From: Ray Bayles (canyonlands_at_theriver.com)
Date: Fri Feb 01 2002 - 10:38:23 EST
I have serviced maintenance agreements that were for the US Army, US
Navy, USPublic Health Service, a major insurance company, a mining
company, and a construction company. I was/am a subcontractor... some
were for machines purchased directly from IBM. Others were from
bidders you all know. I was required to do two scheduled looks at
each computer each year, clean out dust, dirt, note damage and wear,
and repair or replace components within 12 business hours... all parts
needed were shipped to me via Federal Express within 1 day once I
notified the office by phone. All used parts, regardless of condition,
had to be returned by Federal Express within 3 working days of receipt
of original part or I was not paid.
Items I could not repair were shipped via Federal Express to one of
three addresses and returned within 8 hours. The address was not
EZServe.
I spent a lot of time on the phone with a "coordinator" and all
defective parts returned were inspected to assure I hadn't cheated the
contractor. At no time did anybody go past 2:30 the next afternoon
without parts and service.
Rarely did I see a defective IBM unit, but frequently saw damaged or
abused equipment.
I don't know what the maintenance agreement cost the company. The
contractor I worked for certainly didn't pay me much, and required a
great deal of paperwork and detail on any repair, and required a
telephone conversation with the contract or the user to assure they
were happy with the result... usually while I was still on site... or
I didn't get paid.
Ray
"James H. E. Maugham" wrote:
>
> Dr. Jeffrey Race [mailto:jrace_at_attglobal.net] wrote:
>
> > Am I missing something? I cover all my ThinkPads with maintenance
> > agreements, which run $190-$300 p.a. depending on model. Eventually
> > IBM ceases to offer this (e.g. no longer for the CL57) but it is
> > a good value while it lasts. I have many machines under agreements.
>
> Who are the maintenance agreements with and what do they cover? The cost seems a
> bit high. The ServicePac to upgrade an A22m from 1 years EZServe to 3 years is
> only $179. Total, not per year!
>
> Is this some special international warranty to cover your ramblings?
>
> Regards,
>
> James
--The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.
Albert Einstein
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