How many times have you seen it? The warranty, that is. The small disclaimer tucked away in the back of the installation manual of your latest tech purchase that exonerates the vendor from certain liabilities — particularly those that require repair or replacement of parts — once you have made your purchase.
How many times have you seen the words: “company does not make any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.” More to the point, what does any of it mean?
In the current climate, with sales of PCs, mobile phones, handhelds and other IT ‘must-haves’, it would be logical to assume that out there in the market place, producers, distributors and resellers would be knocking themselves out to offer the best deal possible, not merely in terms of price, but more importantly with back-up services and financing.
The reality appears to be somewhat different. After looking at the different financing services and warranties available to the public and businesses alike, there is very little difference between what the major players in the PC market offer to consumers.
The real deal on a warranty
So what finance is being offered and what companies are offering what warranty?
By definition, a warranty is “a promise in a contract (as for a sale or lease) which states that the subject of the contract is as represented (as in being free from defective workmanship) and which gives the warrantee recourse against the warrantor”(Based on Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law, 1996.).
Retailers offer different packages depending on what the customer wants, according to Liam Halpin, consumer and small business sales director at Fujitsu Siemens. There are as many different financing options as there are customers and, he says, and it depends entirely on the reseller what finance options will be offered.
The first thing that should be said, however, is that the customer needs to be careful not to focus on the sticker price of the PC, but rather on the total amount of the payments over the duration of the agreement.
For example, he says, a PC with a price of €1299 purchased at 19 per cent APR will cost more over four years than a PC purchased at €1399 at 14 per cent APR over the same time period. It is also advisable for business customers to lease equipment as it is a more tax efficient way of spending an IT budget.
With warranties, the options are clearer. Customers, Halpin says, should at the very least expect a helpdesk which can contacted at normal local call rates. There should be also at least a one-year in-home repair service with a minimum response of 72 hours.
From August, all Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo home PC models sold in Ireland will carry a three year in-home warranty as standard with a 48 hours call out response. Models in the Scenic business PC range carry a three-year on-site warranty with next business day services. Notebooks are available with a one-year collect and return service.
The three year warranty includes a first year return to base, with a second and third year parts only warranty, while on notebooks, customers can upgrade to one or three year on-site service packs.
Box and support in one
For businesses that regard computers as a mission-critical, Halpin advises them to purchase their system from a reseller that offers bespoke service level agreements based on the individual customers requirements as opposed to a reseller or direct sales company who supplies the equipment and a standard one-size-fits-all warranty.
Leasing makes sense
Compustore offers a zero per cent, 12-month interest free finance option. Finance, provided by Friends First. It is available over four years at an APR of 15.8 per cent and offered on purchases exceeding €761.84. If in business, Grainne Denning of Compustore says, lease the equipment.
A one-year’s manufacturer warranty is standard with PC purchases. Compustore provides customers with the relevant support numbers for its products — including Brother, Compaq, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, IBM, Lexmark at the point of purchase.
Extra support is also available by way of a three year extended warranty, which, she says, customers should invest in as they will be spared the inconvenience of having unexpected costs should your system develop a hardware fault within a period of three years.
The extended warranty covers in-house repair service as well as technical counter advice services. In the event your system should fail, you will only need to contact the nearest Compustore technical department, she says.
Interest free is attractive
PC Superstore offers a one year interest free option (based on a four year contract) as well as three and four year financing options with competitive interest rates, again from Friends First.
It also offers a full three-year hardware warranty on all its own brand PCs. All other PCs come with a one-year hardware warranty which can be upgraded to a three year warranty from the manufacturer.
This option, Michael Murphy of PC Superstore says, is well worth the money, particularly if the PC is being bought for home use where the technical know-how may not be available in the home.
On notebooks, most manufacturers offer a one year on-site warranty which can be extended through the particular manufacturer. Generally, Murphy says, the manufacturer will send one of their technicians to fix the problem on-site.
However, due to the fact that any hardware issues generally require that the notebook be opened in a static-free environment these warranties are, more often than not, collect and return.
This involves the technician removing the computer and returning it when it has been repaired at their head office or factory.
He recommends business users should opt for the same day or next business day on-site repair option and should also check if a replacement is offered if their PC is gone for longer than two to three business days.
