My SteelSeries RMA Experience

Product: SteelSeries Siberia V2 – Blue
Problem: Mic no longer works. Flipping mic switch on/off doesn’t do anything.
Resolution time: 23 business days; September 5, 2014 – October 7, 2014

September 5, 2014

My Siberia V2’s mic stops working. Changing jacks (from front panel to back panel) doesn’t do anything nor does flipping the mic. switch on/off. The only thing that can be heard when flipping the switch on/off is a high pitched squeal. Off to SteelSeries’ support desk I go.

September 8, 2014

Brendan M from SteelSeries replies and informs me about their RMA process. Pretty normal stuff: supply your address and purchase date/location/receipt. After I reply back with all the necessary information, Randall B lets me know that my ticket has been approved for RMA. Unlike Western Digital, the customer has to pay to ship the defective product back to them. I would have liked to not pay shipping at all but what can you do? Not all companies are as big as Western Digital. At this point, I also ask them about Advance RMA if they have it. This question was ignored and has not been answered.

September 10, 2014

Product is shipped out to their RMA location in Lake Forest, California.

September 16, 2014

Siberia V2 arrives at SteelSeries’ US RMA location in Lake Forest, California. At this point, I know that the product has been delivered to their RMA location but I have not received any confirmation from any of their staff.

September 18, 2014

After reading all the horror stories about SteelSeries’ RMA process/warehouse, I decided to send their Twitter account (@SteelSeries) a tweet to check on my status. I’m not sure if it was BECAUSE of this tweet that my ticket got replied to but, lo and behold, Russ B responded to my ticket. He notified me that my ticket has moved onto the next step in the RMA process and that it will take 1-3 days for a new product to be sent out (may take longer depending on volume).

Let’s hope for the best.

September 22, 2014

SteelSeries informs me that my replacement product has been added to their latest invoice and that their warehouse has all the necessary information to get me my new product. Once the product is shipped, they will contact me again with the tracking number.

The waiting game continues!

September 25, 2014

From their support:

I’m very sorry for the repeated delays. Our system has undergone a fundamental change in how it processes orders via our shipping manifests. Due to this change, we had a small hiccup on this end of it which caused this repeated message and non export of the manifest which caused your ticket to kind of sit in limbo. We apologize profusely for that error.

However, we have resolved all of these problems as of today and expect your shipment to go out today! You should receive the tracking in the next business day or so. If you have already received a package, please keep it. It was most likely sent out during the transition on accident.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding! We hope to have your RMA back on the right track shortly!!

September 28, 2014

According to their support:

We have confirmed that your replacement product has been shipped! [ticket also includes UPS tracking number]

Progress has been made! Only thing to note from this ticket is that they are shipping me a black Siberia V2 instead of the blue one that I had. As long as the replacement headset works, I won’t really care too much about the colour change. Another thing to think about is whether or not there will be a new warranty on the replacement product.

September 29, 2014

No movement on the package. Shipping label being created does NOT mean that a product has been shipped. If anything, I would call it: prepared for pickup.

September 30, 2014

Finally, some progress. The scheduled delivery date is Tuesday, October 7, 2014 which will make this entire RMA process slightly longer than a month. Totally not impressed with SteelSeries.

October 7, 2014

My replacement SteelSeries Siberia V2 arrived today via UPS. The exterior box was slightly damaged during shipping but everything inside was fine. Took the headset out of the box, tested it, and everything seems to be working fine (for now).