OUT-OF-WARRANTY REPAIRS: How To Convince Customers 

Imagine the plight of a SOHO

customer who buys a printer or a scanner, uses it for two years, and in the

third year finds the product malfunctioning and finally stops working. The user

calls up the retailer from whom he had purchased the scanner and yells at him.

The retailer yells back at him saying “We do not provide after-sales

service,” and directs him to the dealer/distributor or authorized service

center (ASC).

At the ASC, the first question

asked is: “Is the product under warranty?” "No," says the user.

(Most vendors usually give a warranty of not more than two years, unless you

take an extended warranty for a small price.)

The ASC responds back with:

“We have a problem getting the spares for this model since this model is not

being manufactured any more by the vendor.”

So, what next?  The user is

directed to call up the manufacturer’s own service center. The user calls up

the manufacturer’s own service center. The response appears very helpful and

looks like there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

The user explains the problems

and provides the date of purchase and other usual formalities and requests the

service engineer to come and visit his place to carry out the repair. The

service center replies with a big “sorry”. Little did the user know that he

would have to carry the scanner all the way to the service center because the

product falls under the ‘carry-in’ category. The user is left with no option

but to carry the defective scanner to the service center.

Till the time the user gets back

the repaired scanner, the user has lost four productive weeks, incurred

transportation expense, a whole lot of phone call expense, service cost and

spare-part cost. And not to forget the mental tension!

Total this up and you will

end-up getting a figure, which is very close to the price of a new

printer/scanner of a newer model. In this scenario, how do you advise your

customer? Should he repair or not?

Available options

“When the cost incurred to

repair a product is exorbitant, we suggest they for a new one,” says Kishore

Karkera of La Plume (an ASC for HP). “Such product obsolescence is not limited

to a few vendors. This happens with all of them,” he adds.

Does this mean the fate of a

product that is out-of-warranty is as good as junk when the product stops

working? This question becomes pertinent when the product belongs to a

manufacturer like HP or Epson who come up with new models every now and then!

While most printer and scanner

manufacturers boast about their service networks, the fact is, not all ASCs are

equipped enough to handle service of obsolete products. “We usually do not

keep spares for products that are not running in the market. But, whenever

required we make a requirement request to vendor’s authorized center and get

the spares. This takes some time,” says a staff at an authorized service

center.

However, this is not the case

with all ASCs. Many ASCs simply direct customers to the vendor’s main service

center if the model under repair is not under warranty or is outdated. Same is

the case even with some big names like Redington who recently refused to service

a (three-year-old) HP scanner that was not under warranty because of

non-availability of spares, and directed the customer to visit HP’s own

service center.

Suppose, the client came from a

B-class city, the repair job would be a nightmarish experience for him/her.

Who rules!

So, who scores in this bargain?

The non-ASCs! Resellers taking up servicing as their secondary business is very

common. However, many have switched over to servicing in a big way. The growth

of non-ASCs in the recent past is an indication that end-users have begun to

accept that their services are at par with ASC’s.

“An ASC is no longer a

king,” says Bhagwan Makhijani of Prism Technologies, “We provide better and

faster service. Besides, the cost involved is also less when they service the

products with us,” he adds.

There is a general feeling among

users that ASCs are costlier than non-ASCs. But this may not be true since many

ASCs are trying to match their service costs with the non-ASCs.

Be it ASC or non-ASC, the fact

remains that, “at the end of the day when I take my repaired product back

home, I end up paying a huge amount,” says an user who recently got his

printer repaired at an ASC.

Both ASCs or non-ASCs have

similar service charges (for example, Rs 250 for a printer). But the total cost

at an ASC adds up to 25-35 percent more than that at a non-ASC because ASCs

claim that they use original components, which are costly but reliable, whereas

non-ASCs may use 'duplicate' spares.

“It is true that original

spares cost four to five time more than  non-original spares, but, even if

we use original spares, we manage to service customers at 10-15 percent less

cost than the ASCs. With Indian spares we save up to 25-35 percent,” says

Bhagwan.

Spares quality

But how good or bad are

non-original spares? “The vendor will obviously say it is bad. They will

insist on using the original. But, so far, I have not faced any problem with

Indian made spares. They too last long. Besides they cost only one-fifth of the

original’s price,” adds Bhagwan. ASCs get all the preference from the

vendor, yet the non-ASCs score by cutting overhead costs and transferring the

benefit to the customer.

Another traditional way of

servicing obsolete products is by removing parts from old discarded products.

Although an ASC will have problems doing this, non-ASCs have very little

hesitation in removing parts from unused products. “We buy old non-working

machines and use the good parts from them. This way we are able to tackle the

problem of product obsolescence and customers are also happy,” says Kishore.

This may not work all the time

as one may not get the necessary parts at the required time. This ultimately

induces the servicemen to turn to the so-called ‘duplicates’. As long as the

vendors are not serious about ensuring a quick and continuous supply of required

spares at a reasonable cost, it will be the SOHO customer who will suffer

because of his limited resources.

Vendor’s policy

All vendors have a policy for

servicing products under warranty. Which usually ranges from one to two years.

There also exist a policy of extending warranty by giving a nominal cost. Both

HP and Epson provide a warranty extension pack. Customers are required to apply

for warranty extension with a specified period from the date of purchase. One

can also convert a ‘carry-in’ warranty to an ‘on-site’ warranty by

giving an annual fee. However, this facility is not available for all products.

Even during the warranty period,

to avail of the benefit, it is a must that the product, after purchase, is

registered with the vendor and all the clauses are adhered to. However, many of

the clauses are so ambiguous, "it is as good as not giving a warranty,”

says Bhagwan.

The vendors, of course, have

their own rules on how to implement warranty. They keep a tab on products that

are under warranty through their web sites. Customers just have to feed the

serial number of their product to know the warranty status. But with the

friendly neighborhood non-ASC round the corner, who would want to stray into

cyberspace?

Nelson Johny in Mumbai