Computer warranties question...

[onthetown]

Do most warranties on newer computers allow the buyer to return the computer at any time within the warranty period to exchange it for a new one? Can the buyer get a higher-end computer and pay the difference?

[Ilena]

I think that just depends on the company, usually within 30 odd days at most, some stores are 14, some are 21, it really doesnt have anything to do with warranty that im familier with.

[Ichneumon]

Do most warranties on newer computers allow the buyer to return the computer at any time within the warranty period to exchange it for a new one?

As long as something is broke and it isn't obvious that you broke it just to get a new one, yes, I think that's the standard procedure with most warranties.


Can the buyer get a higher-end computer and pay the difference?

I don't think warranties work that way. You can't just switch your computer for a better one when you want a better one. You buy one and have a warranty in case it stops functioning.

[Ilena]

As far as i know most manufacturers just repair the product when theres a problem, not just exchange because you want to.

[Jack Squat]

First off, what computer, what problem? I know Dell doesn't officially recognize a problem with keyboards on a model or two, so you're not likely to get that fixed by them - much less qualify for replacement.

With a warranty, generally the SOP is that they'll try and repair it, and if that doesn't work, they'll replace/refund the unit.

If you get a warranty through a store (i.e. Sprawl-Mart, Buy More)* and something is wrong, you can probably pay the difference for an "upgrade" if the return is allowed. Not supposed to happen, but managers will occasionally bend policy to keep customers coming back.


*Names of real companies withheld

[KuReshtin]

As far as i know most manufacturers just repair the product when theres a problem, not just exchange because you want to.

This is correct. The standard warranty of a computer will only cover repairs of the machine, and not a replacement of the machine itself. And the repairs will be like part for like part, so if you have a broken 40GB hard drive, the warranty will only cover that you get a new 40GB hard drive.
The warranty does not allow you to trade your machine in for a better one, and will not have the option to pay the difference for the upgrade.

The only reason I would see you could get a replacement machine altogether is if you have repeatedly had the same problem, and the manufacturer haven't been able to repair it in 'a reasonable amount of attempts', usually if you get the same exact problem for a third time within a very short period of time after the last repair.
This is dependent of the consumer laws of your country, though, so you will have to check that up yourself.

The manufacturer will not want to replace the machine completely, as they will then get stuck with a faulty machine while they will have given you a new one basically for free.

[Lupy]

I would try returning it to the store rather than sending it back to HP/Dell/Apple or whoever.

[onthetown]

Thanks, guys :smallsmile: Unfortunately, my mother believed otherwise and refused to listen to reason because the repair guys for my laptop had been so rude to me, so she dragged me back into the store anyway... She managed to calm herself down and a new repair guy was much more helpful. He made it clear enough that she couldn't just exchange my laptop because I had been having a ton of problems with it and the other guys who I dealt with were royal jerks, and gave me step-by-step instructions on how to do something about the problem so that I wouldn't have to pay them to do it.

I didn't want to post the backstory behind the whole thing in the first post so that people wouldn't pre-judge before they answered. Basically, I've been having a lot of issues with my laptop and they've been getting worse and worse. I took it in a couple of days ago to see what they could do, and they called me back in to tell me that nothing was wrong with it. The repair guy who worked on my laptop then proceeded to basically accuse me of overexaggerating and distrusting them just because the stupid little POS didn't act up for him, and also accused me of causing the problems (which is hilarious because I don't do that much with the thing). I asked him about formatting it, and he said I could try that to see if it would solve the 'alleged' problems; when I asked him how I could do it without the Vista disk, he told me that I should have set up my laptop in the store when I first bought it to get the disk and it was my own fault that I didn't, despite the guy who sold me my laptop telling me to just set it up at home. I recalled a Playground member telling me about the Recovery part of my laptop, so I asked him where it was and how to do it, and he basically told me he didn't have time to tell me.

Obviously, I had a much better experience when I went back.

I showed your responses to my mother and she's a little embarrassed that she was almost prepared to go screaming into the store. :smalltongue:

[Ilena]

hehe thats cool, but what company is it? and i hope that you found the recovery partition, if its an hp one i used to work on those two years ago and i think f11 is the recovery for it,

[thubby]

warranties generally don't allow that, but a lot of stores will if you try.

[scsimodem]

As a proud member of the Nerd Herd* at Buy More*, I can give everybody the skinny, though it sounds like the OP had his issue resolved.

Within the return period: Most computers have a return period of about 14 days, potentially longer if it's near a major holiday *cough*Christmas*cough*. Since you can just hand the thing back, no questions asked, anyway, the store will just exchange it. If they can, they'll probably fix it there for no charge to save themselves some money, and it's better for you, since you don't have to set up a new machine.

Manufacturer's Warranty: The manufacturer actually reimburses the company for work done on this, so they have to stick VERY close to the script and really can't help it if something's not covered. Usually, it only covers manufacturing defects and won't cover the replacement of a bad battery or power cord if it's a laptop. No matter how many problems the thing has, no manufacturer's warranty covers replacement unless the computer will cost more to repair than it's worth. Also, depending on the deal between the manufacturer and the store, the store may not even be able to get compensated for work done under warranty, so it's off the factory.

Store Service Plan: The basic plan covers everything the manufacturer's warranty does, plus a little more to make it worth the money. In the case of laptops, ours covers the batter and power cord (1 replacement for any reason over the life of the service plan) and has a no lemon policy, so the fourth time it needs fixing, it just gets replaced. Be careful what you wish for, though. If you have a store service plan and you get a replacement, the plan ends and you have to buy a new one if you want to stay covered. There are also ones that cover accidental damage...everything except theft, fire, total immersion in liquid (spills are covered), intentional damage or abuse, war, or acts of terror. The highest ends ones even cover virus removals. Still, no matter how good the plan, they have to at least *try* to fix the computer.

