GoKawiilRAM shortages are prompting some unheard-of moves on the part of some companies, like Transcend telling its customers that all deliveries were delayed, and Phison's CEO warning that smaller consumer electronics players might be headed for closure. Now, Silicon Power (SP) has added a notification to the header of its online U.S. store stating that "a full refund of the original purchase price will be issued if there is a shortage of replacement products." The new measure hints that, in some cases, SP is unable to source replacement parts or that the cost of replacement parts is now so high as to be unfeasible.
The latter is highlighted by the recent adventures of an Australian enthusiast's struggle to return his RAM kit for a warranty replacement, owing to the fact that the kit has quadrupled in price since he bought it. Retailers try their best to protect themselves from scarce availability and constantly fluctuating prices, all while consumers have to resort to paying highly inflated prices for what were once affordable staple items.
SP's statement is conditional and seems to indicate that in the case of an RMA, the SP store will make an attempt at replacing the item, but also prepares buyers for the possibility that they won't get a replacement unit. This is almost certainly due to the fact that flash chips have multiplied in price and become absurdly scarce, particularly for smaller companies.
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As for its UK web-store, Silicon Power doesn't have a specific notice, and its warranty policy simply states that "due to ongoing technology or in case of discontinuity of any product, SP will be unable to repair the product, and therefore replace the product with a comparable one."
We took the opportunity to do a cursory browse of major memory and SSD manufacturers' RMA policies, and at the present time, we found that at least on paper, almost every major player says it will honor a replacement. Having said that, as the crises tighten, these policies might well change, and sooner rather than later. Note that our findings are consumer advice and not legal analysis:
Corsair - Replacement: "If your Corsair product is not operating in accordance with its published technical specifications, the product will be replaced at Corsair’s expense."
Replacement: "If your Corsair product is not operating in accordance with its published technical specifications, the product will be replaced at Corsair’s expense." G.Skill - Replacement, conditional: "Any replacements provided will be with the same product model. This warranty obligation is conditioned upon the hardware being returned to the original place of purchase, or another place as directed by G.SKILL [...]."
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