28th January 2017
Tech Support and Warranties
Following on from last weeks’ article we look at the differences between a computer warranty and a support agreement. Last week we mainly discussed the instances where a good warranty through the original manufacturer can come to the rescue. We see this often enough and it gives peace of mind if you have purchased a commercial grade HP or one of our own towers so that if there is a fault, it can be fixed right here in Rockhampton in just a couple of days at most.
As explained last week however, when you have problems with connecting devices such as printers or trouble with your own specialised software or just trouble with user changeable settings then this does not fall under the umbrella of a warranty claim. The same could be said for a new car that has reversed into a post or hit a kangaroo. There is no warranty claim involved here however there may be an insurance claim made.
On the IT side of things, if you get a virus or simply delete your own data by mistake or change a setting that you can’t find again then warranty will not help and as far as I know insurers do not cover all of these events. Instead if you want protection from the costs and heartache associated with the above events then you need an IT support contract.
Just like a monthly insurance premium and IT support contract will cost you every month whether you need it or not. Support contracts can cost as little as $20 per month for a standard computer however once again you get what you pay for and these cheaper monthly amounts are strongly associated with lots of fine print to the point that you may still be paying ‘extra’ charges to have a wide range of problems fixed.
We have a number of customers on a support contract, whether it is for just one PC or for a full network of 20 servers and 200 computers. We find that the most useful contract is not the cheapest one but rather is a contract that can be written on a single page covering near every eventuality. Events that are not covered in the majority of our contracts are then covered by your insurance for issues like theft, fire, storm and vandalism.
Obviously an IT support contract will not be everyone’s cup of tea, however it especially gives business’ peace of mind when the owners are not the only ones using the computers and these same computers form the very core of the business. Support contracts will also offer maximum response times and are a vital step to ensuring a point of sale system is always available.
If a support contract is not for you then it needs to be accepted that there will be times when you have to pay for professional IT help even when your PC is still under a manufacturer’s warranty and especially when it is brand new and you are trying to get it setup in operation similar to a previous PC.
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 49 222 400.
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