Dell, unlike the other manufacturers/retailers featured has its own financing service. Dell Financial Services offers not only finance, but also an integrated service that allows for the leasing of hardware as well as peripherals, such as printers, scanners and warranty. Leases can be taken out over 18, 24, 30 or 36 months.
Leasing is tailored to customers’ individual needs, increasing spending power, making more or higher specification equipment affordable. According to Louise Nealon of Financial Dynamics, PR consultant for Dell, Ireland is a very mature market in regard to leasing and associated products. In particular, Irish businesses recognise that as technology develops, leasing IT equipment allows them to maximise their cashflow while still providing fixed repayments. The average percentage of customers that lease their IT equipment is 14 to 16 per cent.
The main advantage of leasing, she says, is that it gives customers known costs over an agreed period of time, plus the flexibility of being able to keep up with the latest technology. It is also worth considering, she says, that rentals, in some cases are 100 per cent allowable against taxable profit.
The advantages of this form of purchasing is that the customer can keep, upgrade or exchange equipment at end of lease and offers the ability to keep up with technology.
Iqon’s local options
Currently the 10th largest distributor in Ireland, Iqon supplies PCs, components, peripherals and a range of other products to hundreds of Irish resellers.
There are a range of options available to consumers, or small businesses when purchasing technology from Iqon. These options range from standard credit agreements to interest free options depending on the retailer.
PCs are sold mainly via the ESB and Shop Electric/Electricworld in Northern Ireland who offer attractive financing to consumers who can just add the repayments to the bill, says Ciaran O’ Donoghue, sales and marketing director in Iqon. Because everyone in the country has an electricity account, they are one of the easiest retailers in the country to get credit from.
If consumers are going to finance their purchase, they should take time to assess the credit offering from different retailers as in a lot of situations the product offering is the same from different retailers and it is the financing which can really work out as a saving.
There is still a big fear factor, he says, with a lot of consumers buying PCs that they will not be able to get it to work and that they may inadvertently break it at some stage in the future.
Iqon, consequently, offers telephone support to all customers irrespective of the nature of the problem. This, O’Donoghue says is not the industry norm. Iqon does not have premium rate tech lines that charge if it is a customer created problem as many companies do, he says, or if the customer needs help to do something even if the PC is not faulty.
Ease of use and ease of support are key concerns to consumers when buying technology products. Because of its small size, O’Donoghue claims that Iqon can be more responsive to individual customer needs without having the rigid structures and procedures often found in large multinational call centres.
All Iqon consumer products currently ship with collect and return warranties. This means that if the customer has a problem that cannot
be rectified with telephone support, Iqon arranges to collect the unit, repair it at its Dundalk facility and return it to the customer site.
Iqon consumer products ship with a one-year warranty. Customers have the option of extending this warranty to two or three years if they wish but it is not sold as standard. The company will also perform out of warranty repairs at a chargeable rate for any customer who has a product that is out of warranty.
Big blue’s service report
The company is also currently piloting a site warranty scheme and may decide to move to full on site warranty depending on the results.
All Iqon business products ship with a three-year warranty, first year on site, and collect and return for years two and three. Again the customer has the option to extend this warranty to a full three years on site.
IBM doesn’t deal directly with the public so there are no finance payment or support options from IBM PCD directly to retail consumers, says Niamh Boylan, PR spokeswoman for IBM in Ireland.
However IBM’s go-to-market strategy is via distribution and the reseller outlets in Ireland, thus all pricing, customer services, sales, account management, support from IBM is supplied from IBM to the outlet.
IBM’s one year on-site warranty entitles the customer to an IBM engineer to call-out on site and fix the problem. If it can’t fix it on site its is taken away to a service point.
With IBM’s three-year warranty, including a first year return to base, the customer is entitled to send products back to IBM service point, she says. With second and third year parts, the customer is entitled to have parts replaced at no cost, but there may be an additional charge for installation.
With its one year collect and return warranty, IBM sends a courier to collect machine from customer’s premises, returns it to the service point, repairs machine and delivers it back to customer.
In brief, IBM offers a minimum of one-year parts and labour and a maximum of three-year parts and labour apart excluding battery that never has a warranty for more than one year.
For mission critical work, IBM recommends a three-year on site 24-hour warranty. The response time on this warranty is four hours.
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