Below we answer some of the most common questions from our customers
Q: What exactly am I buying?
A: You are buying our service to A) procure the GPUs mentioned in the service from second hand markets B) swap the GPU cores of the selected PCB and C) ship them to you.
Q: What should I expect to physically receive upon purchasing your services?
A: These will always be detailed in the order description. Usually, for GPU core swap orders, you will receive both GPUs after the swap, subject to any technical and physical limitations. For example, if you pay for a swap of Titan Xp onto a 1080Ti Strix, you will receive a Titan Xp on a Strix PCB with 12GB of VRAM, and a 1080Ti on the original Titan Xp’s PCB.
However, since a 1080Ti has a 32-bit VRAM bus permanently disabled, your new 1080Ti on the original Titan’s PCB will only address 11GB of VRAM.
Q: Why am I buying a “service” as opposed to buying two GPUs that you make?
A: We are not authorized resellers of NVIDIA, ASUS, Galax, EVGA, etc. We also don’t have any affiliation with them. No products like “TITAN X GOC,” “TITAN Xp Kingpin,” or “TITAN RTX Strix” exist officially. We won’t, and we don’t have the permission to, use their trademarks in our services, even if these products have met their end of warranty, production, or life.
Any product names or trademarks that we reference belong to their respective owners. Our mentioning of these names serves merely descriptive purposes to delineate what you’ll ultimately receive through our services.
Think of us like garage workshops rather than car dealerships, but with world class GPU modification knowledge and capability.
Q: I don’t want the inferior GPU after the swap! Do I have to pay for it?
A: Please contact us if you do not wish to keep the lower-tiered GPU as the byproduct of the swap. Sales within China can be arranged on a case-by-case basis.
Q: I changed my mind! What’s the store’s cancellation and return policy?
A: Before your order is processed, we offer a full refund, no questions asked, minus any transaction fees collected by the financial institutions that handle our transactions. Once the order is processed, the entire order is nonrefundable and noncancellable. An order is considered processed once we begin procurement of relevant parts or any labor of modification work.
However, if the modification is unsuccessful, we will issue a full refund. If you still wish to continue with the order, we will replace all damaged parts at no additional charge.
We insure all shipments with full value. If an order arrives damaged, please contact us within 48 hours of delivery to initiate a dispute with the courier. We will fully cover your losses incurred in shipping.
Q: I have a friend who lives in the same country as I do. Can we bundle our orders together to save shipping costs?
A: Here at Thermetery we value your properties and privacy. We will never release your order or your personal information to unrelated third parties without your explicit consent or as mandated by law. That means if multiple clients wish to bundle their orders for shipments, every client in that group must send us a written authorization to release their personal information and properties to the handling of someone else. Silence is not consent. Please note that other entities might have privacy policies that are different from ours.
Q: Can I return the item under the Chinese 7-day return mandate?
A: According to Clause 25 of the the Chinese Consumers’ Rights Protection Law (消费者权益保护法): items made to a customer’s order, like the customized motherboards and GPUs, are not subject to the 7-day refund guarantee.
Q: Do you provide any warranty to your products?
A: Given the highly specialized nature of our services, we do not provide any warranty except a “DOA insurance” for items arriving damaged to clients. Our services are provided strictly “as is” and voids any original manufacturer’s warranty. Any product resulting from our services are made for collection, enthusiast, or engineering purposes. We assume no responsibility for damages arising from your uses, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Q: Which jurisdiction do our orders fall under?
A: According to our terms of service, all of our orders are governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China. By using our services and placing any order, you agree that any dispute shall be resolved in accordance with Chinese law. Please note that for international clients, our terms of services has a binding arbitration clause at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC). However, we do strive to make every reasonable effort to resolve any dispute amicably!
Q: How exactly does your service work? As a Chinese consumer, what rights and protections do I enjoy?
A: We are not lawyers, and we do not provide legal services in any shape or form. Nothing in this page constitutes legal advice. Please consult qualified attorneys for legal interpretation. The information provided below solely represents the modus operandi of our services.
