My MSI GTX 970 stopped booting recently, just a few months away from the expiration of the 3 year manufacturers warranty.
I had a spare motherboard/PSU/CPU available to confirm that the problem followed the graphics card and not some other component. Explaining this to MSI tech support resulted in a fairly painless RMA approval.
About a week after I shipped the card back to them, I got an email saying they didn't have any replacement 970s in stock, and offered me a $120 refund as compensation. I politely, but firmly declined, referencing the prices of used GTX 970s in the marketplace ($250-$300 per my quick perusal).
They responded a day later offering to refund the full purchase price to me ($350). I was hoping they'd offer me a next gen alternative (I've heard of this in other forums) but I suppose at current prices it's more economical just to give me back the original purchase amount.
Not too displeased at the process and the outcome overall, and thought I'd post here to warn fellow gerbils in the same boat not to accept the initial lowball offer. Also I've never RMA'd a graphics card with another vendor, so not sure what to expect, but +1 to MSI for customer service overall.