How much time do you wait?

[Nuclear Krusader]

How much time are you willing to wait for a warranty or for a service?

Case 1: One of my customers called me over last week. Her printer had given up the ghost, but she wanted it to be checked just in case there was some way to save it. It was 1800 Hrs. and she wanted it returned by 0900 the next day. I told her that nobody could do that. That the time it would take me to check it would be two days. "TWO DAYS!" She screamed, "but I just needed badly. It's the only printer I have and I'm printing all day!" I then explained to her that checking her printer was not the only work I had to do, and that if I lost my sleep (or my session of Baldur's Gate) because of it then it would cost her extra. Finally the printer was returned to her three days after. What do you think? When you send your gadgets to service how much time do you wait? Who is right: she or me?

Case 2: I bought a 17" CRT perfect flat Samsung monitor. The thing is damaged. The image becomes blurry in the sides. I tried to return the monitor to my dealer but they tell me that they only accept DOA, so I need to go to the Service Center (so to speak). I go to the SC then, and they tell me that it will take 35 DAYS for them to either change the monitor or repair it. OH MY! 35 DAYS! It seems I have no choice so I left the thing there and buy another one.
This time it's a 17" LG Flatron. Guess what? The blasted thing is damaged too. The image becomes stretched in the upper part. No, playing with the Moirè didn't correct it. So I call LG customer support and they tell me that they will take 30 DAYS to either replace the thing or repair it. They claim having a 24 hours express service, but those 24 hours is just the time it takes them to check the thing and see what's wrong with it. After that you have to wait 35 days with no monitor, no computer, no games, no PC Mech forums, etc. AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

So, now I'm puting up with this blasted monitor because I have no more money to buy another one to use while they replace the bad one.

[HackinCowboy]

3 days to check/fix a printer is pretty good in my opinion. For me, anything under 1.5 - 2 weeks is doable. 35 days would force me to use some corporate leverage (from work) to decrease that wait time. That's just down right ridiculous.

[Toaster]

Howdy,
When I had my shop, I had an "express service" fee for those that insisted on either "waiting" for service or expecting it in short order.
(for you to put your needs ahead of a customers can doom a biz)
Many times, work would add up to the point of 7 days for many machines.
Walk-ins go to the back of the line, biz goes to the front.
In front of all goes the "contracted" work.
A walk-in who expects "express service" is obliged to pay for such service.
To many times a customer would say "a week is fine" and then call daily to check on the status. Some even called on the same day they dropped of the equipment.
Prioritizing your work is the only way I kept up with it.
There were instances when "loyal customers" were pushed ahead depending on the work needed.
All inbound traffic is assessed with a "bench fee" to scare off the leeches.
This bench fee should be no less then 1/2 hour of technical time.
On site should be 1 hour "just to show up".
Set your policies down and stick to them.
Everyone is a bargain hunter, some will even try to "manuver" you into a bargain.
The classic case is the guy who brings in a system saying:
"My buddie says "this" is whats wrong, thats what I want done"
Write out the work order, in his/her words and "do" what they say. However, it is wise to warn those that the suggested repair may not correct the condition.


A classic like this for me which caused a BIG stink was:
"My friend said I need more memory, my programs won't install"

I asked:
You mean the hard-disk is full and the app simply won't install?

Reply:
Yes, my friend said adding more ram will fix this.

I said:
Adding memory will have no effect on hard-disk space!

Reply:
My friend is good at this stuff and is sure this will fix it, please do "this".
(This was adding another 16MB of RAM to a Win 3.xx system)

Well, in comes this guy. He pays up and walks out.
Within an hour, he's on the phone saying:
"Whats up with you people, that memory didn't help at all!"

I replied:
I did the work "you" thought "you" needed and I warned you that adding RAM wouldn't correct the problem. You insisted that your friend knew the problem and how to correct it. You then said "do this" after I advised you otherwise.

The next day his "friend" walks into the door. He suggests I had "stolen" some of the memory that was in the machine.

I asked:
How much "memory" do you think was in the machine?

His reply:
It had 120MB (this was actually the hard disk size).

I said:
The hard-disk "capacity" was indeed 120MB and the total free space is now less then 5MB. They INSISTED I add RAM, not do anything about the full hard-disk which I cautioned them about.

He said:
Hard-disk space and RAM are the same thing you moron!

I said: (without popping him one)
There is "storage space" and "application memory", they are 2 totally different things. One is RAM and one is hard-disk "real estate" or "storage space".


He got all ticked off and stormed out of the store.
3 days later, a letter of suit to appear in court.

Well, the guy didn't have a leg to stand on. No one asked for a refund, no one asked to "detirmine" the cause of the errors. Just a lawsuit, no other communication. So...this "friend" cost the person I did the work for:
1. The initial work. (I offered a refund to apply to an actual repair, they refused)
2. Attorney fees (about 450.00)
3. My then shop labor rate of 22.50/hr @ 22 hours. (this was in 1989)
4. This "friend" suggested that the original customer would win but they also had to foot the costs. Not a cent came from their "friend".


Watch out for these folks......

[archie]

Hey Toaster, there are still so many who confuse RAM and HD space.
Nuclear Krusader, your customer is expecting too much ... about 2 weeks would be more than reasonable. As for the LG monitor, seeing that it's new, isn't there a straight exchange policy? BTW, did you try the monitor on another computer just in case.

[Trent Steel]

I would like to add my two cents to Nuclear Krusader's waiting time topic, and his two cases.


The costumer that expected the printer back overnight was expecting too much. Either she should be happy with a few days wait, or she should pay a premium for immediate service. But since she stated that she was printing all day (heavy printer user), she should have either bought a second printer (full featured one or just a cheapo printer for a stopgap measure) to use now, then a few days wait to get the original printer back would not be so big of a problem for her.


35 days to get your monitors fixed, that’s what I would expect from any of the large scale computer equipment manufacturer. I suspect that some companies that offer warranties on there products purposely have ridiculously long return times, some customers not willing to wait that long may pay out of pocket to get their product fixed. But I don't see why you would have to wait that long. The monitors, how you described, are defective. Since you paid for working monitors now (not 35 days later) and clearly that is not what you received you should be entitled to an immediate replacement. This would depend on what stipulations were provided upon purchase and on what country you live in (you could claim false advertising).