Pay for tech support?

[luinetti]

I would like to hear the consensus for paying for
out-of-warranty tech support from a PC manufacturer.

Specifically for COMPAQ (now, mostly HP, it seems).

Any comments at all?

Regards,
Bill

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

I would look at what the in warranty support is like. My experiences with HP, Compaq and other computer support services have mostly been awful. The best support I have ever gotten is here. Occasionally I have lucked out and gotten someone who actually knows their stuff on a support line, but that is the exception, not the rule. So my answer: NO!!! not worth it.

I probably should also note that I am unlikely to buy any more computers like HP or Compaq. I have owned both, now I am building my own.

Budfred

[mjc]

Out of waranty support........

Well, paying over $200 for a $50 motherboard....$35+/ hour....long delays in repairing it.

Those machines are designed primarily as disposable units that will be replaced in about 2 yrs, so it seems that if anything major is wrong with them the cost of out of warranty work will come pretty darn close the price of the most current entry level system offered by that particular manufacturer....maybe even a couple of jumps up.

It is cheaper to service yourself (if you are able) or have a trusted local shop work on it.

[Whyzman]

It seems a major problem with out of warranty tech-support is that there's "no guarantee" on their part that they can correctly diagnose and furnish the answer.

How about...if their answer fixes the problem, then you pay? :p

[Mark Miller]

I think it really depends on much help you need, and if the price is worth your time Tech support for pay is usually quicker but as has been said does not mean they can fix your problem. Why not post problem here and see if anyone can help
Mark:)

[luinetti]

Thanks responders...

Too much money and too little help seems to be the norm these days.

I will probably hang with the helpful sorts that frequent
these kind of sites.

Bill

[YODA74]

out of warrenty work :D here ya go give me a call:D :D


C.C.M.R.
Custom Computer Modz & Repair
Work Authorization Agreement


1. Authorization to Perform Services. You hereby authorize David Washburn {C.C.M.R.} to perform diagnostic, repair and installation service on your Product (the “WORK). You agree to pay for such Work in accordance with the terms and conditions of this agreement.

2. WARRANTY WORK. If the work is covered under an existing limited warranty, you hereby authorize C.C.M.R. to perform the Work in accordance with the terms and conditions of such limited warranty and you hereby agree to pay any charges applicable to such work pursuant to such limited warranty. Confirmation of the limited warranty may be required prior to C.C.M.R.’s provision of warranty service.
For warranty service, The Terms and Conditions Of The Applicable Limited Warranty Shall Apply And This Agreement Does Not Modify, Or Decrease The Respective Rights And Obligations Of The Parties Under Such Limited Warranty Nor Does This Agreement Grant You New Rights Except As Provided Herein.
C.C.M.R. Does Not Provide Warranty Service For Any Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, Or Printer, Scanner, Camera, Nor does C.C.M.R. Recognize Any Other Warranty Offered By Another Company Where As you May have Purchased Your Equipment From. (Such As A Proprietary System).


3. OUT of WARRANTY WORK. If the Work is not covered under an existing limited warranty, you hereby authorize C.C.M.R. to obtain parts and to perform the Work and you agree to pay all applicable fees, taxes and any other charges for such parts and services in accordance with C.C.M.R.’s current price list. PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE OR OBLIGATION PRIOR TO YOUR AUTHORIZATION TO PERFORM SERVICES. PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE APPLICABLE TAXES OR SHIPPING AND HANDLING. Which will be added to the price you pay. A minimum Diagnostic Charge Will Be Charged For The Initial Diagnosis Of Any Repair Not Covered By A Limited Warranty Whether Or Not You Subsequently Authorize Such Repair. Please Consult The Current C.C.M.R. Price List For The Amount Of This Charge Before You Sign This Agreement Or Authorize Any Work To The Product. If You Subsequently Authorize Such Repair, This Minimum Diagnostic Charge Will Be Applied As A Credit Against Any Charges For Parts And / Or Services For Such Repair. Parts Used By C.C.M.R. May Be New Or Serviceably Used.

4. LOST OR ALTERED COMPUTER FILES. You are responsible for backing up all proprietary and confidential information on the product and for maintaining a procedure external to the hardware products for the reconstruction of lost or altered files, data or programs. C.C.M.R. SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR LOST OR ALTERED FILES, DATA OR PROGRAMS, EVEN IF CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE OF C.C.M.R. OR IT’S AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES. DIAGNOSTIC AND REPAIR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY OBLIGATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY OR NON-DISCLOSURE ON THE PART OF C.C.M.R., IT’S EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS. DELETE FROM THE PRODUCT ANY FILE OR DATA YOU CONSIDER PRIVATE, CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY.

Initial: ______________ I provide permission for C.C.M.R. to format my drive if necessary and understand that doing so may result in loss or corruption of data and release C.C.M.R. and it’s agents and employees from liability for such loss or corruption, even if caused by the negligence of C.C.M.R., it’s agents or employees.

