Not signed in (Sign In)
Welcome, Guest
Want to take part in these discussions? Sign in if you have an account, or apply for one below
Vanilla 1.1.4 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
-
Let's start an informative discussion!
What is covered by the Fry's Warranty or Performance Service Contract?
Why should I buy it on X product?Howard Dean for America '08 -
Buy it on LCD HDTV's. Everytime.
It now covers the cost of the LCD bulb, should it break or go out. That bulb is expensive (around $400) and is not uncommon to happen within 3 years of use.
Buy it on Laptops. Loaner program, coverage for the screen and motherboard, decent deal.
Buy it on Desktops only if you just don't want any hassle with it. If you can do any repair on your own machine, or swap out parts frequently, then skip it. But it is decently cheap.
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
Buy it on refurbished routers. You can get a refurb Netgear router for around $25, then add a 3 year PSC for about $10. It still comes out to being half the price of a new one, and you get it instantly exchanged if it breaks. -
rab:
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
There is no instant swap on monitors!
The Fry's Warranty on Laptop covers wear and tear from use, such as power adapter, keyboard, mousepad, etc. The warranty also covers a surge failure. If there's a surge in your home and it damages your laptop, the warranty covers 1000. The Warranty covers Dead pixels, a minimum of 7 dead pixels (I believe). The warranty does not cover physical damages such as water spill, dropping it, steping on it that leads to it's malfunctioning. The warranty does not cover the battery.the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round -
I'm not talking about a final instant swap, but you will get a loaner for an equivalent (if not the same exact) monitor... So 100% uptime on your monitor...
Still, I wouldn't buy it on an LCD generally. -
If we can get some Fry's service technicians in here to answer some questions, it would be great. They're the ones who takes care of the warranty issues. I've heard a lot of customers complaining how the warranty they bought wasn't working for them.
So, if we can get a tech to clear things up with Fry's warranty, it would be great.the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round -
It doesn't cover software and/or physical damage. Other than that it covers everything!i am a worm.
-
-
CommentAuthordrawbreaker
- CommentTimeJul 20th 2007
worm:It doesn't cover software and/or physical damage. Other than that it covers everything!
hirrrmm.. wrong... sorry worm... it does not cover the battery,or a cracked screen. -
-
Sam:If we can get some Fry's service technicians in here to answer some questions, it would be great. They're the ones who takes care of the warranty issues. I've heard a lot of customers complaining how the warranty they bought wasn't working for them.
So, if we can get a tech to clear things up with Fry's warranty, it would be great.
i can answer a few specific questions if anyone has any.
as said previously, in a nutshell it covers all natural hardware failures. no software issues (windows not loading- though not always software, malware:virus/spyware, your computer not going very fast anymore, you losing your data if a hard drive fails). physical damage isnt covered. most common problems with customers is cracked LCD screens and notebook keyboard keys popping off.
anything other than that is non-warranty and you have to pay for it. -
It covers only hardware failures really.
However, Lets say you buy a PS3 with the warranty. You decide to mod it, You open it break the seal and continue to mod it. It's now not covered. If you somehow get the seal to appear intact, then you are still covered. The warranty covers hardware failures, but the thing is returns and the Person In Charge determine if it failed or you broke it. If they can't see that you opened it then they'll instant exchange it. Another thing is, If you push them hard enough they'll instant exchange it. -
why are we having a discussion about dragons and unicorns i mean the psc actually covering somthing is kindof one of those myths well i did use the piece of paper to cover the side panel of the pos station while i worked there but i dont think that is what you meant.Looking for my head ............... yeah the eight valve one yeah ....
-
-
CommentAuthormeinside100
- CommentTimeNov 22nd 2008
howard: Let's start an informative discussion!
What is covered by the Fry's Warranty or Performance Service Contract?
Why should I buy it on X product?
