Hello, I was wondering what some of your favourite tricks are for telling if someone has opened the cover to a computer?
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Hello, I was wondering what some of your favourite tricks are for telling if someone has opened the cover to a computer?
Here we put a live mouse in each case. Don't worry the mouse is unconscious when we do it, otherwise it would be cruel. hehe
If the computer comes back with no mouse then we know the case has been opened.
:p
I use counter sunk rivets in place of the screws. A different color painted on the back of each rivet. Even if the colored rivets are noticed, they still wont know that they were in a certain order, because once they are drilled out they just fall to the bottom of the case.
Dave
I wire the case itself up to 440VAC. When you hear someone yelling, you know the case has been opened. :eek:
BEAR TRAP!
Bloody stumps = no warranty.
Plus warranty sticker that peels off and leaves "void" on the case...
Actually this is a great thread, I'm hoping to hear more practical answers as well. Working where I work we can't put "Warranty Void If Removed" stickers on because people distrust that we're actually selling them what we claim we are (hick town). But 90% of our returns are morons who screwed the system up, so a surruptitious way of knowing they've been in there goofing off would be a fantastic thing to have.
Any other SERIOUS suggestions?
I use a hard model paint and a dremmel tool - on all case screws and on card screws - screw in tight, then make a line from the screw to the case - if it does not line up, case was opened. Drop paint over case seam - if paint broken, or no longer sealed - warranty void.
We tried the Pop rivet but had a few customers complain. Tried fingernail polish on screws. Finaly went back to the Void if Removed sticker that self destructs if removed. Seems to work OK. Boss wants to use a pound of C4 and just void everything
I put a little 2" bead of solder along the rear seam of the case. (the side the parts go in)
if the solder is broken or missing, no warranty. :)
I build upgradeable systems. I don't care if a customer opens the system and if they screw something up I honor the warranty. However, I'm not opposed to telling them that they screwed something up and helping them to understand how so they don't do it again. I have told many who bought systems elsewhere that the "Warranty Void if Broken" stickers were total B.S. Why should they be locked into having to take their system in to get an extra stick of RAM installed rather than taking advantage of the convienence of having someone like me come to them? I sympathize with the frustration of having some id10t screw up the system but customer service is everything and I'll put up with the occasional 'user error' RMA.
I hear you there! I've been working as a tech in a computer repair shop for about four and a half years and we've always honored warranties by customers that had obviously opened the cases.Quote:
Originally posted by Sowulo:
I build upgradeable systems. I don't care if a customer opens the system and if they screw something up I honor the warranty. However, I'm not opposed to telling them that they screwed something up and helping them to understand how so they don't do it again. I have told many who bought systems elsewhere that the "Warranty Void if Broken" stickers were total B.S. Why should they be locked into having to take their system in to get an extra stick of RAM installed rather than taking advantage of the convienence of having someone like me come to them? I sympathize with the frustration of having some id10t screw up the system but customer service is everything and I'll put up with the occasional 'user error' RMA.
On a side note, we've also been a Packard Hell and HP authorized service center too.. They both didn't/don't have any problems with users popping the cases. I've only seen a few instances of customers really screwing things up and they came right out and said they did :) :)
When competing against the Dell's, Compaq's, Gateway's, and the like, the small guy always has to emphasize customer service.
I agree with the last 2 posts-- I work for a medium sized shop that builds and sells pc's-- about 35% of our business is local... we don't put stickers on either-- we actually will have customer's 'go inside' the systems that we sell if we feel they are capable-- it is MUCH easier and cost effective to RMA just one stick of memory if the customer can change it themselves, than it is to bring there whole system in and have it sit in line for 2 days before someone even looks at it.... makes the customer a lot happier too...
Yeah, we do get the occaisonal user who messes something up we have to fix- but we have a policy that if they cause PHYSICAL damage to a system- the warranty is void. Yes, this is hard to prove, but 9 times out of 10 these customers usually fess up when we ask them what happend.... (oh yeah- the back of the AGP slot just 'fell off'...)
Amen to that! If the customers didn't futz with their systems, we wouldn't get as much work.Quote:
Originally posted by tiffin_tom:
When competing against the Dell's, Compaq's, Gateway's, and the like, the small guy always has to emphasize customer service.
I still honor the warranty except in cases of major abuse. I just like that I can kindly let them know that I know the case was opened. Even if they put in new rivets.
Dave
For awhile we left the case open and showed the customer his new system then closed the system and stuck on the void if removed sticker. Customer service is all good but "The customer is not always right".
For a while we used the typical warranty stickers, but there were soooo many times that a system came back for something stupid, and WE broke the sticker. After about the 5th sticker broken by us, we wouldn't have given it a second thought even if the customer had been the one to do it.
Although hammer dents were a dead giveaway.
No tricks. I just open the case and see what I have to see.
Some times it is obvious..
http://users.x-treme.gr/section7/gtek/wannabe1.jpg
Okay, the guy couldn't spring for a female molex connector? I'd love to hear what you told this guy AD, when he can to pick up his computer. What was it in for anyway?
I don't want to void the warranty if the customer goes inside, I just want PROOF that he has been in there. We get entirely too many "It was that way when we bought it" stories, and when you go inside the case, things loose, different video card than they were sold, etc.
When the customer LIES to me, THEN I will happily void his warranty and slap him with a $35 diagnostic charge for wasting my time.
I've found that often times the user will not admit to the fact that they did much of anything to screw up the cpu up anyways due to fear of being yelled at or attempting to save himself a few bucks. I don't care if they did, but using some kind of sticker would help aid in repairing the cpu. I would use the stickers, but only if the warrenty void was NOT involved in it. Maybe if the sticker was moved, have it say opened. Then inform customer upon buying the cpu that you have NO policy against opening the case, but it helps aid your quest to figure out any future problems. Then inforce a policy that only major mistreatment will not be covered, such as the guy who took a chainsaw to the back of the thing.
How about a sticker marked "QA Quality Assurance Seal." Sounds less threatening than "Warranty void if removed" and if somebody asks you why you put that sticker on, you can say it aids in troubleshooting.
Just talking to them and after awhile if you don't make them feel stupid they normaly admit what happened.Quote:
Originally posted by Mapleleaf:
Hello, I was wondering what some of your favourite tricks are for telling if someone has opened the cover to a computer?
I only use Warranty Viod stickers when selling to school systems (protection from teachers and students). However when i was working retail I established a policy that saved all kinds of time - I demo the machine for the customer and when they are confident that the problem i solved - they can take it home. That one extra step saved me many customers going home, futzing it up and then claiming that we did not fix it.
Thanks to everyone who has posted reasonable suggestions! I appreciate all your help. My main role in the corporation I work for is provide systems support and network administration. Some of these tips will be very helpful in discovering who has been playing with their machines.
Thanks again!
MIG Welder?
There's always the Douglas Adams method...Tape a hair across the opening. Of course, then there's always the possibility that the user will also tape a hair across, and then its just a matter of wills... :)Quote:
Hello, I was wondering what some of your favourite tricks are for telling if someone has opened the cover to a computer?