To Asus and all owners of a dead Zenfone 8

[leoncarrera]

By now is it clear the Asus Zenfone 8 has a weakness when it comes to its motherboard. Phones are dying in very comparable situations; after installing an update or patch and/ or when charging. The died phones show the same state: a sudden black screen, no response on buttons or screen, sometimes an orange fast blinking LED for about ten seconds when the charger is attached, after which also this stops blinking. Even the life duration of the phones are alike when this happens;  around two years.  Some people are lucky that it can be repaired under warranty, most aren't when warranty has just expired.

All of the phones which were repaired received a new motherboard. So also in here the fix seems comparable. Or at least not repairable with a soldering or partial replacement of other components. There is no wide variety of repairs to be found on ZenTalk on this. 

This issue goes beyond individual or even wrong use, a single faulty or unfortunate phone. All phones that died did this in comparable situations and after comparable life times. There is something wrong with the design or components of the Zenfone 8, or at least a batch, which can't be put on warranty alone when it comes to a repair. 

Asus, please take this matter and your clients serious. At least more then you have proven till this date. Asus can't just address this matter with the initial question if the phone is still under the warranty. Asus does know what the technical issues are with these phones, so please then also take your responsibility. Asus put this premium phone on the market at a premium price. This comes with an expected life duration that goes beyond a hard line of just 24 months. Warranty is for specific situations. These dying Zenfones are not specific. It is a general issue. So please handle it as such.

Can Asus confirm that they will keep addressing issues regarding these dying Zenfones as individual technical matters? And thus with warranty as strict and main component to define if Asus or customers are financially responsible for further action? And if so, what is their response to these resembling dying phones that Asus will keep holding onto this strict warranty duration when it is clear customers can't be held responsible for their broken Zenfones, since they die during normal use or especially after installing new and updated Asus firmware?

To all users of a died Zenfone 8: please add your phone to this thread, when it died (lifetime) and on which occurence. 

Kind regards,
León

[leoncarrera]

"Yes, of course we want to replace your faulty motherboard free of charge. Just send it in and we'll fix it."

"O, wait. We found something else. So pay us." 

Sounds like a scammy car repair workshop practice. Don't you think the issue they 'found' should be not be even possible as well with a solid well build phone? When water has come in, it wasn't as sealed as they said it is when they sold it to you as a water proof premium phone. You didn't put this phone together poorly, ASUS did. 

[Kuiteskivarattu]

And one of the replacement parts is LCD display. So when they opened it they propably broke it...i have sent my answer to ASUS. I will inform you what was the conclusion.

[nasch007]

This is the most likely scenario. When I got my phone sent back from them, the screen was scratched up. I made them replace the damage they did.

This company, honestly, just doesn't seem to know what it's doing. Blaming the customers is #1 the worst thing you can do man. If you still want to keep and attract customers, that is.

If anyone hasn't seen it yet, this slimy tactic and behavior of "customer induced damage" is brilliantly exposed in a three-part series from Gamers Nexus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMrssIrKcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3DwhTc7Z4o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYdtpU8FKO8

Culminating in a final confrontation with ASUS customer service face to face: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ZoCYXmF0Q

Here's a nice summary of the supposed changes ASUS said they would make: https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/14/24178785/asus-customer-support-gamers-nexus

I write this not to shill for anyone in particular but to inform. This is the same scammy behavior we've all experienced -- whether it's a the bootloader "bait and switch" or the "you broke your own device" crap. People need to be aware of this computer company's horrible practices. 

The fact that we are this deep in this thread with many dozens of broken phones, all exhibiting the same behaviors, and you won't admit there's a problem -- baffling... you wanna make it right ASUS, refund our monies. I have a feeling my ZenFone 8 will die sooner rather than later. And when it does, I'm not replacing it with a ZF 9 or 10 or anything from you guys ever again. I'll go buy a $200 CMF nothing phone before I hand over any more hard earned dollars to ASUS. In fact I just bought a $750 LG monitor and didn't even consider ASUS. Until you change your ways, you're dead to me. And from the looks of these comments in this thread, you're dead to a lot of people with some real purchasing power.

@Kuiteskivarattu 

Don't let them BS you into accepting the claim of customer damage. From The Verge article linked:

Also, here’s an email template you can use when emailing that executivecare@asus.com address, as provided by Asus itself:

Your Name (as listed in your RMA): 

RMA Number:

Serial Number:

RMA application country:

Please describe your previous RMA dispute:

Supporting Documents (e.g., charged invoice, quotation notification, photos):

Additional Feedback (optional):

Asus says it should respond to emails sent to that address within a week.

The company is also apologizing today for previous experiences you might have had with repairs. “We’re very sorry to anyone who has had a negative experience with our service team. We appreciate your feedback and giving us a chance to make amends.”

---

executivecare@asus.com

Good luck!

[leoncarrera]

Thanks for the summary of Gamers Nexus detailed investigation on ASUS their tactics. It's sad that it is in line with what many others experienced, including myself. To come up with completely other and not addressed issues, use pressure by means of very limited time to agree to pay for their unrequested repair, and  to threat of losing your very own product as a whole, can simply be summarized as a scam and extortion. 

[nasch007]

That is literally the scam. See my latest post in this thread, that is the EXACT thing that happened with Gamers Nexus.