ABIT KV8-MAX3: Athlon64 and µGuru

Abit KV8-MAX3: Tech Support and RMA

For your reference, we will repost our support evaluation procedure here:

The way our Tech Support evaluation works is first we anonymously email the manufacturer's tech support address(es), obviously not using our AnandTech mail server to avoid any sort of preferential treatment. Our emails (we can and will send more than one just to make sure we are not getting the staff on an “off” day) all contain fixable problems that we have had with our motherboard. We then give the manufacturer up to 72 business hours to respond and then we will report whether or not they responded within the time allotted, and if they were successful in fixing our problems. In case we don't receive a response before the review is published, any future responses will be added to the review, including the total time it took for the manufacturer to respond to our requests.

The idea here is to encourage manufacturers to improve their technical support as well as provide new criteria upon which to base your motherboard purchasing decisions. As motherboards become more similar every day, we have to help separate the boys from the men in as many ways as possible. As usual, we are interested in your feedback on this and other parts of our reviews, so please do email us with your comments.

You can access ABIT's RMA policy by going to their Taiwan web site first, at www.abit.com.tw. Click on the English (Americas) hyperlink and then click the eRMA (also known as Express RMA) hyperlink on the left-hand side of your screen (under the heading “support services”). Here, you will find an extensive description of Abit's RMA policy. Once you have finished reading Abit's policy, scroll down until you find a hyperlink reading www.abitusa-rma.com and click on it. Sift through the options until you reach three hyperlinks listing warranty info, RMA policy (again) and FAQ. Once you have read all the conditions, click on “I accept” and you will find a short RMA request form to fill out. Overall, ABIT makes finding and filling out RMA information quick and easy, not nearly as painstaking as other motherboard RMA procedures.

There are two main points that we'd like to reiterate about Abit's RMA policy:

1. ABIT, in contrast to other motherboard manufacturers, encourages the consumer to make direct contact with their RMA service instead of the predictable, “please get in touch with the vendor from whom you purchased the motherboard”.

2. Upon receiving a user's defective product in the terms the end user has set, ABIT will process the RMA and return the fixed product typically within the neighborhood of 10 business days.

For ABIT tech support information, end users should head on over to their U.S. website and click on the “support” hyperlink. This hyperlink will immediately take you to their primary tech support web page. ABIT clearly and concisely outlines several procedures for end users to follow before directly contacting ABIT tech support. You may view this page in its entirety by clicking here. ABIT also posts their e-mail address at the bottom of that tech support web page. Reaching ABIT by phone is fairly simple. Just ring them at the following number: 510-492-0968. ABIT holds excellent hours, ranging from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Abit's phone hours are a bit better in the U.S., but other top tier motherboard makers like ASUS keep slightly better hours (of course, ASUS doesn't really answer their tech support phone calls, so it hardly matters).

As far as email tech support response time was concerned, ABIT did very well this time around, clocking in at 28 hours in answering our support email. We also telephoned another question and got immediate help with our issue. The telephone tech support was friendly and very helpful in general, and they answered our question with technical proficiency.

As stated in the past, Abit's RMA policy is unmatched in the U.S.; no other motherboard manufacturer comes close. In combination with their timely tech support reply, we feel ABIT is one of the best (if not the best) motherboard manufacturer to turn to for motherboard customer service and support in the U.S. We're glad ABIT continues to work hard on this aspect of their operations, and we sincerely hope to see similar steps taken at other top tier motherboard manufacturers in the future.