I will be sending out an email updating all purchasers of the warranty extension.
In that email, this post will be linked for those that would like to hear a rundown of the drama that started a couple weeks ago and 4 or 5 pages back in this thread.
A few weeks ago we were advised from numerous Woot Members that video card manufacturer MSI had posted a warning on it's site about 'stolen video cards'. Much to our surprise, their statement actually referenced 'woot.com auctions' and used our picture. Our initial assumptions from this was that MSI did not desire to warranty their OEM card (made for a computer manufacturer) and perhaps due to industry pressure and/or impaired translation they sounded more accusatory than intended. It seemed to us their main purpose was to notify "no warranty on these cards."
Through proactive calls to Austin Texas police department (the local of our vendor) and a discussion with the FBI, Woot was able to determine, to the best of our understanding, that a theft of OEM 7900GS cards did occur. Following up several days later (still without any communication from MSI) we discovered two individuals (from a company unknown to us) were apparently arrested and charged with a theft.
Shocked and disturbed of this possibility and wondering what course of action might need to be followed, we were (through our requested police introduction) finally able to get a return call from an MSI representative. MSI acknowledged their misunderstanding of our website and removed their reference to us. We were assured that neither Woot nor our Vendor were suspected of any wrong-doing, and we were thanked for our assistance. We were also assured that the matter would be dropped and no further course of action was necessary. To be clear on the findings -- the assumption stands that the cards we transacted on were very likely part of a stolen shipment.
Early in this story (Immediately following news of the MSI posting), Woot took steps to enhance our member experience by lengthening the Woot supplied warranty to 2 years, and reminding members that MSI warranty was not suggested. Though only posted earlier in this product thread, this announcement may have reached you already, through news sites like Digg (
http://digg.com/tech_news/Woot_responds_to_MSI_theft_accusations)
For those of you who followed these events or participated in various online discussions, we thank you for your loyalty and support. Be assured, we're applying our best efforts to bring you the coolest offerings the law will allow.
If you have future warranty needs, please use
rma@woot.com to request a return. If you have a general service question, use the service email.