Initial: _______________ I would like to purchase the data backup service for $ 65.00 Per CD (600meg) of data subject to the terms and conditions of this agreement.

I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE READ AND FULLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT INCLUDING “PARAGRAPH 4” LOST OR ALTERED COMPUTER FILES.

____________________________________ Date: ____________
Signature of Client

Client name: ________________________ Checked by: _____________

Client address: ________________________ Work Order #:___________

_________________________ Description of problem: ____________________________________________

Client Phone: _________________________ ____________________________________________

Type system__________________________ ____________________________________________

Serial Number: ________________________ ____________________________________________

[Whyzman]

Yoda....Sweet! ;)

[Steve]

ummm...Yoda, are you kidding? :o Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. Is this something that you present to a customer?

My surgeon asked for less!! :eek:

[Whyzman]

Yeah Steve...but I'll bet he didn't give any guarantees...only odds! :rolleyes: :D

[Steve]

YODA or my surgeon!?!? :eek:

Well, there are damn few guarantees in this life.

I don't mind sounding harsh. I would NEVER submit to an agreement like that! Not to fix my car, not to fix my toaster, not to fix my shoulder and not to fix my computer!

Are you kidding me?

[YODA74]

#1.I guarantee all my work and yes this is given to customers and you will sign or take your work elsewhere.once it leaves the shop or i leave your house there should be no reason for a call back unless you screw it up.

#2. This is almost the same Work Authorization that any company will give you before they will touch your machine.(Gateway,Dell) seems dell just opened a store here I checked it out from both co.Not quite sure about Best Buy haven't seen there contract but I am sure it is similar.

#3. have you actually ever had to wipe a drive and the customer never read the work order and listen to them rant and rave.

#4.I used to do verbal no more i almost lost my shirt* when a lady didn't understand what wiping a drive actually was and she claimed ignorance. Her husband told me different that she new exactly what she was doing. Well no more of that nonsence for me, You don't read the paper work then it's your fault not mine thats BUISNESS not friendship if i wanted friendship I'd buy a Dog.:D :eek: ;)you also have to realize that when i build a custom computer it usually will cost a good deal but end results are great. built 3 this year not a lot but your talking 12grand good money for side line.


(Yoda, I changed it to shirt before I get any complaints about it...unless of course she wanted your donkey)

[Steve]

Good luck, bud. I guess we live worlds apart.

Yes. I have had to format a customers drive. But I'm not really in the business. "If I do this, there will be no retreiveable data." has always been sufficient.

My mechanic says, "I'll see what I can do." I don't have to sign any contracts. My surgeon says, "I'll do my best." And I believe him.

But that's my world. I guess things are different elsewhere. :(

[YODA74]

Well I wouldn't be like that with most people but were getting a lot of people from up north and they have an attitude that they can stick it to people down here in N.C. so we put it right back to um hoping they will just move away.

[luinetti]

YOICKS!

What I meant when I said "pay for tech support" was just to speak
with an OEM rep for some technical details that don't appear in a 17 page "owner's manual".

Thanks for the effort, yoda, but in addition to paying for "tech support" using your shop, I'd end up having to pay my lawyer to go through your service contract. ;)

Bill

[Jiggy]

YODA74 was it once bitten twice shy?

p.s. thanks for the pics.

[YODA74]

luinetti we didn't mean tp eat up your thread whith sillyness

I understood exactly what you were looking for but wanted to throw some fun into it. and it got a little carried away.But the thing is I don't know what kind of fly by night shops most people deal with but I am very above board when it comes to buisness,And any respectible shop will have a through (to save there Butt)service agreement.in this day and age Verbal nonsence does not work in a court of law.(Hence an agreement between the two partyies)

And unless a Buisness owner Know's you very well you will sign an agreement of service's rendered.A lot of people sign things without even reading the fine print (which is a dumb idea)And then complane when they say you didn't tell me that (oh) you didn't read the contract?

This is not a screw the customer agreement this is just to let them know that i am not responsable for there DATA if they didn't do a back up of there file's that is there responsability NOT MINE.

What i build I Guarantee I do not Guarantee a third party or a system bought somewhere else. That is all this agreement states.

I have done work on people's machines and they just leave them and want you to fix it and agree to price and terms.(fair enough)And then call bac after you've fixed it and say oh just keep it we decided to buy a new one... needless to say you end up with a machine that you have to put on the shelf and sell to recoup the cost of the parts.
(Hence a Binding Agreement)

Go to a doctor or a lawyer or a car dealership and see if you don't sign your life away agreement...With all the fancy words and crap in an agreement all it actually say's is that you will pay for services rendered, and I am not responsable for Lost or corrupt Files.
And actually if a person is not willing to sign a simple agreement of services I don't want there buisness.There out to pull a fast one and I for one am having non of it.

