August 19, 2026, 2:30 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
For months, TECHBOOK has been reporting on the “RAMpocalypse” and the sharply rising costs of PC components. This is now evident not only in higher purchase prices. Increasingly, manufacturers and retailers are refusing to replace defective parts and are only refunding the purchase price. However, this is now only a fraction of what the same components currently cost.
Retailer Simply Returns Defective RAM
Currently, a case involving a Lenovo gaming laptop is sparking discussions. A Reddit user originally purchased the device with 64 GB of DDR5 RAM. After eight months, a defect occurred, and the buyer sent the device to Best Buy for warranty repair.
The U.S. retail giant returned the laptop with only 32 GB of RAM. The reason: The device supports a maximum of 32 GB. However, the retailer continues to sell the laptop on its website with a 64-GB configuration. The second, likely defective 32-GB module was simply returned to the buyer. Best Buy should have replaced the RAM if the defect was covered under warranty.
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No Replacement for Defective RAM Sticks
In recent weeks, reports of similar cases have been increasing. Due to the sharply increased prices for RAM and SSDs, manufacturers are refraining from directly replacing defective parts and are only refunding the purchase price. While this is legal, customers criticize that they can no longer purchase a comparable product with the money today.
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On Reddit, several users report that they were only offered a refund for defective RAM sticks from the Crucial brand. In one case involving a 2×24-GB kit, the original purchase price was just under 208 euros. Today, a comparable kit costs around 600 euros. At least the affected user was able to negotiate a counteroffer and received a comparable 3×16-GB kit as a replacement. Other buyers were not so successful.
The problem is that Micron–one of the world’s three major RAM manufacturers–withdrew from the consumer market with its Crucial brand at the end of 2025. Since then, the company has only been producing RAM for AI server farms. Any replacement for defective memory now comes only from remaining stock.
SSDs Also Affected
SK hynix is also under criticism because the company did not want to replace a defective SSD under warranty. According to their own statements, no replacement devices were available, so the manufacturer only offered a refund.
In Germany, users are also affected. Here, a shop cited §439 paragraph 4 of the German Civil Code in an ongoing complaint case and refused fulfillment due to “disproportionate costs.” The affected device is a 2-TB SSD that the customer purchased for 140 euros. Today, it has a market value of around 270 euros.
Another prominent example involves Samsung, which only wanted to refund the original purchase price for a high-end SSD to the well-known YouTuber and right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann. Only after Rossmann publicly complained did Samsung ultimately refund the current market value.