Warranty Service: Who is the least awful?

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GammaBreaker

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I'm in the process of helping a friend get a new monitor, as the one he was using is burning out, and there's no local repair shop near him. There are plenty of options out there, but the one stumbling block is each maker's warranty support. While I'm willing to do battle for warranties, I really don't want him to have to do that if it should come up during the life of the monitor he gets.

ASUS support is notoriously awful on all fronts. HP support is similarly pretty bad. I've heard Samsung is very hit or miss. Dell is an intractable battle unless you buy it directly from them to provide the order number (since anything under 30" has no service number on it), which rules out most secondary Dell resellers. If you do have the Dell order number, I hear it's still hit or miss.

There are plenty of other makers out there, but I know much less about them. At this point it's less about picking the perfect monitor -- he's not really an enthusiast or power user. If something happens with it though, I just want him to have a relatively painless option for support.

If anyone has personal experience, or otherwise common knowledge about how each other noteworthy monitor manufacturer handles their service, I'd much appreciate it.
 
Always go ASUS =) Either the backlight went out old tube light or the power supply. I think with the newer monitors you can have the power supply outside of the monitor like the ASUS ROG does.

If something happens I'll hold his hand =) Actually Dell is probably the best of the bunch I might be wrong I heard good stuff about Dell. I have something against Dell currently ever since I bought that LCD back in2 005 and it totally blasted me from brightness I guess they are lots better.
 
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I don't think there's a really a uniform warranty experience among companies, it's most likely a hit or miss with everyone.

I've always heard good things about Dell customer service, but their monitors have some of the worst quality control in the business. Then you have companies like Eizo, sporting a five year warranty, generally excellent build quality, but terrible customer service as I've heard.

In short, I really think it'd be better to just buy something halfway decent; [H] has a lot of threads for user reviews on multiple monitors, it'd be better to check them out as opposed to buying into a brand and warranty.
 
It might also depend in which country you live. For example i've heard many good things about Dell & EVGA .. from those that live in US. Not so from those in rest of the world. Warranty quality / rma shipping speed .. it all varies depending on country, thus also user views about vendor.
 
Church said:
It might also depend in which country you live. For example i've heard many good things about Dell & EVGA .. from those that live in US. Not so from those in rest of the world. Warranty quality / rma shipping speed .. it all varies depending on country, thus also user views about vendor.
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Exactly this; as someone living in the US I can even vouch for EVGA, lol.

But OP, it's probably a good to mention that most current generation LED monitors will not just up and die.

Generally any issues you could possibly have with it, you'll see them right out of the box, which is why it's good to always buy from a website/store with a no-hassle exchange policy, like Amazon for example.
 
Thanks for all the replies. We're in the US, so that keeps some doors open. It's not so much about finding the best warranty and buying into that, so much as finding the ones that give you the least nightmares when something pops up. I personally haven't had any of my monitors die, even after nearly a decade of use, but he's had three of them up and faceplant inside of the past five years. Two HPs and a Samsung. Never can tell.

I've got a Dell U2412M in addition to my other monitors, and that handles well enough. But I've heard about those QC issues they have. Seems to be a bit of a crapshoot. Might see if he wants to take a gamble on something like that.

It sounds like there's really no Grand Champion in that arena (like EVGA has been good to me in the past), so we'll just pick what fits the need and the budget.

Skripka said:
HP SMB support is pretty kickass actually.
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True, their SMB is a bit of a different kettle. I might be able to get one for him that way, as I have some business channels on tap...
 
GammaBreaker said:
But I've heard about those QC issues they have. Seems to be a bit of a crapshoot. Might see if he wants to take a gamble on something like that.
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Note that people often come to forums to complain and will seldom come to a forum to sing praises about a product or service. Furthermore, some people are far more sensitive to QC issues than others - so what might be completely acceptable for you will be unacceptable to someone else.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Dell, HP, Apple, etc will provide competent warranty service.

If he has computer equipment dying constantly I'd suggest two things:
1. Buying business grade equipment
2. Getting a good battery backup/line conditioner
 
I have a very bad experience with Samsung monitor RMA. But that's the only monitor I had that I had issues, and I hope that will continue to be true. As for TVs, I had a bad experience with Sony. So I love Vizio now.
 
GammaBreaker said:
True, their SMB is a bit of a different kettle. I might be able to get one for him that way...
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If you get a Z-series monitor you get the business support regardless of how you purchase it. Z27i is pretty spendy compared some other options; you might be able to find a refurb zr2740w for ~$300. (though refurb will only carry a 1 year warranty.)

HP consumer support had no clue how to deal with my zr2740w, but once I got to the right department it was replaced within 2 days, didn't even need a receipt, just based off the serial number.
 
NEC warranty support is fully American and replied within hours the last time I contacted them. I had some issues with my monitor stand and they sent me a replacement one overnight via UPS.
 
Ive only ever dealt with Samsung, which was annoying but they made me whole.... eventually.

Basically i had a S27b970d (such a garbage display) that would flat out not calibrate to 2.2

After i would calibrate it it would be something like 2.5. I did it with the internal calibration system, an i1 display pro, and also a spyder 4. Same issue on all of them. First time was easy to get a ticket going for repair. They replace the main board, takes a week to get back, not bad. But it comes back with the same problem. 2nd time getting the RMA ticket was a huge bitch. None of the CS reps wanted to do it (almost like if they allow a 2nd RMA they get in trouble or written up or something... i wouldnt be surprised). According to almost all of these moronic reps, the problem was my PC and not the monitor. After all they couldn't have possibly have failed to repair it.