Also, the following things are NEVER covered by standard warranties or service plans, and I'm really tired of people getting the panties in a wad because they aren't:
Virus Removals: It's like having a car warranty fix a car you wrapped around a tree. Most virus infections are caused by poor web surfing habits and poor selection (or even absence) of anti-virus software. You can get ViSpy insurance, but don't expect anything else to cover it.
Recovery Discs: There's a utility on your computer that allows you to make recovery discs. Only Dell still includes factory recovery discs with the computer. It is YOUR responsibility to make these discs. If you choose not to, it will cost you $25 to get some from the manufacturer. No, we do not keep copies on hand. That's illegal. No, we will not pay to get some for you. It's not our fault you chose to ignore the prompt urging you to make some.
General Software Problems: Most of these are either user created or easy to fix, usually both.

Sorry if I sounded a little cranky. I'm not allowed to speak this freely at work.

*Company names withheld to prevent blatant advertising.

Addendum: It doesn't matter if you paid $80 for the best virus scanner we sell with glowing recommendations from all of us. If you use Limewire, you will get viruses. No virus scanner is perfect and Limewire is set up in such a way that virus scanners ignore it. There's a reason our virus removal tools treat Limewire as a virus. Same goes for BitTorrent or any other file sharing service.

[Shikton]

Sorry if I sounded a little cranky. I'm not allowed to speak this freely at work.

I wish we COULD speak that freely at work... A lot of consumers really believe they can do whatever they want and still have the warranty or extended warranty cover the expences of repair/replacement.

Good post otherwise too. Informative. :)

[onthetown]

The computer is a Compaq, and I bought it at Future Shop.

For the amount of troubles I've been having with it, if formatting doesn't work, I'm planning on selling it to my mom for cheap and my stepdad will build me a better desktop.

Yes, I found the Recovery partition. :smallsmile: The second guy wrote down everything for me!

[Don Julio Anejo]

Short version - you're screwed. Future shop will lie, cheat, steal and threaten you with hellfire to make you buy their warranty. Once you bought it, however, you can be quite sure you won't get anything covered under it.

Oh, and apparently a lot of their warranties expire if you've had to use them even once. That is, you buy something, come in to get it fixed, and voila! Your warranty is gone. Have to shell out for a new one now or go without the warranty. Can't count the number of times it's happened to me, my friends and my family. To the point where I only ever go to Future Shop if I absolutely have to buy something from them (and I don't get their warranties ever). Staples, the Source and Best Buy FTW.

Edit: well, Staples extended warranty is almost as bad but at least they don't shove it down your throat.

[onthetown]

Short version - you're screwed. Future shop will lie, cheat, steal and threaten you with hellfire to make you buy their warranty. Once you bought it, however, you can be quite sure you won't get anything covered under it.

Oh, and apparently a lot of their warranties expire if you've had to use them even once. That is, you buy something, come in to get it fixed, and voila! Your warranty is gone. Have to shell out for a new one now or go without the warranty. Can't count the number of times it's happened to me, my friends and my family. To the point where I only ever go to Future Shop if I absolutely have to buy something from them (and I don't get their warranties ever). Staples, the Source and Best Buy FTW.

Edit: well, Staples extended warranty is almost as bad but at least they don't shove it down your throat.

Everything they did on it while it was in the shop, however rude they were, was covered and I didn't pay a cent. Since it's almost a year old, I didn't expect the warranty to cover getting a new one.

We don't have any other major computer dealers around here. Walmart is god-awful and has maybe 3 types of computers, I don't know if Zellers even has them, The Source is worse than five Future Shops combined (and don't sell great brands or many of them), and the privately-owned businesses aren't that great. I live in a pretty small province; this is the capital city, so I'm obviously not going to find much else if I drive out of town.

This is the first time they've sold me a computer that hates me this much within a year, though. The service just happens to be terrible.

[KuReshtin]

Recovery Discs: There's a utility on your computer that allows you to make recovery discs. Only Dell still includes factory recovery discs with the computer. It is YOUR responsibility to make these discs. If you choose not to, it will cost you $25 to get some from the manufacturer. No, we do not keep copies on hand. That's illegal. No, we will not pay to get some for you. It's not our fault you chose to ignore the prompt urging you to make some.service.

Very good post describing warranties and srevices provided for machines at different levels.

Lenovo/IBM will provide a free set of recovery CDs as part of the warranty IF the following criteria are met (at least in the Europe/Middle East/Africa region:

- If the hard drive breaks down and needs replacing. If you haven't created your own recovery Cds at that time, Lenovo will provide the Recovery discs to be able to reintall the OS.
- If the recovery partition doesn't work. If you get into the recovery partition, but gets errors during the recovery process so that you can not go through the installation properly.
- If the Recovery partition is gone because of a non-customer fault.

In the following instances, the customer is not entitld to a new set of recovery CDs:

- If the customer has deleted the Recovery partition themselves for whatever reason.
- If the customer has upgraded to a bigger hard drive and have not created the recovery discs beforehand.
- If the customer just wants a set of Recovery Cds 'just because', they need to create those themselves.

Of course, if customers are aware of these criteria, they can then learn the correct answers to give to the support guys before they call in and 'manipulate' the system to get a free set of CDs even if they're not entitled to them.

And remember, folks! Recovery Cds are specific for specific machines for specific manufacturers, so you can not use a set of Lenovo T61 recovery CDs to reinstall a Dell Inspiron machine.