brace mod thing, not to mention it made the red/green hit accuracy go waaay up...for a while).

One of the major problems was the first drum set replacement had feet that would slide all over in a crazy jig when you used the pedal. This is the reason my pedal snapped...after playing a bit the drum unit would start sliding forward and eventually my foot was pushing the pedal down in the middle instead of at the top, which caused it to snap.

Then there's the green drum head itself that just snapped completely off. Luckily when they express-RMA'd me the new kit, I realized the feet caused the crazy jig slide and kept the old feet and sent back the snapped pedal, new feet, and snapped-off green drum set.

About a week later, my credit card company contacted me saying I was over my limit, and there were charges there from EA...of all the nerve a company could possibly have, to charge me for the broken drums? I told the CC company that I refused to pay it, provided info including purchase receipt, all correspondence between myself and EA's RMA department, pictures, and links to more than a few threads in this forum detailing the extreme failure rate of these peripherals. The CC company thanked me for my time, removed the charge, and I assume told EA to go %#@$@# themselves (which is what I pretty much did when I found all this out).

Now pop to the future, today, and here I am looking to see if my defective replacement drums are still covered...lo and behold, no, thanks to this new policy...which makes me pretty damn angry when you consider that since launch day, we've been able to enjoy MAYBE about a month's worth of playing days where everything has worked properly (ie no broken guitars, no broken drums).

A month since November. And here in these forums, STILL customers are showing up with broken peripherals. I hear some saying it must be the customer banging on drums or guitar too hard, and that might be true in 1% or less of the cases, but I'm going to say that most are like me...respectful of their equipment. Also like me, I'm gonna say the majority started out on easy or medium and didn't have to the strum bars and buttons and drum pedals and drum heads all that much, and now that we are progressing into hard and expert, the failures are cropping up everywhere.

Or maybe things are just failing at the normal rate (pretty high according to these forums + all of my real-life and online friends who have this game...there is NOT A SINGLE PERSON I KNOW PERSONALLY WHO HASN'T HAD TO REPLACE AT LEAST ONE PERIPHERAL IN ROCK BAND.

Doesn't matter whether it was purchased at launch or all the way up to end of May...and most have had to do multiple replacements.

I understand, like most adults here, that a company has to make money. But I understand, like most adults here, that consumers purchase items with the implied expectation that the company has tested the equipment to stand up to the use it was made for, and if the equipment isn't able to meet this requirement, the company will make it right until it no longer needs to make it right (ie they replace early defective hardware with recent defect-free hardware).

Yes, sort of like Microsoft and the RROD. And EA, they are a HUGE company. While profits are the most important thing for their board of directors, one of their defects is the assumption that they are so big that they can cover this issue up and make it go away.

Which might be true in all reality...until Guitar Hero announced they are coming out with a clone of RB, and then Konami on the back-end doing the same as well.

The problem with most of us is how much time and more importantly money is tied up with this stupid, defective piece of junk. RB is like your brother being a total crackhead. You hate him because he lies and steal from you, but you love him because he is your brother, and you did have lots of good times together.

We have 112 songs...so subtract 58 that came with the game, and that's how much DLC we've purchased, and there's a bunch more we still want to get (the Cars album among others). At this point though, I'm ready to say I've frozen any future purchases of anything relating to this game. I can't honestly put any more money into this jalopy car that will just break down the next time it comes to a complete stop.

I'm not threatening to move to GH WT, though you know that most of us will whether RB and EA were doing this to us or not. I am simply saying that enough people will band together and become an ugly thorn in your side EA. BBB is laughable, but ambulance-chasing shyster lawyers who love to put together class-action suits, especially against multi-billion dollar companies who have a pretty torrid history of being blatantly anti-customer, those are the guys who will cause you some bad times.

Any publicity is good publicity is simply not true. The internet is ready to paste the news of a class-action suit against you...it's like announcing free gold to these places (or naked pics of some celebrity in The Inquirer or Globe or some other tabloid). These sites will take it and run, and that in turn will cause customers, wronged as well as potential customers, to flock to these places and relate the horror stories, which will in turn give those ambulance-chasers some more ammo.

I'd hope you already know this since you keep an annoying number of high-priced attorneys around on your corporate leash. They should have told you pretty clearly that doing things the "right" way is much cheaper than doing it the "hard way" (especially since attorneys tend to rack up a serious number of billable hours, and this is true in an even greater sense when it's a class-action suit with thousands of plaintiffs).

You know, once we all receive problem-free drums and guitars, we'll go away. But for that to happen, you'll have to spend some cash to design them to not break down, and you'll have to spend some cash dealing with us nasty customers a little longer (oh the NERVE of us asking to receive non-defective items!!! THE NERVE!!!!!).

Please do what is necessary. I'm one of those ugly customers and you are my crackhead brother. At some point though, we'll have to kick you out of the house...and possibly call the police on you if you try to come back (because like a good crackhead, you always know where home is even though you tend to **** where you eat).

Angry_Games

[Super Sombrero1]

So basically, since it's been over 60 days since I got RB, and now my green pad hardly registers, I'm screwed? This sucks. You really need to reconsider the warranty decision. I'm definitely not going to shell out the money for anymore more of these. Also, Angry_Games makes a great point, you people should listen to him.

[RawwrBag]

First of all I would like to make it clear that I treat my Rock Band instruments with as much respect as I do my real instruments. They are adult-owned, treated gently, and played exactly as described in both the user manual and the Rock Band forums sticky post. I am a responsible, intelligent adult, not some kid beating the heck out of a favorite toy.

Since I purchased Rock Band roughly three weeks ago, I have already experienced two broken drum pedals. The first snapped the day after I bought it. It took the "improved" RMA version took less that 7 days to buckle at the exact same stress point. Both of these pedals broke under normal conditions: no shoes, pushing from the knee vertically above the pedal (as with a real drum set).

In addition, the red pad only registers about 50% of successive hits regardless of the intensity with which I play, making songs such as Run to the Hills nearly impossible to complete. I can complete much more difficult songs that do not require successive red pad hits. I was planning on RMAing this as well, but if the bass drum keeps up, I will never get a chance before my 60 days are up.

Furthermore, my Rock Band box is stamped as MFD Dec., meaning I may have an older guitar prone to the strum-bar defect that seems so widespread. It hasn't acted up yet, but based on the quality of the drum set and the troubles that my friends have had with their own Rock Band guitars, I can't expect it to last too long.

This post has two purposes -

First, to reinforce the other posters that have already stated the same thing many times: either the hardware needs to last, or the warranty needs to be longer. Period. I can't be expected to shell out 200 bucks for a product that lasts literally two days. For a bit of comparison, I purchased a $160 Acer monitor last year that came with a manufacturer's 3-year warranty. It has worked perfectly and has been used for hours every day since it arrived.

As an aspiring computer engineer, I am perfectly capable of modding my drum set, replacing electronics, and creating my own switches and sensors, but I am certainly not going to waste my time building a product that I paid EA for. Also, the majority of users are never going to attempt this. They may attempt an RMA, and when that fails they will most likely sell what remains of their product on eBay. And possibly purchase Guitar Hero: World Tour as a replacement.

Second, for anyone reading this that is employed in any capacity by EA: I will not stand for this sort of treatment. I am a consumer, and as far as I'm concerned, I received a product that will last me the lifetime of my Xbox 360. If the 60-day warranty is up, and you fail to provide me hardware that is functional by a reasonable standard of quality, you can expect to see all of the following:

A complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau
The attorney general contacted in the applicable state(s)
A small claims court case

You have been warned.

If you're reading this and are outside of your warranty and feel that it is unjust, I suggest you take all of the above actions that you are capable of. Visit the BBB at BBB.org. Although the complaints are automated, they do have an effect on the reputation of the company. Email, or snail mail to be more formal, the attorney general in the states that EA operates out of. Finally, a small claims case seems like a stretch, but if you read up on it, you can actually pull it off without too much financial risk. In many cases involving relatively minor claims, the defendant (corporation) doesn't appear and you simply get your money.

Pardon the rant (there are certainly enough of them to go around in this thread), but I am just extremely frustrated with the Rock Band warranty situation. Have a good day.

--Steven

[DeGausseR]

I fell in love with Rock Band when i first bought it, but after about a month all of my instruments started to break...i got my drums replaced (my pedal and pads) and i fell back in love with it. but my drums just recently broke again and now im reading about the 60 day warranty and also how you need to provide a receipt.
1) Things break after 60 days and EA should be responsible to replace them
2) My rock band was a gift and there is no way of me getting hold of the original receipt.
i dont understand why you made the whole warranty process a complication. My feelings towards Rock Band, and even more importantly...EA, have gone way down... i also forgot to mention about the fact that the GH3 guitar is not compatible with the PS3, but is with other systems. The GH3 guitar is much more reliable then the rock band guitar. I took care of my drums and they broke, like most people on this forum. I suggest that you get your act together and fix this warranty situation or you will have a lot of unhappy customers, and your sales for Rock Band 2 will be way lower then what you are estimating. GH4 sounds pretty good to me right now.

[Huskie]

...

Since I purchased Rock Band roughly three weeks ago, ...
and

...
Furthermore, my Rock Band box is stamped as MFD Dec., meaning I may have an older guitar prone to the strum-bar defect that seems so widespread. It hasn't acted up yet, but based on the quality of the drum set and the troubles that my friends have had with their own Rock Band guitars, I can't expect it to last too long.


There's my gripe with these 'instruments'.
You JUST bought Rock Band roughly three weeks ago yet you still got an old box ... with old instruments.

Same for me but mine is stamped Jan 08.


This post has two purposes -

First, to reinforce the other posters that have already stated the same thing many times: either the hardware needs to last, or the warranty needs to be longer. Period. I can't be expected to shell out 200 bucks for a product that lasts literally two days. For a bit of comparison, I purchased a $160 Acer monitor last year that came with a manufacturer's 3-year warranty. It has worked perfectly and has been used for hours every day since it arrived.

As an aspiring computer engineer, I am perfectly capable of modding my drum set, replacing electronics, and creating my own switches and sensors, but I am certainly not going to waste my time building a product that I paid EA for. Also, the majority of users are never going to attempt this. They may attempt an RMA, and when that fails they will most likely sell what remains of their product on eBay. And possibly purchase Guitar Hero: World Tour as a replacement.

Second, for anyone reading this that is employed in any capacity by EA: I will not stand for this sort of treatment. I am a consumer, and as far as I'm concerned, I received a product that will last me the lifetime of my Xbox 360. If the 60-day warranty is up, and you fail to provide me hardware that is functional by a reasonable standard of quality, you can expect to see all of the following:
A complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau
The attorney general contacted in the applicable state(s)
A small claims court caseYou have been warned.

If you're reading this and are outside of your warranty and feel that it is unjust, I suggest you take all of the above actions that you are capable of. Visit the BBB at BBB.org. Although the complaints are automated, they do have an effect on the reputation of the company. Email, or snail mail to be more formal, the attorney general in the states that EA operates out of. Finally, a small claims case seems like a stretch, but if you read up on it, you can actually pull it off without too much financial risk. In many cases involving relatively minor claims, the defendant (corporation) doesn't appear and you simply get your money.

Pardon the rant (there are certainly enough of them to go around in this thread), but I am just extremely frustrated with the Rock Band warranty situation. Have a good day.

--Steven

Excellent post Steven.

Based on what is still being posted here and in the other 60 day topic,
HMX Now has a 60 day warranty? (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53907), EA/Harmonix, I'm going to say it again.

I'd be more than happy if there was something like this, which would be acceptable to me if there are new peripherals out there:
Anyone that has old equipment, based off of the serial number of that equipment, will be entitled to a free upgrade to the new equipment. This should be the equivalent of RMAing your old one but getting a NEW one back.
Enforce a 60 day warranty on only NEW equipment.

