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Why didn’t my part last?

August 7, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Being a computer retailer, we sell a multitude of parts. We sell monitors, keyboards, RAM, hard drives, optical drives, processors, video cards, sound cards, wireless cards, power supplies, flash card, USB memory sticks, and on and on and on and on.

We produce 0% of the parts we sell. We buy parts from the manufactures, and we sell it to you.

The manufacturers who build the products include a warranty on their products. There are a few different types of warranties explained in great detail here. When we sell a part, we pass on that manufacturers warranty to our customers.

Recently the manufactures have been lowering their standard warranty. For many years it was 1 year. We all knew any new part came with a 1 year warranty. The days of the 1 year standard warranty are gone. Not only have they reduced the warranty, they have also instituted policy that makes it so that the end user has to send the part back to the manufacturer for warranty repair or replacement. While this doesn’t seem like a big change, i assure you it is very significant.

If you buy something from your local retailer and it breaks, you will take it back to where you got it. You will walk in with your receipt and defective item and expect an off the shelf replacement. The recent manufacturer policy changes makes it so that you can’t take it back to the store where you purchased it. You have to send it back to the manufacturer. That is much more hassle than returning it to the place of purchase. Many will not bother, and just buy a replacement.

My theory is, the retailer (us) has a 99% chance of sending that defective part back to the manufacturer. The end user (you) has a 50% chance of sending the part back. Less returned parts equal more profits for the manufacturers. That slight policy change probably saves them millions.

We go to great lengths to sell parts that have the best “value”. We value our parts based on warranty, reliability, track record and price. We spend generous amounts of time researching parts before deciding what to sell to our customers.

Even with that, sometime parts break. We hope they make it to the 1 year mark. If it does have a problem within 6 months, we’ll send it back and get a replacement for you. If it goes out after 6 months, you will have to send it back for a replacement. Not that we don’t want to send it back for you, they will not accept it from us after 6 months. Each manufacturer is different, but most of their policies seem to be headed that way.

I wish stuff would last. I wish you could buy something and not have to worry about having to replace it any sooner than 5 years. I hate not being able to take it back to the place of purchase.I hate replacing things i just bought period!

I know why things are cheaply built and don’t last these days. Price moves sales. It is proven that a $4.85 item will sell faster than a $4.95 item. Eventually the company making the $4.95 item goes out of business because nobody will buy their part. Either they cut corners and find a way to sell it for $4.80 or they go out of business.

Then we are stuck with the cheaply built $4.85 part.

Filed Under: Business policy, Hardware Tagged With: manufacturer, part, parts, retailer, return, Warranty

Free Windows re-install

August 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Custom-PC’s Virus Free Guarantee

We stand behind our virus and spyware cleans to the point that, if you are not totally happy with it, we will do a windows re-install for free.  If within 7 days, your system is not satisfactory, then bring it back, and we will re-install windows for you, no questions asked. That additional service ($140 value) is available to anyone who gets our FULL virus  / spyware clean. The 7 days part is important. This offer is not available 2-3-4-5 weeks later.

Very rarely, after we have done our full virus / spyware / malware / scareware clean, a system is still pretty bad. Rarely, after we have thrown everything we have at a computer, it is still not quite right.  Sometimes a system is just so badly infected and damaged that there isn’t anything we can do to guarantee it’s continued successful operation but do a full operating system re-install.

We would much rather fix a computer that re-install it. A re-install presents the customer with a multitude of headaches after-wards. No matter how bad a computer was or is,  nobody is happy with a re-install.

A Windows re-install means you will have to re-install all your programs. Much of the software we use are not a part of the standard windows instillation. To be quite honest, a windows re-install may not have any of the software you use on a regular basis. Internet explorer is really, the only program you may use, that is included with a re-install.

What about the settings? Configurations? Email setup? Printer setup? Ipod, games, scanners, USB devices, external hard drives, security software, flash, adobe, turbo tax, and any of the other 1 billion available programs that you could have had?

