Tweet
Just thought I'd share this one that I experienced today before I head off to bed. It's a bit of a crappy manager and a bit of lying customer.
So, a customer brought in a unit that had a "defective" screen, as the customer put it. The unit was still within the manufacturer warranty period so our CSR took a look at it and immediately noticed a large crack down the center of the screen. He pretty much knew this would be considered physical damage and that the warranty would be void in this case. He let the customer know this and the customer resisted and started to make a stink.
Our acting service manager/parts coordinator was consulted and confirmed that the customer was SOL in this case. Well, since he wasn't a real manager the customer demanded to speak with one. Unfortunately, our front-end manager was brought in and he is a bit spineless (nice guy, overall, but I consider him to be a bit on the spineless guy). Because the customer was starting to get extremely agitated and he didn't want to be the one to tell the customer no he told the customer "we'll take a look at it and let you know if it is covered." The aggravating part was that our parts coordinator specifically told him and the CSR that this unit should not be checked it because it will not be covered in any form. So basically he lead the customer on and off-loaded the shit onto the techs and make us face the irrational wrath of the customer. I happened to be that tech.
It took me 1 second to see the crack and know this was not covered. I said "WTF' and went to the parts coordinator and said why the hell this was checked in and why were we even giving the customer the false sense of hope when the work order should have been denied unless the customer agreed to the flat-rate repair costs. I took a deep breath and made the call to the customer expecting the worst and hoping to not flip out.
ME: "Sir, I am sorry to inform you that this unit can not be covered by your manufacturer's warranty. The screen itself is cracked and they will consider this as physical damage/abuse and refuse repairs."
HIM: "HOW CAN THAT BE?! Look, the computer was working fine and I put the computer on the dining room table and closed the laptop up and left it there. I came back in a few hours and when I opened up the laptop the screen was cracked. Tell me...how can that be physical damage if NO ONE WAS AROUND THE COMPUTER?!!!!"
ME: ".....it will be considered physical damage."
HIM: "Trust me, I did not damage it. No one was around the computer and the screen just broke. Obviously the screen is a defective piece of crap."
ME: "....I am sorry sir, but..."
HIM (Starting to raise his voice more): "Look, this is not my fault! The manufacturer's warranty must cover this because it is defective!"
ME: "Look, we can ship this out if you pay the $50 facilitation fee if it will really make you feel better. But I GUARANTEE that they will send this unit right back, AS-IS, and refuse repairs. You can call them directly yourself and talk to them but there is no way they will repair this. Unfortunately, there is no way that they can confirm that an act of God broke this LCD by itself. Like I said, we can ship this out if you pay the $50 but you are throwing your money away."
HIM: "PSSSSSH. Just as I expected from you guys." *CLICK*
Blew my mind. There are only a few, known, models that have a known defect that can potentially cause the screen to crack because of the way the hinges were constructed. But this was not one of those models and the crack wouldn't look the way it did. More than likely, he probably had a pen or some foreign object on his keyboard/touchpad and shut the damn thing on it. Good try on the "it broke by itself" excuse, though. NEXT customer please!
So, a customer brought in a unit that had a "defective" screen, as the customer put it. The unit was still within the manufacturer warranty period so our CSR took a look at it and immediately noticed a large crack down the center of the screen. He pretty much knew this would be considered physical damage and that the warranty would be void in this case. He let the customer know this and the customer resisted and started to make a stink.
Our acting service manager/parts coordinator was consulted and confirmed that the customer was SOL in this case. Well, since he wasn't a real manager the customer demanded to speak with one. Unfortunately, our front-end manager was brought in and he is a bit spineless (nice guy, overall, but I consider him to be a bit on the spineless guy). Because the customer was starting to get extremely agitated and he didn't want to be the one to tell the customer no he told the customer "we'll take a look at it and let you know if it is covered." The aggravating part was that our parts coordinator specifically told him and the CSR that this unit should not be checked it because it will not be covered in any form. So basically he lead the customer on and off-loaded the shit onto the techs and make us face the irrational wrath of the customer. I happened to be that tech.
It took me 1 second to see the crack and know this was not covered. I said "WTF' and went to the parts coordinator and said why the hell this was checked in and why were we even giving the customer the false sense of hope when the work order should have been denied unless the customer agreed to the flat-rate repair costs. I took a deep breath and made the call to the customer expecting the worst and hoping to not flip out.
ME: "Sir, I am sorry to inform you that this unit can not be covered by your manufacturer's warranty. The screen itself is cracked and they will consider this as physical damage/abuse and refuse repairs."
HIM: "HOW CAN THAT BE?! Look, the computer was working fine and I put the computer on the dining room table and closed the laptop up and left it there. I came back in a few hours and when I opened up the laptop the screen was cracked. Tell me...how can that be physical damage if NO ONE WAS AROUND THE COMPUTER?!!!!"
ME: ".....it will be considered physical damage."
HIM: "Trust me, I did not damage it. No one was around the computer and the screen just broke. Obviously the screen is a defective piece of crap."
ME: "....I am sorry sir, but..."
HIM (Starting to raise his voice more): "Look, this is not my fault! The manufacturer's warranty must cover this because it is defective!"
ME: "Look, we can ship this out if you pay the $50 facilitation fee if it will really make you feel better. But I GUARANTEE that they will send this unit right back, AS-IS, and refuse repairs. You can call them directly yourself and talk to them but there is no way they will repair this. Unfortunately, there is no way that they can confirm that an act of God broke this LCD by itself. Like I said, we can ship this out if you pay the $50 but you are throwing your money away."
HIM: "PSSSSSH. Just as I expected from you guys." *CLICK*
Blew my mind. There are only a few, known, models that have a known defect that can potentially cause the screen to crack because of the way the hinges were constructed. But this was not one of those models and the crack wouldn't look the way it did. More than likely, he probably had a pen or some foreign object on his keyboard/touchpad and shut the damn thing on it. Good try on the "it broke by itself" excuse, though. NEXT customer please!
My global domination plans are almost complete.
Comment