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by Terry E. Mercer ©1997-1999
Many companies, especially mail order companies selling complete systems, offer "On-Site" Warranties* with excellent options.
FALSE! - The majority of the time - If you don't live in a large city or within 50 miles of one!Fact: Be sure to read the fine print! Call the company, ask them to put the on-site limitations in writing... in fact, ask them to take it a step further and guarantee a specific on-site warranty, both telephone and in-person response time... as well as loaner and repair or replacement guarantees.I have personally found that a large number of these "popular" mail order & Internet companies SELL the "on-site" warranty via contract to other unrelated companies in large cities. These third-party companies that get paid for taking the contracts then hire technicians in smaller cities (100,000 or more, usually) for a great deal less than any good technician normally makes... therefore, you (the customer) often get the "beginner" or technician that isn't up with the latest technology, or can't communicate with real people, or have some other "problem" that doesn't allow them to stay busy with "REAL" paying jobs. Often, unless you are in a high traffic area for that technician, he (or she) will have to call and have parts shipped in, and your down time will be increased even more. There are exceptions - though few and far between.What you will find, if you live in a small town or more than 50 miles away from a big city is:
Do you have a story? I am debating whether to list some of the "horror" stories - the towns and companies which have let the customer down... that have violated a trust and an agreement with the customer. Possibly adding some of the customer testimonials that have been emailed and snail mailed to me. If you have a horror story regarding "on-site" warranty issues, please send them to me - with as much supporting documentation as possible. If there are enough from the same company, maybe we can change how that company deals with customers in the future. Maybe even file a class action law suit on those companies which are really abusing their customers through faults advertising and unfulfilled guarantees?!
Note (about computer techs): Any technician worth their salt normally charges $35 to $150 per hour... only the type charges less is either a beginner, a student in high-school or college, someone that has a full-time "good" paying job, or someone that can't get enough business to justify the price. Note: there are a few really good techs that barter, that are trying to get their foot in the door (of a business), and there are those that are independently wealthy (though the later is very few).Keep in mind that most GOOD technicians LIVE... EAT, DRINK, SLEEP, and BREATH computers... 8, 10, 12, 16, 18 or more hours a day 5 to 7 days a week. Everything else comes second - sometimes even breathing, eating, sleeping, and showering. It is their life, their passion, their hobby, and the way they are trying to make a living. They didn't learn most of what they know in a school (unless it was OIT or MIT or some truly technical institute)... they learned it in the real world by trial an error. Their knowledge comes from experience, books, and "smart friends."The true "nerd" doesn't make their knowledge and experience a complete secret, they trade their knowledge with other "nerds" that have information, tips, tricks, traps, and knowledge they don't. This is the best way one person can cover so many different aspects of such a fast growing industry.
The Good:Toshiba (one of the leading notebook manufacturer's) offers 24-7 (24 hour a day, 7 days a week) telephone technical support, and if you are "on-the-road" or away from a big city they will actually ship you a "call-tag" (a Fed-X pick-up, at no cost) to have your notebook shipped to their nearest service center and guarantee a return to you in (generally 2-5 business days). They seem to have the best warranty, although it still isn't "On-site." For $299 you can get a three year - NO FAULT WARRANTY that covers your notebook if you dropped it, froze it, or spilled something on it. Here's the link:http://www.csd.toshiba.com/tais/csd/support/selctsrv/index.html?systemguardIt is the absolute best warranty for notebooks in the industry... I don't know why they don't advertise it more, but it is real, and ONLY for their notebooks. No One has come close to this warranty, and if you are rough on your notebooks, then Toshiba is the ONLY way to go!
Other companies that users have reported "treated them RIGHT" (regarding notebook computers with problems) are: Gateway, Dell, and Compaq. I was planning to purchase a new notebook computer, November 99. I decided to do some shopping (and investigation) and explained to each company HOW I use my notebook (sitting open on my front seat, with a talking GPS system plugged in), and that I have had a couple problems in the past: 1) someone pulled out in front of me, and my notebook slammed off the dash - breaking the display; 2) someone pulled out in front of me and I swerved out of the way, dumping Pepsi all over the system - frying the keyboard; and 3) I accidentally forgot that I put my notebook on top of my truck (a '99 Ford F250 SD 4x4 Off Road w/Crew Cab) and drove off - dumping the system on the asphalt, in a mud puddle. Now, in ALL of the instances above, Toshiba came through with flying colors, and repaired or replaced my systems (three of them altogether) without hassle. I did have to take it into a certified repair center, but it was dealt with quickly and easily. For that I really like and recommend Toshiba.So, after relating my story to these companies that wanted my money, and explained that I was a computer reseller and had been "in the business" for a number of years - and sell between 6 and 50 notebooks a year, and that I required an active matrix display SVGA or XGA (so I could see the display in sun light), at least a 10 gig HDD (because I store massive data - all the maps & information)... I didn't care about the processor speed, or battery life. DVD was a plus, but not required. I didn't want to spend more than $3,000, and here is what I found out:Dell, by far the hottest portable system on the market for the money. High speed processors, an 8MB ATI Rage Pro graphics adapter, up to 75 Gigabytes of HDD, 6x DVD, and battery life up to 10 hours. Anyhow, they were my first choice, BUT would ONLY warranty manufacturer defects. They had no extended warranty options, besides manufacturer defects, AND (what really topped things for me) I would have to wait 20 to 30 days to get my notebook computer, if I paid for it right then. Oh, no credit card... well, they refused to ship to me COD cash/cashiers check... and my personal and/or Company check would have to clear their bank (they estimated that would take 7 to 10 days)... and THEN they would process the order, which would take 20 to 30 more days. Also, they would NOT give me a money back guarantee in the event the warranty work didn't happen as stated. They gave me a great deal of talk, and they were consistent through their customer service managers. At one point, two of the people at Dell stated that Toshiba did NOT have a no fault warranty. I promptly took them to the information on Toshibas site. They recanted, and So, Dell did NOT get my money! And I really wanted to buy a Dell - and give them a try, but I'm an impulsive buyer - to some degree. When I plan to spend a bunch of money, I want to spend it NOW... and receive the goods in a day or two!Gateway, the number two mail-order notebook company (behind Dell), bottom line, I couldn't get past their much higher prices for less of a computer system. They wanted an arm and leg for their systems with big hard disk drives (10 gigs or larger).IBM ThinkPad, small hard drives, and a high price for the systems with the larger hard drives. Standard Warranty, nothing fancy. Nice notebook, commonly available in the retail channel. I guess the thing that turned me away from these notebooks is that their Active Matrix display systems are not commonly available, and considerably more expensive. They were ruled out.Compaq, Model #1930 - the hard drive was only 10 gigabytes, but all of the rest of the system was there. And, the price was under $2,500 - with a $200 no requirements rebate. It is a real nice system, an XGA Active Matrix 14.1" display, 6x DVD, 3-4 hour battery life, and a standard warranty. Yes, this is the one I purchased. Why, because it would arrive the next day, and the Toshiba I wanted was back ordered for over six weeks... and Dell wouldn't ship me one for another month. Compaq has a warranty center here in Knoxville, where I'm living now. It isn't as good of warranty as Toshiba has, but I needed to get a new notebook as soon as possible.
A Real Horror Story
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Copyright © 1993 through 2000 T.E. Mercer and PBG, All rights reserved.
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