Service and Support

Returns & Warranties

Avalue Product Warranty, Repair, Restocking and Replacement Policies.
We have established the following guidelines with the purpose of clarifying our warranty policy, standard procedures for obtaining technical support and product returns.

1. Purpose

Avalue establishes the following maintenance specifications and operation procedure for providing the best quality of service and shortened repair time to our customers.

2. Warranty

2.1 Warranty Period

Avalue endeavors to offer customers the most comprehensive post-sales services and protection; besides offering a 1-2 years warranty to standard Avalue products, extended warranty service can also be provided based on additional request from the customer. Within the warranty period, customers are entitled to receive comprehensive and prompt repair and warranty.

Standard products manufactured by Avalue are offered a warranty of 1 to 2 years, depending on different products, from the date of delivery from Avalue. For extended warranty and cross-territory services, product defects resulting from design, production process or material are covered by the pre-set warranty period after the date of delivery from Avalue. For non-Avalue products, the product warranty and repair time shall be based on the service standards provided by the original manufacturer; in principle Avalue will provide a warranty service for no more than one year over these products.

2.2 Maintenance services within the warranty period

In the case of a DOA (Defect-on-Arrival) of an Avalue product where the customer finds any defect within 1 month after the delivery, Avalue will replace it with a new product in a soonest way to fulfill our responsibilities. Except for custom products, once the customer is approved of a Cross-Shipment Agreement, which allows for delivery a new product to the customer before receiving the defective one, Avalue will immediately proceed with new product replacement for the said DOA case. On validation of the confirmed defect, Avalue is entitled to reserve the right whether to provide a new product for replacement. For the returned defective new product, it is necessary to verify that there shall be no bruise, alteration, scratch or marking to the appearance, and that none of the delivered accessories is missing; otherwise, the customer will be requested to pay a partial processing fee. On the other hand, if the new product defect is resulting from incorrect configuration or erroneous use by the user instead of any problem of the hardware itself, the customer will also be requested to pay for relevant handling fees.

As for other conditions, Avalue will handle defects by way of repair. The customer will be requested to send the defective product to an Avalue authorized service center, and Avalue will return the repaired product back to the customer as soon as possible.

2.3 Ruling of an out-of-warranty defect

The following situations are not included in the warranty:

The warranty period has expired.

Product has been altered or its label of serial number has been torn off.

Product functionality issues resulting from improper use by the user, unauthorized dismantle or alteration, unfit operation environment, improper maintenance, accident or other causes. Avalue reserves the right for the ruling of the aforementioned situations.

Product damage resulting from lightning, flood, earthquake or other calamity.

The ruling of warranty of non-Avalue products and accessories shall be in accordance with standards set up by the original manufacturer. These products and accessories include RAM, HDD, FDD, CD-ROM, CPU, FAN, etc.

Product upgrade request or test request submitted by the customer after expiration of warranty.

3. Procedure for sending for repair

3.1 Attain an RMA number

A customer's rejected product returned for repair shall have an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number. Without an RMA number, Avalue will not provide any repair service for the rejected product, and the product will be returned to the customer at customer's cost. Avalue will not issue a notice for the return of the product.

Each returned product for r epair shall have an RMA number, which is simply the authorization of the return for repair; it is not a guarantee that the returned goods can be repaired or replaced. For applying for an RMA number, the customer may enter the eRMA webpage of Avalue http://www.avalue.com.tw/support/my_avalue_index.cfm and log-in with an account number and a password authorized by Avalue. The system will then automatically issue an RMA number.
When applying for the RMA number, it is essential to fill in basic information of the customer and the product, together with detailed description of the problem encountered. If possible, avoid using ambiguous words such as “does not work” or “problematic”. Without a substantial description of the problem, it is hard to start the repair and will cause prolonged repair time. Lacking detailed duplication of fault steps also makes the problem hard to identify, sometimes resulting in second-time repairs.

In case the customer is not definite about the cause of problem, please contact Avalue application engineers. It is best when the problem can be resolved even before the customer sends back the product.
On the other hand, if the customer only returns the key parts to Avalue for repair, it is necessary that the serial number of the entire unit is given in the “Problem Description” field, so that warranty period can be ruled accordingly; otherwise Avalue will handle the case as an Out-of- warranty case.

