johnl@tekecs.UUCP (06/22/83)
In response to overwhelming demand (2 letters) I will discuss my experience with getting my IBM PC serviced, in more detail. I wrote in a previous article a description of my surprise at finding that PC power supplies are not repairable or even exchangable. WHEREAS: Several parts of the IBM PC are considered disposable by IBM. I know of the power supply and keyboard, and I understand the monochrome display is also in this category. These items are not described in any schematic, nor are replacement parts available. This is true for IBM, Computerland, etc., because IBM sets the rules. WHEREAS: These items are not cheap. A (63.5 watt) power supply costs $160(?), a keyboard costs $250(?), and a monochrome display costs $345(?). [I am pulling the prices out of a shaky memory bank.] WHEREAS: The above prices (for supply and keyboard) are for delivery from IBM's supply depot. YOU pay the same price for these items as Computerland does. YOU face the same problem that Computerland does: IBM will only promise to deliver these items to you in less than 90 days if you pay them a $50 surcharge. WHEREAS: Computerland, et al, must be able to respond to repairs quickly, so they must stock the items rather than order from IBM as needed. This and some markup make these parts more expensive. And still you are not guaranteed they will have the part when you need it. If they don't, guess where they get it. WHEREAS: The only money in service for an organization is in service contracts (i.e., service insurance). If you just take your PC to be "fixed", you will not only pay through the nose, you will be placed behind customers on service contracts for the parts and technician time. WHEREAS: IBM has made an internal committment to "own" all the service contracts on its own equipment. IBM will sell a service contract for any PC sold by a legitimate dealer. If you buy from Computerland, Sears, etc., you may buy a service contract directly from IBM. (They didn't mention that to you, did they?) WHEREAS: The IBM service contract gets the best service. The IBM contract specifies that the unit will be repaired within 48 hours after you present it to them. They are committed to make this work, and the resources of IBM are available to meet that committment. That means that they stock the stuff locally, and if they run out locally, they will get it from the nearest location. WHEREAS: The IBM service contract is the best least expensive one. Some dealers sell their own service contracts, for instance, Computerland. They don't have the service volume to support the pricing structure that IBM has. Furthermore, most stores count on service revenue to make up for the otherwise highly competitive market. Other dealers resell IBM service contracts. They buy them from IBM for the same price you can get, mark them up, and sell them to you. WHEREAS: The IBM service agreement is cheap. It costs $104 dollars to get one year's service on the system unit (including keyboard) and non-disk cards (e.g., display adapters, comm interface, etc.). I don't remember the costs for additional stuff since that's all the IBM stuff I own. For a measly hundred bucks you can get the giant to stand 100% behind your equipment. They even promise to give you the benefit of any future price reductions that come (there have been two already.) BE IT RESOLVED: Each and every one of you will go to your nearest IBM Product Center and purchase a service agreement immediately. POSTSCRIPT: Of course, its not that simple. Some fine points follow: If you are still on 90 day warrantee, you can purchase a service agreement with no additional expense. Actually, what you purchase is a 9 month extension to the warrantee. If you are off warrantee, you must first pay for a qualification inspection like I did. This is a trivial check for already failed components and modifications. It takes about a half-hour of IBM time but you have to leave it at the service location for up to 48 hours. An hour of IBM Service time cost $96! Be sure to request on the paperwork you fill out that IBM should contact you before spending more than a half hour on the inspection. A curious technician could cost you a fortune. You must purchase a service agreement for everything that works with your PC that IBM makes. If you bought your floppy drives from IBM, you will pay extra for that. If you bought a display from them, you will pay extra for that. It's their rule. I was lucky. I have filled my box with non-IBM equipment, so I don't have to buy service agreements for them. On the other hand, they will not service any non-IBM equipment. You must physically remove any such gear from the unit before you take it to the service center. This is the major advantage that Computerland has: they will provide agreements for hybrid systems. I believe I can fix most problems with digital circuitry if I have schematics. The real problems are the analog and electromechanical components for which there is no support. In reality, IBM service is not for everybody. But be sure you check it out before you buy any other service and before your warrantee runs out. John Light decvax!tektronix!tekecs!johnl ucbvax!tektronix!tekecs!johnl