[juniorsc]

I bought an original launch version of Rock Band, and initially had no problems with any of the included peripherals. As we have the XBOX version, and my son is still small, we opted to use the Guitar Hero guitars instead of the included Strat, which I guess in the long run was a mistake. As time went on and friends wanted to play, we started to use the Strat, and immediately noticed that the strum bar wouldn't consistently work, causing many a song to be quit because of its 'non-response.' No big deal I thought, we'll just keep using the two GH guitars and keep on playing.
Over time my drum set had begun to lose its sensitivity, and most recently the red pad was only registering about 50% of the hits, seriously hampering my ability to progress on the expert level. Once again I thought no big deal, I'll just keep on keeping on and just hit the red pad a little harder. At least the bass pedal hadn't broken yet!
Well, as luck would have it, the bass pedal snapped in half just last week as my son and I were attempting to play our band, thus bringing to an end my ability to "keep on keeping on" with my defective equipment.
I am now left with a non-functioning guitar, a drum set that you have to smash with a sledge hammer to trigger a hit, and a broken bass pedal. Effectively a non-working system.
I had read in the past about the RMA process and tonight figured that I'd get the ball rolling and maybe get the band back together with the returning of my drums and guitar. Imagine my suprise when I logged on and learned that my defective equipment is my problem, and other than buying new equipment (which is now convienently sold seperately!!) I have a useless game and useless downloaded content. Nice.
I realize that I should have jumped on these defective issues earlier in the break in (or is it break down!!) phase, but I assumed the return policy would remain as I had originally read, and once the game was useless, like I knew it would some day be, I'd just return it all for a new set. Well now I'm S.O.L. Very frustrating.
I sure hope someone is reading these threads and understands the frustration this new return policy is causing many, many loyal customers. Is it all about making maximum profit at the expense of the customer now? What happened to providing a quality product for a fair price? If a quality product cannot be produced for the price it's being sold for then charge a little more for a product that is gonna last!! I know I would have paid more for something that was guaranteed to last and provide more than 60 days of reliability!
In the gaming world, good games are played for not only months, but years if they are truly good. I was hoping Rock Band would have been one of these games, but alas it has proven not to be. Sad.

~Chris~

[tragicallybored]

Just last weekend (literally 5 days ago) I purchased a PS3 version of RockBand.

Today, I turn it on (maybe 8th time I've played it total), and the Blue drum is completely non-responsive. I did a quick google and was rather dismayed at the result - eventually leading me to this forum.

I checked the bottom of the box and and it has a sticker with "April 19, 2008" on it. It sounds like there are quite a few problems with the "old" version of the hardware (those shipped prior to Jan 2008), but has anyone else been having issues with the newer peripherals? Is there any chance something labeled April 19/2008 wouldn't be the latest hardware?

I'm still within my 14 day return policy at future shop and am just considering returning the whole damn thing - I'm fairly worried at what I am going to have to go through a few months down the line if brand new equipment is already malfunctioning (and I have hardly used it...I think I beat 23 songs on easy with solo drums and did 3-4 group songs). As with the other posts here, I'm a mature adult and have used the equipment to the spec listed in the manual.

Anyone else with this issue? What's the likelihood of getting replacements that won't malfunction?

Thanks in advance.

[dabomber1x]

r u serious 60 day warrinty???!?!?! Do u know how many freaking drum sets and guitars that broke after playing expert for 3 mnths?????? alot including me too. I already had a faulty guitar strum bar i get a replacement and now ur changing ur warranty to 60 DAYS!!!!!!! Ur crap is made horribly ESPICALLY the DRUMS. EVERy single person i know who bought rock band round christmas and played on it alot had THEIR DRUMS BREAK CAUSE THEY R A PIECE OF CRAP!!! I really think u should change ur warrinty back to 8 mnths or even a year cause all ur getting is unhappy customers. and if u want to get HAPPY CUSTOMERS u should fix their half broken crap be4 they move on to sutin BETTER. If u guys arent going to extend ur warrinty again and being **** then hell im selling my rock band!! and im going to buy GH World Tour cause at least they dont make PIECES OF CRAP if u make a rock band 2 use ur noodle and have a longer warranty 4 sutin brand new on the market which has been tested by guys on freakin easy on drums which aint going to do crap to it. Im done wit EA. If U dnt extend that warrinty im NEVER EVER NEVER Buying a EA GAME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! plz do something EA. gosh. i thought u wanted 100% customer Satisfaction guaranteed cause rite now ur barely getting 50% if even that or lower.

[MiketheApostate]

I bought my RockBand set back in January, and it was one of the older sets then (MFC Dec). I've had no problems with any of the peripherals yet, and considering EA had such a good policy on returns I had no worries. Last night however my whammy bar broke mid-song, and I decided it was time to get and RMA for a new one. Lo and behold, I find that the warranty is now enforced much more strictly and I am out of luck unless I want to buy a new guitar or rubber-band it. This is a very poor policy on your part, and financially motivated to say the least. What happened to making sure you had satisfied customers?

[EAxMetroJack]

On Monday 06/30/08 we will be returning to our previous leniency in regards to the 60 day warranty. This means that from Monday we will not be requiring receipt verification for peripheral replacements.

This extended leniency period will last until October 1, 2008. From October 1st we will require receipt verification and that a defective product be reported to us within the 60 day period.

The full details can be found here (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19898).

Cheers,
MetroJack

[BStu78]

Thank you. I think this is a reasonable policy that certainly addresses my concerns with the strict enforcement of the 60 day policy. I don't know if I'll need it, but I feel better knowing its there and that I don't get a raw deal because I had to wait to get Rock Band until April. I might well go and pick up my drum sticks again after being hesitant lest it prove broken and now unfixable. I understand the need to eventually go to a 60 day policy and the confidence that your current hardware is mostly problem free, but this policy gives enough room for the late adopters who still got bum equipment.

[miztahsparklez]

I recently bought a new guitar from Best Buy so that I can have a full band. Unfortunately, ive had to take it back to the store twice already because both guitars were bad. I just got my third one and this one is bad too. The first one's tilt sensor did not work and it had a rattle inside the guitar as if something broke off inside. The second one stopped strumming period. The third one's tilt sensor doesnt work too good even after over exaggerated tilts... something tells me the QC on the guitars are still not up to par yet.

My drums on the other hand have been stuck at "label printed" for over a month now... that doesnt seem fair if its stuck in RMA and warranty expires.

Perhaps it should be more like you get an initial 2 months to a year. Then, any equipment that does get RMA'd during that time gets a time renewal of another 2 months to a year. It would be silly if there is a particularly bad product revision that was shipped to a customer just as their 2 months were up and then have that product die just after their 2 month period.

Maybe its time to revamp the controllers and make the drums more like an electronic kit for durability reasons and then further perfect the guitar so that they do not break period.

[MagnumSXT]

At what point should we expect the online RMA process to reflect the new warranty leniency? As of June 30 12:45 CDT, the automated system is still indicating I need to provide proof of purchase within the last 60 days.

[Toddler316]

At what point should we expect the online RMA process to reflect the new warranty leniency? As of June 30 12:45 CDT, the automated system is still indicating I need to provide proof of purchase within the last 60 days.


Me too Magnum. I submitted my request this morning (6/30/08) and gave my credit card number for the express method, but the status remains as "Pending Receipt".

[jeff1920]

Still says we need to show our recipt and people with this error Will this go away?


The following Error(s) occurred:

You currently have an active replacement request in our system.

If you have questions regarding your previous request, please call us at 1 (650) 628-1001. Automated services and live agents are available by phone 24 hours per day

[EAxMetroJack]

The receipt verification notification on the website is an error, the new leniency is in effect. You may see a message requesting receipt verification, and then see another message saying it has been verified.

We are working on tidying up the email/web site notifications, but in the meantime if you have any concerns about your specific RMA you can send a private message (http://www.rockband.com/privatemsg)to either myself or EAxViolet.

Cheers,
MetroJack

[jeff1920]

The receipt verification notification on the website is an error, the new leniency is in effect. You may see a message requesting receipt verification, and then see another message saying it has been verified.

We are working on tidying up the email/web site notifications, but in the meantime if you have any concerns about your specific RMA you can send a private message (http://www.rockband.com/privatemsg)to either myself or EAxViolet.

Cheers,
MetroJack

Thanks Metro I sent you a pm asking about this error I been having. And that tech support didnt tell me anything.

[Lamont_Cranston]

The receipt verification notification on the website is an error, the new leniency is in effect. You may see a message requesting receipt verification, and then see another message saying it has been verified.

We are working on tidying up the email/web site notifications, but in the meantime if you have any concerns about your specific RMA you can send a private message (http://www.rockband.com/privatemsg)to either myself or EAxViolet.

Cheers,
MetroJack
MetroJack, I have also sent you a PM.

I understand it may take time to sift through the requests both on the support site and from here. Thanks for you assistance!

[RawwrBag]

Thank you for reconsidering your decision. With my few extra months I'm confident I can get a hold of quality instruments that will last me the lifetime of my console.

[jeff1920]

Still says we need to show our recipt and people with this error Will this go away?


The following Error(s) occurred:

You currently have an active replacement request in our system.

If you have questions regarding your previous request, please call us at 1 (650) 628-1001. Automated services and live agents are available by phone 24 hours per day

Still waiting for a offical responce as of people having this error

[Edtorious]

The receipt verification notification on the website is an error, the new leniency is in effect. You may see a message requesting receipt verification, and then see another message saying it has been verified.

We are working on tidying up the email/web site notifications, but in the meantime if you have any concerns about your specific RMA you can send a private message (http://www.rockband.com/privatemsg)to either myself or EAxViolet.

Cheers,
MetroJack

Hi Jack,

thanks for the clarification, I filed a replacement request last Monday and I didn't even know about the extended warranty, and I did get an email asking for the receipt for verification but you're saying that is an error to which I am relieved. However I have not received any other email or notification saying that mine has been verified to be part of the extended warranty. I'm not worried for now. My question is I requested a Standard replacement and not express, how long should I expect to get a response or get my empty box? I filed the request this Monday. Thanks!

[EAxMetroJack]

Hi Jack,

thanks for the clarification, I filed a replacement request last Monday and I didn't even know about the extended warranty, and I did get an email asking for the receipt for verification but you're saying that is an error to which I am relieved. However I have not received any other email or notification saying that mine has been verified to be part of the extended warranty. I'm not worried for now. My question is I requested a Standard replacement and not express, how long should I expect to get a response or get my empty box? I filed the request this Monday. Thanks!

Hi Edtorious,

Can you send me a PM with your RMA number so I can check into your RMA status?

Cheers,
MetroJack

[adam22]

Hey, I'm just wondering what I should do..I need a new pedal and I had gotten one before..it still says I have an active RMA so I can't do another one. I have 3 questions for basically 2 incidents since one was for a receipt and they are all solved..can I get these deleted so I can get my new pedal? I have the box for my previous replacement but was informed not to ship the broken one back but I couldn't anyway since no return information or pre-paid postage was on the box...

[elfreako]

On Monday 06/30/08 we will be returning to our previous leniency in regards to the 60 day warranty. This means that from Monday we will not be requiring receipt verification for peripheral replacements.

This extended leniency period will last until October 1, 2008. From October 1st we will require receipt verification and that a defective product be reported to us within the 60 day period.

The full details can be found here (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19898).

Cheers,
MetroJack

First, let me thank you and/or your employer for maintaining a presence on these boards since a lot of us rely on them for our Rock Band information.

Concerning RMAs, I have sent a note to to customer support link prior to submitting my request to be sure I was in the clear. I received a generic "copy-pasted" blurb as an answer pretty much telling me to call the warranty hotline. Not exactly what I was hoping for, considering I'm at the other end of the continent.

Perhaps you are authorized to clear up this situation for me, as I am sure there are many of us in this situation. Let me just paste what I submited to EA already:

"Concerning the Rock Band peripherals.

