Foxconn Mars & 3870X2

[Stocky]

Guess what arrived in the post this morning...

http://www.arcticx.com/forum/mars.jpg

http://www.arcticx.com/forum/3870x2.jpg

I'm quite excited - will hopefully get some benchies up shortly :cool:

[sacha35]

looking good mate should be very good for some needed points for the team.

[scooter.jay]

Looking forward to seeing some results stocky would be interested to see how far you can push it on stock cooling.:waiting:

[K404]

Mon the Stockdale! :D

[Stocky]

Just set it all up, then pressed the 'on' button. You won't believe it, but the little **** just blew up! :ohmy:

Smelt that burning smoke, then saw a few sparks across the board :ohmy:

Figuring it out now...

[ncc-1709]

nice, a fireworks display.
ask for a swap out ship

[K404]

Noooooo! :(

[Stocky]

I bought it from Aria, and they are out of stock :(

Is there a better alternative to this board at present (so I can order today)?

[scooter.jay]

I have new stuff coming today i hope mine does not blow up. But i do feel for you stocky good luck.:(

[Stocky]

Anyone know if the "MSI P35 Diamond LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Motherboard" will match up?

[K404]

It wont have PCI-E2.0, and BIOS support will be not-great :(

Have read that the latest cards dont perform at 100% with PCI-E1.1 interfaces? :(

[Stocky]

Nevermind, I've begun an RMA request with Aria. I found out that the fault was a bent fan header which was shorting out. I'm ever so careful, so couldn't understand how it had got bent. A good job I took hi-res photographs before I'd removed the motherboard from the box as you can see the fault (pin bent over, and shorting out):

http://www.arcticx.com/forum/fault.jpg

I'll have a look to see what I can do.

[BigAndy]

Balls, I really wish you best luck with RMA and hope you will get replacement soon ;).

[Stocky]

Cheers :)

I hope Aria are good with RMA's. Unfortunately they are out of stock, so I've ordered another one just now from elsewhere - not such a good deal though!

It's a shame as I was hoping to bench this week. Guess it'll have to wait now :(

(memory returns of why I bought a laptop :p)

[maverik-sg1]

I have RMA's with Aria recently my P35 mobo - after 3 months of use, 48hrs for RMA ref to come through, sameday acknowledge receipt of parcel being received, in my case unit has to be tested and it was 2 weeks after xmas (considered a busy period for RMA etc..).

I received my replacement board 3 days ago - so 14days including testing at the busiest time (when returns are at their highest)........ brilliant :)

[skull_fcuk]

Looks like the form of the plastic packaging was to blame. Perhaps the mobo shifted inside violently during transit. A damn shame, as that was quite a spec there.

[Stocky]

I received my replacement board 3 days ago - so 14days including testing at the busiest time (when returns are at their highest)........ brilliant :)

That's nice to know, thanks :)

I'm going for a refund so it may be even quicker. I'll post how it goes, so we'll see how long it takes them. So far I have received an automated reply email saying that they have received my RMA request...

[jabski]

unlucky stocky :(

[Stocky]

Looks like the form of the plastic packaging was to blame. Perhaps the mobo shifted inside violently during transit. A damn shame, as that was quite a spec there.

Good eye - it looks like the packing does come down right by the header to support the board. Unfortunately, this means that if the board is knocked hard from one direction the board could shift pushing the header into this plastic 'protection' :rollyeyes:

At least now I'll know to look over the next motherboard very carefully before plugging it up.

RMA Update - I have received an RMA return number from Aria, so I'll try and get it off to them tomorrow morning :)

[Bustah]

Thats really bad luck! soo dissapointing. Hope your rma goes ok m8.

[Stocky]

Thats really bad luck! soo dissapointing. Hope your rma goes ok m8.

Thanks :)

I ordered another Foxconn Mars from elsewhere as I can't afford to wait around when we have team points to gather! They have confirmed that it should arrive Monday, so I should have an update then :)

[jabski]

Thanks :)

I ordered another Foxconn Mars from elsewhere as I can't afford to wait around when we have team points to gather! They have confirmed that it should arrive Monday, so I should have an update then :)

nice. Bet your looking forward to Monday.
I got some hardware winging its way across Europe to me and my SS is getting fixed and should be ready Wednesday. Oh and i got Saturday off work next week :lol:
Points will be good i hope.
And i am sure a few of us are getting 3870X2's this week :waiting:

[Bustah]

Good news stocky..I just got 22 points for the team with my 3870x2 18k+points in 3dmark06.
I too got a new board yesterday to replace my commando. [DFI LanParty LT X38-T2R X38 Motherboard]
hopefully ill see some decent cpu benches..

