So, the PSU of my Media Center PC died. Luckily, this power supply was made by Ultra products which are known to make products of good quality and that probably the reason why they back it up by good warranty (it should have been a life-time warranty in this case). So, I was delighted that I will not have to shell out cash to get a replacement. Little did I know that the Support/Warranty system of Ultra Products is kind of a scam. I called them up to RMA the PSU. From my talk with them I found/realized the following things.

• I had registered the PSU as soon as I bought it. But they couldn’t find any record of the registration. Their registration database does not register components with their serial numbers but rather just the Model. They search their databases based on the name of the person who registered it. I have registered at least 3 products on their website (this PSU, a RAM DIMM, and another PSU that I had bought for my friend) and funny thing is they could not locate my name in the database at all.
• They do not RMA any product unless you send a copy of the receipt to them via email. Luckily I had bought this PSU online and hence had the record on the website I bought it from. I have RMA’ed a couple of components. In most of the cases, if the user does not have a receipt, they take the manufacturing date as the date of purchase. Not in this case, since there is no serial number attached to the component itself.
• Finally I was able to get the RMA processed (without life-time warranty), since they offer 3 yr standard warranty without registration. They asked me to return the faulty PSU in the original shipment within 15 days of the RMA date (not the date of receiving the replacement PSU) and I have to pay for the return shipment. Now, counting out the days in receiving the replacement PSU, and weekends, I was left with 6 days to return the PSU. I had to use Priority shipping to make sure I get there in time. With the size of the box they had sent me, I ended up paying $29 for the shipment.

I think I was better off not RMA’ing the PSU at all. I could have bought a newer and better power supply by adding some money to the $29 I shed to return the PSU. After this experience with them, I will prefer not to buy any product from Ultra in the future unless I can just afford to throw it away once it fails.

Posted by admin in system