As we all know, It’s a total pain when your computer stops working.
But this is when you find out if the warranty that comes with it is any good.
Yesterday I saw three examples of how claiming on a warranty can be very different.
Case #1 : a client dropped by with a desktop pc that he purchased from me just over a year ago.
He advised me that after a “Windows” update, it was now failing to boot up.
As is quite often the case when people have struggled to get a computer started,
I plugged it in & it started first time!
Turns out it was a windows update that had failed, causing the problem.
There’s so many reasons this can happen, but a quick disk cleanup & optimisation of the SSD usually gets things rolling again.
15min’s work, no charge, happy customer!
Case #2 : Next was a lady with a laptop that was also not starting, along with some unpleasant beeping.
Some months ago she had contacted me for advice on what to look for in a refurbished laptop.
She settled on a decent little HP Elitebook from Ebay, which was £40 cheaper than one I was selling.
However, when she contacted the seller about the problem, they advised her that she would have to arrange & pay to ship it back to them. They also advised her that it would take 2-3 weeks for it to repaired or replaced.
She grudgingly agreed to return the laptop, but it was only after several calls & emails that it was finally returned, over 5 weeks later.
The problem reared it’s head immediately, and she contacted the seller again & awaited a reply
Eventually they responded (after 3 days) & asked her to ship it back once more, at her own cost.
After another 3 weeks without a laptop, it finally turned up, but was still not working, arghhhhhhh!
It was at this point that she contacted me to see if I could help.
As it happens, it was just a faulty memory module.
Very easy to diagnose, and as it’s an Elitebook, just 5 min to replace.
10 mins total, £25 (including s/h memory module)
Case #3 : This time it was a Dell laptop that I had supplied 11 months ago.
No power, no lights, nothing.
A quick test of the power supply & everything became apparent. The voltages were all over the place.
After chatting with the customer, it turned out that her nephew had “Borrowed” her power supply, and sent her a cheap replacement “Off the Internet”
Once I plugged in a decent power supply, it booted first time.
So i guess the moral of this story is:
Beware the “Bargain” & “Shop Local” for good customer service.