Eventually i found someone who would do it. I had to flat out lie and and tell them the self test (where it displays the RGB signal that bounces around on the screen) displayed orange, grey and purple. Reluctantly they agree to repair it again. But i had to wait 2 days for them to email me a shipping label. They replace the main board again and still it wont calibrate properly.

This time I raise hell about the issue, demanding a replacement. They forward me to their "executive" CS line, who were actually very helpful (and they understood English, wow!), and they ended up just cashing me out for what i paid.
 
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People have already said this - buy from the Small Business portal. I've had great experiences with warranty issues on Dell Ultrasharps when purchased this way.

Keep in mind, if it's not "Monitor is not working (or not working properly)" you'll likely have to call 2 - 3 times. One of my monitors had a squealing sound, and I called Dell 3 times about it. Calls were quick "Can you power cycle the monitor" type calls, but during the 3rd call I told them power cycling no longer silenced the sound and they sent me a new (refurbished) monitor in 2 days.

I will say this. One of the Dell reps outrightly lied to me during the second call and said a replacement was on the way. When I called back a few weeks later they said the previous rep had marked the problem as solved during the call in their system.

Still, minimal games on Dell's side with business accounts. Much better than the home accounts, which is only games.
 
Have had super support from HP on their enterprise products--can't vouch for their other lines. Used Viewsonic and Samsung monitors but never had reason to RMA or deal with customer support; I am using Dell now and so far no problems but have it registered with them just in case.

As others mentioned, the enterprise versions of HP receive the same support no matter where you buy them; they also have a listing of refurb products that they support nicely--not as long as new but a good deal--their prices are more reasonable.

https://h41183.www4.hp.com/pps-offers.php
 
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ASUS has awful warranty service. Across almost all of their products frankly.

Dell is pretty good. Apple is good as well. NEC was the best experience for me during an RMA. Very friendly and good communication.

I've heard mixed reactions to Eizo.
 
Don't forget that NEC is on [H] also... :)

Our minimum warranty is 3 years, professional is 4 years. We have US-based customer service agents and our service warehouses are all domestic as well.
 
Wow! Forgot that my very first monitor was an NEC amber monochrome monitor way back in the dark ages of computing! It was a great deal in those days.
 
This thread reminds me of my Samsung adventure in '04. I had just moved to another city 800 miles away for a co-op/internship, and didn't have room in my car for my CRT. I spent $700 on a nice new 17" LCD with DVI (spendy option back then), but the screen was bad (either dented like a Benq I got, or full of bad pixels, can't remember). Their RMA replacement was an inferior model without DVI, and the CS people swore up and down that the replacement I got was a direct equivalent to the one I bought (~$300 difference). That one went back on Samsung's dime again, and they eventually sent me the proper one...a couple weeks before I moved back home. I spent $700 to have a nice LCD for my summer gaming while I was away, only to have wound up using a blurry borrowed 15" CRT for the whole 4 months. I made up for it by playing the hell out of HL2 when I got back though. That monitor is still in use on our main invoicing/inventory computer at work.
 
My friend's had issues with Samsung monitors and TVs, and has told me that the support is like pulling teeth.

You've all been great, I really appreciate the suggestions and information here. I've started looking at the NEC's as per the suggestions -- so that's on the table now, too. Apparently he prefers 16:10 (I do too, really), and there are a few nice 16:10 NEC's listed. He's scraping together the last bit of funds, and should have a new monitor in the next couple of weeks.
 
I've actually had a good experience using support for my Samsung 60ES8000. It would randomly reboot once in a while so I recorded it and uploaded to Samsung's website. In 3 days a technician arrived at my house and replaced the power board and that was the end of the issue.

I've never really had any issues with any of my monitors, but I would prefer Dell or Apple over any other manufacturer. Although Apple's displays/products are completely overpriced, their support is second to none.
 
I only had to deal with Dell for my U2711 and they were great; basically no questions asked and cross shipped so I did not have to go with out a monitor.
 
I cannot vouch for Samsung.... TERRIBLE! stay away!! cannot emphasize that enough. I had one bad experience with Dell but they are usually on point. Another good one of course is Apple!
 
Commiserate, lets hear your samsung story.

FWIW i've had good experiences with their TVs too (onsite repair). Its just when you ship your product back to their terrible repair centers if where you run into issues.
 
My experience with Samsung was horrible: they tried to replace an S27A850D (700$) with an S27A650D (350$), I had to send the monitor in twice, it took 3 months to get a replacement, and lastly, they sent me a letter with a bill which claimed I had not sent in my monitor 3 months after they sent the replacement I did not want. Dealt with Dell twice, had no issues.
 
NCX said:
My experience with Samsung was horrible: they tried to replace an S27A850D (700$) with an S27A650D (350$), I had to send the monitor in twice, it took 3 months to get a replacement, and lastly, they sent me a letter with a bill which claimed I had not sent in my monitor 3 months after they sent the replacement I did not want. Dealt with Dell twice, had no issues.
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I had a similar experience as well, but the refurbed replacement I got winded up failing too in a couple of month with the same red glow problem. I call it the predator monitor.

I winded up filing a report on BBB to get someone higher up on Samsung to get in touch with me. She send me a brand new monitor (as I was told). But I've given up on Samsung at this point, so I winded up selling it locally through Craigslist without even opening it. New owner never contacted me after, so I guess he's happy.

This is why I highly value getting monitors from Costco, with their "lifetime" return policy on everything except certain items. Monitors are not include on that list! Yeah!

I did buy my Asus gaming monitor from Amazon though.
 
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