Do not send RAM to Crucial/Micron for warranty

If you have a crucial product and need a warranty claim make it with the seller/distributor first and not crucial/micron!

I made the mistake of buying DDR5 sodimms made by crucial in 2025 from Amazon and one of the sticks broke. (I should've bought from SK Hynix or Samsung, their sticks would certainly be more reliable)

I foolishly decided to get an RMA with crucial. Welp they have no inventory and offered the original purchase price (which would not cover buying a replacement, or even half the capacity).

Then I realised I should've tried to make a claim with Amazon instead of crucial directly and so I emailed crucial to send my defective stick back to me so I can pursue the issue with Amazon (they definitely have inventory).

But this is the reply crucial gave me:
"
Hello [name],

Thank you for contacting Crucial Support.

We understand your request to have the defective item returned so that you may pursue other options. However, once a product has been received and processed as part of our warranty procedure, we are unfortunately unable to ship the returned item back to the customer.

Additionally, due to the wind-down of the Crucial consumer business, we are not in a position to facilitate any outbound shipments of returned warranty products.

We would also like to clarify that we are unable to reimburse the €14 shipping cost you incurred when returning the product. Return shipping expenses are the responsibility of the customer and are not covered under our warranty policy.

At this time, as we no longer have replacement inventory available, the only resolution we can offer is a refund based on the original purchase value shown on your proof of purchase. Please confirm if you would like to proceed with the same.

You may receive a survey by email after our interaction. If you have a moment, I would appreciate if you could provide feedback about your experience with me.

If you have further questions, I welcome your reply. You can also visit our Contact page for other ways to reach us.

Regards,

[name]

"
This has to be illegal right? If I don't take the offer of the joke of a refund they can't just not give me back the item? Especially in the EU?

As far as I can tell with EU warranty law a claim is with the seller so I should've tried to make a warranty claim with Amazon and not rely on Crucial's manufacturer's warranty.