[Stocky]

The new Foxconn Mars I ordered has arrived today and I have found the same fault as before, just not a serious:

http://www.arcticx.com/forum/fault2.jpg

As you can see the header pin is slightly bent, but not enough to cause a short across the pins. I gave the board a further visual inspection and it all looked okay, so I straightened out the pin and continued to plug it all up. I fitted all the hardware and attached the Johann SS unit which all fired up great! :biggrin:

I had bad contact with the SS, but it was just a test run as I don't have a air cooler handy. I've just applied a thick layer of rubber paint to protect the board and on the parts of the SS mounting to ensure that they are all nicely sealed.

I expect to get some benchies sorted tomorrow, so it's all looking good really! :)

[Stocky]

I just received an email from Aria:

"Unfortunately, your RMA request has been declined.

Please contact Customer Services at http://www.aria.co.uk/Support/Contact+Aria if you have any concerns."

What on Earth does that mean - how can they 'decline' my RMA!? :ohmy:

[K404]

Any reasons given?

Show em the pic of your 2nd board to prove its not a one-off

[Stocky]

Any reasons given?

Show em the pic of your 2nd board to prove its not a one-off

on phone to Aria customer services now - 12min on hold and counting...

damn, it's an '0870' number too :(

Edit: 20mins...

[Stocky]

on phone to Aria customer services now

Right, spoke to Chris and he said that the CPU socket also had damage so they refused the RMA because I hadn't mentioned it because I should have checked it and reported it within 24 hours or the warranty is void! So Aria's answer is to send me back the faulty board.

I didn't notice any socket damage, and I don't see why it is my responsibilty to check the hardware - what ever happened to quality control?? It was lucky it didn't take out my CPU, GPU, RAM and PSU!

Anyway, I said the board was faulty either way so they have to sort it out. He said he'd call me back later - better be good news... :unsure:

[BigAndy]

Don't take any shit from them dude :no:.

[4Qman]

i wont be buy from Aria then :huh:

Hope you sort this Stocky.

[Barron_Greenback]

Hope you get it sorted mate, they should RMA it if it was damaged in transit surely ? :huh:

Im only 10mins away from Aria at the moment... Me and the boys could pop down and "Encourage" them... Don't reckon they'd like 6 hairy arsed sparks turning up in the shop!

[Stocky]

Hope you get it sorted mate, they should RMA it if it was damaged in transit surely ? :huh:

Im only 10mins away from Aria at the moment... Me and the boys could pop down and "Encourage" them... Don't reckon they'd like 6 hairy arsed sparks turning up in the shop!

They should do as it's nothing to them they'll just send it back to their supplier - it's easier to just fob me off I guess, as they should refund my return postage too as it was faulty on arrival.

Hoepfully it'll be okay, but I think these kind of problems are more difficult to handle with these larger companies like Aria, Komplett etc. although the automation should make it easier, but it doesn't in a case like mine when it is faulty on arrival.

I know that they must think that I abused it or something - but I only had it couple of hours before requesting RMA :rollyeyes:

I have dealt with sensitive electronic components since I was a kid, and I don't have fat fingers, so they shouldn't really be pointing at me so hastily as it's a little offensive :coffee:

[Bustah]

stick to your guns m8, if needed tell them to return it to the manufacturer, not to you/.

[Stocky]

stick to your guns m8

Will do :)

Well, they haven't phoned me back today like they said that they would - it looks like I'm going to have to chase them; even though they have the motherboard and my money (reminds me a bit of the problems I had with NTL) :coffee:

[BigAndy]

What's the score Stocky mate?

[Stocky]

What's the score Stocky mate?

No news from them. I'll have to give them another call on Monday I guess, but I don't think that's really fair on me so I may write an extensive email with the facts and basic demands. If no luck, I'll proceed to legal as they'd be breaking Trading Standards. But it shouldn't come to that really, as they're probably just trying it on. :coffee:

[Stocky]

Right, this is actually the WORST experience I have ever had with an online retailer of any kind, ever!