Its really all based if the PIC, SM, ASM likes the customer or not. Contracts at Fry's don't mean a damn thing. -
-
-
CommentAuthorGuest 25897
- CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2009
Fry's replaced a laptop that I retruned after one week due to cursor jumping. I told them I didn't want the same laptop again as I suspected a design issue. They said fine and allowed me to return the laptop computer and replace it with a similar laptop. I did need to pay the small difference in price. -
-
-
CommentAuthorGuest 34435
- CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2009
what is the best benefit to have PSC? -
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2009
Guest: what is the best benefit to have PSC?
Backed by National Product Care.Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
you mine as well say backed by a dragon army and guaranteed by giants.Looking for my head ............... yeah the eight valve one yeah ....
-
Guest: what is the best benefit to have PSC?
Instant replacement. -
-
CommentAuthorGuest 15633
- CommentTimeMay 8th 2009
Do the have any 'Lemon' section in their PSC package for products like laptops and Tvs? -
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeMay 8th 2009
Guest: Do the have any 'Lemon' section in their PSC package for products like laptops and Tvs?
I believe so. All of the ads say so on the laptops. Says "No Lemon".Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
-
CommentAuthorFormer_Frys_geek
- CommentTimeMay 15th 2009
calculon:
Buy it on Desktops only if you just don't want any hassle with it. If you can do any repair on your own machine, or swap out parts frequently, then skip it. But it is decently cheap.
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
Buy it on refurbished routers. You can get a refurb Netgear router for around $25, then add a 3 year PSC for about $10. It still comes out to being half the price of a new one, and you get it instantly exchanged if it breaks.
I disagree with you on desktops. The desktop PSC seems a bit overpriced for my liking considering that desktops are easily half as likely to need any repairs and even IF they need repairs the repairs are often cheaper both in parts and in labor.
I definitely agree with you on monitor warranties. LCD monitors are pretty mature and except for the no name brands they are typically covered for three years.
I really couldn't see anyone buying a warranty on a router. Seriously, the PSCs seem too pricey. -
-
Warranties should be 15% of the price no matter what. and I should buy be able to buy warranties on candy and small items.
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeMay 15th 2009
Former_Frys_geek:
calculon:
Buy it on Desktops only if you just don't want any hassle with it. If you can do any repair on your own machine, or swap out parts frequently, then skip it. But it is decently cheap.
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
Buy it on refurbished routers. You can get a refurb Netgear router for around $25, then add a 3 year PSC for about $10. It still comes out to being half the price of a new one, and you get it instantly exchanged if it breaks.
I disagree with you on desktops. The desktop PSC seems a bit overpriced for my liking considering that desktops are easily half as likely to need any repairs and even IF they need repairs the repairs are often cheaper both in parts and in labor.
I definitely agree with you on monitor warranties. LCD monitors are pretty mature and except for the no name brands they are typically covered for three years.
I really couldn't see anyone buying a warranty on a router. Seriously, the PSCs seem too pricey.
I would have to slightly disagree with you. Desktop PSCs for low end PCs (less than $500) are actually not bad. Less of a price than a hard drive sometimes, which is the most common item to go.
For LCDs, I would. Manufacturer covers a minimum of 15% of screen failure in a cluster, whereas we cover a minimum of 7 dead pixels. Plus the wear and tear portion is quite nice. I look at my brother's worn out power button. Man, I can't turn it on and I have no clue how he does. He calls it a "security feature".
And for routers. To be honest, I would buy a PSC on a router. I have gone through a lot of routers in the past couple of years.Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
Um LCDs usually come with what they call a MANUFACTURERS warranty. They ALWAYS cover problems. For example, my Nikon D40 I got eons ago... Two of the pixels died on the preview screen. I sent it to NIKON and they fixed it or replaced it. So get an LCD that offers a good manufacturers warranty or talk the LCD company into letting you exchange it, don't waste your money on a PSC. Plus, with the advent of google, there is almost NOTHING you can't fix on your own on a PC through simple google fu.Superhero!
