TCI - Manufacturer’s Warranty?

TCI Systems, Inc.
718-888-8898
“Manufacturer’s Warranty”?

What is a warranty?

A warranty is the manufacturer’s promise to repair or replace a defective piece of equipment or software and nothing more!

Do all products have On-Site warranty service?

NO!

Many Equipment Warranties provide for limited or no On-Site service.

Software Warranties do not provide any On-Site service or support.

Equipment Warranties that do not provide On-Site service generally require the customer to return the product to the manufacturer or bring it to a “carry in” service center.

Software Warranties generally require that the user install the latest “patches” and that the user work directly with the manufacturer’s support staff. The manufacturer will generally require a charge card number before providing support and the card will be invoiced for the support charges if the problem is not determined to be caused by a software defect.

What does warranty service include?

Equipment Warranty service includes the repair or replacement of a manufacturer identified defective part.

Software Warranties tend to be more elusive as the manufacturers will generally acknowledge a problem but will not concede that is it a defect. Generally, software “bugs” will be resolved by the manufacturer in a future “patch” or release of the product and the user must be vigilant in looking for the fix as the manufacturers do not actively seek out the customers that have reported or identified a problem.

What is not included in equipment warranty service?

Equipment Warranty service does not include:
	Replacement or reinstallation of any software
	Restoration of data or system files
	Restoration of any operating system
	Extensive troubleshooting to identify a problem
	Wait time to access a product for repair
	After Hours, Weekend or Holiday site visits

What equipment warranty service does TCI provide?

TCI is no longer (effective 1/1/2008) an authorized HP/Compaq Service Center. However, TCI continues to assist customers with warranty services, on-site and in its shop, for most of HP/Compaq’s Commercial and Networking products.

TCI continues to have HP Authorized Technicians on staff. TCI also has an arrangement with a business partner that allows TCI to continue to obtain warranty parts in a timely manner.

As in the past, TCI will continue to credit customers with up to 1hr of charges for assistance in resolving warranty issues. It should be noted the even when reimbursement was received from HP, the payments were almost always equal to less than a quarter-hour of standard charges.

TCI does not service notebooks, monitors and displays that require parts replacement, and home or retail products such as the Presario or Pavilion lines.

All customers always have the option of having an HP Authorized Service Center provide all service. Response will be the next business day after the problem has been clearly “identified”. “Response” does not mean that the problem will be immediately resolved. Please see above for what is not included in the warranty service.

How do I handle services not provided by the Manufacturer’s Warranty?

TCI will provide all required troubleshooting and services based on its published rates or Retainer Agreement rates.

I want On-Site service for all of my computer and networking products. What do I do?

Most manufacturers offer, at additional cost, extended On-Site service or warranty agreements. Where extended agreements are not available, the customer should consider having a “hot spare”.

Contact your TCI sales representative to discuss your options.

What is my responsibility?

Manufacturer’s warranties generally require that the customer contact the Manufacturer’s technical support and work with the technicians to identify the exact cause of the problem. Rarely will a manufacturer dispatch a technician for a “... it doesn’t work…” call.

The customer must process and file all warranty paperwork to ensure that the manufacturer will “easily” honor the warranty.

The customer should familiarize themselves with the warranty information provided with every product and in TCI’s quotations.

The customer should become familiar with all documentation and manuals that have been provided with their products.

The customer must keep a record of all serial numbers/keycodes and provide secure storage for all manufacturer provided software media as this material cannot be replaced without incurring additional costs.

Return to the TCI Info page.