The biggest and most frustrating part is the lack of software license, keys and such. The things that you use that are not free, tend to cost big sums of money.

When you purchase software, you are given a software key, and a CD / DVD. If you purchased it online, they emailed the key to you and you installed the software from the web.

Where is that KEY?

Didn’t you read the email that said “Do not lose this!”

Don’t you know that you can’t re-install your software without that key? Didn’t you know that the key is worth $350? Losing that key is like never having bought the software in the first place.You lost it, and we don’t have it. We can’t get it for you. Even if you bought it from us, we don’t have your key anymore. Maybe you can call or email the place of purchase, but they probably don’t have it either. There is only 1 copy of that key, and retailers usually don’t keep a list of every key sold to every customer. If you do have to re-purchase the software, put the key in a safe place this time.

Custom-PC stands behind our products, even the services we perform.

Filed Under: Business policy, Software Tagged With: Guarantee, Operating, System, Windows

Why did it take so long for my part to arrive?

August 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

We had a customer who recently voiced her displeasure to me over waiting almost 4 weeks for a part! What in the world! I will find out why it took so long, and the offender will be punished! I’m so sorry.

During my investigation, I discovered that her part was ordered from china. Not much we could have done. That is horrible, and I wish we could have gotten it sooner.

75% of the replacement desktop parts we stock. 15% we can get in less than 3 days. The remaining 10% are either vendor proprietary or are only available from overseas. Since 95% of computer parts are manufactured overseas, that should not be much of a surprise.

The real waits are for laptop parts. We only stock 20% of replacement parts for those. Each laptop uses about 80% unique parts. That means your laptop may only take 1 specific part and there is no way we can stock them all. When that happens, we have to special order your part. 75% of the time, we can order from a domestic vendor. The wait for those types of parts is only 3-6 days. In the rare instances we have to special order a international part, the wait can be up to 6 weeks. Yes, six weeks.

We don’t like it anymore than our customers do. Some vendors offer expedited shipping, but all do not. For an additional $65 in shipping you can expedite a part coming from Hong Kong. Expensive. Sometimes we have to just wait………….

I personally hate having a laptop missing a $15 part that has been sitting for 3 weeks.

Filed Under: Business policy, Hardware Tagged With: delivery, Shipping, special orders, wait

Which Anti-Virus do you recommend?

August 1, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

With each infected computer we repair, this is often the last question asked by the customer.

There are so many anti-virus options out there, which one do you choose? How do you know which one will work best? What’s the differences between them?

The “whose who” of the top performers change every quarter or so. There are a few places to get good reviews on the top performing anti-virus software packages available.Sites like: PC mag, PC world, and CNET all offer their reviews.

As a business policy, we do not endorse any of the free anti-virus software. I have been told they can work well, depending on the user. The higher up the technological ladder the user, usually the less infections they have.

We have sold Nortons, McAfee, Panda, Trend Micro, and now we only sell AVG. We have no allegiance to any of the software vendors. We sell and use what we think works best. We only carry 1 brand at a time. If we ever feel that AVG is no longer the best solution, we will switch to whatever we think is.

From our customer base, the feedback on AVG has been great. Every once in a while, we will have a customer upset that we sold them something that is available free. AVG does offer a free version of its software. Don’t be mistaken, it is not the same as the paid version. You have countless arguments going online about free vs paid, and we often replace customers free versions with the paid version and we don’t see them anymore.

That being said, no anti-virus software is fool proof. Most infections are a direct reflection of web browsing habits, than from security.

A few years ago when we were having tons of issues with the anti-virus software we currently offered, we didn’t sell anything for almost 30 days. We figured nothing would stop people from getting viruses so why sell them some $60 piece of software that wouldn’t do them any good anyway?

That was probably the worse decision we’ve made around here, ever. The fallout was immense:

  • “You let me get re-infected after charging me for a cleaning”
  • “Why didn’t you tell me I could get re-infected”
  • “You just wanted me back in here so you could charge me for another cleaning”
  • “You are in cahoots with the people who make the viruses”
  • “You probably are the ones putting the viruses on my computer”

We quickly found out that catering to the minority who didn’t want to pay for good anti-virus software was a bad choice.

