Providing warranties for new systems - how do I make use of longer manufact warranty?

[tankman1989]

Let's say a 1 year warranty is standard on all shop built PC's. Most PC parts have a 1-5 year product warranty so how do you deal with the remaining manufacturer's warranty?

Let's use a HD as an example. The HD has a 5 year warranty.

The customer calls 6 months after purchase. The PC won't boot, customer brings PC to shop. What do you do? Buy a new HD and install it and RMA the broken drive to the manufacturer? Any charge for having a shorter waiting period? (think some laptop manufacturers make you send the laptop back and this takes 5-25 days)

What do you do with the returned drive (is it a refurb or new usually?)

The hard drive fails 12+ months after purchase. The PC won't boot, customer brings PC to shop. What do you do? Order new HD, install and charge (charge for drive + labor or just drive or what..).? RMA drive and then stock returned /refurb drive?

Sorry if this is worded poorly, there are so many possible variables and situations.

Also, I guess it would be possible to offer 1 year labor and whatever you like on parts. Maybe say "manufacturers warranty" on parts but charge after a year. The problem I always see is that to make the repair in a timely manner it is better to buy new hardware for the replacement of the defective part but then you are stuck with an extra piece of hardware which wasn't planned upon. What is your strategy to deal with these situations?

 

[pc-quebec]

What do you do with the returned drive (is it a refurb or new usually?)

WD send a new one , but the warranty finish at the same time as the original you purchase, so if you RMA after 2 years only 3 left ( for a 5 years of course)

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

What do you do?

What do you do?

This is addressed to death in the forums if you search for it. One strategy is to make sure you are buying parts that have a decent manufacturers warranty attached to it.

If something happens to one of customers hard drive, I will swap it out with the same or larger size, whatever I have in stock. The client does not pay extra for speedy turn around, they get it right quick because that is just good business. Motherboards and RMA laptops are a bit more difficult as the RMAds parts need sent to a service center. Generally speaking, the client is okay with waiting for the replacement to be sent. If there is a need for continuity of service, then I offer to order a replacement at cost. I am careful to explain that RMAs can take a certain amount of time and leave it up to the client to decide. Of course this is with custom units, though Im trying harder to push OEMs like Dells and HPs because its just better to get a replacement part next day.

If cash flow is an issue, then I would stay away from custom units. I worked for a shop years ago that sold a bunch of custom units. These had ASRock or PC Chips boards that were complete garbage. Basically, the company had to buy the boards twice because they couldnt get RMAs or replacements of these crappy boards. The moral to the story is to stay away from junk and watch what you buy from the start to get quality products. To this day, I use about 4 brands of motherboards, and not the entry level stuff.

On another note, I do not know to be concerned or impressed about all the threads about custom systems. There might be more profit initially, but the risk can be higher. The days of custom systems are few and far between now, and only trending to be barely a niche segment. And a majority of the niche market is capable of assembly of their own unit. While I wouldn't say it is a waste of effort planning for these things, I just think there are better avenues to provide products and services for a mainstream market. I remember another instance where we sold a custom gaming system to a client that kept overclocking the video cards, processors, and RAM in his unit. He presented like a regular user, but knew enough to be dangerous. He used us for a short period as an exchange service when he burned something up. We had to beef up our T&Cs, but it was a major deal that ended up costing us $500. This is another reason why I am moving away from custom units.

Oh, WD and Seagate are down to 3 year warranties on drives.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Oh, WD and Seagate are down to 3 year warranties on drives.

Depends on the model of drive that you are talking about.
WD enterprise drives...5 year
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/catalog/default.aspx?segment=1#jump1

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

Depends on the model of drive that you are talking about.
WD enterprise drives...5 year
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/catalog/default.aspx?segment=1#jump1

I doubt that most people interested in selling custom computers are going to go to the expense to pricing a enterprise drive, but you are correct.