Your Computer Network Solution
Warranty Blues?
A couple weeks ago, Chris Faist received a call from one of our long-time clients. He had purchased a new 28” flat panel display from us the week before and he was having problems with it. He asked if the manufacturer would send him a new one and then he would return the defective one. He was a little surprised by the answer.
Most manufacturers have product warranties that protect the purchaser against defects in materials and workmanship. What many people don’t realize is how that warranty actually works. Almost all manufacturers require the purchaser to return the item to the manufacturer at the user’s expense and to wait until the defective device is repaired or replaced. This process typically takes from 3 -5 weeks, depending upon the product and manufacturer.
In the case of this monitor, the client could put in place a temporary monitor; albeit that it would be significantly smaller and less useful than the original. But what happens if instead of a display, we are talking about a critical network switch? You certainly could not function without the switch, so you would be forced to purchase a new switch. So under those conditions, how valuable is that warranty really?
In practical terms, return to factory warranties are effectively useless in today’s computing environments. It’s simply too costly in terms of lost productivity to wait until a replacement to arrive and suffer network downtime.
What are your Options?
At ICS Support, we recognize the impact a defective piece of equipment can have on productivity and we have tried to address this with our ICS Support warranty protection program. Most hardware purchased from us automatically includes proactive replacement. This means that we will provide a replacement at no cost to the client for a full 90 days from purchase date. No extra fees, no extra charges. If we sell it, we will stand behind it. In some cases, we might provide a loaner while yours is replaced, in other situations we will simply ship you a new unit directly.
What about after the first 90 days? We have options for extending this protection through the useful life of the equipment. We can provide this extra protection at time of purchase, or through our system support offerings. Give Chris Faist a call at 425-284-5410 for details and he can outline your choices.
What about our friend with the bad monitor? We simply ordered a new replacement and replaced it for him at no cost. No fuss, no muss.
