stupid customer story

[Budd]

Originally posted by Ya_know
When Road Runner comes out they install a NIC, maybe the ISP had to install something.?.

As far as that broken seal crap, no offense, but that is horse sh!t to refuse service. But policy is policy.


Do the right thing here, and rebuild the system as promised.

first of all, the machine came with a intel NIC and a usr 56k modem. so what would the isp need to install?

i don't care what the h3ll gateway and dell does, we put stickers on our machines and the stickers are there for a reason. if the customer tries to install a ram stick or some pci card and plugs it in with the machine running why should we be responsible for the repair? would dell or gateway cover the machine? add a lift kit or custom exhaust or put a locker in the rear end of a truck thats under factory warranty. then try to get warranty work from the dealer and see what they tell you. i know what they'll say, "you didn't buy it from us, we didn't install it, you're sol".

we give the customers the same warranty we get from our distros. if we get 1 year on a mobo, they get 1 year. if we get 3 years on a hdd, they get 3 years as long as the seal is not broken. which it clearly states in the warranty sheet you have to sign when you pick the machine up. i'll be honest, if this guy wasn't such a d!ck i'd probably over look the broken seals, but he really got to me. a lot of you out there are in the same business, what are your policies?

[Ya_know]

Everything you guys are referencing in your examples is a hardware problem. I thought you said that this guy was having problems with his software, then you promised to reload everything, and now you want to renegotiate your promise!?!

I never said anything about an over clocked CPU, or changing a CMOS battery. Bottom line is, if you promised to service the PC, do it. If you find no hardware defects, before or after the reload, then tough sh!t. Eat the labor cost.

If the guy has hardware issues, follow the strict enforcement of the warrantee.

Seems like you guys just wanted to pick a fight. Nice try…

[Damned Angel]

sorry but I agree with Ya_know on this one.

You told him you'd reload his os, so your kinda stuck with that.

By all means, if any hardware does not work properly, bill the snot outta him as his hardware is no longer under warranty, but if its all fine, leave it be.

If I had this same situation, the first person I would have called is my boss, not the customer. Let your boss make the call on warranty\non-warranty. You don't make company policy, he does.

Easiest way out of any situation where a customer is being un-reasonable in their requests is the simple phrase " I do not have the authority to authorize that, but I will ask on your behalf". Lets em' know up front that its not your decision to make and totally shifts the blame and anger off you even if you give them an answer they don't like in the end.

[Chëëzmønkëy]

im gonna sit on the fence in this one. and ill tell ya why.
i used to work for a company like the one above, where the bossman would take any opportunity to screw someone, even to the extent of if someone buys a piece of hardware, ie hd or graphics card, if it comes back faulty he would never give the customer a refund because "we dont know what he's done with it" or at best youd get a refund minus 25%.
we had a few rows over this. but i agree that if theres a dirty great sticker over every screw on the back of the case saying "warranty void if broken" and its broken, then the warranty is void. Occasionaly, yes, there are exceptions, but only if the customer is a nice person (or an attractive woman...)long story....

[Ya_know]

Buddy, if I could elaborate further. I think you came here to validate your position by getting opinions from your peers. Perhaps you’re looking to fully convince your conscience to that fact, so here I am contradicting yours position. Understand this before I go any further. I am not judging you, nor am I insulting you. I am here because I was once in a similar job description, but working for a tyrant. He treated his customers well to their face, but behind the back would charge for warrantee work just to make a buck. He used to blame hardware failures on unfound viruses (bad hard drive or Fried motherboard), charge the customer for parts and labor, and then RMA the devices. He didn’t even offer a discount, considering the RMA as a rebate. With Modems he would replace the component and charge labor claiming that it was a software configuration problem. He would then RMA the device and calls it a profit. This stuff was illegal, but he didn’t care, and got away with it for years before I came along.

I worked for him for 8 months and refused to play ball like that, and you know what!?! I didn’t make the store any money. It was not because I didn't want to, I was just a terrible salesman, and my morals were to high to rip people off to compensate for that fault. When he asked me to leave, initially I felt like a failure. Later realized that my failure to compromise my morals was a 100% success. Him letting me go was the best thing that could have ever happened. I transitioned into the corporate IT world, and now run my own department 3 years later.

If I go against your expectations of an answer, you have to ask yourself this: if you were this guy, or any of your other customers, would you have been cheated by the practices of the store as a whole? If not, stand by the warrantee. If so, fix this guys computer, and get the hell out of there as soon as you can.

To all of the reputable system builders out there, you have nothing to defend. You are running a great business, and all of your customers have been treated fairly. If you resent me for believing that most of the builders out there are rip-off’s, then you are either blind or one of them.

[Cleetus]

I am so glad I haven't had to do this work in retail.

