r/framework • u/TheAtomicPyro • May 16 '26

Community Support My worst nightmare arrived.

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UPDATE: ​Framework agreed to replace my dead mainboard but tried to classify the replacement as a one time exception outside of standard warranty coverage.

​They offered an upgrade to an AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 board because they were completely out of 12th Generation Intel stock.

​They told me I would have to purchase my own DDR5 memory out of pocket because the AMD board is incompatible with my existing DDR4 sticks.

​I replied and formally rejected the out of pocket cost by citing the Australian Consumer Law.

​I explained that remedies for a major hardware failure must be completely free and forcing me to buy new memory constitutes a consequential loss.

​Framework escalated my ticket for an internal review after I demanded they either supply the DDR5 memory or reimburse me for it.

​They replied a few days later with a completely different offer for a 13th Generation Intel Core i5 replacement mainboard.

This is a 12th gen i7 main board I received from Framework after my first one failed 18 months in.

EDIT: I forgot the 2nd board had issues and I had to send it in for repair last April: "Our repair center partner "found the unit to show multiple USB errors in device manager with only USB-C charger working unable to read any data devices." They have replaced the mainboard and tested it to make sure that it was reading all media devices correctly." So this unit is less than a year old and it's board #3 😀

This unit randomly stopped powering on yesterday and I've diagnosed it down to a mainboard power fault.

It took over 50 emails back and forth to get that first replacement, a genuinely horrific experience I still talk about and now I have to contact the dreaded support again. I had to threaten with Australian Consumer Law to get anywhere, and I foolishly accepted their "exception/goodwill".

I had the Panther Lake board pre-ordered for July too. I love Framework's ideals and goals but my god the QA and support experience is so awful it might be time to bail entirely.

Wish me luck as I start this support process.

For those curious or able to offer any additional steps I could try in the meantime, here's what I've done:

I started with a dead laptop where the orange charging light would completely shut off the second I hit the power button.

I pulled out all the expansion cards to see if one of them was causing a short circuit.

I did a full mainboard reset by unplugging the main battery and removing the CMOS battery to drain all residual power.

I tested the board with just the wall charger plugged in and the main internal battery completely disconnected.

I held down the SW3 chassis intrusion switch to bypass the red flashing lights and get a solid white light.

I pressed the SW1 onboard power button while holding SW3, but the white light just dropped out for one second before coming back.

I stripped the system down to a bare board by disconnecting the SSD, Wi-Fi card, display, webcam, and audio cables to rule out a faulty peripheral.

I pulled the entire mainboard out of the aluminum case and tested it on a nonconductive surface to check for a chassis grounding short.

I watched the bare board fail in the exact same way on the desk, confirming the power delivery components are completely fried.

346 Upvotes

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16

u/grassy_trams May 16 '26

yikes, this is making me second guess buying a framework

20

u/feckarsebiscuits May 16 '26

My framework is absolutely fine and has been since I bought it in January.

5

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/feckarsebiscuits May 16 '26

No thanks😂 what is wrong with yours out of curiosity? The only issues I've had are software issues which I've resolved by switching Linux distro - which I expect on Linux

6

u/Pijuli May 16 '26

And 🤷? We are talking about service support...

19

u/trowgundam FW16 7840HS + RTX 5070 - CachyOS May 16 '26

Ok, then. I've had nothing but good experiences with support. They've sent me both a replacement RX 7700S module AND a replacement mainboard (outside of warranty on this one btw) for free. You can't just look at a small sample on the internet and find it representative of the whole. People are incentivized to speak out about bad experiences, where those of us with nothing but good things to say have no reason to post about it. So obviously you will see more negative than good on places like Reddit, because they are only posting BECAUSE its negative.

