Any options after 90 days to return defective RBK30 unit?

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

I've had it.. I can't take it anymore. I've tried and tried and tried to get this peice of crap system to work. I purchased it in Dec 2017 from Amazon. I have not purchased any "Product Support" packages from Netgear and I will likely never purchase anything from Netgear ever again. I will spit horribly negativity about them every chance I get.

All of that aside, do I have any options to return my defective units so that Netgear can send me more defective units before I just throw my existing defective units in the trash (I'll actually just burn them to eliminate the risk of anyone else having to deal with these little nightmares)?

[FURRYe38]

Contact NG support and ask for an RMA. Others have mentioned that after getting a new system, it's worked.

@DarrenM

@Christian_R

[Christian_R]

@2OrbiOrNot2Orbi,

I have sent you a message. Please respond at your earliest convenience. 

~Christian 
 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

After sending my contact information to Christian, I was contacted by Netgear support. Gave them all of the Model Numbers, Serial Numbers, etc.

They called me a few days later (Thursday 9/6/18) and went through an hour and a half of troubleshooting on the phone. Factory Resets, Pairing, Moving them around... no luck. Agent decided that at least one of my units were defective and instructed me that she was going to talk with her supervisor to determine which units to replace or whether they were going to just send me an entirely different system and that they would call me back the next day to let me know. I told her that I would be travelling, but would be available to take the call.

They called me back the next day (Friday 9/7/18) and wanted to do more troubleshooting, but since I wasn't at home I didn't have physical access to anything. I was told that "it shouldn't take more than an hour". They asked if they could call back on Monday 9/10/18... today is 9/12/18 and I haven't heard from them.

[FURRYe38]

@Christian_R

[Christian_R]

Hello @2OrbiOrNot2Orbi, 

Thank you for the update. I have requested for the support team to follow up with you as soon as possible. 

~Christian 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

Aparently Christian has some major pull at Netgear. Customer Service called me within 5 minutes of his post above.

They indicated that they will be sending me an email to begin the RMA process. I will update this post as this process unfolds.

Thank you Christian. 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

Received the RMA email. They are planning to send a replacement RBR40 router only... thing is... the router is the only part of the system that I originally recieved which has worked correctly. It is the satellites that aren't working correctly.

I would just go along with it and give it a shot, but they want me to pay $16.90 for shipping for something that I don't believe will help at all.

Now I am conflicted, mostly out of principle. I'm going to pay $16.90 to get something shipped to me that doesn't fix the problem. Then best case scenario, they ask me to pay $16.90 again after several more hours of troubleshooting to send replacements for one or both of the satellites... which may or may not resolve the issue?

[FURRYe38]

@Christian_R

[Christian_R]

Hello @2OrbiOrNot2Orbi, 

Thank you for providing an update on your process with the support team. Please provide another update and let us know if the replacement router has solved your issue as the information can be useful to other community members. 

As stated in NETGEAR's warranty return policy, "Customers are responsible for the freight charges to NETGEAR."

https://kb.netgear.com/1113/Warranty-Return-Policy

~Christian 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

Hi @Christian_R,

I meant to refer to the fact that they were wanting to replace only the "Router" and not either "Satellites" or the "Entire System". I hadn't been having any issues with the Router itself, just the Satellites.

But I've decided that I'll go ahead and move forward with thier request. Unfortunately, I've been very busy lately and failed to respond in a timely manner. Now I can't find the RMA email. Any chance you can have them send it again?

[Christian_R]

Hello @2OrbiOrNot2Orbi - I have asked the support team to follow up on your RMA and they should be contacting you as soon as possible. 

~Christian 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

@Christian_R

RMA has been completed. Replacement devices (entire system including Router and 2 Satellites) installed and seem to be working correctly. I'm going to let them operate for a few weeks before upgrading any firmware to see how they perform. I may or may not install the latest firmware at a later time.

Thanks for helping me get this corrected. Crossing my fingers.

[FURRYe38]

Thanks for posting. Let us know how it goes. 

[Christian_R]

@2OrbiOrNot2Orbi - Thank you for letting us know. Please feel free to update the thread again in a few weeks.

~Christian 

[2OrbiOrNot2Orbi]

Almost two months and not a single dropped/failed connection. I think it's safe to write this one up to faulty hardware on my original kit. Thanks again to everyone who assisted me in resolving this issue.

[FURRYe38]

Glad the new HW is working. 

Enjoy. 

[Ragar99]

Not sure what the specific issue is, but I have never seen such a high percentage of defective units for any router.  RMA after RMA.

My advice is buy from Costco, you can return for up to 1 year, no questions asked.  Screw trying to get someone at Netgear to give you an RMA where you have to pay for shipping and wait.

[FURRYe38]

THe OP original HW was bad. Got an RMA and he's happy now. 

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@Ragar99 wrote:

Not sure what the specific issue is, but I have never seen such a high percentage of defective units for any router.  RMA after RMA.

My advice is buy from Costco, you can return for up to 1 year, no questions asked.  Screw trying to get someone at Netgear to give you an RMA where you have to pay for shipping and wait.

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