Clients' defective parts (that can be RMA'd)

[lukeb]

Hello all,
Although I have been reading the forums for awhile, I have not posted here very often so hopefully I selected the correct forum. 🙂 I have a hypothetical question for those who repair PCs (as a job or business).

If a client comes to you for a hard drive replacement, you order the new drive and when replacing the defective drive, it turns out that it may still be under warranty. How would this situation be handled? Do you offer a 'discount' for the old drive, return the old drive, etc?

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated! 😀

 

[Kenazo]

I would keep the old drive and RMA it myself, probably not the most ethical of solutions, but whatever.

 

[godmare]

It would seem appropriate to charge only for labor in that case, then.
PLus any oither non-equipment charges that may apply, such as shipping, etc.

 

[erikistired]

yeah, i rma the drive and keep it for myself. usually i get hosed on labor so this sorta makes up for it.

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: godmare
It would seem appropriate to charge only for labor in that case, then.
PLus any oither non-equipment charges that may apply, such as shipping, etc.

i've found most people just don't care. they don't want to wait for their rma drive to come back, they don't want to bother doing the rma themselves. if i had a client that said "sure i'll wait for a few weeks to a month for my pc back" then i'd offer to rma the drive and put it back in. however, i'm not giving up a brand new hdd for someone's rma drive.

 

[Ness]

Why don't you just ask them if they want the old parts back? Most people will say they don't, with no regards as to if it can be repaired or anything. Then you'll sleep easier at night.

 

[godmare]

Originally posted by: fisher

Originally posted by: godmare
It would seem appropriate to charge only for labor in that case, then.
PLus any oither non-equipment charges that may apply, such as shipping, etc.

i've found most people just don't care. they don't want to wait for their rma drive to come back, they don't want to bother doing the rma themselves. if i had a client that said "sure i'll wait for a few weeks to a month for my pc back" then i'd offer to rma the drive and put it back in. however, i'm not giving up a brand new hdd for someone's rma drive.

Yeah, that's a good point.

 

[lukeb]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. Turns out they went ahead with the drive they purchased and did not want to deal with an RMA, so I suppose it's all good. 😀