-
asdf: Warranties should be 15% of the price no matter what. and I should buy be able to buy warranties on candy and small items.
You'll want a PSC on dragon boots, too.
-
well of course i do. actually what would be really neat is to say at check out your total is $1,000. I can put a warranty on everything in your cart for $150 more. sir would you like to do that?
-
Warranty amounts are calculated based on several factors, including the price of the item and the projected frequency of failure. Having a blanket percentage for all items leaves you open for losses.
-
I desire a pair of dragon boots!Superhero!
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009 edited
AyaHu: Um LCDs usually come with what they call a MANUFACTURERS warranty. They ALWAYS cover problems. For example, my Nikon D40 I got eons ago... Two of the pixels died on the preview screen. I sent it to NIKON and they fixed it or replaced it. So get an LCD that offers a good manufacturers warranty or talk the LCD company into letting you exchange it, don't waste your money on a PSC. Plus, with the advent of google, there is almost NOTHING you can't fix on your own on a PC through simple google fu.
Nikons are cameras though. A few dead pixels inside a preview screen can really mess you up. On an LCD monitor, one or two dead pixels are not noticeable and are not in the way according to the manufacturer.
Once Samsung and LG update their Terms and Conditions, I guess I will read it again.Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
-
CommentAuthorFormer_Frys_geek
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009
That Guy in Duluth:
Former_Frys_geek:
calculon:
Buy it on Desktops only if you just don't want any hassle with it. If you can do any repair on your own machine, or swap out parts frequently, then skip it. But it is decently cheap.
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
Buy it on refurbished routers. You can get a refurb Netgear router for around $25, then add a 3 year PSC for about $10. It still comes out to being half the price of a new one, and you get it instantly exchanged if it breaks.
I disagree with you on desktops. The desktop PSC seems a bit overpriced for my liking considering that desktops are easily half as likely to need any repairs and even IF they need repairs the repairs are often cheaper both in parts and in labor.
I definitely agree with you on monitor warranties. LCD monitors are pretty mature and except for the no name brands they are typically covered for three years.
I really couldn't see anyone buying a warranty on a router. Seriously, the PSCs seem too pricey.
I would have to slightly disagree with you. Desktop PSCs for low end PCs (less than $500) are actually not bad. Less of a price than a hard drive sometimes, which is the most common item to go.
For LCDs, I would. Manufacturer covers a minimum of 15% of screen failure in a cluster, whereas we cover a minimum of 7 dead pixels. Plus the wear and tear portion is quite nice. I look at my brother's worn out power button. Man, I can't turn it on and I have no clue how he does. He calls it a "security feature".
And for routers. To be honest, I would buy a PSC on a router. I have gone through a lot of routers in the past couple of years.
The PSCs on a cheaper items tend to be a greater percentage of the retail value than the higher priced items. Some of the low end PSCs are 20%+ of the replacement cost for a 2 year. Considering that there is no loaner for desktops and Fry's isn't well known for quick turnarounds on repair I would be dubious on the claim that you would get your computer running again faster so unlike a laptop I don't see much added benefit in the overlapping year. The only circumstance I could see where buying a PSC on a desktop might make sense is if it were a refurb where 90 day warranties are the norm.
On LCD monitors, I challenge you to cite me a single vendor that requires 15% of the pixels in cluster to be bad before they consider it enough to replace the panel. Good luck because virtually every brand last I checked had no where near such an unfriendly warranty. I heard about the 7 pixel number when I worked for Fry's, but it isn't really listed anywhere in the PSC the last I checked so I wouldn't count on a replacement unless the Service manager considered that their standard for replacement.
