On behalf of my Nan...

[ChristopherP]

Right i am getting annoyed with the situation that has occured between Myself, my Nans computer and Aria Technologies.

You probably remember this from a while back but i will go over it again.

The system is:

Abit KV7
AMD Athlon 2500
256Mb Kingmax PC3500 DDR Memory
80Gb 7200 8mb Maxtor SATA Hdd
MSI GF/FX 5200 128Mb
56k Modem PCI
420w PSU (Arianet - generic i guess)

The problem was when you turned it on, nothing would appear on screen, at all. I pulled the CCMOS1 jumper and when you turned on, you could access bios to correct the settings. When you saved to exit, you would get the black screen again and to get into BIOS would require pulling the jumper....an endless loop.

I removed non essential components like Hard drive, modem, CD drive, Floppy and it still did not work.

I un screwed the motherboard to cancel any possibilities of it shorting out. Still happened.

Sent back the motherboard and it was tested as working. thats another story.

the Graphics card and memory work fine in my computer.

What could it be - any suggestions?

Im stuck for ideas, its frustrating.

Any help mucho appreciated. Thanks guys,
Chris

 

[Shorty]

Have you....

/me repeats himself..

Looked for a BIOS update?

 

[Spooky Mouse]

Chris I Wish I Could Help You But... Whip Me With A Feather Brush, I Dont Have A Clue!!.. Sorry

I Wonder To What Extent They Tested The Motherboard

Could it Be A Worn Slot?.. What If You Moved The Graphics Adaptor To A New Slot?? (Or Is It An AGP Card With Only One Slot)

Chris Have You Tried A Different Graphics Card In Your Nans Motherboard? (I Know Your Nans Card Works Fine But ....... Ahh Spooky Stop Here While The Goings Good, Im Just Going Above My Head Now)... lol

Chris Would Everthing Else Load?.... Ie Loads Of HD Activity.. Windows And Stuff Even Thogh You Could Not See It??....... Or Was There No HD Activity And Just A Black Screen?

 

[Spooky Mouse]

Shorty Yep.. A Flash BIOS Upgrade Sounds A Good Thing To Try

 

[ChristopherP]

Well i don't think its the graphics because i can get into and see BIOS.

I also put her card into my PC today and it worked fine.

Cant be worn slot as all parts are band new and the computer had been working fine for a while - it had been on about 7 times before the problem suddenly happened.

I don't think it's the BIOS either as Aria.co.uk say they tested it and it ran 10 cycles of Sandra 2004 without error. Im still battling it out with them - the n/b fan was rattling so they put it on for a retest as they say its enough to fail it.

Hmm...

 

[floppybootstomp]

I'm assuming they've sent the board back to you as good and it's still showing the same fault?

I'd say the board is faulty and they're taking the p**s, frankly.

What to do? The board costs around £40.00, it's probably cost you a few quid in postage and it's still no good.

I think this board needs to be tested independently on a different set of gear, by somebody who is unbiased.

If it is then proved faulty, I would demand a full refund and all postage costs incurred. If Aria aren't forthcoming in that dept., take them to the small claims court (or firebomb their headquarters. Oops, only kidding )

If you wanted to send the board to me, I could check it out easily, and I actually have the latest Bios for that board on a floppy, so I could upgrade Bios. As I've mentioned before, I've used the same board to build a system for my Mum, and it works just fine.

Only problem is, postage 2-way, from you to me, is going to add more costs, and it's a relatively cheap board. I'd be tempted to abandon it and buy another board, same or different, from another supplier.

I don't think I'll ever use Aria, that's for sure. Much the same thing happened to me with Redstore, over an Elite Board, I won in the end, but I lost time and money over it.

How far do you want to go with this?

I don't think you should waste any more time trying to get it going, I reckon it's faulty and Aria are bang out of order. If you want to send it to me, including return postage costs, please do, I shall check it out for you. No charge, obviously, this thing has annoyed me.

Up to you. But remember, is it worth it? Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. On the other hand, there's principles to consider....

