After your one-year warranty is over, even if you make the trip
to their service centre in Alexandra Technopark, Hewlett Packard
(HP) charges SGD 50 just to inspect your
machine. After hours of backwards and forwards
on phone with the customer service officer, I manage to get them to
waive the inspection charge.
At the service centre, the technician came out, plugged in our
machine and tried the steps in the troubleshooting email guide.
When faced with the same results, he simply turned to us and said,
“Your machine is faulty.” I know the machine is faulty, that’s why
I am here, you mean I am supposed to pay SGD 50 just to hear a
technician say that?
Well, Many Tech Companies charge for Consultation fees
after the warrenty period is over ( your inspection fees are waived
during the warranty period, so are charges, and they form a hidden
cost inside the pricing of your product.) , it's no surprise that
HP charges $50 to inspect, Infact many other companies does that
too.
Shocker #2
Okay, so my machine is faulty. How much would it cost to fix it?
He looks at me and says, “HP does not fix consumer printers.”
The physical components work, just not all the time. Surely
there is a way to fix it. “This is due to wear and tear,” he
countered. Wear and tear? If the machine was 3 years old and my
mother was a bootlegger for Enid Blyton, I wouldn’t have bothered
trying to fix it at all. But it started giving problems two months
out of warranty and base on the stats above, my mother is hardly
classified as a heavy duty user.
he's just telling and confirming that it's faulty? It is
shocking?
Let me give u an analogy, you do not exercise regularly, but
only once or twice a month, the rest of the time, you are
sitting on the coach, watching dramas. Do you think tis is healthy?
well same goes for the Printer. components need to be worked, if
it's left to idle, the ink will run dry, the rubber chain will
start to melt. Thus it led to -- a short life span. Although i have
to agree, a heavy duty user's printer will die off sooner, thus,
for the product to reach it's longest life span, it should be in
the middle -- not too little, not too much usage.
Shocker #3
So what are my options? “You can buy a remanufactured set for
SGD 170 with a warranty of 3 months.”
Remanufactured? “They are faulty sets from the production line
which we have fixed, we will test them fully before sending it to
you.” Why can you fix faulty sets from the production line but not
my printer? “Because the printer has complicated parts inside and
we can only fix it at the factory and not at the service centre.
These remanufactured sets are as good as new.” Why then offer only
three months warranty? “Because these are remanufactured sets which
we are offering to you at half the cost of a new printer.” HUH?
WTF? To be precise its 56.8 percent of the cost. And I wouldn’t pay
ten bucks for a faulty set with only three months warranty let
alone SGD 170.
In another point of view, the technician is giving you a
solution for your problem. A production line is the factory
where the poducts are produced, they have all the parts there.
Faulty sets are those which are from the production line which
have errors in their software, or components not properly fixed, if
not they are brand new.
Shocker #4
I don’t want a remanufactured set. I just want to fix my
machine. “Or you can choose to trade in your faulty printer and
purchase a brand new printer with a year’s warranty at a special
discounted price.” How much discount? “We have a list of discounted
printers and the closest one is the HP Officejet 6310.” Ok, how
much is it? “SGD 399” What? “But you get a trade in discount of 50
dollars.” And what will you do with my traded in printer, Mr Wear
and Tear? Ship it back to the factory and remanufactured it?
Actually, getting back $50 is quite good -- it's 1/6 the
price of the printer's initial price! What do you exepct?
$100?
well, i know and im able to understand your situation, a printer
that is just over a year old, cant possibily spoil that
fast, and it led you into thinking it's a bad brand.
However do note my comment of your shocker 2 and think back, if
it does make sense.
Btw, HP buys back Laptops (regardless) of age, condition for
$400 a piece