I have seen an anouncement today that EA will start replacing faulty Rock Band equipment with no receipts and beyond the 60 days warranty period, just like you had been doing for quite a few months prior.

Here is my issue. Last week, I noticed I had a cracked pad on my drumset. I'm not sure it happened within the 60 days or not, but I was at about 75 days after purchase when I noticed it. I checked the Rock Band forums to get information about RMA and that is when I learned that the 60 days policy was being enforced.

I felt very unlucky and a bit irritated, but what could I do. My only option, aside from buying a new kit (which is still more expensive in Canada btw), was to repair the pad myself. That is exactly what I did. Using epoxy and dry wall tape, I somewhat fixed the pads and reinforced them. I played on it twice so far, hoping it won't crack. Not exactly the best of experiences.

Now I learn that EA will start doing replacements again. Of course the policy clearly states that the pads cannot be modded in any way. I am couting on your understanding of these very specific circumstances and that you will indeed agree to replace my faulty pads. This is the first time I've had to return any equipement since I'm quite a casual player and I take good care of my peripherals. I'm not sure if a DIY repair such as what I pretty much had to do falls under the "modded" category, but I beleive I should be entitled for a prompt replacement.

Thank you."

I think that summarizes it. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[AnEternalEnigma]

I as well am getting the "You currently have an active replacement" error. I haven't had one since the end of May. What is going on? I have a EL drum kit that was sent to me as a warranty replacement in the last week of May. The yellow pad broke last week (my previous kit's yellow pad lasted 6 months). I need to set this up ASAP but the website keeps spitting that error back at me. Why?

[5150]

I just sent a request in also. I better not get Another "EL" set.! That will make 3 then.:mad:
Crappy red pad!

[dirtbag504]

Hi Edtorious,

Can you send me a PM with your RMA number so I can check into your RMA status?

Cheers,
MetroJack

Sent one as well. Same situation as above poster - locked into proof of purchase limbo.

[jeff1920]

I as well am getting the "You currently have an active replacement" error. I haven't had one since the end of May. What is going on? I have a EL drum kit that was sent to me as a warranty replacement in the last week of May. The yellow pad broke last week (my previous kit's yellow pad lasted 6 months). I need to set this up ASAP but the website keeps spitting that error back at me. Why?

I called tech support for this problem and they told me it took awhile for the system to report it as finished.... more like they cant keep records.

heres 2 solutions
1. make a new account and request for a drum it will work

2. keep calling tech support

[Xander_19]

Ok. This really pissed me off. I got a replacement pedal for my previous broken pedal, and within only two days, the replacement pedal breaks. I've had Rock Band since March, and the first pedal lasted a good two months, but then the replacement pedal only lasts two days? What the hell? And since I read the new policy, does this mean I'm not illegible for a new replacement pedal? I spent 180 for the whole set, and now I have a drum kit that I cannot use because of faulty equipment. Some one respond to this because I really want to know if I can replace it. If not, looks like Rock Band lost out on a huge music lover and costumer.
For those asking, yes, I have not played Rock Band since the replacement pedal broke.

[aznman08]

I put in an RMA on tuesday July 1st for my xbox360 t drum kit and requested express shipping. I got an email with my RMA number and my UPS tracking number but when I searched my tracking number it hasnt been shipped yet. I havent been asked to give my receipt and dont plan to since its under the new warranty. Why has my drum kit not been shipped yet, and will I be charged the $125, for not having a new drum kit?

[Toxin066]

How long does it normally take to get the replacement drum pads back via standard shipping? It's been over a month since I originally RMA'd the faulty drum pads. I'm getting pretty frustrated.

[Dycerulz]

Just purchased my second drum set. I lost my receipt for the first one, could not get it replaced through warranty. On the first one - The Red drum started to crack and soon broke off. This is well within within 60 days but screw me for loosing the receipt. This happened within the first week. I tried to find the receipt it but oh well. I purchased another one. I used the petal from the first one, two days later that petal snapped in half.

I connected the second one, 6 days later that snapped in half. The Drum now doesn't stay in a locked position. While you are playing, the drum falls all the way down meaning that Mini Me would be very comfortable playing drums at that height.

I purchased this drum kit from Best Buy where I also purchased an extended warranty and ask them specifically if it cracked or broke would I get a replacement, they said yes. The Cost was about 14 Dollars I believe for 2 years. This is best buy who is willing to give me a full replacement if it falls apart. My 5 year old loves this game. The Petal is together with duck tape until I have time to run to best buy for a replacement.

I have gone through a drum within one week, two petals within 2 weeks and maybe a drum. I think whom ever designed this should be fired and someone put in place that will satisfy their customers. I also believe that EA or Whomever is in charge should replace FREE of charge all their defective product with better quality upgrades.

In the end the best I can do and anyone here posting should unite and file a complaint.

[elfreako]

Just purchased my second drum set. I lost my receipt for the first one, could not get it replaced through warranty. On the first one - The Red drum started to crack and soon broke off. This is well within within 60 days but screw me for loosing the receipt. This happened within the first week. I tried to find the receipt it but oh well. I purchased another one. I used the petal from the first one, two days later that petal snapped in half.

I connected the second one, 6 days later that snapped in half. The Drum now doesn't stay in a locked position. While you are playing, the drum falls all the way down meaning that Mini Me would be very comfortable playing drums at that height.

I purchased this drum kit from Best Buy where I also purchased an extended warranty and ask them specifically if it cracked or broke would I get a replacement, they said yes. The Cost was about 14 Dollars I believe for 2 years. This is best buy who is willing to give me a full replacement if it falls apart. My 5 year old loves this game. The Petal is together with duck tape until I have time to run to best buy for a replacement.

I have gone through a drum within one week, two petals within 2 weeks and maybe a drum. I think whom ever designed this should be fired and someone put in place that will satisfy their customers. I also believe that EA or Whomever is in charge should replace FREE of charge all their defective product with better quality upgrades.

In the end the best I can do and anyone here posting should unite and file a complaint.

They do exactly that, and don't ask for a receipt...

[foolosophy]

The receipt verification notification on the website is an error, the new leniency is in effect. You may see a message requesting receipt verification, and then see another message saying it has been verified.

We are working on tidying up the email/web site notifications, but in the meantime if you have any concerns about your specific RMA you can send a private message (http://www.rockband.com/privatemsg)to either myself or EAxViolet.

Cheers,
MetroJack

Sent you a PM.

[mancide]

Should RMA replacements not be QM or SL kits? I just got my RMA pads in and I was a bit disappointed to see it was an EL series again.

[StillRockandRollToMe]

To Toxin066, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you have at least another month left, my drums have been gone for almost 2 months. I am relieved that I'm not the only one having problems, gives me hope that my drums may still be out there somewhere. That and misery loves company,welcome to the club.

[MagnumSXT]

I put in an RMA on tuesday July 1st for my xbox360 t drum kit and requested express shipping. I got an email with my RMA number and my UPS tracking number but when I searched my tracking number it hasnt been shipped yet. I havent been asked to give my receipt and dont plan to since its under the new warranty. Why has my drum kit not been shipped yet, and will I be charged the $125, for not having a new drum kit?

I also submitted an express RMA request for my drum pads on July 1. The EA support site shows "Label Printed" and UPS tracking shows "Billing Information Received", but there has been no further action. Meanwhile, the $125 hold on my credit card has completely disappeared.

This is a completely different experience than I had when I requested a replacement for my guitar [DOA] in April or my drum pedal [broken] in May. Both replacements were shipped out rapidly and arrived within about a week. I'm glad they decided to extend the warranty "leniency" period, but it certainly doesn't seem like they were prepared for the demand.

[miztahsparklez]

im still waiting for my drums... rb phone support says there isnt any backorder.. but im also still stuck at "label printed" been like that since may. :(

[Lamont_Cranston]

I received my replacement drum pads today. I had submitted my RMA on June 30th.

The new set is an SL, which I am enjoying so much more than my old EL set. The SL's are definitely louder, but appear to be more sensitive and thus more accurate.

So, my question is that the drum set came with stands, but the return instructions state "Do not include the Drum Pedal, Sticks or Stand hardware in the return shipment!". I assume that only means not to send my "old" stuff back and just send the "defective" pads back, leaving the new stands in the box. Have I assumed correctly? I don't care either way, not like I need an extra drum stand.

Thanks.

[wariotcc21or4]

im not to happy about this but oh well, im a drum guy pretty much, ive busted a drum stick in half, no big deal, got my friend to make a new one out of an old chair leg, snapped my bass pedal- ok bolted it back together, snapped the pedal in a different place - duct taped the **** out of it, my only question is what will i do when it breaks again? i cant return it so im pretty much stuck with buying a new drum set, or is there a bass pedal difference (the warranty?) just askin =/

~WARIO

(busted on inside the fire both times btw, and i kinda cut my foot open =O)

[MagnumSXT]

I also submitted an express RMA request for my drum pads on July 1. The EA support site shows "Label Printed" and UPS tracking shows "Billing Information Received", but there has been no further action. Meanwhile, the $125 hold on my credit card has completely disappeared.

I contacted phone support on Friday to get an update. They were surprised by the removal of the credit card pre-authorization and could offer no explanation for how it happened. Instead, they cancelled (read "completed") my original RMA request and created a new one. I can only hope things go more smoothly this time around...

[AnEternalEnigma]

I just got an EL replacement today. The yellow and blue pads drop notes like crazy.

What a joke.

[SingingBears]

To figure out how the konks wrote their song...


"Cheap guitars and only two lousy drums."

heh heh.:D

[ethanluc]

Like others here, I have been having a great deal of fun dealing with the EA support staff on RMA replacement issues. I submitted my "Express" RMA on June 19 (for a PS3 Drum Pedal), faxed my receipt on June 20, had my first UPS label printed that day. Since then I spoke multiple times with the good people at the warranty department (that's the 650.628.1001 number), and found them to be well-intentioned but unable to help me. I was particularly impressed when I was told repeatedly that standard practice at the warehouse is to print lables and start putting boxes in a UPS truck, but that the UPS truck doesn't go out until it is full, so I should just sit tight. Also it was nice when they said they had no other phone numbers for anyone at EA and no way to get in contact with anyone at the warehouse. Awesome.

Since then I've stopped calling the warranty people and now go directly to EA customer support. Call (650) 628-1500, press 0, ask for Robert, Troy K., or Sean M. On more than one occassion I was promised a call or email back because they were going to get this taken care of that same day... well that never happened, predictably. Today I was told by Troy that supposedly somebody at the warehouse was going to manually put a label on my unit and that it would ship out today. Obviously, I don't believe this at all. I will be THRILLED if this does happen, however at this point, I have no reason to think that anyone at EA or Rockband is able to get anything accomplished on this.

It sounds like lots of people are having the same trouble. Has anyone received any replacement equipment in the last month? Like I said, my (first) RMA number issued on June 20. Since then I've received a second RMA number and two UPS tracking numbers, but no replacement gear. I've had telephone conversations with customer support on 6/27 (Kenny & Teddy), 7/2(Kenny & Scott), 7/7 (Sean M.), 7/9 (Troy K.), 7/15 (Robert), and today (Troy K.).

I have previously worked in consumer protection enforcement for a state attorney general, and in my opinion, selling a product that you know to be defective and then placing unreasonable barriers in front of consumers who try to cure the defects through seeking replacement equipment constitutes an unfair and deceptive business practice.

[Devilsbane07]

Now I can rock on with a working strum bar.

[uriel1989]

Amen, Ethan-Luc

This has been without a doubt the most horrible video game purchase of my life. Close to 200 bucks for something I've not yet been able to play guitar on. My guitar was defective out of the box, 5 weeks ago, and I have YET to get my RMA guitar back. Ridiculous. My calls are 50/50 talking to someone who has any idea what is going on, and my e-mail attempts were obviously outsourced to someone who had no CLUE - instead of giving me an update, they parroted back my initial tracking number for the empty box to send my guitar back in.

