Warranty Info

[quizbowler1057]

Hi Guys,

I haven't been around in a while. I feel like I haven't been pulling my weight, but I've been so busy that every time I post something I get busy and forget to follow up on it.

I've been very lax on my warranty policies for a while, but a recent blackmail attempt has caused me to overhaul my whole procedure. I have a few questions and then I'll post what i have so far for your info and feedback.

1. I'm not sure what info I should be keeping for warranties. I'm figuring:
Customer, purchased date, purchased from, make, model, serial no., MAC address (for network equipment for added verification)., warranty expiration.

2. What info do you keep track of and how is it different from what I have (if at all). How do you store it? I created an excel spreadsheet for temporary purposes but I'm looking for a more automated solution.

Warranty Terms:
Applies to hardware only, valid for one year from invoice date unless otherwise specified. Warranty does not apply
to normal wear or to damage resulting from abnormal use, misuse, abuse, neglect or accident, or to any incompatibility or poor performance.

No refunds. Labor covered for 5 days. No coverage for spyware/viruses. Pickup/delivery fee not included. Any warranty call found to have no defect or problem will be billed. EVERYTHING is invoiced, even if it's a warranty repair and the balance is zero the time and parts are still recorded so the customer knows how much time went into the repair. Serials and MAC addresses listed on the original invoice. Invoice must be kept as proof of warranty.

I think that's it. I just have to put it into nicer words. And here's a final, sort of related question:

Lets say you go spend two hours installing AVG on a clients machine. They call you 5 hours later and say "My computer won't turn on". They describe what appears to be a motherboard issue (power works, fans run, no video or POST). Has nothing to do with what you did and for the two hours you worked on it you never saw any indication of a problem. But in their eyes all they see is it was working, you did stuff, now it's broke. Must be related.

I seem to get a lot of stuff like this where the cause doesn't seem to be related but the person I'm servicing for doesn't know enough about PCs to understand installing AVG (or whatever) wouldn't stop your computer from POSTing.

Comments and feedback horribly appreciated!!!

 

[quizbowler1057]

I do have the business started kit but I'm past the point where I feel it is of any use. I do have these lingering warranty issues because it's something that, in the past, I've always played it as it came.

Now I'm looking to set some hard terms. I chose the 5 day warranty because I follow up around 5 business days with my clients and it gives them the opportunity for a "Last chance to tell me" kinda thing. I think that 30 or 60 or 90 day warranties are waaaaay too much in this business. If something's going to happen as a result of a change you made, it'll happen quick and the user will know quick.

I'm protecting myself from calls I've gotten in the past - well actually great example:

I got a call today from a gentleman with a sound issue. His exact words were: You know since you brought my computer back, I haven't had sound. I can't watch any videos on YouTube because I can't hear them.

I took that computer back on 7/22/2008. I think a 5 day period also keeps the service work fresh in my mind and it means that, frankly speaking, I'll feel like dealing with it.

Any other comments? Anyone think those terms are too harsh? What kinds of warranties do you offer on labor?

 

[seedubya]

It's easy. If you'd accept your terms from someone else with ABSOLUTELY no hard feelings then they're not too harsh. Also, terms and conditions are all very well but your conscience should tell you whether or not you are responsible for something. If this guy was my customer AND I believed (with a little questioning) that this was actually my fault AND I cared about keeping the customer then I'd probably just fix a small item like no sound without quibble. Hard and fast rules are fine but as a small buiness person you need to be flexible and ALWAYS put your customer first. It's the only way you'll succeed in the long term.

 

[NWPhotog]

5 days seems too short. My personal warranty is 30 days but I could possibly see 14 days as a reasonable choice.

 

[quizbowler1057]

I don't mind 14 days. For good customers if a month goes by and they have a complaint I'm there within minutes to fix it and if it's small, even if it wasn't my fault I'll do it. These are the people who do thousands and thousands of dollars with my company. I don't mind doing some stupid work every now and then.

On the flip side, you get a lot of these home uses (even some business) that know NOTHING about a computer - and those are the worst ones to work for. If you roll a chair away from Computer A to work on Computer B and Computer A breaks the next day then it's automatically your fault.

I think you should make the terms strict and apply exceptions as needed and based on the client. For the most part my good clients and I have an understanding - and the best ones are the ones that know enough about computer to understand the first solution isn't always gonna work but that in the end it will get fixed.

On the flip side if it's fixed right, then you shouldn't have any problem with warranty terms - 5, 14, or 30 days. I think I'm really trying to weed out the screwballs.

 

[quizbowler1057]

@ACG

Have you found that a lot of people have a problem with paying the labor costs for any warranty work? I certainly like this scenario of charging to fix broken hardware with 1 year, but it sounds like it would tick some people off.

 

[quizbowler1057]

Yea, I understand your point. I think I'm still stuck on this. I may do it as a trial, it makes sense to me, but I have a feeling my clients would have an issue with it.

My lawyer is drawing up the paperwork, when he's all done I'll make a decision, either leave it as is or change it.

Thanks!

 

[seedubya]

You guys have it easy. In the EU the "warranty chain" starts with the last seller in the chain - so if you sell the hardware to the end user, by law, you are 100% responsible for everything. You can use the manufacturer's warranty to get failed stuff fixed but that has no bearing on the end user.