Why is it that Compaq and a few other system builders don't have store's where you can actually see one work or get it fixed or actually talk to a human and get support for there product. becouse there product sucks. Mine don't

[kayofcircles]

Yoda : Totally agree with the part about many customers not reading anything you give them! My husband comes home every day with stories of irate customers who didn't read the agreement they signed. And yesterday, he was telling me about a customer that called and was complaining about the charge for checking her heater..she said they were only there for a few minutes "fixing" her problem, and therefore she didn't expect to pay a "service call" charge. When my husband said that every tech charges for going out and checking on things, she got mad and hung up. Sigh.

And I also agree with something said above about being grateful for this site, and others who help people with problems. Yeah us!..and those others!

I put a new color cartridge in my HP printer the day after Thanksgiving. Beautiful greens and blues, but no reds..and cartridge doesn't expire until next month. That happened before, but this time I have "proof" that cartridge has NOT expired, and test pages to show that it is defective. I spent over 30 minutes on my long distance (no toll free) with HP yesterday. They kept saying that my printer was out of warranty..so tech support costs $25..and I kept saying that the cartridge was NOT out of warranty and $25 would buy me most of a new cartridge anyway. Sigh. They were nice about it..and girl kept running off to check with supervisor every time I said, "nevermind, this is not worth the hassle" and in the end, we "agreed" to send me a "kit" to return the defective cartridge and my test prints to HP and their engineers would "test" the cartridge, and IF defective, would replace it. So, I have a renewed sense of annoyance with "tech support" which seems neither "tech" nor "support."

[YODA74]

Kay I know most tech support is well you know and this is a great site to get ALL the FREE support that anyone would need. Let alone the schooling you get here at the Guide you cannot get this at any college or brain dump boot camp.. The only reason i make people sign an agreement is that some people will take you for all your worth over foolishness. After all Buisness is Buisness. and there are rules in Buisness as in life. Hope you get free cartriges out of them not like they can't afford it or just right it off as a loss.:D ;)

[Mark Miller]

Hi Yoda, Hi Kay.
When I was in business [before I sold and retired early] we had one thing we always did, that was to keep the customer happy. I would have told my people to have sent you 2 packs of ink for having trouble to begin with. I understand why they don't, but thats why we hate support and support dosn't trust us. If you look at this post from everyone you'll see both sides to the same story. From Yoda wanting everycustomer to sign off to Kay having trouble with ink supply.
I think what I am saying is that your both right.
Mark

[Budfred]

And from the customer point of view. If I sign an agreement, I expect to be held to it, but I also expect the business to hold their end. What I encounter way too often is businesses that promise and then don't follow through. I frequently use email to get product support and many of them have animated email responses or notice on the site that the will respond in so many business days. Businesses that have broken that promise in the last 2 months:
Antec
Logitech
Samsung
SVCompuCycle
ECS
and others. In almost every case, they answered a question other than the one I asked and I had to write again to try to get a helpful answer.
Businesses in the last 2 months that responded promptly and addressed the issue first time out:
IBM

Customer service is mostly an oxymoron in the computer industry and most others too. When I get treated well by a business, I tell as many people as possible, but when I get treated badly...I do the same thing. I hope to think in my small way that I have contributed to some businesses losing business because they don't treat me with the respect that they promise.

Budfred

[kayofcircles]

I was going to email tech support, but read on the "email us" page at HP that they don't answer "all" their email..lol..so decided to try talking to them instead..sigh.

We "see it" from both sides...from the customer side and the business side. Unfortunately, the customer isn't always right, and the business is often..here lately..short handed and not very helpful, but that's often a reflection of economic woes and not necessarily their fault. Maybe it is just because I am getting older, but I often yearn for the "old days" when I could at least get to talk to a person without having to wind my way through some puter voice maze. Even if the "person" says, "Sorry, can't help you"..still seems better to me than the frustration of finding yourself at some "dead end" in the puter maze, and having to start over. It's sad, but my son and I were talking about that just a few days ago. I was telling him about HP, and he was saying that he had spent over 30 minutes on hold at PNY, and finally gave up..and wasn't even sure he was on hold at the "right" spot in the maze.

I would disagree with Yoda a bit though. Our experience from the business side is that some people..regardless of where they come from, or their color, creed, etc, or even their income level (often you see more of it in higher income levels).. expect "something for nothing". They "expect" service for free, or they "expect" a tech to come out whenever they want, even on days off. Their attitude is sort of like "I am king/queen of the universe, and you are the peasant doing my bidding. You have no life except that which serves me."

I think the only thing that one can do..from either end..is try not to pass it on. If a clerk or support person is short with you, try hard not respond in kind, or to pass that cranky stuff on to the next person you meet. :)

[luinetti]

Words to live by, Kay.