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Cross-shipping nightmares: they received my RMA, I received an empty box

Dedicated Servers by kat_fold 21 replies 7.2K views
kat_fold

Moderator OP

Moderator

#1

Hey folks, saw this cross-shipping thread blow up so I'm pinning it for visibility. RMA horror stories are unfortunately common but this one has receipts. Keep it civil and document everything if you're in a similar situation.

OP's situation: shipped a €900 motherboard to Contabo for replacement, they signed for it, sent "replacement" — empty box with packing peanuts. Three weeks of tickets, phone calls, and a BBB complaint later, resolved. Full timeline below.

Fail1996 said:
Insure everything, photograph everything, trust no one

That's the takeaway. Details in replies.

~be kind or be gone~
Fail1996

Member

brute force survivor

5 #2

Happened to me with OVHcloud last year sent back a dead PSU got a box of air took 6 weeks no apology never again

Learned my lesson insure everything photograph everything trust no one

uma

Member

99.99% or bust

#3

Contabo's status page showed 99.97% uptime that month. Their RMA pipeline clearly runs on a separate, unmonitored system. No status page for "we lost your board." I now photograph serial numbers, packing, and handoff to courier. But people do. Alert fatigue from their ticket system auto-replies was worse than any production outage.

436 days. reboot is surrender.
BI

Member

#4

#three #weeks #is #brutal #for #a #motherboard #RMA #Contabo #used #to #be #better #back #when #they #still #had #phone #support #hashtags #not #even #worth #it #anymore #yes #really

JO

Member

#5

Kat_fold thanks for pinning
This stuff matters
RMA tracking is code
Code needs tests
Human processes need tests too
Photograph everything
Treat it like version control
Commit early
Commit often

liam_funky

Member

Vancouver

#6

1. Same story with Vultr in 2024
2. Differences from OP's case:
2. A) took 8 weeks, not 3
2. B) they claimed "weight discrepancy" — my photos saved me
3. What I do now:
3. I) video the packing
3. Ii) video the handoff
3. Iii) keep until refund clears
4. Never deviate from format

Richard7

Member

Pentium III Enjoyer

#7

Called them, talked to a human named Dave, he remembered my voice the second time. They don't make them like that anymore.

OP, glad you got resolution. These days I pay extra for vendors with actual phone support. The $50 savings isn't worth the three-week anxiety.

SPARCstation 20, still serving HTTP
JA

Member

#8

I pay extra for phone support too, dave sounds rare

kat_fold

Moderator OP

Moderator

#9

Going to gently steer this back on topic since the last few replies wandered a bit.

uma said:
Contabo's status page showed 99.97% uptime that month.

This stuck with me. We see this split-brain problem with a lot of providers — public metrics that look pristine while back-office processes are basically duct tape. It's not unique to Contabo but it's worth naming when it happens.

For anyone landing here from search: the full timeline in the OP's update is still the most useful thing in this thread. If you're currently stuck in a similar loop, document the gap between "signed for" and "shipped replacement" specifically. That's where the accountability lives.

One day quiet isn't dead. But if you've got an update, especially from the GreenCloudVPS side that was mentioned earlier, now's a good time.

~be kind or be gone~
Richard7

Member

Pentium III Enjoyer

#10

Has anyone actually had luck with their RMA insurance claims. I documented a dead RAID card to InterServer last spring, photos, serial, the lot, and they still tried to claim I shipped an empty box myself.

Took a chargeback to wake them up. Never got the hardware back either.

uma said:
I now photograph serial numbers, packing, and handoff to courier

Handoff to courier is the bit I always forget. Might start doing that too

SPARCstation 20, still serving HTTP

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