RAM fault and dispute with supplier - advice needed

[Fiercehairdo]

Hi,

A 2gb chip of RAM has developed a fault in my Mac Pro taking it from a full 16gb RAM to 12gb (that's a 4gb loss because the chips work in pairs so the paired chip is rendered useless without the faulty chip). I am currently in a bit of dispute with the company that I bought the Mac from about replacing the RAM. The Mac Pro was purchased in 2009 with the 16gb RAM pre-installed.

The RAM is Kingston RAM and comes with a "lifetime warranty". However that warranty is pretty useless since Kingston have stopped manufacturing the chip I need!! The computer supplier have offered to refund me for the 4gb of RAM that would leave me with an underpowered machine and a little extra cash that I can't even use to buy more RAM since it has to be Kingston to work with the other 12gb. Not a situation that I find in any way satisfactory for obvious reasons.

Alternatively, they have offered to pay for half the cost of replacing the entire 16gb set with new Crucial RAM (who are still making compatible RAM) with me making up the other half of the cost - this would cost me approx £200.

However, I feel that since I have been sold a piece of faulty kit that was supposedly guaranteed for a "lifetime" that it isn't right that I should now have to pay £200 to restore my Mac to it's initial RAM capacity. I have already paid for the RAM. I shouldn't have to pay twice, given it's "lifetime warranty". I feel that it was their error to use a supplier of RAM who stops production so soon of chips that are only a few years old and that therefore they should replace the entire 16gb set with Crucial RAM, free of charge.

I'm still in discussions with the company but would appreciate people's thoughts on this issue. Am I being unreasonable? How would you tackle it? What kind of service should I expect in this situation?

Thanks.

 

[philipma1957]

Interesting problem. I know you are annoyed but kingston is a big seller of ram so blaming the supplier for using kingston is a bit of a stretch . You are uk based so what is the law on lifetime warranty.

I am siding with the guy that supplied the machine as he is offering a 50 50 split of cost.

I am also against kingston and would prefer that they fix the problem.

I do agree that you should pay nothing.


I have had issues with kingston over rebates. If you email them a lot and write very politely they do pay up.
is this your ram?

http://www.kingston.com/us/memory/search?DeviceType=1&Mfr=APP&Line=Mac Pro&Model=32075




I was reading uk rules I think you could get money for the bad ram maybe they could replace it or refund a few bucks.

http://www.kingston.com/us/company/warranty

this should apply;

Europe, Middle East and Africa:
In Europe, Middle East and Africa, if you are unable to return the product to your original point of purchase or to the authorized Kingston dealer or distributor from whom you purchased the product, you may return the product directly to the Kingston service centre after first obtaining a Return Material Authorization (“RMA”) number from Kingston. An RMA number is obtained by visiting kingston.com/en/support. In some circumstances, we may require proof of purchase.

Once you have obtained an RMA number from Kingston, you must, within thirty (30) days, send the product to Kingston Technology Europe Limited, Kingston Court, Brooklands Close, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 7EP, UK. You are responsible for the cost of insuring and shipping the product(s). The product(s) must be properly packaged to prevent damage in transit. The Kingston RMA number must be prominently displayed on the outside of the package. If you fail to display the RMA number the package will be returned to you unopened.

If the seller pays you for half a set of sticks and kingston pays for the one bad stick it cuts your losses somewhat.

 

[Fiercehairdo]

Thanks Phillip. Appreciate it.
The RAM I need is this: http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/lis...Xeon 5400 Series) 2nd Gen. Early 2008&Cat=RAM

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Thanks Phillip. Trouble is my supplier (who isn't Kingston but a well established UK Mac supplier) says they know that mixing Crucial with this type of Kingston RAM will not function in my Mac. Apparently it simply won't boot. So a refund for one stick of RAM with no way to replace it and bring Mac back up to 16gb won't do for me unfortunately. I'm thinking I might just settle for the £200 full 16gb replacement. But it sticks in my craw that I'm paying out because their product developed a fault.

 

[ElderBrE]

Thanks Phillip. Appreciate it.
The RAM I need is this: http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/lis...Xeon 5400 Series) 2nd Gen. Early 2008&Cat=RAM

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Thanks Phillip. Trouble is my supplier (who isn't Kingston but a well established UK Mac supplier) says they know that mixing Crucial with this type of Kingston RAM will not function in my Mac. Apparently it simply won't boot. So a refund for one stick of RAM with no way to replace it and bring Mac back up to 16gb won't do for me unfortunately. I'm thinking I might just settle for the £200 full 16gb replacement. But it sticks in my craw that I'm paying out because their product developed a fault.

I think they are cheating you, be careful. There is no reason for crucial and Kingston ram to not work together, in fact I think I have both in my MP. Google a bit and see if you find that problem they are trying to make you believe anywhere, if you can't find that problem on the Internet, it's a safe bet to think they are just trying to make you pay just because.

