I had a fan bearing go bad on an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. It was literally two days out of warranty, and I was pissed. I was near one of their main offices at the time, and ended up calling their reception and driving to drop off the borked card after speaking to an engineer who wanted to see it. They handed me a brand new card, no questions asked, and thanked me for bringing the problem to their attention.
I miss the good old days.