I have had a couple of zotac cards over the years, no problem with them at all. I haven't had to rma with them but those who have reported good experiences from what I've seen.
Yep. The practice of comingled inventory is absurd. Even shipped/sold by Amazon doesn't matter now that third party is mixed into their inventory. You can buy and get a counterfeit easily due to this. It should be illegal as fraud.