I also find your claim about issues with routers dubious. I've seen people who are still using 802.11B routers that are 5-6 years old that still work and they have been on virtually continuously AFAIK. I haven't personally had any router or switch fail on me. Call me lucky, but when I worked for Fry's most people I met were buying routers NOT to replace dead ones, but to upgrade to new wireless technologies that were faster and had better coverage(eg. B to G, G to N, etc.). Even those that I have seen dead would often be beyond the Fry's PSC protection as well. If you hack your router and turn up to wattage you get burn it up prematurely, but most people wouldn't know how to do it even if they knew it was possible. To make matters worse, on some of those networking products the PSC can get up to 30-40% of the retail cost of the product. Considering that the default warranty on most products is a year I think it is a pretty high cost for another year of protection.
The reality is that contrary to what most managers are willing to admit you really have to sell people often unwarranted fear to get them to buy any warranty on electronics. Since Fry's PSCs give replacements that only have to be at least equal instead of equal retail value to what one paid they aren't often worth as much as one thinks. There are some cases I might consider a service plan, but the ones you listed are pretty lame. -
-
I think instead of asking for loaners, all people should have at least two computers in their house.Superhero!
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeMay 17th 2009 edited
Former_Frys_geek:
That Guy in Duluth:
Former_Frys_geek:
calculon:
Buy it on Desktops only if you just don't want any hassle with it. If you can do any repair on your own machine, or swap out parts frequently, then skip it. But it is decently cheap.
Don't buy it on Samsung, LG, Envision, or (some) Viewsonic computer monitors. They all have built in 3 year manufacturer warranties. You don't get the instant swap out or the convenience of bringing it into the store, but you can still get it fixed.
Buy it on refurbished routers. You can get a refurb Netgear router for around $25, then add a 3 year PSC for about $10. It still comes out to being half the price of a new one, and you get it instantly exchanged if it breaks.
I disagree with you on desktops. The desktop PSC seems a bit overpriced for my liking considering that desktops are easily half as likely to need any repairs and even IF they need repairs the repairs are often cheaper both in parts and in labor.
I definitely agree with you on monitor warranties. LCD monitors are pretty mature and except for the no name brands they are typically covered for three years.
I really couldn't see anyone buying a warranty on a router. Seriously, the PSCs seem too pricey.
I would have to slightly disagree with you. Desktop PSCs for low end PCs (less than $500) are actually not bad. Less of a price than a hard drive sometimes, which is the most common item to go.
For LCDs, I would. Manufacturer covers a minimum of 15% of screen failure in a cluster, whereas we cover a minimum of 7 dead pixels. Plus the wear and tear portion is quite nice. I look at my brother's worn out power button. Man, I can't turn it on and I have no clue how he does. He calls it a "security feature".
And for routers. To be honest, I would buy a PSC on a router. I have gone through a lot of routers in the past couple of years.
The PSCs on a cheaper items tend to be a greater percentage of the retail value than the higher priced items. Some of the low end PSCs are 20%+ of the replacement cost for a 2 year. Considering that there is no loaner for desktops and Fry's isn't well known for quick turnarounds on repair I would be dubious on the claim that you would get your computer running again faster so unlike a laptop I don't see much added benefit in the overlapping year. The only circumstance I could see where buying a PSC on a desktop might make sense is if it were a refurb where 90 day warranties are the norm.
On LCD monitors, I challenge you to cite me a single vendor that requires 15% of the pixels in cluster to be bad before they consider it enough to replace the panel. Good luck because virtually every brand last I checked had no where near such an unfriendly warranty. I heard about the 7 pixel number when I worked for Fry's, but it isn't really listed anywhere in the PSC the last I checked so I wouldn't count on a replacement unless the Service manager considered that their standard for replacement.
I also find your claim about issues with routers dubious. I've seen people who are still using 802.11B routers that are 5-6 years old that still work and they have been on virtually continuously AFAIK. I haven't personally had any router or switch fail on me. Call me lucky, but when I worked for Fry's most people I met were buying routers NOT to replace dead ones, but to upgrade to new wireless technologies that were faster and had better coverage(eg. B to G, G to N, etc.). Even those that I have seen dead would often be beyond the Fry's PSC protection as well. If you hack your router and turn up to wattage you get burn it up prematurely, but most people wouldn't know how to do it even if they knew it was possible. To make matters worse, on some of those networking products the PSC can get up to 30-40% of the retail cost of the product. Considering that the default warranty on most products is a year I think it is a pretty high cost for another year of protection.
