Intel customer bemoans CPU RMA process — furious owner says Intel claims brand new Core i9-14900K chips purchased from Amazon and Microcenter are fake

Reddit user jerubedo took to the r/hardware subreddit to share a story on an Intel RMA nightmare. The individual said the company claimed that the two Core i9-14900K processors suffering from the instability issues plaguing 13th- and 14th-generation Intel chips were fraudulent. The company reportedly said in its response, “Intel reserves the rights to retain the product and/or destroy such product as appropriate.”

Before all this drama, jerubedo contacted Intel’s customer service regarding the processors, and the company agreed that they were indeed faulty. When Intel asked for photographs and documentation, the company responded to jerubedo saying that one of the chips (Serial Number 02096 from Microcenter) was re-marked. At the same time, the other was a tray processor (Serial number 03252 from Amazon) and was not covered by a retail warranty.

When the Reddit poster sent clearer photos of the Amazon chip, Intel changed its stance, saying it was indeed a boxed processor. However, the company also noted that it wasn’t confident that the chip would pass muster with its fraud validation, suggesting that jerubedo return the chip to the merchant (Amazon) that sold them the chip instead.

Jerubedo showed the Microcenter chip to the store where they bought it from, and it said that their chip did not bear any signs of tampering and that the Reddit user should report the latter’s findings to Intel. The CPU giant then said that jerubedo could push through with the RMA, but Intel threatened that it will keep the chip if it found it to be a fake.

Intel’s alleged response to the Reddit user’s insistence on the return was: “We do not disclose our investigation practices. If you believe your products are valid and wish to proceed with a return merchandise authorization (RMA), we can create one. However, if the products fail the validation process, the units will be retained and confiscated, and no replacements or refunds will be provided.”

It’s good that both Microcenter and Amazon accepted jerubedo’s return. Intel just announced two extra years of warranty for any boxed 13th Generation Raptor Lake and 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors to assuage consumer fears that their processor will fail soon after the warranty expires.

While this would give Intel users some semblance of peace of mind, if similar RMA stories emerge, many Intel loyalists could potentially switch to AMD systems. It would further compound the giant corporation’s troubles, with Intel having just announced a 15% reduction of its workforce and suspending dividends for its investors.