We are often stuck between a rock, and a bigger rock. We know that buying anti-virus software will not keep you from getting re-infected. We also know that not buying anti-virus will have you back in here sooner than later. We are aware that there are free software options out there, but we cant “sell” it to you because it’s free. We also can’t recommend anything that may not work, crash your computer on install, or anything else that turns your computer from working to non-working.

When you purchase the paid version of AVG from us you get:

  • Free instillation and setup
  • Email support
  • Discount on renewals

Custom-PC Computers recommends AVG Anti-virus and when that changes, you’ll be the first to know!

Filed Under: Business policy, Software Tagged With: Anti-Virus, Antivirus, Infection, Security, Software

Extended warranty anyone?

March 28, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Consumer electronics are in the worst possible shape these days. It seems like everything we buy is junk. No matter where you bought it, who made it, or how much it costs, we are all buying a product produced with the least possible cost, with the most corners cut. These days, the company that cut the most corners (and got away with it) wins.

Computer hardware is no exception. I currently witness more out the box failures, than ever.

A few months back, I purchased a brand new microwave and it could came with a 30 day warranty. This wasn’t some off-brand model either. This was a nice, expensive ($200+) convection type microwave oven. I was very upset that the company only had 30 days worth of confidence in their product. Before I settled on that particular item, i went from store to store reading the different warranty’s with different models. 80% only had a 30 day warranty. I couldn’t find a single microwave with a (what i did consider standard) 1 year warranty. I wasn’t upset at the retailer, they don’t set the warranty policy, the manufacturer does.

Why was I surprised? In my own industry I have watched as the not so standard 1 year warranty has gone away. Very few items come with a 1 year warranty anymore. The ones that do, it takes so long to get a replacement, you may as well just buy another one anyway.

2 years ago we started tracking data on how difficult and lengthly the return process was for various manufacturers. Using that data, we begun carrying parts from manufacturers who had the best warranty and return policies. This has allowed us to maintain a 6 month warranty on all new parts.

The second part about any warranty is the “who administers the warranty” portion.

Consider this hypothetical scenario. You purchase a new refrigerator. The retailer tell you it has a 10 year manufactures warranty. Great! We’ll take that one, deliver it on Monday.  Your new appliance arrives on Monday, they set it up, and it works great. Works great for 2 years anyway, and now it leaks and doesn’t keep your food cold.

You call for repair service. You are informed you must take it across town to have it fixed. You call the “authorized repair center” to see how long it will be. They tell you a week or so, longer if they have to order the parts. Wh#!@$! What do we use until then? They have no idea, and neither do you.

That story has a somewhat happier ending than one in where you have to ship it off for service. (There are no authorized repair centers local to you.) Never paid to ship a 250+ pound object? It isn’t cheap. You are tempted to drive it there yourself.

What a headache. Unfortunately the same can apply to computers. You go into one of the big box retailers, and you buy a PC. When it needs service, you can’t take it back to where you purchased it. You have to call the manufacturer (Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Gateway, Toshiba, etc) They will tell you how and where to get service. On some models, as an add-on you could have purchased in-home repair service. They send someone to you house and fix it there. Not all vendors offer that. For the ones that don’t, you have to ship your PC to them for service. It’s not as much as shipping a fridge, but what do you use in the mean time?

In the future, before you purchase anything, ask who does the warranty work. See if you have to ship it off, or can you bring it back to the place where you bought it.

Custom-PC services what we sell. If you bought it from us, you can bring it back to us (If it is still in warranty) 6 month warranty on all new parts. Feel confident that you will be taken care of when you buy from us.

Filed Under: Business policy, Hardware Tagged With: policy, returns, Warranty

Why are you closed today?

February 11, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

We have been hit with more snow than usual this winter. 4 inches dropped one day, then almost 8 inches 2 days later. Needless to say, the streets were bad, and many accidents ensued.