The reality is that contrary to what most managers are willing to admit you really have to sell people often unwarranted fear to get them to buy any warranty on electronics. Since Fry's PSCs give replacements that only have to be at least equal instead of equal retail value to what one paid they aren't often worth as much as one thinks. There are some cases I might consider a service plan, but the ones you listed are pretty lame.
We do offer loaners on Desktops. A 2yr PSC on a Desktop is $50 for a Desktop between $251-$500. That is 10-15% of the cost of the Desktop. Not 20%. The 5yr PSC is $90. That is pretty decent for a Desktop around the $500 price point. Overall, that is less than the price of a hard drive, or at least, the same price.
The LCD Monitor thing. I guess I could take a look at that. Been a while.
And the whole router thing. I have gone through a Netgear Router, Microsoft Router, Belkin Router, and Linksys in as little as 4 years. Most of which overheated. The Linksys got fried by lightning. Your personal experience and mine are different. I often have extraordinary bad luck when it comes to electronics.
To be honest though, I rarely try the fear approach to sell PSC, if ever. Never really worked for me.Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
Weird, I live in a place that often reaches 115 exterior degrees and sometimes 90 interior, with direct sunlight hitting my routers and I have never had one overheat... The only reason I dont use my old one which I used for 5 years is because I upgraded.Superhero!
-
-
CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth
- CommentTimeMay 18th 2009
Where I place the router, it gets hot... and has no airflow. Gets hot quick.Why is there an S in Lisp? -
-
Also great for cranking up the mW, using DD-WRT or Tomato. -
Sasquatch:
Also great for cranking up the mW, using DD-WRT or Tomato.
Hell yeah Tomato is one of the best. OpenWRT is the developers dream though. -
But linksys still sucks.Superhero!
-
AyaHu: But linksys still sucks.
It's a broadcom chipset what do you expect!? Atheros is the way to go. -
Fo sho.
-
aaaaaaaaaaaa don't forget they had a diagnostic fee for $$70.00 no refund , on top of the warranty (((((scam))))))
when u buy a warranty they said all parts labor is cover, when u send u thing in the will have the fee for diagnostic non refund
i don't know what is the warranty is. Now the parts for my fax machine is not cover .(((((((((((((scam))))))))))))warranty if i have to fix it. i have to pay 290.00
if i don't i have to pay $70.00. how abort if no warranty i will think it is the same or less. thankyou.
And don't think the warranty is work for u !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
I agree with most all of what CommentAuthorThat Guy in Duluth said.
Being new in sales I don't know for sure where I'm misquoting the policy, but I tell customer's that a PSC covers monitors with everything even if it's one pixel, and my impression is that anything under $400 is not worth fixing, so it will be replaced. Certain monitors and printers have replacement only on them, so you will receive one replacement product and that fulfills your contranct, but that's only for the cheaper monitors and printers.
My personal experience tells me that the PSC on Desktops is worth it, since a $500-$700 desktop PSC is around $69/99 for 2 years and $99/$129 for 3 years. I enjoy building my own computers and see hard drives fail sometimes within 2 to 3 years depending on how much you use them (downloading porn?), and replacement runs around $60 to $100. I inherited a computer from someone 2.5 years ago and ended up replacing the hard drive for $60. One day it fried, laterally started smoking, so I ended up having to replace the motherboard/cpu/ram on sale at fries for around $300 + $150 for the ram, and a new Box for $35. Anyhow unless you enjoy building computers the psc is worthwhile because shit breaks and needs to be replaced.
