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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week
05/27/2009 Watch
that warranty when you buy computer equipment today – they aren’t
what they used to be. I did a
show back in April on how cheap computer equipment has become, and I cited my
own personal experience. I
just replaced a Hewlett
Packard laser jet III printer I had bought 18 years ago which
had cost around $ 1900 , with a new one that was faster and had better
quality, and the total cost with warranty was under $ 70, an almost
unbelievable price. I had bought
a HP Laser Jet P1006 17 ppm 600 DPI ,
first copy in 8 seconds, weighs about 10 pounds, and I have been very
satisfied with it. Except
for one intermittent problem; an error message that would popup which said
“USB Device not recognized”, and I would lose my printer. At first this was very rare, and I
could just turn the printer off and on and it would work gain, but the
problem started increasing to the point I decided that – seeing as I
had a 2 year in-store replacement warranty – I would just take it in
and get a replacement, as I’d had it barely2 months. So I
boxed everything up and took it back to my near by Staples store, and
explained the problem and that it was new, and that I had the in-store
replacement warranty, and that I would like to simply exchange it for a new
printer. When I bought the printer they were very persistent about me buying
a warranty, and it was so cheap that it just made sense. The
Staples staff was very nice and let me pick a new printer off the shelf and
take it back to the customer service desk, but from there things started
going downhill. Of all
the computer equipment I’ve purchased over the past 34 years, which was
covered by a warranty – if I had a problem with the
product during the warranty period – the vendor would simply replace
the product under the warranty, and the warranty would transfer to the
replacement product for the duration of the warranty. That’s the way
it’s always been in the industry as far as I know. And to me
that’s the way it’s supposed to work- so you can budget the cost of the
product and the cost of the warranty, and know that for the warranty period
– 2 years or whatever – you will have no additional costs related
to buying the product. But
that’s not the case with Staples warranties. They
explained to me that I would have to buy another warranty on the new printer
they exchanged with me for my old one, and that the original 2 year warranty
I had purchased applied to that specific first printer, not the replacement
printer. This just
didn’t seem right to me, and I discussed this in detail with an
assistant store manager to no avail, who defended their warranty policy. To
them it made perfect sense, to me it makes no sense at all. To me a
warranty means a guarantee that something I buy is going to work for the
warranty period, and that’s all I’m going to have to pay. So if you
buy something at Staples, or any electronics seller for that matter, you
might ask how their warranty policy works on exchanges. In my case, the cost of me having to
buy another 2 year warranty is almost ridiculously low at $ 16.29, and I feel
somewhat like I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth, but there’s
something about this that I don’t feel is right. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2009 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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