Back on March 5 – a few days after my CyberPower machine raid array went toes up, I received this RMA approval:
Dear Marc,
Your request for a refund has been processed under RMA# xxxxxxx and the computer may be returned to Cyberpower for a refund. The refund is subject to the terms of our warranty policy you agreed to as part of the original purchase. Please ensure that the computer and other items are well packed and clearly write the RMA # xxxxxx on the outside of the package. You are responsible for shipping the items to Cyberpower at your own expense and it is recommended you insure the package or accept the risk of loss or damage during shipment. Please ship the computer to the following address:
Cyberpower Inc.
5175 Commerce Dr.
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
_____________________________________________________________________________________
*ITEMS BEING RETURNED FOR REFUND MUST BE RETURNED WITHIN 15 DAYS FROM THE DATE THE RMA IS PROVIDED, OR A 15% RESTOCKING FEE WILL BE ASSESED.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Once we receive the package it usually takes seven to ten business days to inventory the items and process the refund before the credit is posted to the method of payment. As detailed in our warranty policy the original shipping and handling charges, including rush and fuel surcharge fees, are non-refundable. All items must be returned and in good condition. The cost of any missing or damaged items will be deducted from your refund.
Please review the Cyberpower warranty located at http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/company/warranty.aspx if you have any questions regarding our return policy. For status updates send an email to rma.status@cyberpowerpc.com and include your customer and RMA number in the message.
If you had changed a repair RMA to a refund RMA, the UPS Return Shipping Label, that was issued to bring the computer in for repair, will no longer be valid. As stated in the warranty, all shipping charges are non-refundable and we do not cover freight charges to bring back any items for refund. Should you elect to use the UPS Return Shipping Label, there will be a $50 charge deducted from the total refund amount.
Cyberpower Warranty:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/company/warranty.asp
______________________________________________________________________________________
RETURN AND REFUND POLICY: (a) 30-day money back guarantee is on all notebook and desktop computer systems. For the first 30 days from the date of the invoice, CyberPower will refund your purchase price on returned product. Shipping charge, handling charge, & fuel surcharge are not refundable. A 15% restocking fee is applied to all returned product between the 31st day and the 45th day after the invoice date.
No refund or credit is allowed after 45 days from the date of the invoice. (b) For part purchases: All returned items must be purchased from CyberPower and returned in good condition within 30 days from the original invoice date.
No refund or credit is allowed after 30 days from the date of the invoice.
ALL Products to be returned first require obtaining CyberPower’s written permission via an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number. Product must be securely packed and delivered to CyberPower in an undamaged condition. Shipping charges are non-refundable.
RMA Status
Cyberpower Inc.
(888) 900-5180 Ext. 151
I went ahead and shipped off the computer the next day. I sent it with signature required and I insured it. From the terms above it looks like my better bet would have been to set it up as a repair RMA and then call and change to a return RMA. They would have charged me only $50. As it is I ended up spending $91 to ship it 🙁
Anyway a few days later I received this:
Dear MARC BOURASSA, your package for RMA# xxxxxx has been received. Please do not reply to this email, since replies to this message are routed to an unmonitored box. For status updates please email rma.status@cyberpowerpc.com and include your customer and RMA numbers in the message.
CyberPower Inc.
I waited just under two weeks and sent them this:
Hi,
I need to get an update on this. It’s been nearly 2 weeks since my return was received by CyberPower.
This was not a simply return because I decided I didn’t want the merchandise, but rather suffered from the catastrophic failure of my raid array which erased everything on my system. Exactly the sort of thing a raid array is supposed to guard against.
The tech working with me wanted me to rebuild the array and start again, but since we did not know what had happened in the first place, there was no way to guarantee that the raid array would not simply fail again. I depend heavily upon my primary machine for work and home finances not to mention all the usual entertainment purposes. I could not spend that kind of money and have a black cloud of impending failure constantly over my head.
I would ask that you refund the entire, shipped cost of the machine in addition to the $91 that it cost me to ship it back to you.
$2480.27 + $91 = $2,571 is my expectation.
I appreciate your attention in this matter,
Marc
And a day later they responded:
Dear Marc,
As detailed in our refund policy the original shipping and handling fee is none refundable, customer’s respond to ship the system back for refund, once we receive the package it usually takes seven to ten business days to inventory the items and process the refund before the credit is posted to the method of payment. As detailed in our warranty policy the original shipping and handling charges, including rush and fuel surcharge fees, are non-refundable. All items must be returned and in good condition.
The cost of any missing or damaged items will be deducted from your refund.
RMA Status
Cyberpower Inc.
(888) 900-5180 Ext. 151
Naturally I wanted some more detail:
Hi there,
OK, fair enough. It’s been ten business days as of today.
Marc
And so now I’m waiting:
Dear Marc,
For the refund status, as per the information from our accounting department, it is under processing and the amount is waiting for approval, and we will follow up with it.
Thank You
RMA Status
Cyberpower Inc.
(888) 900-5180 Ext. 151
I suppose they could be really busy, but many of us consider $2,500 a lot of money and I’d sure like to see my refund soon.
I’ll reiterate that my friend from whom I got the CyberPower recommendation is still very happy with his machine, so my experience could have been just a fluke. When the raid failed I was already trying to get ahold of them for why my machine had already spontaneously rebooted once and took exactly 5 minutes to shut down (power off after windows shutdown). So I was not very confident with the machine already when my raid array failed.
Computers are fickle, but it would sure have been nice to have done this locally. I might even have been able to get it repaired and shipping would not be such a burden. I still can’t find any local boutique-computer shops that would be able to do this.
I very nearly bought one from my local MicroCenter. But theirs came with only 4 Dimm slots and, since it’s nearly impossible to get 4 Gbyte Dimms, and any that *are* available cost a fortune, the best I could do was an 8 Gbyte system. I really wanted at least a 12 Gbyte system for some of the picture work I want to do. And because it’s cool.