After sending my first XBOX to washington to get fixed because it coudn't read the controller, I started to buy used consoles at gamestop. They come with a one year return policy for instant exchange. So for a PS3 or Xbox, I recommend a used one from gamestop instead of paying for a new one and an extra warranty. PS3 probably doesn't need warranty, but for Xbox it's needed. -
-
CommentAuthorGuest 61931
- CommentTimeJan 7th 2010
Oh Christ. workerbee, go to the service department and actually learn what is covered and how the PSC's actually work.
Stop saying "everything is covered" Obviously physical damage of any kind is not covered so if there is any cracking on the screen that is not covered. Also a single pixel is not covered. Our pixel policy for monitors that have PSC follow the manufactures policy regarding dead pixels. For example this is what Samsungs warranty says: "The dead pixel warranty applies when your TFT-LCD Monitor contains more than 7 dead pixels within the standard warranty period" You see the part where it says it needs 7 dead pixels in order to get fixed/replaced?
Also only about half the time have I seen monitors actually replaced the other half they ARE fixed so customers should never expect it to be replaced. Same goes with printers under $400, some are fixed but most of the time we get sent a refurbished unit that is the exact same model as the one they sent in. And yes sometimes its replaced for a new one in box. Also any Service PSC for monitors or printers or anything, even if its like a $150 item has to be shipped to home office and they in turn will either get it fixed/replaced/whatever so it still takes weeks. So its never really just replaced instantly which is what I think most of your customers are led to believe.
What is sad is almost all LCD monitors have a standard 3 year warranty and I know for a fact most salesmen state they come with a 1 year warranty. The only thing a 3 year PSC is getting you is getting a loaner to use IF your monitor fails. You could make the argument that you are also paying for frys to take over the hassle of getting it fixed and all.
I wish the salesmen had to deal with upset customers from the service department for just one day and then maybe they wouldn't feed customers a stream of diarrhea from their mouth about how the PSC system works. Who am I kidding, with the kind of money salesmen get from PSC's (and the constant breathing down their necks from managers) anything will be done to sell PSC's. -
-
Thanks for the info. I got a real laugh from your post and from thinking about how Fry's gives absolutely no training to sales people.
-
-
CommentAuthorGuest 61931
- CommentTimeJan 7th 2010
To clarify I did not mean to post that as an attack towards you but pretty much all Fry's sales people. I just could not help myself after hearing so many customers say, "Well the sales person told me everything was covered!" Or, "he told me that I could just come in and get it replaced/exchanged/etc!" And you are right Fry's training is the problem here but they would never start doing it since it is not in their self interest. If the sales people actually got in trouble for giving false information about PSC's they would have a lot less PSC sales. They can deal with the upset customers since that is cheaper then having to sell less PSC's. -
-
-
CommentAuthorGuest 49401
- CommentTimeMar 10th 2010
So, I have a Gateway desktop PC that I bought at Fry's a couple of years ago and I bought the PSC also... now I am glad that I did because I had some type of problem with the power supply, fan, or motherboard, and the computer would not turn on. So I brought it back a couple of weeks ago - it took almost an hour to get the system checked in by the people at Fry's in Downers' Grove IL,- so much paperwork and so many copies that they had to make...
Anyway, that was 17 days ago. They told me it wouldn't be looked at for about a week - so I called back in a week. It hadn't been looked at yet. A day or two later, I called and they told me it was a fan problem and that the tech would get to it the next day. Then I called back and it was a motherboard problem and it would be about 4 weeks for the new board to come in - they had to order it.. from where? I don't know, must be another planet because nothing should take that long.
Anyhow, I am now calling about every two days to check on status and today they said it might be a week... I don't understand how they manage their service department. Seems to be totally haphazard, say anything you want to a customer, and delay until the machine is finally fixed - if it is ever fixed.
Does anyone have an idea of how to predict when service will be complete on a PSC order?
Thanks,
E -
-
Depends if parts are readily available. Its too old to carry the part inhouse.
They also do shipping via ship cargo from china. -
-
CommentAuthorGuest 7632
- CommentTimeMar 10th 2010
@ Guest, regarding the Gateway comp.