I will never, NEVER buy anything that has to "go through the manufacturer" and cannot be returned to the store directly again. The language on that sticker, I feel, was deceptive - it did not say directly you COULDN'T take it back to the store, only that they REQUEST you send it back to them. What a bunch of crap. How is that legal?? I cannot believe they don't have a class-action lawsuit slapped on them yet.

I love Harmonix, but this has been inexcusable. 200 dollars for 5 weeks of an unplayable game is unforgivable.

[uriel1989]

And to the "Label Printed Limbo" bretheren.

Call, call, call. I've called weekly. At least.

I called yesterday after my tracking number said "Label Printed" on the UPS site for a week. I was told on phone that all they could tell me was that it shipped "sometime between the 10th and the 15th."
I just checked again, and poof! It shipped late last night. After my call.
Coincidence?

[AnEternalEnigma]

How long does it take for them to mark an RMA request as finished after they get the faulty equipment back? My busted drum set was delivered yesterday morning. I have to set up another RMA for these crappy-ass drums because they've dropped some yellow notes and a ton of blue notes right out of the box.

[uriel1989]

Guitar arrived today. I'm almost afraid to plug it in.

My turn around time was roughly 5 weeks, start to finish, with me sending my guitar to them first (I didn't opt for the credit card hold - why they want to hold 120 bucks for something that is 60 in the store is beyond me...)

[Tinderbox Boy]

I've had similar issues. Sometime in May my red drum pad broke off of the set and was hanging by a wire. I called ROCKBAND support and, as usual, they said they would ship it out. May 26th comes around and nothing happens. The only thing UPS says is "Billing information received" So I called back and spoke to someone. She said she canceled the order and would send another empty box for me to send back my drums.

Well yesterday, July 17th, I finally called back and spoke to someone. Why so late? Well, I went on a road trip to California and I've been busy. She said she was very sorry about the issue and she said she would express ship drums to me. She also said that would take 3 to 5 business days. We'll see about that.

Current status: Billing Information Received.

As a business major, this is terrible service. If I don't get it this time, I will definitely go directly to the company.

[uriel1989]

Can I *please* have an admin contact me?? My guitar that I waited for for 5 weeks doesn't work. The strum bar is busted. I contacted customer support and I'm waiting for a manager. Isn't there anything that can be done EA??? I have been waiting for 5 weeks to play this game, and the guitar doesn't even work!

[Ziiggy Stardust]

So I got my rock band pedal but there is no return adress in the box. Is this normal? am I not suppose to send it back or is there a problem? Becuase i'd rather not spend 125 dollars on a pedal.

[MagnumSXT]

I contacted phone support on Friday to get an update. They were surprised by the removal of the credit card pre-authorization and could offer no explanation for how it happened. Instead, they cancelled (read "completed") my original RMA request and created a new one. I can only hope things go more smoothly this time around...

While I was on the phone for the problem above, I also requested an RMA for my drum pedal which had begun cracking about an inch above the hinge. Both RMA requests were essentially made at the same time, but the pedal was processed much faster. It actually arrived at my house before the drum pads ever shipped out.

The good news is that the drum pads have now shipped also and are due to arrive tomorrow (according to UPS), for a total of 7 working days between request and delivery (not counting the original "lost" RMA request). I can understand different parts having different availability, so my experience this time has been more in line with my expectations.

[MagnumSXT]

So I got my rock band pedal but there is no return adress in the box. Is this normal? am I not suppose to send it back or is there a problem? Becuase i'd rather not spend 125 dollars on a pedal.

My express replacement pedal arrived in a box with a plastic "pouch" on the outside which contained my delivery information. I found the return information and invoices in the same pouch. Did you look there?

[Ziiggy Stardust]

My express replacement pedal arrived in a box with a plastic "pouch" on the outside which contained my delivery information. I found the return information and invoices in the same pouch. Did you look there?


My box didn't come with any pouch. All I got was a brown box with the shipping label on it (the one that they used it to get to me) and then the new pedal on the inside. So what should I do? Call support?

[MagnumSXT]

My box didn't come with any pouch. All I got was a brown box with the shipping label on it (the one that they used it to get to me) and then the new pedal on the inside. So what should I do? Call support?

Are you saying your shipping label was stuck directly to the box? My label was inside a clear plastic "sleeve" or "pouch" which was itself glued to the outside of the box. For what it's worth, mine was an "express" RMA in the U.S.

[Ziiggy Stardust]

Are you saying your shipping label was stuck directly to the box? My label was inside a clear plastic "sleeve" or "pouch" which was itself glued to the outside of the box. For what it's worth, mine was an "express" RMA in the U.S.


Well I'm from Canada, and I called the serive line and the girl told me that Canadians don't have to send it back as it would cost them too much, so she fixed everything. Thanks for the help though Magnum! I really appreciate you helping me out

[Locoryder187]

Thanks. My Drum pedal broke in half while playing expert "Enter Sandman" and i was mad at the time but now im re leaved that im getting a replacement.

[desmit2010]

hey guys i have a quick couple of questions regarding the faulty drum set i am about to send in. I received this game as a Christmas present and my set has worked fine until now. The pads started having a hard time registering back in April, so I decided to duct tape them down. This worked fine for a while. now for my questions:

1. The pads are fine without the tape on them, but will EA deny my RMA request if the tape residue is on the pads?

and

2. I have received the box and I am ready to send my drums back. I opted to do the standard procedure for returning, and on the paper that comes in the empty box, and is obviously intended for express returns, it tells me to wrap my drums in the bubble wrap that is "wrapped around the new pads". Since I didn't receive new pads and bubble wrap in my empty box, am I responsible for getting my own bubble wrap?

[Devilsbane07]

My replacement guitar arrived today (sitting on the doorstep for idk how long) and i was all excited to have a functioning strum bar. So I started playing and everything was working right... until i arrived to a sustained energy note and my whammy bar did nothing.

So now I have 2 guitars sitting in front of me, one with a stum bar that rarely works and one with a whammy bar that does nothing. What do I do now?

Should I just send one back and fill out another RMA?

[uriel1989]

Are there any moderators here anymore?

I called customer service. The manager on the phone told me I'd get an e-mail with a "coupon for 15 dollars off another EA game" and my box would ship out Monday for RMA round 2.

No box, no e-mail. Called customer service and they said they'd resend the coupon, and the box would ship in 3 to 5 business days. Another 5 weeks I guess.
Thing is, when I've borrowed my friend's guitar to play this, or played it over there, it's a really great game. I just don't think it's worth the hassle. Rock Band 2 better have 100 percent functioning gear before I'll even remotely consider going through this ever, ever, ever again

[Devilsbane07]

I sent virtually the same things as 2 posts above to customer service. They sent me an obviously copied message saying unplug it and plug it in there and then asked if the power light was ever on. Well, if you can read I did say I was playing.

Response round 2... They resent me my shiping information. What the hell do I need my tracking number for? The guitar is already here.

Response round 3... They asked for my RMA number, me email, the damn tracking number that they must already know because they just resent it to me and an incident number. Shouldn't they already know all of this?

Response round 4... They stopped responding, the time between my initial comment and response 3 was about 5 hours. Not bad response time if you ask me. (Unfortunately a monkey could have given me the same information. Its been 16 hours since I last had contact with them. So what the hell happened?

[Devilsbane07]

By the way I check my statement online and is it normal for that hold they put n your account (paid with a debit/check card) to disappear? I saw the $125 go on my account but I looked today and its completely gone.

[Tinderbox Boy]

I finally got my drum pads. A whole new set, actually.

[nellonasty]

I received new drum pads in the mail today (2 weeks for express RMA). However, I did not receive a new drum pedal. Did I need to fill out two RMAs in order to receive a complete working drum set? One for the pedal, and one for the pads? I am afraid to start a new RMA with all the problems customers seem to be having. I will send off my faulty pads and hope that my first RMA charge is resolved. Then, perhaps, start a new one for the pedal.

If any moderators are still operating this board, please direct me to the best course of action.

Thanks.

[doogoshly]

I received new drum pads in the mail today (2 weeks for express RMA). However, I did not receive a new drum pedal. Did I need to fill out two RMAs in order to receive a complete working drum set? One for the pedal, and one for the pads? I am afraid to start a new RMA with all the problems customers seem to be having. I will send off my faulty pads and hope that my first RMA charge is resolved. Then, perhaps, start a new one for the pedal.

If any moderators are still operating this board, please direct me to the best course of action.

Thanks.

yes i think you need to do a separate one since they are separate issues. i'm not a mod but i would figure as much based on their RMA website.

[evilweevle]

ok, ive checked on the UK troubleshooting page and its totally useless, so thought id ask on this thread for advice.

basically on my drum pads the rubber skin on the red pad has started to bubble and come away from the plastic underneath (all other pads are fine) and the yellow pad has actually split in half, although the rubber skin is still intact. it does still seem to work fine however, and so i am not sure if this would be covered under the warranty or would just be classed as wear and tear?

if anyone else has had similar probs any advice would be extremely helpful.
(i got my drums from play.com)

[alwaysmmo]

Well here we go. Bass Pedal Broke in half about a month ago, fixed that, broke again. Yellow pad started missing notes, Crap. Now what?

I went through the online replacement process on a Sunday, boxes arrived on that Tuesday. Awesome! (live in the Detroit area)

UPS'd everything back. Everything completed and NO CHARGE! I am sorry to hear everyone has some trouble but I thought this service was FANTASTIC!

EA's plan worked, I will buy RB2!

BTW, the bass pedal has been reinforced from the first version. Good move...

(Nope, don't work for EA)

[sankone]

i just noticed that my drum pad base(where red and yellow connect as well as green and blue connect) cracked and is causing the yellow pad to miss frequently and hit when striking another note. would this be covered under the RMA???

should i try a mod(penny, socks, etc....) take the yellow pad off and see what doing under there or try an RMA?????

read all 13 pages and didin't find an answer so i figured i post

[bartmanmlv]

I've been really frustrated and scared about my RMA return for the drum pedal replacement. I did the Express process, got it in less than a week. Great! The forms and packaging was easy and I returned it the end of July on the 28th. I even tracked EA's receipt on July 31st at around 4:00am. I think, "wow, that was easy, nothing to worry about..." UNTIL I get this email from EA stating that I have 14 days to return the drum pad to them. WHAT?! Now I am scared about the $125 charge and I have about 7 days left until the 28 days is up. I sent emails through EA. I got a response telling me to provide them with the RMA # and my info. WHAT? I included all that stuff in my first email to EA. That's ok, I update the email to the guy, and that doesn't go anywhere since he refers me to the Rockband tech support website. ??? (going in circles now). I email EAViolet and the other EA guy as suggested, but they're probably overwhelmed. I am frustrated and don't want the $125 hit to my credit card since I've got to pay tuition this semester and books. Anyone got a suggestion where to turn to next? Yes, I am avoiding calling the toll # until as a last resort, since I THOUGHT email would be relatively efficient.

[alwaysmmo]

I've been really frustrated and scared about my RMA return for the drum pedal replacement. I did the Express process, got it in less than a week. Great! The forms and packaging was easy and I returned it the end of July on the 28th. I even tracked EA's receipt on July 31st at around 4:00am. I think, "wow, that was easy, nothing to worry about..." UNTIL I get this email from EA stating that I have 14 days to return the drum pad to them. WHAT?! Now I am scared about the $125 charge and I have about 7 days left until the 28 days is up. I sent emails through EA. I got a response telling me to provide them with the RMA # and my info. WHAT? I included all that stuff in my first email to EA. That's ok, I update the email to the guy, and that doesn't go anywhere since he refers me to the Rockband tech support website. ??? (going in circles now). I email EAViolet and the other EA guy as suggested, but they're probably overwhelmed. I am frustrated and don't want the $125 hit to my credit card since I've got to pay tuition this semester and books. Anyone got a suggestion where to turn to next? Yes, I am avoiding calling the toll # until as a last resort, since I THOUGHT email would be relatively efficient.
Bartmanmlv,

Call the number. I had the same thing actually, 5 minute phone call and all was good...

