The tech YouTuber Gamers Nexus tests Asus’s customer support and sends in his ROG Ally. And although only a defective joystick was supposed to be replaced, Asus wants to replace the entire display instead.
What is it about? The YouTuber Gamers Nexus has published a video in which he harshly criticizes the customer support of the hardware manufacturer Asus. It primarily concerns the repair process:
- Gamers Nexus received increasing messages about dubious repair processes at the hardware manufacturer Asus. Often, according to viewers, horrendous sums were demanded for minor repairs, and damages were noted that were previously unknown.
- He decided to get to the bottom of the matter and submitted a repair request for his ROG Ally (a competitor to the Steam Deck). This has a defective joystick, which Asus claims is a warranty case and should be replaced for free.
- For this test, the YouTuber documented everything in detail, took photos of the entire device, and made sure that only the joystick was really defective.
Asus wants to replace the screen instead of the joystick
This was the manufacturer’s response: The response from Asus to the repair request was particularly curious. They suggested replacing the device’s display – for a total of about 200 dollars.
Even though it had no damage at all. This was justified by minor scratches on the plastic above the display. Gamers Nexus even mentioned this flaw before shipping and showed under the microscope that it was just a small cosmetic scratch.
Asus then gave 5 days to decide whether to proceed with the repair or not. And if the money was not transferred in time, the device could be sent back without repair and dismantled.
Especially disastrous for a complicated device like a ROG Ally. Most owners would likely be unable to reassemble it.
This is how Asus justified itself: In response to a query from Gamers Nexus about why the display needed to be replaced, Asus replied that they discovered the aforementioned case damage. And to repair this, the display would have to be replaced. After all, it is directly connected to the case – a logic that leaves the YouTuber dumbfounded.
To show you how tiny this flaw really is, check out Gamers Nexus’s video at minute 1:34:
After a back and forth, the manufacturer then suggested that it would also be possible to ignore the case damage and only fix the joystick. This option was only offered after Gamers Nexus expressed surprise over the proposed display replacement.
And that’s exactly what happened. Asus replaced the joystick and surprisingly also replaced almost the entire device. The motherboard, SD card reader, and the SoC (System on a Chip) were also replaced.
Gamers Nexus smells fraud: Unwary customers could certainly find themselves in trouble here, says the YouTuber. Because the threat of having the device returned dismantled and the various decision deadlines can create quite a bit of pressure.
His conclusion at the end of the video, which will be followed by a second part: “Asus’s warranty service is absolute garbage based on our experience. We cannot recommend it at all if you ever need it.”