3.2 Return of faulty product for repair

   It is recommended that the customer not return the accessories (manual, connection cables, etc.) with the goods for repair, devices such as CPU, DRAM, CF memory card, etc., shall also be removed from the faulty goods before return for repair. If these devices are relevant to described repair problems and necessary to be returned with the goods; please clearly indicate the items included in the eRMA application form.

   Avalue shall not be held responsible for any item that is not itemized. Moreover, make sure the problem(s) are detailed in the “Problem Description” field.

   In the list of delivery, the customer may fill-in a value lower than the actual value, to prevent customs levying a higher tax over the excessive value of the return goods. The customer shall be held responsible for extra fees caused by this. We strongly recommend that “Invoice for customs purpose only with no commercial value” be indicated on the delivery note. Also for the purpose of expedited handling, please printout the RMA number and put it in the carton, also indicate the number outside of the carton, with the recipient addressing to Avalue RMA Department.

   When returning the defective product, please use an anti-static bag or ESD material to pack it properly. In case of improper packing resulting in damages in the transportation process, Avalue reserves the right to reject the un-repaired faulty good at the customer's costs. Furthermore, it is suggested that the faulty goods shall be sent via a door-to-door courier service. The customer shall be held responsible for any customs clearance fee or extra expenses if Air-Cargo is used for the delivery.

   In case of a DOA situation of a new product, Avalue will be fully responsible for the product as well as for the freight. If the faulty goods are within the warranty period, the sender will take care of the freight. For an out-of-warranty case, the customer shall be responsible for the freight of both trips.

3.3 Maintenance Charge

Avalue will charge a moderate repair fee for the following conditions:

The warranty period has expired.

Product has been altered or its label of serial number has been torn off.

Product damage resulting from lightning, flood, earthquake or other calamity.

The ruling of warranty of non-Avalue products and accessories shall be in accordance with standards set up by the original supplier. These products and accessories include RAM, HDD, FDD, CD-ROM, CPU, FAN, etc.

Product upgrade request or test request submitted by the customer after expiry of warranty.

In case the products received are examined as NPF (No Problem Found) within the warranty period, customer shall be responsible for the freight of both trips.

Please contact your local distributor to examine in advance to prevent unnecessary freight cost.

Should an identical problem occur to a product repaired by Avalue within 3 months, Avalue will take full responsibilities not only by upgrading the repair classification and expediting the repair process, but also offer free-of-charge service for the said repair. However this does not apply to any reoccurrence of the same problem caused by improper use, unauthorized dismantle or alteration, improper operation environment, inadequate maintenance, accident or other causes attributing to the customer.

For system failure of out-of-warranty products, Avalue will provide a quotation prior to repair service. When the customer applies for the cost, please refer to the Quotation number. In case the customer does not return the DOA product that has already been replaced by a new one, or the customer does not sign back the quotation of the out-of-warranty maintenance, Avalue reserves the right of whether or not to provide the repair service. In case the customer does not reply in 3 months, Avalue shall directly scrap or return the product back to customer at customer's cost without further notice to the customer.

3.4 Maintenance service of phased-out products

For servicing phased-out products, Avalue provides an extended period, starting the date of phase-out, as a guaranteed maintenance period of such products, for continuance of the maintenance service to meet customer requirements. In case of unexpected factors causing Avalue to be unable to repair/replace a warranted but phased-out product, Avalue will, depending on the availability, upgrade the product (free of charge with continued warranty period as of the original product), or, give partial refund (based on the length of the remaining warranty period) to solve this kind of problem.

3.5 Maintenance Report

On completion of repair of a defective product, a Maintenance Report indicating the maintenance result and part(s) replaced (if any) will be sent to the customer together with the product. If the customer demands an additional maintenance analysis report, a service fee of various level will be charged depending on the warranty status. In case the analysis result shows that the defect attributes to Avalue's faulty design or process, the analysis fee will be exempted.

4. Service Products

Avalue provides service products to manage with different customer needs. Should you have any need, please consult to Avalue Sales Department.

￭Defect Analysis Report (DAR) Avalue provides DAR (Defect Analysis Report) services aiming to elevating customer satisfaction. A DAR includes defect cause identification/verification/suggestion and improvement precautions, with instructions on correct usage for the avoidance of any reoccurrence.

￭Upgrade Service Avalue is capable to provide system upgrade service for customization requirements. This upgrade service is applicable for main parts, such as CPU, memory, HDD, SSD, storage devices; also replacements of embedded single boards or motherboards of systems. Please contact Avalue sales for details to evaluate the possibility of system upgrade service and obtain information of lead time and price.