Matt

[jak0b27]

Alright, I need help in this one, I called for replacement drums because my EL set wasn't registering hits but when EA checks it will I be charged $125 for it since I did it the "Express" way. Please reply ASAP

[RawwrBag]

i just noticed that my drum pad base(where red and yellow connect as well as green and blue connect) cracked and is causing the yellow pad to miss frequently and hit when striking another note. would this be covered under the RMA???

should i try a mod(penny, socks, etc....) take the yellow pad off and see what doing under there or try an RMA?????

read all 13 pages and didin't find an answer so i figured i post

I haven't had this particular problem, but they take back cracked heads and cracked pedals, so there is no reason a cracked casing would be any different :)

[RawwrBag]

Alright, I need help in this one, I called for replacement drums because my EL set wasn't registering hits but when EA checks it will I be charged $125 for it since I did it the "Express" way. Please reply ASAP

When they check it? I'm pretty sure EA will take your word for it. They won't have some guy test and be like "hey, this works fine, charge him 125 bucks" :P

Of course, I could be mistaken, but in general that is how warranty returns work. Xbox redrings aren't always reproducible, but that doesn't mean they won't send you a new Xbox just because it didn't redring when it got to the repair facility.

Or did I interpret your question wrong?

[Watercrown]

This is somewhat questionable, but I thought I should ask.

I picked up the Rockband (PS3 bundle) back in January. Being naive and thinking everything would work 100% out of the box I tossed all receipt. So later I realize my tilt function was all wonky (didn't work most the time and it activated on it's own). At the time, EA was only doing the 60 days receipt replacements. Anyhow, since I couldn't return I decided to try to fix the problem myself... Didn't go so well, ended up cutting the tilt function wire since it was giving me a lot of problems.

Just curious if anyone has tried to return equipment like this and how it turned out.

[jak0b27]

Rawwrbag, to tell you the truth my drum heads were working fine but (sometimes) it doesn't register hits. I also sent it back because I wanted a SL set.

[ConF1icTz]

LOL, i recieved my boxes for my guitar and drums about three months ago, i havent sent it out yet, if i bring it to UPS, will they accept it and send it to Harmonix?

[jll544]

Call the number. I had the same thing actually, 5 minute phone call and all was good...

How long does it take from making the phone call to getting the RMA closed? I called two days ago, and yet my RMA still shows "Parts Shipped." UPS says my return was delivered to EA more than a week ago.

I sent PM's to EAxViolet and EAxMetroJack as recommended in the first post, but neither responded. Also tried EA web support, but they were no help either.

So I've called, PM'd, and emailed, yet my RMA still says I need to return the pedal I've already returned. I'm out of options now, so I guess I just have to dispute the credit card charge when it comes? :mad:

[dinga6969]

Rock Band is probably my favorite game. In saying that it doesn't get the respect it deserves because of the shoddy instruments. The saddest part is, is the fact that they are shoddy in design they are just cheaply made. I love my Rock Band guitar but quite frankly I'm getting sick of sending it back....especially when the last two times I've done it the "new" guitar has been broken on arrival. The first time I did it the strum bar broke, I got a new one and it worked fine. After a while the strum bar went again. I RMA'd it and when I got the new one the strum bar was really stiff to the point that sometimes it would double strum because it wouldn't bounce back when I hit it down to play a note. So I RMA'd it. I just got my guitar back yesterday and what happens? I plug it in and it keeps flashing the effects box up on the screen while I'm playing like I'm adjusting the tone I want for guitar solos yet I'm not touching the switch.

Like I said I love this game and appreciate the ease of the warranty replacement because they could easily be very customer unfriendly. In saying that, I would hope that they would work out the kinks by now and make instruments that last and I really wish I wouldn't get replacement instruments that were broken on arrival. Not only am I getting sick of returning them only to get broken ones in return I'm worried what will happen when the warranty system goes away and I have an expensive peripheral that doesn't work. Am I supposed to go buy another one? I don't think so, I've spent enough money already.

[StillRockandRollToMe]

I was just wondering if any one could tell me what the average shipping time is for the drum pads, standard shipping. According to my UPS tracking number the drums arrived at EA or where-ever they go on May 12,2008. Is this long of a wait normal or should I call someone?

[jak0b27]

its August 25, 2008. Call them...

[StillRockandRollToMe]

Sorry I screwed up Ea didn't get the box May 12. I got the box May 12 to ship it out to them.
So my new question is If I don't have an Ra number, Ups tracking number, Ups Receipt or anything to prove my purchase of my drums other than the drum less stand I have in my room. Is there anyway to find out what happened to my drums or anything I can do to get them back or am I stuck buying a new set?

[PacoL250]

One thing people should consider:

Remember that a lot of these peripherals are made in China. China had shutdown many factories for the sake of cutting down pollution for the Olympics.

Now that they're over, we should expect many of these factories come back online soon.

At least, that's my theory.

[cheerioboy]

classic.


I sincerely apologize for the inconveniences you are experiencing with our
warranty program. Due to a number of issues outside of our control the
guitar replacements are taking longer then anticipated to ship. Your item is
ready to be shipped, you will soon receive your item.

Thanks EA support!

[Zounds]

Edit: disregard, the site is working now.

[HDDoobie]

Where do I do to get a Rock Band 2 drum replacement. I just got Rock Band 2 drums today and out of the box When I try the drum set in Rock Band 1 the red pad does NOT work. I'm able to hit all the other notes (color pads and bass pedal) just fine, it's just the red pad NOT working at all. I also just tried to see how it works in Xbox Dashboard. Everything seems to work fine but in red pad on the drum set.

Where do I go to get a replacement? :mad: The EA website has nothing about instrument replace for Rock band 2 yet, but has other help for Rock Band 2.


I just called Gamestop and the guy I talked to said "he remembered reading somewhere that the Rock Band 2 drum set only works on Rock Band 2 game." On the box it says requires Rock Rand 2 to play, but it does not mention anywhere on the box about Rock Band 1.

This whole thing is getting me mad. EA better update their website fast.

Just went to their website around 10:30pm and they finally updated their site.

[jmiscavish]

Is this site working?

The RMA link I get says 503 error something application something.

Hopefully it'll be working by october 8...

[Brent212]

Is this site working?

The RMA link I get says 503 error something application something.

Hopefully it'll be working by october 8...

Yeah, I'm getting that too. Sucks because I just got RB2 and my foot pedal broke on the first song.

[KingForADay]

I'm having problems with my drums. When i put in the batteries, the drums will work for, maybe 1 minute. Then the controller turns off and disconnects. Now i did this with the 3 batteries that came in the box and 2 other sets of batteries. I have a battery tester and they all show having Good battery life. They should, because they're all brand new. This sucks.

The website doesn't work for me either. I'm hoping that tomorrow it'll be up, because today is sunday and all. If not I guess calling is the only option. I dunno wtf is wrong. I'm really upset over this (not in tears upset. More like really angry.) I'd like the drums if they'd just work :-\

think there's any chance of us getting something free out of this?...other than shipping?

Looks like the website's up now. It's around midnight EST time. Make sure you're in Internet Explorer, or else you might not see the pages! You won't get the HTTP error anymore though. I already RMA'd my drums.

[DONTBUYROCKBAND]

I bought the first RockBand and had to return a broken drum pedal.

I'm now in the process of returning a non-working drum pad. So far, the process has taken 19 days JUST to receive an empty box to put it in. Now it's going to be 7-10 days return shipping to EA for inspection and then; who knows when I'll get the replacement pads.

My suggestion: DONT BUY ROCK BAND......the product parts are cheap junk.

[madeyoulook]

My warranties been over since i got my set and i still constantly send stuff back and they always seem to get stuff to me within a week while using the 1st option of the credit card, has anyone been denied without showing proof it was less then 60 days? just wondering

[JE78]

This is not good news. My strum bar started sticking when strumming down so I decided to RMA it before OCT 1st. I choose the express option and I got my tracking number last night and it still says "Billing information has been sent to UPS. Check site later for updated shipment status or contact shipper for more details." I hope it doesn't take as long as some people have had to wait.

[Parrotisla]

Screw the strum bar I have had no problems with that. Its the damn whammy bar i have problems with. This is the second time my whammy bar's tension have broken. My Guitar Hero guitar has never broken. So I doubt it's me it's gotta be crap instruments. then 2 days later we're haveing a full band session and my bass pedal breaks. Thank god it's before the Oct 1st deadline. This is rediculous for a game that cots $180. I hope they don't send me the same crap again. But I'm sure they will how about a new reinforced bass pedal. We oplayed 5 songs on my brothers kick pedal and you can see little fissures allong the side of the pedal. I think the spring in the pedal creates too much tension for th plastic to handle when pushing down.

[JE78]

Well my new Guitar shipped yesterday, only 2 days after I received my RMA so I guess I should consider myself lucky. Although, i'm sure its not new, i'm sure its a refurbed one that will only last a few weeks before my strum bar starts sticking so bad all I need to do is press down once and it will scroll though the menu by its self. I agree that the rock band guitar seems alot more flimsy than the Guitar Hero guitar.

[Spacecows]

i did the empty box method and now im confused on how im supposed to pack my drum set. i dont hav a smaller box and there wasnt any plastic included in my box what should i do?

[nyboy42]

I really hope EA decides to extend the leniency warranty exchange period. Given the slow processing/shipment times and the unreliability of the hardware.

[LizardJedi]

Is there any warranty on RMA-replaced parts? Do they need to be in before the 1st too, or do they have 60 day warranties as well?

Because I just got a new start via RMA, and it's motion sensor is busted (and I haven't even sent the old busted one back yet)

[KingForADay]

I just received my RB 2 drumset back from RMA. IT comes in a box just like the one that you purchased, except with a ziploc label on the outisde. If you RMA'd a RB1 periferral you'll recognize it. I don't have my 360 at the moment so i can't tell if it's dropping notes or cross talking. The battery compartment feels much sturdier than the SL model which i had. The coil springs seem to have..more force i guess. The thing snaps shut good too. I'll edit this when i get a chance to play them

[justinxxvii]

I just got my new drumkit from Harmonix and it works flawlessly, no crosstalk anymore. Now i have to repackage the old kit and send it back. Per the instructions posted here:

http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=18499


Insert your return drum parts into the box in the following order. DO NOT INCLUDE THE DRUM PEDAL IN YOUR RETURN SHIPMENT!

a. Wrapped drum pads.
b. Metal Legs, laying horizontally.
c. Support feet.

Harmonix sent me a full kit. New everything. Should I take out the new kick pedal and keep it as well? I was planning on just leaving everything in the box and sticking my old pads in there, it's all packaged so neatly from the factory...

but if they want me to keep the new kick pedal, I surely will. Is there a phone number I can call to clarify? I don't feel like creating a support request on the contact page, I only have so long to send this thing back and we all know how long contact page support questions can take.

Thanks!

[justinxxvii]

I got them on the phone. The girl told me I was sent the kick pedal by mistake and all EA expects to receive back are the pads and the stand. She said I was free to keep the extra kick pedal. Her name was Kate and she was very nice.

So there you go

[alredxiii]

Well it happend to me one of my guitars started to act funky...so I am sending it in for an RMA, I guess it worked out for me since I got it in the nick of time before Oct 1st

[yankeefan13]

this is just bad what about your instruments breaks what are you suppose to do EA? like my kick pedal just did yesterday, guess what i cant get a new one now.

