So a site I work with has had two GamePro monitors go down. One of them was from an odd power issue that ended up smoking one of the Zeners on its control board, and the other was just a loose power connector. These boards use a lot of smaller SMT components that I am not equipped to repair
I went searching for a replacement board for the monitor and found some on SH’s web site here (be sure to have a good look at the example image they show). The boards had the same markings, so I bought 3 of them so I could have some spares JIC.
When the three boards arrived they were all thrown in together with just some pink bubble wrap. Upon inspection it turns out that two of them had some handwritten stickers on them and markings that look like they were from a magic marker. In other words, two of them looked similar to the image on the web site (this becomes significant later). The third one was free of any additional markings or stickers, but arrived with a cap partially ripped off of the board:
One of the other two had what appeared to be corrosion on it as well as those odd markings. on a connector and on one of the chips (I did not circle that one, look above the label on the parts side):
The last of the three had damaged components and evidence of very poor rework:
Did you notice the markings and stickers. Kinda look like the ones shown on the example image on the web site, huh?
The board with the corrosion actually tested working so I used it as a replacement. The other two were not tried because of the component damage. So I reach out to SH to indicate the problem with the order. Right from the start, Laura Birch, who is apparently the expert CSR person assigned to this issue, was able to somehow have ALL the stock checked and stated that all of the boards are brand new and do not have any additional stickers on them. To quote: “All the rest we have in stock has no other markings and are in good condition” and “The only markings we have on the boards is sticker with part number […].“
She also identified something interesting – I was sent two different part numbers. The two “dirty” boards are an -03 part, while the cleaner one (with the ripped off cap) is an -02 part. Anyway, she was agreeing to send a replacement for one of the boards (the ripped cap one), but no the other, implying that I am being dishonest as to the source of those boards and when pressed about those other stickers: “not us we did not put that label on it.“
So I direct her to SuzkHapp’s own web site (same link as above) which shows a board that has markings, labels and even handwriting similar to the two that I received, indicating that they indeed DO have boards with those markings. At this point she seems to have actually looked at that image and said “the one that is pictured on the web is and old picture[.] We do not have the man power to update pictures on the web.” Besides not having the “man power to update” your own commercial web site(!), she could not, or would not, explain why that “old” image seemed to closely match what my boards looked like. She also ended that email with “end of discussion end of e-mails[.]“
So now they do (or did) have boards with those stickers and markings on them, unlike what I was first told. But they do not want to address even the possibility that I got sent the wrong items? And she is apparently not interested in having any more evidence presented. So for the cost of the order, I got the honor of paying for three items of damaged and/or grey goods, and although one is getting replaced, I am still out the cost of one of the boards and essentially got called a liar when I tried to remedy it.
Gotta love whatever CSR training is going on at SuzoHapp these days.
Complete, unedited email exchange available here: SuzoHappEmailExchange. Oh, and JIC someone at SH thinks themselves clever and updates the page for these items (with that “man power” they seem to not have), here are screen caps of the product page and the zoomed-in image on it:
Boy, that sticker and those markings look familiar, huh?