warranty on hardware repair?

[mikehende]

Hey guys, anyone know what the law is on hardware repair warranty whether from a store or private tech? As an example, if a store/tech gives 30 days on a mobo repair and thta unit is brought back before the 30 days expires, when the owner picks it up would the owner get another 30 days from that date?

[DSTM]

I don't know the law where you live. Here it is pro rata, otherwise they could bring the PC back before the 30 days are up every month and never run out of warranty.

[allheart55 Cindy E]

I would have to agree, the warranty would be only the remaining balance on the original thirty days.

[Plastic Nev]

It does also depend entirely on the country of residence and the applicable laws in force, here in the UK they are quite strong regarding consumer rights and warranties, maybe not so in other countries. I would suggest doing a search for the applicable laws in your country of residence, as it is quite complex and a lot too much to try and explain on forum for the UK. However all retail outlets and manufacturers have to comply with those laws.

 

Nev.

[mikehende]

Does this mean if a person should bring in pc for repeat repair let's say on the 20th day and they pick up on the 30th day that they no longer have any warranty? Also, Cindy are you 100% sure this is the law in the US please?

[allheart55 Cindy E]

I'm not 100% sure, Mike because I believe it varies from one degree to another depending on which state you are in. Some states are stricter than others. I believe that If the repair is done on the 20th day of the warranty, they should still have the remaining ten days left in warranty, no matter when it is returned. (This, I'm sure of...)

[Digerati]

It does go state by state here in the US. But it also depends on the actual repair. If you took it in because the on-board sound stopped working and they fixed the sound, and then 20 days later, the on-board network adapter went out, that would not be covered under the warranty even though both are motherboard components. So it would have to be the same problem.

[mikehende]

I am asking out of curiosity as I don't do any mobo work myself. A while back I referred someone to a tech who outsources the mobo work, the mobo repairer gave 90 days if same problem which occured so I am wondering if in that scenario he will have more time after the 90 days if same problem?

[Digerati]

Again, it depends on the work, and the tech and his/her mood that day. In reality, most motherboards are not repaired any more - they are just replaced because 2 hours of labor costs more than a new board. So outsourcing it is a bit odd, except for recapping (replacing the capacitors) because that has become a specialty in itself. But even that is less common today as newer motherboards user higher quality capacitors that don't tend to bulge or leak.

 

That said, if the warranty was for 90 days, I doubt they will honor it beyond 90.

[mikehende]

It was a graphics issue on an imac which was causing the imac to freeze. The repair worked for a couple of weeks but then reverted back so things is, this guy pent $250 for that repair so that's money lost?

[Digerati]

In your previous post, you gave the impression more than 90 days have passed. Now you suggest a couple weeks. :confused:

 

If this is the same problem and less than 90 days have passed, he needs to contact the repair site immediately and make arrangements to send it back for warranty repair. If just over 90 days, I would still call the shop and ask nicely for help. They may or may not work with him in costs. If way more than 90 days, the decision needs to be made as to whether getting it repaired again is worth it, or if it is time to get a new computer.

[mikehende]

Sorry for any confusion. What I am asking is since the imac was sent in before the 90 days but closer to the end of the 90 days period, when he gets it back, should he have extended warranty or if the same problem resurfaces, does this mean his money is lost?

[Digerati]

when he gets it back, should he have extended warranty or if the same problem resurfaces, does this mean his money is lost?

Pretty sure there are no laws that dictate that so it is up to the agreement made before repairs are made, AND what was found to be wrong the second time.

 

If the computer came into my shop for the exact same "repair", then the clock would reset for that specific repair, and a new warranty repair period would start. But that's just me because I will take a loss to keep my customers happy, and returning, and spreading good words about me.

 

But again, it depends on what was broken and what was fixed the first time. You say the problem was "a graphics issue on an imac which was causing the imac to freeze". But from a technical standpoint, that could be the cart pulling the horse.

 

That is, it could have been a power problem causing the graphics to freeze making it appear the imac was locked. It could be corrupt drivers, malware, or all sorts of hardware failures. That is, many different problems can present with the exact same symptoms.

 

If something else broke this second time causing the same symptoms, that's a different repair.

 

This is where getting a good, honest repair shop matters.

[mikehende]

I don't know the details of the 2nd repair. but yes, I would reset the warranty if same exact problem then this can go even further, what is it requires a 3rd or 4th repair or then find out that the logic board is at fault, do you give back the person his money?

[Digerati]

These are all "what ifs" and you can't really answer hypotheticals unless a specific scenario is defined from the start and does not change.

 

If the logic board was the fault from the beginning and the symptoms presented would lead any competent technician to the logic board on the first repair, then, IMO, any extra costs should be refunded.

 

But troubleshooting electronics is rarely so straight forward. There are very few things that can cause a tire to go flat for example. But a computer, especially a motherboard, is extremely complex with multiple discrete and associated components integrated on the board - with many faults resulting in the exact same symptoms. This is why is it more common, and typically cheaper (in terms of labor hours), to swap out major assemblies (PSUs, graphics cards, RAM, entire motherboards) than it is to actually troubleshoot down to and replace the discrete component that has failed.

 

And note the fact the computer did work for several weeks, if not a couple months after the first repair does suggest the first repair was done right, and now something else has failed - not uncommon in aging systems.

[mikehende]

got it, thanks.