 

[seanm9]

I think (not positive but think) the matched pair need to be same brand/speed/model. But the other sets of can just be the right type as long as the pairs are the same... you have 1 bad pair out of 4 pairs... I think you need to only replace the bad pair and not all 16 GB of RAM... again this is only a guess.

 

[spacedesign911]

Fiercehairdo, You appear to be grounded and balanced. Your original post was clear and focused. Have you copied it and communicated it to someone high up in the UK retailer?

I'm balanced, and I concur that you shouldn't have to pay half or anything to put this right.

There is one issues that I'm unclear about. Where is the original Mac ram? was it removed, or is it still in the machine. Im wondering if your already "mixing" ram, and I'm also thinking if it was removed, and you bought a full 16 gb Kingston "job lot", then how about putting forward a case, for the entire 16 gb Kingston ram to be removed and refunded. Leaving you to fully move to Crucial who no make your only option.

Im stating the obvious here, but I think you either need to move past the tier of communication you have death with to a higher one, or, you start to scream louder, sometimes the baby in the creche who screams the loudest gets the minders attention first!

This should not be your problem, have you tried asking them to swap out the full ram with a full 16GB of working ram temporarily as a gesture, until the matter is resolved, thereby making it their problem?

 

[Fiercehairdo]

Fiercehairdo, You appear to be grounded and balanced. Your original post was clear and focused. Have you copied it and communicated it to someone high up in the UK retailer?

I'm balanced, and I concur that you shouldn't have to pay half or anything to put this right.

There is one issues that I'm unclear about. Where is the original Mac ram? was it removed, or is it still in the machine. Im wondering if your already "mixing" ram, and I'm also thinking if it was removed, and you bought a full 16 gb Kingston "job lot", then how about putting forward a case, for the entire 16 gb Kingston ram to be removed and refunded. Leaving you to fully move to Crucial who no make your only option.

Im stating the obvious here, but I think you either need to move past the tier of communication you have death with to a higher one, or, you start to scream louder, sometimes the baby in the creche who screams the loudest gets the minders attention first!

This should not be your problem, have you tried asking them to swap out the full ram with a full 16GB of working ram temporarily as a gesture, until the matter is resolved, thereby making it their problem?

Thanks! Yeah, screaming baby mode might be worth a try at some point soon...
I have asked for a full replacement but they say as they are sold in separate 4gb packs they can only refund for that. To me this is useless. I need min 16gb for heavy files I use. It's like selling a car with four wheels and then refunding me one wheel and expecting me to continue with a three wheeled car!
Sort of... Anyway, you get my drift.

 

[spacedesign911]

Thanks! Yeah, screaming baby mode might be worth a try at some point soon...
I have asked for a full replacement but they say as they are sold in separate 4gb packs they can only refund for that. To me this is useless. I need min 16gb for heavy files I use. It's like selling a car with four wheels and then refunding me one wheel and expecting me to continue with a three wheeled car!
Sort of... Anyway, you get my drift.

Yes I was on the wheel / tyre metaphor already. So where is the original Ram out of curisoity. Is it out or in the machine?

 

[Fiercehairdo]

Yes I was on the wheel / tyre metaphor already. So where is the original Ram out of curisoity. Is it out or in the machine?

I have the original RAM stored. It isn't in the machine. Not even sure if it is 2gb or 4gb. perhaps I should dig it out and try it.

 

[spacedesign911]

I have the original RAM stored. It isn't in the machine. Not even sure if it is 2gb or 4gb. perhaps I should dig it out and try it.

Im mixing 4 gb apple ram and 4 gb crucial ram, and I am getting 8gm ram on my mac pro 1.1

Maybe if you get them to replace a matching pair of crucial rams, and it works then your sorted?

 

[Fiercehairdo]

Im mixing 4 gb apple ram and 4 gb crucial ram, and I am getting 8gm ram on my mac pro 1.1

Maybe if you get them to replace a matching pair of crucial rams, and it works then your sorted?

Yeah, i think that's my next move. Thanks Spacedesign. Fingers crossed it'll work. From the little research I've done online, it appears man people have a mixture of RAM.

 

[spacedesign911]

Yeah, i think that's my next move. Thanks Spacedesign. Fingers crossed it'll work. From the little research I've done online, it appears man people have a mixture of RAM.

I have also read that if you mix ram speeds, e.g. 1000mhz and 1333mhz the Mac Pro can level all ram out to the one speed. (I may have speeds wrong there, but you get my drift)

 

[92jlee]

just get a new 2gb stick.. it doesnt have to be the same make, ram is universal. I have 2 sticks of kingston, two sticks of hynux and 2 sticks of generic in my pro (2006) as long as its the correct ram then it will work.

 

[MagicBoy]

There's no need to replace all the RAM, unsure why the retailer are insisting on this. As long as each pair is matched the machine will be stable.