First of all I've worked in Service. 1 week is a looong time to finally "look" at something. For what you're describing, it usually takes a tech 10-20 minutes tops to actually diagnose. At my store most things are usually looked at same day/next day and diagnosed. When bringing your comp. back to the store, an experienced tech working in the dept. long enough can complete a check-in in 5 minutes, but possibly much more if you're trying to get a loaner.
Second, when parts are ordered, it takes usually about 3-7 business days to receive. Sounds like that store is just really backed up on repairs.
All repairs we try to do are quick as possible, if needed we would grab another mobo of the floor if its the same socket cpu, if not I personally go as far as replacing that as well. In the end you get an upgraded computer. -
-
-
CommentAuthorfrys_morman
- CommentTimeMar 10th 2010 edited
Some store's, like 26, are incredibly busy, and we aren't able to even look at units for about a week and a half, unless its a same day service, system build, or a straight forward data backup or something like that. We have less hours for technicians then most stores but have a much higher work load at the same time. A normal weekday you can count on 3 (4 if your lucky) people, techs and sups included, being in the department at any given time, which isn't enough to hold off the counter doing check ins or some question the sales floor told the customer we could answer. The later part of that could be easy handled with some sort of "I don't know" or "google it" respone but our techs are too friendly/helpful to do that. Second problem is the phone NEVER stops ringing. Ever. You could spend your entire shift answering the phone if you wanted. And lastly there are SO MANY returns that we have to restore that just build up in our dept that never get done, because the techs dont have time to touch them, contrary to what every manager in the store seems to think.
The fact that our backlog is a week and a half out should be point in case that we dont have time to touch the restores. Every 5 minutes you spend on a restore is invaluable time you could spend working on one of your 2-3 week old units that the customer is constantly calling back about. Returns is supposed to help, but they are normally busy doing their jobs, returning stuff. And God forbid you actually encounter a problem that doesn't show up in our simple diagnostic tests that you actually have to use some intelligence to figure out. Interruptions every other minute make it very difficult. Then forget getting anything done on the weekends. Our customers come in from anywhere up to an 80 miles radius from our store, so there's a lot of them. All of that combined leads to a incredibly messy and stressful work environment. But we manage to do decent work, it just takes a while. We try to have our customers understand that it wont be looked at until that 1.5 weeks and that they should probably get a loaner if their psc covers it. If you can find a retail store that can do more complicated work then memory installs, hard drive replacements and OS restores, who employs techs that actually know more then how to do the previous *cough Best Buy*, without shipping the unit out (we ship out laptops unless its memory/hard drive/os restore) I'd like to see it.
Also as far as that part order goes, a million things could have happened. Tech could have submitted a part order and no one ordered it, part was ordered incorrectly, part is on backlog, or we receive one, two, or even sometimes 3 bad replacement motherboards (it has happened), because lets face it, if its not a currently manufactured part, its most likely a used part, that's the way computer repair goes. Could use a better whole seller though...
EDIT: I'd also like to add, it may have sounded like in this response, that I or my dept don't like customers and that they are the enemy for coming in and waiting in line to have their computers serviced, or for calling in. The fact is that we DO like helping customers, and if you dont you shouldn't work in retail. When I say interruptions, I mean that, its hard to work on a complicated issue when you aren't given the ability to do so for more then 2 minutes straight. And thats not the customers problem, thats the companies problem for either not giving us more hours to hire more people, or for not completely changing the system to something that works efficiently. The problems is, both of those solutions cost money. -
-
Busy or not, waiting 17 days for a response of "maybe another week" isn't acceptable. Hate to say it, but overall Fry's doesn't have the best reputation with regards to computer repairs. I've known too many people personally, along with the posts here and on ripoffreport.com, about just how bad Fry's repair "service" is. When it comes to computers, Fry's PSC is a rip-off.