But even in the corporate world it is so hard to remember that however stupid these people seem, however ignorant, how pissed you might get, that if it wasn't for them, we would have no job. We work for them, they are our clients. Without that, I put no food on the table which means the woman doesn't put out.

But it is so hard, so damn hard remembering that, and not strangling these idiots.

[Budd]

yes, my boss did say we'd reload his OS and apps, which i'll end up doing, but i don't feel that we should have to warranty any of his hardware.

Ya_know, i have tried looking at things from this guys shoes. i wouldn't have a problem because if i was having a problem with the machine i would have taken it back to the place i bought it from, the place that covers my warranty. not someone else. i'm sorry if you feel that we're trying to rip this guy off, i just don't see it that way. i have 2 bosses and they may be a stone cold drunk and chronic pot smoker, but they're not crooks.

[pochrist1]

I agree with Buddy Holly If the guy was respectful then He deserves it in return. But if the stickers are broken then He voided His warrenty. I have high morals and values too, but not eveybody does, so either I have foot prints on my back, or I hurt some feelings. He needs to accept consiquences of his actions. (this is up there with the guy sueing Mcdonalds becuase he had a heart attack and says it's there fattening food (that he ate 5 days a week) no one put a gun to this guys head. Re-install the soft ware, give back His computer and tell Him any more work is out of warrenty and charge Him accordingly. I do computers on the side out of my house, but my warrenty is the same as Buddy Holly's (but for now on I'm useing stickers too!) I once built a computer for a manager at a company I worked for, he returned it to me the day after i gave it to him saying "if I leave it alone for a while, something like water starts moving on the screen, I thinks there's something wrong with it" Turns out it was the screen saver.
He later purchased a computer from Circut City, 6 months later he was proud to tell me that he got into a screaming match with the People at Circut City when He tried to return it, they took it back and replaced it, when I asked what was wrong with it He told me that He had a flood in His basement and the computer was in 6" of water. Thank God it wasn't the computer I built.

[gazzak]

My 2 pennies worth!

I can see both sides of this argument, and would like to put forward one thing....

If this customer of yours gets this work done under warranty, even after the stickers were broken, he will then think he can get away with anything in the future. He will get worse, beleiving he is untouchable, and that by shouting and screaming, he will then think you will always cave in.

Do not fix it, let it rust. Rude people are rude because they are not stood up to, stand up to him, if the worst comes to the worst you will lose his business. Now that sounds good to me.

On the ethical side, of course you should fix it!

[Crazy02]

Friend of mine has in the past refunded the hard to deal with customer his money then sell off the pc at cost that way no more head aches. You may loose on the sale but you will gain in peace of mind in the long run.
That way there is no warranty to honour and he will become someone elses problem.

[deseqer]

Originally posted by Crazy02
Friend of mine has in the past refunded the hard to deal with customer his money then sell off the pc at cost that way no more head aches. You may loose on the sale but you will gain in peace of mind in the long run.
That way there is no warranty to honour and he will become someone elses problem.

We have done this a Few Times. One instance for example,

A customer brought in their computer to be worked on. and it was one of those computer no matter what you did the problems just got worst. until the point the computer did not boot. Well to be nice we sold the computer at almost Cost, We did a Full data transfer (customer did not want it any other way even when we avised him agenst it)and We upgraded him from 95 to 98se. About every other day he would ether call or bring in the computer. For Small stupid stuff. Like how the computer Dialed out to the internet which there was nothing we could do because M$ had made some changes in 98. Then It was quicken, He had got a newer version and it did not work the way he wanted it to. No matter what we did or told him it was something wrong with the computer, and IT IS COVERed under warranty. Well we finally told him since the computer is not working right for him we would by it back. Well he did and took his money to staples and bougth a HP with windows XP (boy am I glad I was not STAPLES).

Well We fdisk and format and reloaded the computer resold it and It has been running very stable.

[Outcoded]

Originally posted by Buddy Holly
... i have 2 bosses and they may be a stone cold drunk and chronic pot smoker, but they're not crooks.

Weird - Didn't think we were trading any more

[Budd]

Originally posted by Outcoded
Weird - Didn't think we were trading any more

huh?

[Outcoded]

Sorry, sounded a bit like me and a dude I used to be in business with for a while....

Hang on, we were crooks.

[Budd]

i reloaded his OS and Apps and took his machine to his office. i set up ISPs dial up, his 4 printers, 2 scanners and flash card reader. and then tested everything to show him that it worked and the machine was in working order. i then had him sign a thing stating that he agreed everything was working and went on my way. my boss talked to him over the weekend and they came to an agrement, he gets a 1 hour service charge for me setting up his printers and stuff and we'll honor the remainder of his warranty. i really have a problem with the warranty part, but its my bosses call. he thinks the @ssholes isp did it. which to me shouldn't matter, but i digress.

thanks for listening to me b!tch everyone and i hope i didn't offend anyone