GPUs or motherboards are first purchased, per the instructions in your order, from second hand markets in China. We test them for functionality. If the items are functional and conform to the standards that we previously agreed on (such as binning), we will perform the modification that you ordered.
Second hand items have less protection compared to new items. Generally, in China, one cannot return a second hand item solely because of a change of mind. However, if you purchased second hand items marketed as “functional” but received a defective unit, it can be returned for a full refund on the grounds of a significant departure from the description.
Consequently, we will only purchase functional units for our services, even if untested units are cheaper. If the item arrives damaged, we will negotiate for a return and refund. Any potential dispute/chargeback/litigation handlings are on the house. We will notify you at each step of the process, but you do not need to pay extra. If the seller never ships the item and is unresponsive, we will file a chargeback after a reasonable amount of time, or period of time agreed by you.
“Binned” units in the form of GPUs with high ASIC scores or CPUs with high SP scores usually carry no legally enforceable guarantees beyond the numeric values. That is to say, you cannot refund a GPU with a high ASIC quality score solely because its overclocking headroom is undesirable. However, a significant departure of the ASIC score constitutes a ground of a return/refund.
Your units during domestic transits are also insured to their full value. The BGA technician’s service constitutes a labor made to the customer’s order and is nonrefundable.
Since we started this business five years ago, our chargeback win-rate against sellers has remained 100%. While this is not a legal guarantee, you will not be liable for any losses when we procure your parts.
Q: If you are sourcing parts from the Chinese second hand market, do I (and, by extension, you) enjoy any rights as a consumer?
A: Yes. Here are some pertinent laws and regulations regarding consumer rights in China that you might want to read.
Disclaimer: we are not lawyers. Any excerpts, translations, or summaries below are provided in good faith for general informational purposes only. They may not be complete or up to date. Nothing here constitutes legal advice. Please consult a qualified attorney for legal interpretations.
Source Laws:
– Consumer Rights Protection Law (《消费者权益保护法》)
– Interim Measures for the 7-Day Unconditional Return for Online Purchases (《网络购买商品七日无理由退货暂行办法》)
Pertinent Chinese Regulations:
Customer Protection Law Clause 24 (summary):
If the goods or services do not meet the expected quality, the customer may return their item based on pertinent regulations or agreements made prior to the purchase. Should there be no such preexisting outlines, the customer may return the item 7 days after the reception of the item. After 7 days, the customer may return the item if it falls under permitting conditions. Should there be no such conditions, they may require the vendor to fulfill the obligation of exchanges or repairs. The vendor is responsible for any cost incurred in the processes above. Should the return be initiated by reasons not related to the quality of the item, the customer may still unconditionally return the item after 7 days of reception but is responsible for any cost incurred in the return.
Clause 25 (summary):
The aforementioned 7-day return window does not apply to items that are:
1) Customized
2) Perishable
3) Downloadable
4) Newspaper or Magazines.
or otherwise not returnable with an agreement with the customer made prior to the purchase
Note from Jiacheng:**the 7 day return windows often does NOT apply to used market purchases**
Tentative Regulation on the 7-day Unconditional Return for Internet-based Purchase (excerpt):
In the event of the customer making unauthorized modifications of reparations of the item; damaging the item itself, the compulsory tags of identification, S/N number, etc.; creating or leaving personal marks, traces, or data that are difficult or impossible to be eliminated; activating or registering the product; or changing the merchandises in other ways that may negatively impact the reselling of the item, the rights of returning the item may be denied.
The following actions may be punished with warning, forfeiture of the unlawful income, a fine 1-10 times of the unlawful income, or a combination of the above. If there are no unlawful gains, an administrative penalty up to 500,000 CNY may be imposed against the seller. In aggravating cases, the seller’s business license may be suspended or revoked. Examples of violations include:
1) Refusing to honor the 7-day unconditional return policy without prior arrangements or solely because the item was opened for a verification of the authenticity
2) Delaying to respond to the customer’s return request for more than 15 days, not providing a returning address/name of the recipient, or otherwise rendering the return process impossible
3) Failing to remit the refund within 15 days of receiving the returned goods.
Thermetery Technology (WORK IN PROGRESS) 