 

[nonchalant]

Lets say you go spend two hours installing AVG on a clients machine. They call you 5 hours later and say "My computer won't turn on". They describe what appears to be a motherboard issue (power works, fans run, no video or POST). Has nothing to do with what you did and for the two hours you worked on it you never saw any indication of a problem. But in their eyes all they see is it was working, you did stuff, now it's broke. Must be related.

I seem to get a lot of stuff like this where the cause doesn't seem to be related but the person I'm servicing for doesn't know enough about PCs to understand installing AVG (or whatever) wouldn't stop your computer from POSTing.

Comments and feedback horribly appreciated!!!

Ok, lets say in the process of the above job you damage the mainboard as a result of an electrical discharge. Are you responsible? Its a very grey area but in my opinion the answer is 'no'. Providing you took all the necessary precautions its not your responsibility. Its like a mate of mine some years ago (before I was in this game) who was repairing my PC - In the process he removed the cpu heatsink & the mounting bracket snapped off. He offered to pay half the cost of the new board but Im sure he did it because I was a regular customer. His motto was 'all due care taken, no responsibility accepted'. And I think thats fair. If the bracket snapped because the plastic had become brittle is that his fault? Or was it due to him not being careful? Who knows? How could you prove it either way?

The bottom line is if I give my PC to someone to repair, I can hardly expect them to pay for any incidental damage. I have given the ok to work on my computer.

If you are having problems with this I'd suggest taking copies of disclaimers with you on-site. Have the customer read & sign it before you commence work. I'd forget the 'warranty' aspect. I only offer that on parts. Theres too much that can go wrong after you walk out the door, and offering a guarantee on your work Ive found in the past only encourages callbacks. Its like some customers see this as a 'cooling off' period on your work and I dont believe we should be offering that. I only offer an 'unspoken' guarantee. That is, if a customer calls me back to say they have another problem, and I believe it may be related to my work (or carelessness on my part for example) I will fix it free of charge. But I make that decision.

 

[cmonova]

Ok, lets say in the process of the above job you damage the mainboard as a result of an electrical discharge. Are you responsible? Its a very grey area but in my opinion the answer is 'no'. Providing you took all the necessary precautions its not your responsibility. Its like a mate of mine some years ago (before I was in this game) who was repairing my PC - In the process he removed the cpu heatsink & the mounting bracket snapped off. He offered to pay half the cost of the new board but Im sure he did it because I was a regular customer. His motto was 'all due care taken, no responsibility accepted'. And I think thats fair. If the bracket snapped because the plastic had become brittle is that his fault? Or was it due to him not being careful? Who knows? How could you prove it either way?

Not sure I can agree on that one. If a customer brings me a pc and the electrical discharge occurs and fries something then it's my responsibility to rectify it. No matter if I took all precautions or not. Say this was to happen once a month to a customer (unlikely but say it did)...How many times could you do this and charge the customer before people started questioning it?

It's sort of like taking your car in to have major work done, the mechanic breaks a head bolt off in the head while taking it apart. Granted the tech is certified, experienced but sometimes things happen. I am not going to pay them to tap the bolt out. They are going to take care of it because they broke it off. Does not matter the age of it, or the reason it happen.

The bottom line is if I give my PC to someone to repair, I can hardly expect them to pay for any incidental damage. I have given the ok to work on my computer.
If you are having problems with this I'd suggest taking copies of disclaimers with you on-site. Have the customer read & sign it before you commence work. I'd forget the 'warranty' aspect. I only offer that on parts. Theres too much that can go wrong after you walk out the door, and offering a guarantee on your work Ive found in the past only encourages callbacks. Its like some customers see this as a 'cooling off' period on your work and I dont believe we should be offering that. I only offer an 'unspoken' guarantee. That is, if a customer calls me back to say they have another problem, and I believe it may be related to my work (or carelessness on my part for example) I will fix it free of charge. But I make that decision.

I will give warranties on hardware but say a hard drive gets purchased and I warranty that item. Does not mean if it goes bad I have to give them free labor on say reinstalling the software. That is a call I make and I base it on the timeframe, customer, etc.

 

[nonchalant]

Not sure I can agree on that one. If a customer brings me a pc and the electrical discharge occurs and fries something then it's my responsibility to rectify it. No matter if I took all precautions or not. Say this was to happen once a month to a customer (unlikely but say it did)...How many times could you do this and charge the customer before people started questioning it?

If it was happening on a regular basis I'd be looking for the cause of the problem. This points to a bigger problem in the workshop area, and in this example, yes I would cover the cost of the repair as IMO the problem is caused by me.

It's sort of like taking your car in to have major work done, the mechanic breaks a head bolt off in the head while taking it apart. Granted the tech is certified, experienced but sometimes things happen. I am not going to pay them to tap the bolt out. They are going to take care of it because they broke it off. Does not matter the age of it, or the reason it happen.

Of course it matters. If the mechanic has been negligent thats one thing, but if the bolt is frozen in the socket due to corrosion for example, is it the mechanics fault it snapped off? And does the mechanic replace the headbolt free of charge? No. he charges for it. And so he should. And as a customer I wouldnt complain, however there will always be those that will.