Being in the service industry, we are sometimes a “necessity” for other people to do business. If computers, internet, email, websites are down, it makes it difficult for others to get their work done.

If it is too dangerous to drive, then we will not open our stores. Instead of going out and driving the dark streets early in the morning, we take our que from the people who hav already decided the roads are too dangerous.

Each store follows their local school district. If it is too dangerous for parents, teachers, and students, then it is too dangerous for our employees as well.

Hopefully this sheds some light on when and how we decide to be closed. Hopefully this reduces the number of irate phone messages we find the day after inclimate weather closes one of our stores.

We know you need your computers, laptops, printers and servers we are repairing back. We will do our best to fix them as soon as possible when we re-open. (as we always do).

Try to understand that the safety of our employees is important as well. Without them, there wouldn’t be anyone to fix your computers, laptops, printers and servers.

Filed Under: Business policy Tagged With: Employees, Snow policy, Store hours, Weather

My hard drive died, now what?

February 3, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

You turned on your computer this morning, and instead of being greeted by a welcome screen, you are greeted by a message that looks something like ” Windows cannot start, file xyz is missing”. Now what?

Unless your computer is 6+ years old, its probably a no brainer to have your computer repaired.

So you take it somewhere (hopefully us) and the prognosis is that you’ll need a new hard drive. What a pain.

If you purchased your computer new from Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, etc, then you most likely have a little sticker somewhere on the case with your windows key on it. Great! We can use this to re-install your operating system with no problems. And the rest of your stuff?

Windows by itself is pretty basic. You get IE, Media player, Movie maker, Solitare, and Outlook express. Chances are, the main thing you use from that list is Internet Explorer. What about Word, Outlook, Nero, Nortons, Realplayer, Smiley face maker, family tree mapper, and all the other icons that were on the desktop when you purchased it?

All those programs have to be installed separately. None of those are a part of windows. When you buy a computer, they put all that on for you. Most consumers don’t realize that if you have to have your hard drive replaced, you have to re-install all that stuff as well.

Most of the big PC manufacturers give you recovery “solution”  built into your hard drive. Thing is, that helps you absolutely zero if your hard drive dies.

If you run the recovery program, it puts your computer back the way it was when you bought it. Thats great for a “recovery” from a software issue, like a virus, bad download, or a failed update. However, if your hard drive goes, so goes the “system recovery” as well.

One of the biggest issues we have is explaining all that to our customers. We have found that saying we’re going to re-install “Windows” does no good at conveying the message that Windows is all you will get. Even saying, all windows comes with is IE is still not enough. (they must think we’re joking)

When they ask “How do I get the rest of my programs” our first question is” Do you have your software cd’s?” If their answer is no, our next comment is to  contact your original retailer.

We can  install windows  because your product key is on the PC somewhere. The product key to the rest of your software should be in that big stack of paperwork you got when you purchased your pc.

Sometimes we cant get your product key from the PC. Someone may have removed it, or its too damaged to read.

Losing that key is like losing $100. You will be forced to buy your software again. Losing your recovery cd’s is like losing $500. Windows Pro+ office 2003 Pro + Nero = over $500 worth of software.

Most computers give you the option to create recovery cd’s from the recovery partition the first time you boot your computer. Make sure you do that. Sometimes the opportunity to do that expires after 90 days. Then you cant do it. You can try to call and complain to Microsoft, but it probably wont get you anywhere.

Filed Under: Business policy, Software Tagged With: Install, Partition, Recovery, Windows

Laptop DC jacks, what a mess

January 9, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

One of the more costly repairs for a laptop is a loose or broken DC jack.  Be it bad design, or bad users, these things are very fragile. They don’t last long no matter what name is on your laptop.

Most DC jack do not have enough internal reinforcement to meet the demand caused by movement of the power plug. Quite often the DC jacks simply fail under normal conditions. After a year or two of usage, the thing just comes loose.  The issue that upsets customers the most is when the laptop gets dropped and the plug jerks the DC jack loose. (ouch) In rare cases, the jack was not installed well by the manufacturer.