[entrust]

so today is october 1st and my drums and guitar is broke and i bought them over 60 days ago, so does this mean im SOL? i tried to do the warranty thing online last night but it wasnt working and today i see that starting october 1st its the 60 day thing!! am i screwed? :(

[Megacam]

great. My pads just ripped.

[Kevers]

the replacement drum pads that I got after almost a month of waiting don't work so I called today and since the warranty period is over I can't do anything even though this RMA was submitted well before the 1st


:(

[death_head666]

There are consumer rights laws that protect against such activities.
This was a poor method of notification to those affected. I just called last night to try and replace my drums I bought about 30 days ago (and since chucked the receipt) and was denied even after speaking with a supervisor.

The drums they send are crap! There is a definite difference in quality between the original package kit and the warranty replacement kits. The plastic they use for the warrantee kits is brittle and breaks really easy resulting in the red and green pad snapping off the kit. I have done this on all 3 replacement kits I have received. I got tired of it and bout a new kit that is much sturdier - until the pad itself split and now I can't return it.

Someone should initiate a class action law suit.

So do I just keep buying a new kit every 60 days?

[SilentSniper914]

if you have more than one RMA requested at the same time do you only 1 then get the other part once you return the part? I only got one instrument and i requested two the same day. I requested them about 1 1/2 weeks ago

[ghostofjarjar]

Well my Whammy bar spring broke tonight. I received the whole set as a gift almost 2 months ago. Should I RMA it or just bring it to Best Buy? EA's site claims it's retailers are participating so will this mean they replace my guitar on the spot or what?

[SilentSniper914]

Well my Whammy bar spring broke tonight. I received the whole set as a gift almost 2 months ago. Should I RMA it or just bring it to Best Buy? EA's site claims it's retailers are participating so will this mean they replace my guitar on the spot or what?
if you bought an extended waranty at bestbuy you can. otherwise send it in for RMA if its been less than 60 days. if not ur screwed and you just gota live wit it or buy a new guitar

[dragonstomp]

I have had quite a nightmare in RMA's starting in August and September. (faulty pads on 2 occasions and wrong items sent) I rma'ed my latest drum set in late august and the yellow pad cracked on me just now. I called EA immediately and got a guy that pretty much shut me down on any kind of swap out because I can't provide a receipt. He also advised that I buy the rock band 2 set or get a silencer to cover up the crack. I would LOL but I didn't find that very funny. I do not abuse my pads either. I will have to buy the competition's drum set because I am not happy whatsoever. You make GREAT games and I have gotten so much enjoyment out of them but your hardware is pretty bad.

[Asci]

I ordered a replacement drum set on the support.ea.com/rockband site about a week ago to replace the faulty drum set. I picked 'standard' (when I picked standard to replace my drum pedal for rock band 1, it came with the drum pedal in the box anyway instead of having to wait), but when I got the box in the mail, the included sheet of paper told me to wrap the old drums in the plastic that the new drums are wrapped in. The only problem was that the box came without drums or plastic, and now I'm scared to send the drums back because I may never see a drum set again. I don't want to pay for it twice. What should I do?

[SilentSniper914]

I have had quite a nightmare in RMA's starting in August and September. (faulty pads on 2 occasions and wrong items sent) I rma'ed my latest drum set in late august and the yellow pad cracked on me just now. I called EA immediately and got a guy that pretty much shut me down on any kind of swap out because I can't provide a receipt. He also advised that I buy the rock band 2 set or get a silencer to cover up the crack. I would LOL but I didn't find that very funny. I do not abuse my pads either. I will have to buy the competition's drum set because I am not happy whatsoever. You make GREAT games and I have gotten so much enjoyment out of them but your hardware is pretty bad.

the guy a few posts before this did say the drums they give in replacement are crappier than the normal ones. Now im worried about RMAing my drums because they work fine its just the microphone wont work on it, but I really want to get that fixed.

[DONTBUYROCKBAND]

09-17-2008, 12:55 AM
DONTBUYROCKBAND
Merch-Table Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 1



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I bought the first RockBand and had to return a broken drum pedal.

I'm now in the process of returning a non-working drum pad. So far, the process has taken 19 days JUST to receive an empty box to put it in. Now it's going to be 7-10 days return shipping to EA for inspection and then; who knows when I'll get the replacement pads.

My suggestion: DONT BUY ROCK BAND......the product parts are cheap junk

UPDATE ON: October 8, 2008

Still haven't heard back from EA after sending my drums in and supposed to be received on Sept 23, 2008

I started the RMA process on August 29, 2008

EA has the worst support and the cheapest drum pedals, drum pads...

My suggestion again.....DONT BUY ROCK BAND.....it's not worth it.

[Beachitmom]

:mad:Just got off of the phone (toll call) with HMX . They only honor the 60 day warranty!!! They will not replace their defective products! We are on our 2nd guitar and now the drum petal broke. Between this and our 360 getting the ring of death I am spending WAY too much time on the phone and at UPS sending things back!! We still have our Super Nintendo and it still works! Can u believe that? What's wrong with these companies today?? How do they get away with ripping us off? At least Xbox has extended the warranty to 3 years. Rock Band totally refused. The rep kept repeating like a robot "You are past the 60 days for the warranty" Another thing I find funny is RB2 has all new instruments metal drum petal etc. I wonder why? And now I just read RB2 game freezes and loses data. This is insane. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

[BaconSupreme]

Wait. You're telling me that I have to prove I bought a Rock Band 2 drum set at least 60 days ago, when it hasn't been out for over a month?

[Beefy Hits]

I sent my drums in about 2 weeks ago and still haven't gotten the replacements? When can I expect them back? I searched on the site, and couldn't find an answer. Does anybody have the # to call EA?

[entrust]

im now stuck with a broken guitar, broken drum pad and broken bass pedal :(

[Nit3vision]

I have a question. I rma'ed my drum kit sometime in late october. Now the new kit HMX sent me is registering double hits, not registering hits, ect. out of the box. Does the 60 day warranty start on the day I received my new kit from them or does it still go by the original purchase date?

[flee]

Wait. You're telling me that I have to prove I bought a Rock Band 2 drum set at least 60 days ago, when it hasn't been out for over a month?

Yes. That's exactly what I was told. Since the RMA website doesn't work, I used the contact us form and got a bunch of canned responses. One of them was I had to show receipts that were very clear for all my RB2 stuff to prove that it's within 60 days. Yah. Game released Sept 14, peripherals 2 weeks later (in Canada) and they want proof.

[death_head666]

I have a question. I rma'ed my drum kit sometime in late october. Now the new kit HMX sent me is registering double hits, not registering hits, ect. out of the box. Does the 60 day warranty start on the day I received my new kit from them or does it still go by the original purchase date?

According to the customer service guys - no. no warranty on the replacement units. Its BS if you ask me. They have the ability to do a courtesy replacement if you get a good person on the phone. They should give you some warranty on the replacement.

Ion here I come.

[flee]

It gets better. After submitting the hi-res receipts so they can zoom if necessary, and sending them ALL my contact information, the canned response was to call their (650) 628-1001 number for further assistance. What a crock.

[Soror_YZBL]

Yes. That's exactly what I was told. Since the RMA website doesn't work, I used the contact us form and got a bunch of canned responses. One of them was I had to show receipts that were very clear for all my RB2 stuff to prove that it's within 60 days. Yah. Game released Sept 14, peripherals 2 weeks later (in Canada) and they want proof.

I'm in the same boat. I threw away the receipt because I'm just a horrible records keeper, and lo by drum broke days later. It's the rb2 kit, hasn't been out for a month yet, but EA won't take it back without a receipt. I'm like "It hasn't been released that long yet!" I'm going to call and cry, maybe I'll get a sympathetic person on the other line.

[dcroxit]

This is such horsesh*t. I bought just the RB2 game disc and the drum set one month ago because I just like to play using the drums. Well, last night while playing the excellent new Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood DLC, the damn drum pedal snapped on the new kit. Not like the old RB drum kit pedal snapped though...this time, the weak link is the hinge that connects the pedal to the base (at the bottom of the pedal). So beware those of you that actually like to play the drums like they should be played. This kit is no better than their previous piece of garbage. These guys should be ashamed of their design/build team for these drums. Looks like I'm putting some money away for an Ion kit myself. F-this cheap drum crap. Improved my a$$. I'm not even going to attempt to return it or get a new pedal...it's just going to break again in another month...and I'm pissed. Are you listening Harmonix? Do you even care?

[Beefy Hits]

So I just got off the phone with them. It's been a month since I send them in, and haven't gotten the replacements. "We received your drums, but we haven't sent them out yet." He said he's gonna express them out to me. I ****ed up.. I should have given them the CC# and sent my old ones in the empty box. He said I'd get them in 5-10 days. They better be RB2 drums.

[Stompy]

Oh, well this is just terrific. I came here to figure out what I needed to do to get my original drum kit pedal replaced. It's a known defect and I figured either I would get lucky and never snap it, or else just join the club at some point and do the warranty replacement like everyone else. I'd stopped played Rock Band for a while, I guess that was my major mistake. It probably would have snapped at the same time as everyone else but unfortunately I took a break from the game to spend more time with my wife and kids. Then I got RB2 for my birthday two weeks ago, started playing the drums again, and just tonite the pedal snapped. What's that link? Oh, there isn't one any more? The warranty on a known defective product is only 60 days from the original purchase date, with no exceptions to replace hardware that shipped with a critical weak point? Why would the kick pedal need to be reinforced for the RB2 drum kit if it was a perfectly stable piece of equipment with a 60 day warranty? So they reinforce the new pedal but refuse to acknowledge that the original pedal is defective? Nice.

Thanks a lot EA. And yes, I mean EA, I doubt Harmonix has anything to do with this. It's got EA's stink all over it. Just one more way for them to screw their user base. I feel sorry for the poor schmuck that answers the tech support line because I work tech support and I know what it feels like when some idiot user calls up blaming me for all his problems, but then again it's the only way to get escalated up to the "supervisor" that might actually be able to do something useful. Like tell me there's nothing he can do.

Guess I'll start shopping for a replacement pedal. Yippee.

[Beefy Hits]

Here's (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8802655&type=product&id=1206142365809) a solution for a replacement pedal. It's @ best buy and around $22. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks sturdy.

[The Main Event]

So I just got the bundle today.

My guitar keeps strumming down repeatedly once in a while. And the red pad on my drum doesn't register AT ALL.

I truly hope GH:WT gets better sales because of people flocking to it from RB because of better reliability hardware (even though it's not out yet, I can't imagine it can be worse than my case).

EA/Harmonix really, really seriously needs better quality control.

[MatrixLacuna]

Okay, so I went to the site rockbandservice.ea.com - then I followed the prompts for my system - PS3, then I identified my problem area (drum pads), then it tells me that rockband 2 is not available and to check in stores for it later.

Anyone else getting this?

[daegan]

Okay, so I went to the site rockbandservice.ea.com - then I followed the prompts for my system - PS3, then I identified my problem area (drum pads), then it tells me that rockband 2 is not available and to check in stores for it later.

Anyone else getting this?

Same thing here. God. My head is going to explode.

[garnsr]

Yup, my red pad doesn't work on PS3 after one or two hits, and the support site says the hardware isn't out after going through all the levels of questions.

[Wicked Pi$$ah]

I want to know what the heck is up with the crappy policy for the exchange of a peripheral with a known defect? :confused:

The kick pedal on our drum set broke about a month ago and they were really good about replacing it. When we were playing the game on Saturday, the replacement kick pedal broke in the same place. Our drum set is usually played on the hard and expert levels so any of you that play will know how much that kick pedal is used.

Anyway, to make a long story short we called customer service this morning about the issue and they are refusing to replace the broken kick pedal. I can understand the refusal if we were abusing them or something, but the thing broke during normal game play and it is a known defect.