My email after they did not respond by phone (18th Feb):

I write to you regarding an RMA which I sent on the 1st February 2008, only a matter of hours after receiving the item as it was clearly a defect. I have photographic evidence of the fan header damage and have also been informed by Chris that the CPU socket was also faulty. I am a qualified engineer and have been working with computers for many years, so please do not try and pass this off as customer/ user fault. Not only this, as a member of a number of UK computer enthusiast forums (linked with CustomPC magazine), I have been documenting this build which shows images and forum posts with time stamps of the motherboard arriving and the damage being shown in the photographs (one while still in transparent packaging). I can email these pictures to you if you so require.

I telephoned customer services (after waiting on hold for over 20 minutes) on the 13th Feb and spoke to Chris who told me that he would telephone me back that day. I have not heard back or received any missed calls from you department to this day which is quite unsatisfactory.

To achieve a timely resolution, could you please provide me with a full refund including my return postage due to the item arriving faulty. I do not wish to go through the hassle of passing this situation onto my legal advisor as my case is clearly quite solid and I'm sure as a reputable company you do not wish to breach my consumer rights. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.


Their response (21st Feb):

Please can you provide us with a reference number so we can look in to this matter further for you?

Thanks for your email.

Kind Regards,
Aria Customer Service Team
Aria Technology Ltd.


Like they couldn't see it in the return email details, plus it took them 3 days for that response?!

I replied back and left it another 6 days, then emailed them with this (27th Feb):

It has now been another six days (you have my money and my item, which is ridiculous) and I have not heard back from you regarding order "PSIW121456". If you do not wish to proceed into legal proceedings please contact me ASAP as I will be contacting my credit card company shortly to forceibly recover the funds. You can contact me on this email address at any time.


I'm still waiting for a response from them, but think that I will have to face waiting on hold on their 0870 number and trying to get them to sort it out?

Any advice would be aprreciated here, as I'm not sure what the best course of action is so that I can recover my funds :(

[sacha35]

Mate this is bad news, did you pay for the item using a credit card as you have an insurance on this and they can claim your money back from the seller as it was a faulty product, if you did phone the credit card company up and tell them you wish to claim this money back.

[4Qman]

Stocky i agree with sacha, they clearly don't want to know so contact credit card company and start to go though causing them as much hassel as you can.

buggers man i am gutted and angry just reading the thread.

[r1ch]

Sorry to hear the bad news mate, you're doing everything perfectly though. Like we've all said, stick to your guns and hold out on them.

Ring your card company and try and get the money back off them.

Last thing to try would be to sign up for their forums and post there - there's usually a few Aria people that check it, it might kick them into gear a bit or the worst they'll do is ban you, so you might get some luck there.

Hope things work out for you, i really do. :)

[I.L.P]

I think we need a Black List of these companies setting up on BenchTEC so everyone knows who not to deal with, also a Gold List for the highly reccomended companies so we don't look like a complete bunch of grumpy old men :D

[r1ch]

The problem is that the service you receive from these companies can vary.

I bought my P5K Deluxe as a sale item, or what i think they called 'B Grade' stock. I got a great price, and the board arrived in time, and although the box was a little tatty, everything was included and the board is great. Granted, because I had no problems, I've not had to try their RMA service, which appears to be pretty poor.

[Stocky]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have just checked and unfortunately I paid with a debit card, so I'd have to go through the small claims court and file a case against the company.

I agree with you about the service varying, as if the board wasn't faulty I'm sure I would have been happy with the service. I think what shows the difference in customer service is how well the company deals with you when there is an issue. However, Mav had a good RMA turn-around, so I guess it could be pick of the draw?!

Anyway, I think Mav was probably a lucky one; as if you;re interested check out some of these experiences: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/misc-systems/aria-technology/reviews/

I also see that someone there has taken Aria to court and they have said that Aria have county court judgements against them. I'm really hoping that I won't have to go that far, but I will if I don't see my refund; mainly out of principle.

[Stocky]

Still nothing back from Aria. I have posted this on their forums:

I have emailed customer services yesterday to make them aware that if I do not receive a full refund within 28 days that I will begin court proceedings after there of, as it is my legal obligation to make that clear.

This is the worst experience I have ever had with any company, ever. I will be investigating how much further I can take this too; I'm clearly not alone in receiving such a shoddy service. I will also be making BBC's Watchdog aware of my and other consumer's experiences so that they can be made aware to the public.

They really do not seem to care. I can't believe I'm having to take them to court over receiving a faulty motherboard. How pathetic is that - wasting my time and their own. It makes me sick that they can behave like this and basically get away with it. :@