Service Support Mission and Rules (Must read prior to posting)

[Sonnie]

Please read this entire thread before posting in this forum!

This will be a forum to discuss facts related to service and support by various manufacturers. You may also seek help with issues you may be having with a product or service.

Rules:

Please take note of the fact that this is strictly for facts and/or genuine help... not for bashing of manufacturers, complaining, whining, etc.

Knowing the facts concerning manufacturer service and repair policies can be very helpful... however we should not judge a manufacturer on one or two incidents between a customer and the manufacturer where something didn't go just the right way the customer wanted it to. These kinds of experiences don't usually give us facts and the experience is not what we are looking for anyway... simply the facts are what we want.

If we allowed an open posting policy for anyone that had a bad experience with a manufacturer to post their experience... think about it... nearly (read nearly) every manufacturer would have something negative posted about them. Hiccups and bumps along the way between manufacturers and customers are inevitable. It's unreasonable to base a manufacturers reputation on a few unfavorable instances.

Warning.... we intend to uphold our rules to the fullest... this is part of what sets us apart from other similar forums. If this forum gets out of hand and becomes negative, we will have no choice but to suspend it.

Manufacturers are welcome to post their service and support policies.


Liason:

Leonard (lcaillo) has offered his help to resolve any issues between a member and a manufacturer. He may further be able to assist you with technical help... or point you in the right direction. He may not be able to help in all cases, but there may be instances where he can. In order to acquire Leonard's help you will need to start a thread and report your problems and/or issues. Remember, post only the facts and keep any negative or derogatory comments out of the forums. Simply state your problem and/or issue, what you've done thus far and what resolution you would like to see. Leonard's experience may just help you get your problem resolved to your satisfaction.


Post Format Examples:

Example thread number 1 on how to post service and support facts.

Example thread number 2 on how to post service and support facts.

Let's keep this a positive and informative forum so that it sincerely benefits all members.

Thanks!

[lcaillo]

Service Support Mission

As a technician, I see people struggling to deal with the difficulties of getting consumer electronics repaired every day. I think it would be useful to have a place where people can go before buying to become informed about service availability, policies and procedures for various manufacturers.

A few questions that should be addressed to each manufacturer before you buy are:

• What do I do with the unit when it breaks?
• Do you have local in-home service?
• Who are the local authorized servicers?
• Do you sell parts for out of warranty repairs and where can they be purchased? Direct, through ASCs, through distributors?
• Do you provide service support to non-ASCs?
• Do you sell service and training literature for the products?
• Are parts available at the component level, board level, assembly level, or not at all?
• How many service centers do you have nationwide?

If everyone would post the factual responses from manufacturers, the results may be very helpful.

It is not uncommon for today's vendors to provide no parts at all for their products and either require service by a single entity or the factory, resulting in extremely expensive repairs or repairs that are essentially impossible. Other manufacturers provide parts and support, but have very limited service networks, if any at all. Still others provide great support and sell parts through many distributors making cost effective repairs much more likely.

Also, consumers frequently lack the skills and knowledge needed to effectively negotiate problems with service and manufacturers. One should realize that the quality of service provided by any manufacturer is largely dependent on the local servicer or the company through which repairs are contracted to be completed. It is always wise to get to know the local servicers and the brands and types of products that they are experienced with. It is usually best to have a local ASC (Authorized Service Center) for a brand being purchased, though some non-ASCs may be very competent and experienced on a given brand.

Check out the manufacturers and local servicers and post your findings. Please limit this to facts only and be sure to read the rules above prior to posting. This will make my job of moderating and approving threads and post much easier.

Manufacturers are welcome to post their service and support policies.

To report facts of service and support concerning a manufacturer, start a new thread with that manufacturers name in the thread title. If anyone else has facts about this manufacturers service and support, they can add post to that thread.

I will post a few examples to get us started, but remember, read the rules prior to posting.

Example thread number 1 on how to post service and support facts.

Example thread number 2 on how to post service and support facts.



Thanks!