What really irritates me is that we love the game so much that we went out and bought Rock Band 2 yesterday and it would have been great to have the kick pedal from the other drum set to use with the new guitar, but now that it's broken it's useless.

Had I known that they were going to be jerks about it, I may not have went out and bought the new game. We gave up on Guitar Hero because Rock Band is soooooooooo much better and we thought their customer service was better too until now.

Thanks for taking the wind out of our sails you guys. What a disappointment. :(

[flee]

Is the support site working for ANYBODY yet? I get all the way through and after logging in, it just keeps looping at choose your country. I need my drums RMA'd :/

[Mr.Badguy]

Same problem here but for my guitar. Im about to Hulk out over here im so mad.

[Lylet Cook]

I just went to the RMA to do it got to the end, and told me those products are not availble for RB2 PS3.



Rock Band 2 and the Rock Band 2 hardware are currently unavailable. For release dates and availability please check your local retailer or online at www.rockband2.com.

[ssracer]

So does anyone have a phone number for support, since they are clearly in no hurry to update their web site. My drums were crap right out of the box.

[ssracer]

Support site appears to be working now

[flee]

Hmm...I just tried and the site's still not working for me. I've cleared cookies, temp files etc etc and it still loops at selecting the Country I live in.

[ssracer]

What browser are you using? I used the latest IE and successfully created my RMA.

[flee]

I'm using IE7. I can log in and when I get to the choose your country screen, it's off centre and clicking on What I assume is United States/Canada just brings me back to the "Welcome to EA" screen with a different background. If I click on UK, it brings me to what appears to be the EA UK home page, NOT the Rock Band RMA page.

**I just tried it again, but I switched my console from 360 to PS3 and it works**

**Update again: tried the 360 again, it lets me go all way through, but tells me that I picked the wrong country on the first page? WTF? I just picked anything in the US and will send them a note or something**

***Lol, for crying out loud, I just got another note telling me I need to call them. This is ridiculous.***

[skreech984]

Yeh great customer support site since it doesn't work at all. Atleast for the PS3 no matter what i do it eventualy take me to the choose country screen and doesnt let me pick a country. All that i want is new instruments since i got instuments that play what they want and not what i tell them.

[flee]

I've been trying to get an RMA setup for EIGHT days. Eight days of run arounds, eight days of promises, eight days of useless responses, eight days of grief. So NINE days later...I finally get this:

Thank you for contacting us in regards to your RMA ********. As I can see
here the order is going as intended. I do apologize for the confusion and
such. All we need now is a copy of the Purchase Receipt to complete the
order and have it sent to you.

So I send the receipt off for the THIRD time, and now I get this: Failed RMA. Ha.

I ask for an explanation. The status changed back to Failed RMA without an explanation.

You know what? F*ck EA. I've been more than patient and now my patience has worn thin. If ANYBODY knows who I can call to get this resolved, let me know. I'm actually thinking about putting this on the Consumerist. Someone will know the email or phone number of someone important at EA so I can let them know what a bunch of douches they have running their support.

[jdredd]

I can't select US either for ps3 RB2 ... pos site.

[Kaptankrunch92]

ok, so I need to replace my RB2 drums, however i don't have the receipt, do you think they will still accept it, considering RB2 and the drums haven't even been out 60 days?

[flee]

ok, so I need to replace my RB2 drums, however i don't have the receipt, do you think they will still accept it, considering RB2 and the drums haven't even been out 60 days?
You would think logically they would not require a receipt, but based on what's been posted, you'll need the receipt. Good luck. Even WITH the receipts, they won't authorize my RMA's.

[IQBlue]

I can't believe this. I've just finished reading posts about how the drums for RB2 are going bad right out of the box. You would think EA and Harmonix would have already learned from last year's release.

To make matters worse. My yellow pad from RB1 finally caved in and stopped responding a day after I bought RB2 for PS3..and now I can't get it replaced due to this incredible nonsense of the new 60 day policy. The instruments keep on breaking and breaking but now nothing will be done about it.

Absolutely ridiculous.

[dangermen]

Hopefully helpful part:
For those having issues, if you want to be able to use the RMA process then do the following as it was the only way EA's crap worked:
1. go to support.ea.com
2. log IN on support.ea.com
3. then in the SAME MSIE browser, go to rockbandservice.ea.com and produce your RMA there

You should then be able to process your RMA.

Jump on the complain train part:
The funny part is that I put in my RMA on 10/22 and I got a shipping code but it hasn't shipped yet. I contacted the stupid 6XX # and they told me that they had no more info. They said that the truck they have from UPS or Fedex only leaves on certain days. So while the site says 3-5 days, it's more like 3-5 days until stuff ships. EA/Harmonix: good customer service builds loyalty.

My drum kid was bad from the start, my yellow pad was marginally functional.

I will say that if this isn't handled satisfactory then I will change programs and hardware the next time the new release cycle comes out.

[bickle]

So I sent in my busted RockBand 2 guitar and today I received the replacement - a RockBand 1 guitar.

With all of the broken, faulty instruments, I would've thought the process would be smoother by now.

[gogostevie]

...

Jump on the complain train part:
The funny part is that I put in my RMA on 10/22 and I got a shipping code but it hasn't shipped yet. I contacted the stupid 6XX # and they told me that they had no more info. They said that the truck they have from UPS or Fedex only leaves on certain days. So while the site says 3-5 days, it's more like 3-5 days until stuff ships. EA/Harmonix: good customer service builds loyalty.

Chooo, Chooo!

Same here. My RB2/PS3 drums still have not shipped, and RMA was put in 10/21. 3-5 days to ship isn't right either.

[dangermen]

I just got off the phone with support. They are currently -out of stock- for their PS3 drum pads. They don't have updates as they do not have any pads at the moment. They have gotten a bunch of PS3 guitars but their is a run on the PS3 drum pads.

ROCK BAND: Why do you put a GIANT red sheet in the box saying not to return hardware when you YOURSELF CANNOT FULFILL fixing the broken units? HELLO?

[Judley19]

Chooo, Chooo!

Same here. My RB2/PS3 drums still have not shipped, and RMA was put in 10/21. 3-5 days to ship isn't right either.

Just posted my horror story under the thread RMA horror story in this forum. All PS3 drums are backordered. They have no idea when they will be shipping.

[flee]

I feel your pain, I've been trying to get some RMA's since Oct 13th. At this rate, my warranty will be EXPIRED before anything gets done. I think my drums will actually come through now since it appears a real agent finally decided to help me out, but I'm not holding my breath.

Rather than deal with all this BS, I've been happily playing GH:WT and you know what? THEIR GEAR ACTUALLY WORKS!!!!!!

[edbo357]

I spoke to support last Tuesday and supposedly they have to ship the drums from Texas to Michigan and they are supposed to start shipping out replacement pads by Wednesday.I highly doubt it though.I've been waiting since Oct.20th.

[wuzhennin]

I called last friday...it's not the most up to date time but last friday the girl said they were coming in that day or the next day meaning saturday...so i'm guessing they are putting them in those boxes and shipping them out maybe...hopefully...please?? haha

[Autlawz]

So pissed off.
I just brought Rockband for the PS2 today. Actually a few hours ago. Damn guitar dosent work.
Its a wireless usb thinger. I put batteries in it (came with a lil' box of em'). Hit the button on the wireless reader thing that plugged in, and hit the button on the guitar. No lights, no flashes, no nothing. Im like WTH.
Not only that, but the bloody disk dosen't read in my PS2. I put another game in, works fine. It's only that rockband isn't working.

So it's my guitar not doing anything, and also the disk not reading. It's pissin' me off. BRAND NEW GAME JUST PURCHASED TODAY...
already dead...
Havn't even got to play it once...

[Zoglog]

that's so awesome, I submitted an RMA for my guitar TWO weeks ago and the box STILL Hasn't arrived.

Meanwhile if this one is broken I'll have Wasted 1/2 of my warranty period waiting for a replacement. How is this reasonable, esp given the failure and DEAD OUT of Box rates. Given the faltering economy this kind of lack of service will be your downfall.

[ThatShortGuy]

While I don't want to come across as unreasonably angry, I would like to express initial disdain for getting charged $125 on a RB1 drum pedal RMA that I never received the original replacement part for.

I will take the opportunity to ask, however, if I actually have any chance of getting this charge revoked. My gut instinct says no, despite a second broken RB1 pedal I could send back if they're that adamant about things.

[expertdrums1001]

What if you just want to get a new drum pedal without buying a whole new drum kit, anyone have the answer?

[gogostevie]

Still no joy on shipping for a drums RMA submitted 10/21, and now I've received an email saying that I've only got 14 days before I'm charged for the set I haven't returned yet.

You know, the set replaced by the RMA... which hasn't shipped yet.

Sigh.

Anyone been charged for an RMA that they never received?

[ThatShortGuy]

Still no joy on shipping for a drums RMA submitted 10/21, and now I've received an email saying that I've only got 14 days before I'm charged for the set I haven't returned yet.

You know, the set replaced by the RMA... which hasn't shipped yet.

Sigh.

Anyone been charged for an RMA that they never received?

Indeed. I managed to clear this up with EA Support earlier in the day today. In my situation, they never shipped the replacement as they claim that they never received a copy of my receipt. I was able to have the charge removed from my card by essentially cancelling my RMA.

In your case, circumstances may require you to get in touch with UPS (or whatever parcel service is used in your area) and see if they have received the shipment. If the carrier just hasn't gotten around to you yet, get all the information you can about that package and relay it to EA Support in order to show that you haven't received your replacement yet. CYA, yes, but necessary when we're talking $125 for something a friend of mine has made out of two blocks of wood and a spring.

[quicksilverghost]

Do they go out of their way to make sure you can not log in or file a RMA for drum sets??? I have been trying now for hours to get either online or on the phone with no luck what so ever.

[dangermen]

Quicksilverghost see my post on page 21... that may help.

[samjjones]

Still no joy on shipping for a drums RMA submitted 10/21, and now I've received an email saying that I've only got 14 days before I'm charged for the set I haven't returned yet.

You know, the set replaced by the RMA... which hasn't shipped yet.

Sigh.

Anyone been charged for an RMA that they never received?

I will do you one better. I received the same email saying I have 14 days before I'm charged, although I haven't received the set and the warranty period is expiring.

They apparently phantom sent me PS3 drums, despite my telling the rep at the time the RMA was entered that my problem was with Xbox drums!

EA's customer service here is awful.

[fl4ntasmo]

Wow this is awesome...my strum bar breaks for my guitar THE NIGHT BEFORE the Foo Fighters Album (that i've been waiting to buy for MONTH'S now) comes out....and I can't even replace it

[MaximuM_MayheM]

My guitar is defective right out of the box, and I need an RMA, but I don't have a receipt. Do I really need the receipt? The guitar hasn't even been out 60 days. Someone please tell me I am not out $70, because if I am, then I will never buy another "official" Rock Band guitar.

BTW, don't buy from Wal-mart. If you lose your receipt, they won't print out a copy, even if you have more than sufficient proof that you are the one whose name is on the receipt, which is BS, since plenty of companies will re-print you a receipt.

[russedmonton]

I complained through their website until they finally gave me a number to call. 1-650-628-1001. After talking to them they stated that every time I asked for an update on my order through the website, the automated system reset my order. So if you comment on an order or have a question about when it will arrive, the system will actually cancel your shipping order until an agent reads it to update it - which can take up to a week. So instead of waiting the "48 hours" promised on their website, I have waited for 3 weeks already and now have to wait an additional 2-4 weeks for delivery because technically the service rep just put the order back on the active list today. RIDICULOUS!

[BietzMe]

I started a thread about this, but then saw this...

I was reading the RMA FAQ and it said I needed a receipt of my purchase. The problem is, I don't have it. However, since I have the RB 2 drums, by release date alone I am within the 60 day period. Can I submit these drums without a receipt since I couldn't have possibly had them prior to 60 days?