 

[Spooky Mouse]

Im Laughing At The Fire Bomb Option lol

 

[ChristopherP]

they havent yet returned it to me!

it also had a rattling N/b fan which i said was a firehazard so they sent it in for a retest on july 30th. No reply yet.

im wondering if they got the boards muddled up??

i am not paying any more money to them over this at all!

i will get it replaced - i shall ask to speak to the manager and explain the situation and the hassle his staff has given me.

i think its £6 a way to post it so i think it would be a tad expensive but thankyou anyway flops it was nice of you. but how do you flash the bios if you get nothing on screen?

 

[Spooky Mouse]

Chris.. Yes Good Point!!.. Maybee The Fault Is With The MotherBoard Like You Suspect

 

[ChristopherP]

the only options other than mobo are faults with PSU, CPU, case or wires!?

 

[floppybootstomp]

but how do you flash the bios if you get nothing on screen?

I just had the idea of putting the board in a completely different enviroment, thus removing all doubts if the same fault showed.

Was all.

Ah well, good luck.

 

[ChristopherP]

ah i see - is an idea.

Thankyou again mucho Flops for your kindness and willingness to help your an awesome chap.

am going to ring aria and speak to manager tomorrow.

 

[ChristopherP]

going to give Aria Technologies of Manchester a ring today and give them what for...

 

[ChristopherP]

Spoke to the engineer that tested my board (i have to say he was a decent chap) and he had actually fixed the rattling northbridge fan and the board is working.

Aparently the reason for me seeing the black screen and only BIOS is that the CPU that was in the motherboard is faulty. They are going to charge me to send it back but i am not having that - not after the way they have treated me as a customer!!

Am going to try out the faulty CPU in my sisters PC (if the mobo supports a 333FSB) to see if it is. #

i dunno. Frustrating.

 

[ChristopherP]

Sophies motherboard does not support 333fsb (Its some rubbish Asus A7N266-VM thing with onboard GeForce 2) so will have to take the engineers word for it and send back the CPU.

Its a shame

 

[Kenny]

u can get into BIOS but your CPU is dodgy? Heres where my complete lack of PC knowledge comes into play.... doesnt the CPU need to be going for anything to come on screen?



*is poised with the dunces cap... waiting....*

 

[ChristopherP]

i have no clue! going by what Aria support say...

 

[ChristopherP]

i sent them a letter of complaint.

 

[Kenny]

Hmmm. possibly an opportunity missed. When a company is REALLY messing me about, I sometimes put a note at the bottem "Cc to Trading standards with full account of my problem." Or similar. But it has to be polite and professional else they dont care. Companies are scared of trading standards, just like supermarket management are terified of the phrase "i`ll have a wee word with the union about this"

 

[ChristopherP]

Hi there.

have recently been trying to resolve a problem with a product that i had to return due to a problem with a computer.

The engineer (my compliments to him) was able to fix the problem by pulling a wire from where it was not meant to be and the board is now working.

I am writing to confirm that you will not be charging me return carriage for this product, because a fault WAS rectified at your end and also because of the way that I have been treated.

I have been told NUMEROUS times to expect replies shortly after being in contact with you - one time I was on the phone to a member of your team and he told be to expect a call back before 5pm that same day. I had to wait in because of this and I did not get it. It didn't even come the next day...or the next for that matter. Not at all. This is unacceptable by my standards.

I also have to mention that each time I was trying to get through to you, I have been on hold for ABOVE 30 minutes! For the amount of times I have had to chase up the status, this adds up.

I was told that the product in question would be put in for a retest on the 30th of July and to expect an email within a week. it is now the 16th and i have not had an email so I took it upon myself to speak to the engineer who first tested my board and his department had not even been told that it was meant to be retested! This is appalling contact between your departments and as it happens, I am in a hurry to get this computer together again because it belongs to a client rather than myself.

I have given you many thousands of pounds worth of business (see my records) and have been happy, that is until this. It is disgraceful that such a good company lets down a valued, high spending, customer in this way. I may take my business elsewhere in the future unless this problem can now be sorted quickly and efficiently. Although the original product in question is now not at fault, service to your customers IS and that is, in my eyes, what has let you down

So because of this, please ship the Abit KV7 Motherboard (RMA17604) to my address and confirm I have not been charged the return carriage fee for this.

Please reply to this email at this address - (e-mail address removed)



Regards,

Chris Postill

yeah i should have done that...will do so in the future, cheers