So what do you do?

Most repair places will only offer to replace your motherboard. While that does work, its the most expensive option. However, it’s also the option that will probably last the longest. The second choice is to re-attach the DC jack to the motherboard. That usually saves you a few hundred dollars.

Like all things, you get what you pay for and most “re-attachments” never last as long as the original job from the factory.

Why you ask?

These PBC (printed circuit boards) are built by machines. Doing it by hand is not likely to match the precision accomplished by machines.

We usually try to re-attach the DC jack when it can be done. Sometimes the PCB is damaged, and a new jack wont fix the problem either.

Then its either a new MB or a new laptop. Windows 7 is a nice upgrade anyway!

Filed Under: Business policy, Hardware Tagged With: DC jack, Laptop repairs, Motherboards

Bad return policies

December 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

I recently purchased a famous brand mp3 player. I purchased it for all the bells and whistles it claimed to have. Took it home, and attempted to make it work. I could only get a few of the bells and none of the whistles to work. Being a advanced computer user, if I couldn’t get it, it was highly unlikely that the average user could either. I returned my whistles-less mp3 player to the place of purchase 4 days later.

Their return policy stated it would be a restocking fee if the item was not defective. Luckily for me, this item was defective, as the fm radio nor the wireless downloads did not work. A person being helped in front of me did not like the return policy, as he just didn’t want his anymore. ( I assume it was working properly) He was very upset and made a scene.

Recently a customer purchased an item from us in order to “troubleshoot” his computer. We don’t do very many over the counter sales (not accompanying a repair), and 95% of them are so customers can troubleshoot their pc’s.

We are very up front about our return policy. It is on the bottom of every invoice (in very legible 12pt font) and we usually remind them in case they miss it.

Nonetheless, the customer wanted to bring the part back. Said it didn’t fix his problem, and did not want to pay the restocking fee. We told him how since it’s now used, we have to sell it at a discount. That didn’t change his position any.

Seems no matter what the retailer, how big or loud the restocking fee is communicated, nobody wants to pay it.

Filed Under: Business policy Tagged With: Fee, Restocking, Return policy

Why rebate?

November 28, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

As we approach the 2009 Christmas season, there will be rebates on just about everything. What a deal! A mail-in rebate of $50 on a $75 Printer! Then you see a huge rebate on that new laptop, blu-ray player or HD TV, and you can’t buy the item fast enough.

You (snail) mailed in your rebate form and months have passed and you’ve never gotten your rebate check (or card). You’ve called the company, written letters, but to no avail.

The company either sent you a denial letter, or gave you all sorts of reasons why you won’t be getting your rebate: you didn’t purchase it within the correct time frame, didn’t mail it correctly, or you forgot to include some obscure piece of information. Basically, you failed to jump through their hoops, and now they are going to keep your money.

What bull right?

Rebates are actually intended to be a hassle to discourage customers from redeeming them. After all, the more customers who forget or give up on rebates, the more dollars the manufacturer retains. “Rebates are a good business plan only when consumers fail to claim them,” ARS analyst Gary Peterson recently told The Wall Street Journal.

Why do rebates exist?

Rebates started as a marketing tool used by manufacturers to increase sales, by lowering the cost of a product in the eyes of a customer, without actually dropping the price on the shelf.

Why not just drop the price?

When a company drops the price of something, that money is automatically and immediately lost for each and every item sold, while rebates never result in all of the money being lost to the company. Thats where the system of denial and “lost” rebate forms come in. Even if they processed 100% of all rebates, consumers would never send in every rebate for ever item. A win-win for manufactures.

Rebates also give companies the ability to make money off your money. Customers are giving them an additional $100 for 3 months, and they lower the price for you $10. Now multiply that by a million customers, and they just made 3 Million dollars in interest.

Rebates help them not you.

Filed Under: Business policy
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