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Thread ID: 61447	2005-09-05 07:19:00	Warranty and repair issue with laptop	Michael Yoon (6697)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
386096	2005-09-07 05:49:00	Thats wierd they wouldn't have informed her... but i guess their story checks out...	CorbinH (37)
386097	2005-09-07 05:59:00	This is scary...especially since I took my laptop for repairs as well, not at the same company but still. Now I'm going to check everything before I leave..lol	vicjalan (8829)
386098	2005-09-07 13:46:00	Hi guys: This is Johnson from PlayTech, i am the one who handled the RMA job for the notebook in question, i understand that Michael Yoon has posted this thread with a description of what he thought happened to the service job, and I have replied a private message to Michael Yoon to clear things up with him and requested him to give all readers a clear explanation of the truth. Unfortunately his clarification feels a bit unclear and in my opinion too ambiguous, so i will explain to you with a timeline of what really happened: - The owner of the laptop in question (Michael Yoon's friend) came in on saturday afternoon with her laptop, saying that 2 of her USB ports are not working at all - I inspected her laptop and noticed that the left USB port was attmepted to be plugged in the wrong way around, thus mis-aligning metalic bits inside, it was only slightly mis-aligned, so i bent it back slightly with my hands and it worked fine from that point on. - The other USB port (the one in question) looks like it was again plugged in incorrectly, this time, one of the port's metallic contact point was complete bent out of shape, and it was very far into the port, so i couldnt get access to it. - Because we didnt have any technicians working on saturdays, i asked her to come back on monday and we will try and fix the port for her as a favour. - She came again on monday morning at around 9:30am, and wanted us to fix it immediately for her, because she needs the laptop and cant afford to leave it with us. So our technician attempted to bend the metallic contact bits back into shape. But unfortunately it was impossible for us to do without possibly damaging the laptop. - I told her that we could not fix the port by bending the metal back, and i told her i was quite sure that the port was physically damaged, because in my mind i thought it was impossible for one laptop to have 2 USB port to have similar problems without mis-use. I was polite to her and told her i cant prove whose fault it was, but i would like to replace the whole motherboard for her, and because she needed in such a hurry and could not leave the laptop to us to work on for more than 1.5 hours, i told her that we would charge $30+GST for the job, which i thought was a very reasonable fee because i suspected the port was physically damaged in the first place, and also with the short timeframe we had to work with. - She didnt take the $30+GST charge very well, and kept on saying it wasnt her fault, but she agreed anyway, and asked to take off the GST portion of the fee and pay only $30 incl.GST, which i accepted anyway as a favour for her. - We started working on the laptop and saw that she kept her laptop in very good condition, looks almost as good as new, so we decided not to waste any time to stripe out a motherboard from our new stock to replace for her, instead we just decided to replace her laptop with a BRAND NEW laptop, with only her hard drive, Windows CD Key (we had to change the key becuase she activated her copy already), and the front panel of her laptop changed (we had to change the front panel because she had her own sticker on it). Because of this change, obviously the serial number of the laptop has been changed, because she actually received a brand new replacement laptop. We never keep 2nd hand laptops around and we did not in any way replaced any old parts for her what so ever. - After replacing the laptop, we turned on the laptop again to make sure everything was back to normal, and the USB ports were fine. She came back after 1.5 hours, and we gave her the laptop back and charged her $30 incl.GST for the job. - One mistake we made was that we did not inform her that not only the laptop motherboard was swapped, we swapped the entire laptop to a new one because of the limited time frame we had. Firstly i apologise for not informing her of the swap, because i thought she probably wouldnt mind getting a brand new laptop anyway, and we swapped the motherboard (to a brand new one) as promised. However, seeing Michael message on the forum disheartens me somewhat and can really potentially damage our credibility and i felt that it was unwarranted. I understand that Michael probably made his initial post based on a lot of "assumptions" and i apologise for the lack of communication of what really went on, but we certainly done this RMA job to the best benefit of the laptop owner, not for ourselves. I hope i have cleared things up a bit and i hope that all readers would understand my position and settle on this issue once and for all. If any readers have further queries, please feel free to contact me. Thank you. Johnson	PlayTech (8830)
386099	2005-09-07 14:19:00	Well above the required level of service in my ever so humble opinion. I wouldn't worry about this thread, if anything it makes you look good.....	Metla (12)
386100	2005-09-07 22:13:00	Good reply and good to see some companies still give good service. Certainly shows the importance of good communications. I can relate to the position you were in as I recently replaced a 13mth old 4x MSI DVD Writer for a customer. They had only written 1/2 dozen DVD's with it and although it was out of warranty by a month I replaced it with a new 16x Dual Layer for no charge. Next day the owners wife rang up going off her trolley because the new writers faceplate had a grey cosmetic line through it and she didn't like the look of it. I explained to her that I couldn't source a new one same as the old one and explained the benefits of the new one over the old one. She still wasn't happy and insisted I replace the new one with one exactly the same as the dud one and that I was an "incompetent fool" if I couldn't do so. So I did, I picked up the machine, put the old one back in and gave her a bill for $40 for my time which she reckoned she wouldn't pay. (surprise, surprise) Next day hubby rang up going off his trolley that the "new writer" didn't work I politely told him the dealings I'd had with his wife, suggested they try somewhere else for a new writer as I was an "incompetent fool" and reminded him the account was due by the 20th. An hour later his wife rang up full of apologies, she was having a 'bad hair day' To keep the peace I went round swapped the drives over again, tore up the account and everyones happy again, I think. Sometimes being 'Mr Nice Guy' just doesn't work and I'm about $100 out of pocket as well as being badmouthed to whoever she talked to that day. Working for yourself is a pain in the ass somedays!	bartsdadhomer (80)
386101	2005-09-08 09:10:00	i say they did a very good job the only problem was a lack of infomation.	robsonde (120)
386102	2005-09-08 09:22:00	I reckon it all sounds good, except the $30 fee. I mean really, how does someone damage a USB port, and anyway he admitted that they were incorrectly fitted, which obviously means a manufacturing error.	Greg (193)
386103	2005-09-08 10:06:00	IN my short tech time I have dealt with a few mobos and usb ports. Its easy to attempt to put in a usb device the wrong way (especially if its by feel), but to bend a usb port, that takes a bit more force (IMHO). Was the total cost $30 or $60? I just want to make sure I have read it right	Myth (110)
386104	2005-09-08 10:09:00	don't always blame the techies, guys - i cop a lot of flack - usually it's the user at fault, or a friend of a friend who is an expert. i have come across a lot of damaged usb ports, ps/2 ports, etc etc - cos people just have to keep forcing the things the wrong way. the difference is i tell them the problem & why - there is no way i would cover that out of my own pocket, especially a new laptop - that's suicidal in business. imagine replacing a new car just cos someone stuffed up the gearbox...	quarry (252)
386105	2005-09-08 10:39:00	I suppose it comes down to goodwill - Playtech could have potentially gained themselves a couple of new customers, because of the way they dealt with this situation.	somebody (208)
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