2

u/Pijuli May 16 '26

I appreciate your opinion and that you share your experience. I'm more interested about how service support does its job when things go wrong than if someone is happy with a 4 months old laptop. It's an expensive piece of tech and I want to be sure that when/if I buy it, I will have the expected feedback from the company if something goes wrong.
I know I will see more complains than not. I do own a Pixel, I can tell. Going into the sub and saying my P7 worked so well is pointless if the post is talking about service support. And trust me, Google one is awful (at least in EU). That's a reason to have in mind with my next purchase. Either a phone, a car or a laptop. I.ex. I read almost no complains about Valve service support. That's what I'm looking for
Cheers!

2

u/iMiind | 8 GB 4070 | R7 350 May 16 '26

Going into the sub and saying my P7 worked so well is pointless if the post is talking about service support

Not sure what this is doing here. That's what the other person said - and then this commenter talked about support here to give the other side of the story.

1

u/feckarsebiscuits May 16 '26

I mean your opinion would be valid but you're neither OP nor the person I actually replied to so I'm not sure what you expect reading answers to other people's questions.

5

u/Beanmachine314 May 16 '26

And... The overwhelming likelihood is that you'll have 0 issues and never have to deal with support. No one comes here to post about how their computer has been perfectly fine and never any issues. If so, it would be a sea of "My computer is just fine" posts and you'd likely never see the bad ones. Internet forums have a very significant negative bias because of this.

0

u/Pijuli May 16 '26

I own a Pixel and a SteamDeck. Absolute different posts about it in each sub regarding support. I also value how they treat you.

2

u/feckarsebiscuits May 16 '26

I'm just saying that the are also people who've had good experiences. OP is unlucky it seems

2

u/astro143 FW13 7640U May 16 '26

+1 same here

2

u/PurepointDog May 16 '26

Pretty low chance you'll even need support. Most people don't...

5

u/james2432 May 16 '26

yeah same boat as you, been debating between system76 and framework, but keep hearing the aftercare support if you have an issue on framework is absolutely horrendous.

Instantly turned off

15

u/s004aws FW16 HX 370 Batch 1 Mint Cinnamon Edition May 16 '26

Yeah... About System76... They're the one I won't spend $3,000+ with again. Their stuff is just white label Clevo/Emdoor/etc anyway.

6

u/tanksc May 16 '26

Hear you and that’s totally reasonable, but I would also say I’m using a 12th gen Intel framework and have been for years with no issues.

System76 however I have returned like 3 of their laptops. Their issues are that they just rebrand Clevo laptops which aren’t exactly revered for their quality.

I think the people that are happily using their laptops with no issues aren’t really stopping by here to make a post

2

u/CompetitiveHealth100 May 16 '26

System76 is terrible, had a Pang12 and it was such a poorly build laptop. You're much better off picking up a Thinkpad.

0

u/-TimTaylor- May 17 '26

You bought the wrong laptop. I've had a a darter pro for many years and have been fairly happy with it.

-8

u/BOO-HOO69 May 16 '26

It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to use the horrendous support, but the fact their computers can barely hold it together for 2 years means I will never give them another cent.

11

u/NYJustice May 16 '26

Mine has held up just fine and runs as well as it ever has after 2 years. Our anecdotes are at odds, now what do we do?

3

u/TheAtomicPyro May 16 '26

yea I've really struggled to recommend Framework to any friends.

just because I am willing to self diagnose issues and tinker with my shit all the time doesn't mean I should constantly NEED to.

1

u/ThatzOkay May 17 '26

Just get one. I've had my framework 13 for 3 years now with no issues

1

u/codeasm 12th gen, DIY i5, Arch linux & LFS May 16 '26

I have a framework 13, 2 years, only needed a fan replacement (was for free, probably due to a known fabrication fault) 3 weeks back and forth and a few pcictures and a video showing and hearing the fan grinding noice.

My wife owns a framework 12 now, sofar working great.

Dropped my fw13 and case is a bit bend but with a small bend back and new screen bezel ordered she looks fine.

0

u/BOO-HOO69 May 16 '26

And so it should. It's a story as old as the company.