6 Aug
2010
6 Aug
'10
12:12 p.m.
On 04/08/10 19:12, Tony Duell wrote:
I think this rant could run and run...
One of my major dislikes is companies who do not reply to
queries/complaints .Put it this way, I bought a product some years ago
which di not meet the advertised speicifcations (if they say 'built in
assembler; then i darn well expect there to be one). I wrote 2 letters,
the socond one including IRCs, and enver got a reply. The company? HP
(!). I will never buy another new HP product... It's a pity becasue I'd
been using their machines for many years until then, and had had
excelelnt customer service (not that I needed it very often).
It doens't apply here, but I've come to
the point where it's quicker fo=
r
me to trace out a scheamtic than to do battle
with teh so-called
'customer suppoer' for many procducts. Same with warrenties, actually,
Much of the time I find it quicker and less hassle to fix the darn thin=
g
myself than to jump through hoops to get a free
repair...
Don't get me started on customer disservice...
A year or so ago I ordered some hardware and had it sent to work (the=20
alternative was to take a week off; the distributor wouldn't give me a=20
firm date for delivery, nor were they willing to let me send a courier=20
down to pick it up). Fast forward to last week when said hardware=20
breaks. Turns out it's got a "lifetime guarantee" handled through the=20
distributor.
As an aside, I've found a lot of lifetime (or exxtended) guarantees are
not worth the paper they're printed on. They either depend on having thr
thing checked/serviced my the manufacuter (cars often have this one...)
or the gurrantee covers parts, but you still have to pay for labour. And
they wont give you the bits to fit yourself. Of coruse most of the time
they simply inflate the labour charge to cover the cost of the parts...
[...]
"I may have given you my name, but I'm not
going to repeat it. I feel=20
this conversation has gone on long enough, goodbye. *click*"
As I said, not worth the hassle. The sooned such companies learn to
actually support their customers, the better!
This is the same company whose "resolution" for replacing a faulty PC=20
motherboard was to send me someone else's faulty board, and call it=20
"refurbished". Yes it was nice and clean, but the blown power FETs were=20
a bit of a give-away...
I see...
Yes, they're on my "naughty list"... though dealing with the fallout=20
from the stuff I've bought from them in the past will be good=20
entertainment for years to come.
[ Is it just me or are computer vendors about as trustworthy as the=20
average used car salesmen? Although in most cases the manufacturers=20
I can't disagree with you...
That's one reason I stick to older kit. I can fix it myself, not having
the hassle of sealing with those sort of lamebrains easily outwiehgts
having to track down faults with 'scope and logic analyer myself...
-tony