[MaximuM_MayheM]

I started a thread about this, but then saw this...

I was reading the RMA FAQ and it said I needed a receipt of my purchase. The problem is, I don't have it. However, since I have the RB 2 drums, by release date alone I am within the 60 day period. Can I submit these drums without a receipt since I couldn't have possibly had them prior to 60 days?

This is what I am wondering too, and logically they should still accept it, but I have a feeling the answer is no. If anyone has an answer, please tell us.

[BietzMe]

My yellow pad isn't responding any more. I really hope they can RMA this. Honestly, I bought the RB 1 bundle, RB 2, RB 2 drums, and a crap load of DLC. If this can't get fixed, I'm not buying another one.

[BietzMe]

I am on the phone with Best Buy and should be able to get a receipt copy. If it's just my pads that aren't working, when I RMA them, do I need to send the entire drum set back or just the pads?

[ruggedman]

So I specifically bought Rock Band 2 Special Edition after the great support I got for replacing my 3 broken guitars (strum bars, tilt sensors, and whammy bars) from Rock Band 1. Now having played RB2 for a while, the new guitar is still working great. The Drums however constantly shut off and are bubbling up and aren't registering hits properly. After reading this thread about lack of support I'm going to attempt an RMA. If it doesn't work I'll just buy a new set of drums and return the old set in the box to the store saying they are faulty and have HMX get them back that way.

I will say that if indeed the RMA process has gone downhill as much as it sounds this will be the last Rock Band product I ever buy and I will no longer purchase anymore DLC. If you don't support your customers we will give our money to someone else that offers a better product.

[BietzMe]

I found my receipt last night!!!!! I emailed it in and my RMA is in process.

To the other poster with the issue of no receipt, call the company you bought it from and if you used a credit/debit card, they can track the purchase. They gave me info where I could go to Best Buy and have a copy of my receipt printed out. I ended up finding the original any way, but it's worth a shot. Good luck!

[Frozenghost001]

what happens if, by some chance, we are over the 60-dar warrentee? my bass pedal just broke today since launch for the first time and i already fileld out a RMA. i need anothe rbass pedal, and I never heard of a warentee since, well, today. and i'm pretty mad. i hope they can still fix mine, even though my warentee was over for 10 months now :(.

[StevieQ]

60 days? That sucks. Now my broken red pad will stay broken.

Thanks, greedy, corporate, money-mongering corporations :D

[StevieQ]

I will say that if indeed the RMA process has gone downhill as much as it sounds this will be the last Rock Band product I ever buy and I will no longer purchase anymore DLC. If you don't support your customers we will give our money to someone else that offers a better product.

Yeah. The support was so good for the first 8 months, too.

[BietzMe]

what happens if, by some chance, we are over the 60-dar warrentee? my bass pedal just broke today since launch for the first time and i already fileld out a RMA. i need anothe rbass pedal, and I never heard of a warentee since, well, today. and i'm pretty mad. i hope they can still fix mine, even though my warentee was over for 10 months now :(.

If you PayPal me money for shipping I will consider sending you my RB1 pedal. This isn't a promise nor a guarantee.

[chuymora]

please reply to my question!!! that is why we are here to learn from you what we should do, not for you make fun of our questions. You are here to HELP US!!!
i have the rb2 for ps3 and the drums are not working!!! the light in the drums are just blinking and the light in the usb connector is not working!! is the problem with the connector or with th drums set? i changed batteries and still the same. what should i do? please tech people fom harmonix or ea reply.

[BietzMe]

I just received new pads and when I hit the green and red pads at the same time, they don't work, WTF!!!!!!

I am finished with DLC and RB as a whole I think...

[BietzMe]

I cannot even get a damn phone number because EA won't recognize my name and password.

[Austinsdc]

Dear EA,

I have had Rock Band 2 for xbox 360 for about 3 weeks now. 2 days into play the pads all bubbled and the red one actually fell off. I requested and Rma right away and you sent me another drum set in about 9 days. Upon setting up new drum pads, they don't work at all. I want my money back pronto for this garbage. How in the world can you sell this stuff in stores and then the stores (Gamestop) have a policy that you cannot return defective games? I have never heard such a thing in my life. What are we supposed to do after 60 days? When this garbage stops working again? *IF I CAN EVER GET DRUMS THAT WORK RIGHT IN THE FIRST FRICKIN PLACE* What about people that are buying this for Christmas for their children....maybe 60 days in advance? What is going to happen to them? More importantly what about the kids all excited to play on Christmas morning and their Rockband doesn't work at all? Seriously, what is wrong with you people? Take your heads out of your butts and get it together. If you don't fix my problem you can guarantee I'll never by a Harmonix/EA product EVER again. BTW, your customer service girl Kayla was awesome.
***BietzMe the number is 650-628-1001

[peaceNpower]

It sure seems like there is a lot of RMA's going out. That must cost a fortune. I bought RB1 in about May of 08 and lost the receipt. Played mostly guitar for a while but never really got into it. Life got in the way. Needless to say, one of the drum sensors went out (green) and so I looked into a new sensor. After a weekend at a friends house playing RB2, I decided to buy a setup for the new songs, a working drum set and a second guitar. Right out of the box, the new wireless drum set would not connect no matter what I tried. IF the game wasn't so fun when it worked, people would not put up with this poor product reliability. If only EA/HMX knew the potential hole they are digging. They are on the verge of a lawsuit or mass recall. These type of quality problems should be tested before they leave the factory. Not left for the customer to RMA. I sense the door is open for a new manufacturer. We'll see how smoothly my RMA goes.

[Teh_Toasterer]

So does it cover cracked plastic on the under the pads on the drum set which hold the censors under it which are that what dont work after 30 days of playing? :)

[gmanjr74]

Rockband support is a joke. My first guitar that I got with the system (Xbox 360) failed after about 8 hours of gameplay so I sent it in and they replaced it. I had heard that there were problems with the guitars not working after a while so I decided to wait a while before purchasing a second one. So a couple of months ago, I figured it they had probably gotten everything figured out so I got a second guitar. Not two days after buying the other guitar, my original replaced guitar stopped working. Now after only about 20-30 hours of gameplay, both guitars have stopped working. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I can see if we played this game more frequently or abused the controller that there could be more problems, but we literally play it for a couple hours a month when friends come over. I contacted EA support and they said that since my guitars are past the 60 warranty period there is nothing they can do to help me. So basically I am out of luck on getting either of my two guitars fixed. Somebody need to bring a class action lawsuit against this company (like has been filed for the drum pedals). I will no longer be buying ANY EA products since they now expect me to go out and buy yet another guitar if I want to play this game any more.

THANKS FOR NOTHING EA. :mad::mad:

[mugs]

how long does it take if you do the "express" RMA on a Rock Band 2 Wireless Guitar for the XBOX 360?

[Brazzle]

first message... does anyone know why I can't get replacement service? when using the Rock Band warranty site, the troubleshooter says my guitar sounds like it needs to be replaced and tells me to call a number to get further assistance. When I call the number and select Rock Band support and Hardware Replacement (options 1 and 3 respectively) I can't get anyone to answer. I waited on the phone for 40 minutes last night having to call back a few times because after a while the call simply disconnects. Now I'm sitting here again tonight trying to get someone to talk to me.

Why do I see that I can start the process online, but I can't?

[mxmarks]

first message... does anyone know why I can't get replacement service? when using the Rock Band warranty site, the troubleshooter says my guitar sounds like it needs to be replaced and tells me to call a number to get further assistance. When I call the number and select Rock Band support and Hardware Replacement (options 1 and 3 respectively) I can't get anyone to answer. I waited on the phone for 40 minutes last night having to call back a few times because after a while the call simply disconnects. Now I'm sitting here again tonight trying to get someone to talk to me.

Why do I see that I can start the process online, but I can't?


Wow, just logged in to post the SAME exact thing. Just spent my entire lunch break at work on hold, until I had to go.

I got an RB2 strat for Christmas, that double strummed out of the box. I exchanged it for a new one today, and the new one's green fret button doesn't work. Now this.

I hate to sound immature and preachy, but I've been a huge supporter of this game, and it's excellent customer service since launch. I bought RB1 at launch, and while I was very upset when my guitar and drums died, the customer service and RMA process was fantastic, and I didn't mind going through it at all. Mistakes happen, companies learn and grow, and it was understandable that there would be some problems.

But instead of things getting better, they've gotten progressively worse. I first bought the wireless drums, and needed to RMA them almost immediately. The set I got in back works fine - now that I've added almost $50 of extras on to it (pads, a metal pedal, ect...) that will help stop it from breaking. Then it was the guitar - twice - broken straight out of the box. And now I come to do yet another RMA, a process that in the past has at least been swift and easy, and the website tells me to call them, calling them tells me to use the website, and I sit on hold for a half hour with no resolution.

There is no excuse of a product being broken when sold to you, and I feel I've been understanding enough. While I'm not going to swear off playing Rock Band or anything like that, I will say I'm done with any future purchases of DLC, expansions or instruments. I will continue to enjoy everything I have, but I finally feel I've spent far too much of my time, energy and money attempting to simply USE the things I have purchased. I can not honestly give my hard earned money to a company that does so little to ensure a working product leave its factories.

[Brazzle]

Wow, just logged in to post the SAME exact thing. Just spent my entire lunch break at work on hold, until I had to go.

I got an RB2 strat for Christmas, that double strummed out of the box. I exchanged it for a new one today, and the new one's green fret button doesn't work. Now this.

I hate to sound immature and preachy, but I've been a huge supporter of this game, and it's excellent customer service since launch. I bought RB1 at launch, and while I was very upset when my guitar and drums died, the customer service and RMA process was fantastic, and I didn't mind going through it at all. Mistakes happen, companies learn and grow, and it was understandable that there would be some problems.

But instead of things getting better, they've gotten progressively worse. I first bought the wireless drums, and needed to RMA them almost immediately. The set I got in back works fine - now that I've added almost $50 of extras on to it (pads, a metal pedal, ect...) that will help stop it from breaking. Then it was the guitar - twice - broken straight out of the box. And now I come to do yet another RMA, a process that in the past has at least been swift and easy, and the website tells me to call them, calling them tells me to use the website, and I sit on hold for a half hour with no resolution.

There is no excuse of a product being broken when sold to you, and I feel I've been understanding enough. While I'm not going to swear off playing Rock Band or anything like that, I will say I'm done with any future purchases of DLC, expansions or instruments. I will continue to enjoy everything I have, but I finally feel I've spent far too much of my time, energy and money attempting to simply USE the things I have purchased. I can not honestly give my hard earned money to a company that does so little to ensure a working product leave its factories.

I feel for you. On a game like this there is always anxiety at the thought of having to replace a peripheral---when it happens multiple times it is extremely frustrating.

BTW... the green fret button is also my problem. It seems to work fine by itself but when combined with any other fret buttons it won't register in game.

[madog69]

these guys are the biggest joke in gaming.another waste of cash....now they dont dont want to replace there faulty products...and they got you by the balls cause they wont man up i give you your money back.they had no problem taking your $200 but if it dont work you cant get your money back.thats stealing....i'm still waiting for a reply from customer service on the faulty RB 1 broken guitar they shipped me almost a year ago:rolleyes:they will never get a penny from me again

[braunerf18]

i spent $100 on the new rb drum kit and both the yellow pads and red pads cracked in half. I have received a replacement but now I am out of the warranty period and I know it is going to happen again. Go back to your old warranty HMX!

[wyltk75]

Boy this is not hopeful. I am merely a casual gamer, and everything seemed to be working fine when I first bought it. Last night the guitar quit syncing up. It just blinks incessantly and won't talk to the dongle. The "troubleshooting" on the website was useless for this problem. I called the number and ended up waiting too long, and just hung up. Will they be able to help troubleshoot something other than what is listed on the website troubleshooting over the phone?

This sucks.