A netizen purchased two 8GB memory modules online and returned them due to malfunction. The merchant charged 15% depreciation fee.

Recently, a complaint post on the PCMR subreddit on the Reddit platform sparked heated discussions. User permanentlytemporary shared his terrible experience when handling the return of Silicon Power memory modules.The memory set originally purchased for US$54.97 was not only not reasonably compensated when returned, but the merchant also deducted 15% depreciation fee. However, the price of the same type of memory has now skyrocketed to 2.5 times the original price.

According to the user's description, he previously purchased a set of Silicon Power 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 memory modules.If one of the memory modules fails during use, it will not only cause data damage, but also require the purchase of a new memory set to maintain the normal use of the computer..

Because the purchase time preceded the memory industry shortage,Most likely it was the third quarter of last year, when prices were at a low level. He originally hoped that merchants could provide replacements with the same specifications..

After going through the tedious RMA (return and exchange) process, Silicon Power finally decided to issue a refund, but the result left him disappointed.The merchant did not refund the product at the current market price, but based it on the original purchase price, deducting 15% of the depreciation fee, and finally refunded only US$46.72.

The reporter’s inquiry found that currently on the Amazon platform,The price of the same Silicon Power 16GB (2×8GB) DDR4-3200 memory set has risen to US$140.97, which is more than 2.5 times the purchase price of this user.

What makes him even more dissatisfied is that the refund of US$46.72 is not even enough to purchase an 8GB memory stick of the same model. A single 8GB memory stick of this model currently sells for US$69.97 on Amazon.

Regarding depreciation fees, Silicon Power’s relevant policies show that if the product is confirmed to have defects within the warranty scope, the merchant can decide at its own discretion to provide three remedies: partial refund, full replacement, or full refund. The partial refund amount will be determined based on factors such as product inventory and usage time, and a full refund is not guaranteed.

The user said that he had purchased replacement memory in advance and that the refund would not affect the use of his computer, but he was very disappointed with the merchant's handling of the problem. In addition, the RMA process was so cumbersome that it “felt like an antique from 2002.” In order to avoid wasting energy again, he had no choice but to accept this plan.

It is reported that due to the recent outbreak of demand for AI computing power, the supply and demand of the global memory market have been imbalanced, and the price of DDR4 memory has soared. This has also made the merchant's refund policy even more stringent. After reading the post, many netizens said, "It is too unreasonable to deduct depreciation fees for the return of faulty products." "The price increase belongs to the merchant, and the loss belongs to the consumer."