-
-
CommentAuthorblackknight1864
- CommentTimeMar 11th 2010
Guest: So, I have a Gateway desktop PC that I bought at Fry's a couple of years ago and I bought the PSC also... now I am glad that I did because I had some type of problem with the power supply, fan, or motherboard, and the computer would not turn on. So I brought it back a couple of weeks ago - it took almost an hour to get the system checked in by the people at Fry's in Downers' Grove IL,- so much paperwork and so many copies that they had to make...
Anyway, that was 17 days ago. They told me it wouldn't be looked at for about a week - so I called back in a week. It hadn't been looked at yet. A day or two later, I called and they told me it was a fan problem and that the tech would get to it the next day. Then I called back and it was a motherboard problem and it would be about 4 weeks for the new board to come in - they had to order it.. from where? I don't know, must be another planet because nothing should take that long.
Anyhow, I am now calling about every two days to check on status and today they said it might be a week... I don't understand how they manage their service department. Seems to be totally haphazard, say anything you want to a customer, and delay until the machine is finally fixed - if it is ever fixed.
Does anyone have an idea of how to predict when service will be complete on a PSC order?
Thanks,
E
Guest,
I'm actually a former Tech at the DG store. Let me just say that what you have described is not uncommon. What other posters have told you is not untrue, if it was just a fan issue then it would have been fixed pretty quick, but if it was the motherboard and it was an older model then we'd have to order it. Let me explain to everyone here who has the fun of being in the one of the California stores, at DG we don't get parts in Days, we get them in weeks. You place an order for a motherboard and you might not get it from MPD (MPD is the part supplier Frys uses for anything outside of manufacturers warranty...aka this means anything not HP because HP is really the only thing under Manufacturers warranty you can order in store) for 3-5 weeks, and good luck trying to get any updates about where the part is in the shipping process. What I can tell you is the techs work hard but parts reach us by truck from home office and are put on trucks that can take up to two weeks to reach us from California. Nothing reaches a store directly, it always comes from Home Office and it comes on Home Offices schedule. Also if your desktop was over $500.00 with a PSC you should be able to get a loaner which is part of your PSC and is going to be a heck of a lot better then what you had. You will need a credit card (not a debit/atm/credit card but just a straight credit card because if you bring a debit card they can't give you a loaner Home office rule, and actually written in the PSC) and that is just for security on the loaner. You'd be surprised how often loaners don't get returned or get returned damaged. Also I suggest talking directly with the Service Department Manager although if you look at his five o'clock shadow and exhausted expression you'll understand the Store Manager gives him no help and he'll just be screamed at by the SM who will just yell at the Service Manager and really won't help. However the Service DM is a good guy and he will do what he can which is get on home office jock strap but if the part is in transit there isn't a lot he can do to speed it up. If the service DM isn't there then ask to speek to the CSDM because he is actually willing to help and actually has an understanding of the situation the service department is in and he actually has some power in the store to see if he can help. Now remember this important fact which is most of the people in service are screamed at all day and most are exhausted from overwork no support from management, and basically being thrown under the rug everyday. I hate to say this but to you they are just one more person yelling at them. If you want them to help you then be nice to them because otherwise they will forget you in five minutes.
Peace out. -
-
-
CommentAuthorfrys_morman
- CommentTimeMar 11th 2010
ObiWan: Busy or not, waiting 17 days for a response of "maybe another week" isn't acceptable. Hate to say it, but overall Fry's doesn't have the best reputation with regards to computer repairs. I've known too many people personally, along with the posts here and on ripoffreport.com, about just how bad Fry's repair "service" is. When it comes to computers, Fry's PSC is a rip-off.
Wasn't saying it was ok. It's not ok. Its a terrible process and Fry's is completely at fault. -
-
Now remember this important fact which is most of the people in service are screamed at all day and most are exhausted from overwork no support from management, and basically being thrown under the rug everyday. I hate to say this but to you they are just one more person yelling at them. If you want them to help you then be nice to them because otherwise they will forget you in five minutes.
Quoted, for great truth.