If you want to get the thingamawhatsit yourself and setup it up on your own or have someone else do it for you for whatever reason, that's all fine and dandy with me. However, if you come to me upset because your thingamawhatsit is not working right after having someone else set it up for you, don't expect me to bend over backwards and lend many helping hands. I will tell you what the problems "may" be and direct you to the manufacturer of the thingamawhatsit. However, for obvious BUSINESS reasons, I can't just tell you how to do what I charge to do as a service. If I did that, I might as well close the Dragon doors and go back to working in lovely retail. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!
Most stores offer a 14 day return on all technology purchases. If you wait until after that 14 day period, you have to consult the manufacturer because the store most likely WILL NOT help you out (this is why they push those extended warranties!). Have you ever tried calling the manufacturer? Let me give you a quick rundown of how it works:
- You call the company for the thingamawhatsit
- You have to press 1 for English and usually wait on the phone for over 10 minutes
- You finally get someone who doesn't speak English even though you pressed 1!
- They ask you what your name is, number, address, email address, the product you bought, the serial number of the product, and the store you bought it from.
- After correcting the person above many times because they spoke too fast and they barely understand you, they FINALLY ask you what the problem is.
- They will them tell you to do what you may have already done. Unplug this, reset that, hold down this, plug in that and wait. Then plug in that, and reboot. Then type this and type that.
- After sitting there doing the above, of which you have done 5 times already before you called, they will get a supervisor because what they told you to do didn't work. After that, and ONLY after that, the supervisor will give you more "Advanced" things to do. If, after the "Advanced" steps don't work, they will FINALLY make a ticket for a RA (Return Authorization) or whatever the company calls it.
- You will get an email with the form to fill out and then print out.
- You will have to ship and (usually) PAY to ship said product and INSURE said product.
- After waiting a couple weeks, they will FINALLY send you a new (well, refurbished) product.
- They may refund your shipping fees but... they may not.
All of the above may have been prevented if you let the Dragon set up your thingamawhatsit for you. It takes less than two weeks to find out if the thingamawhatsit is defective or not. I give a 30 day warranty. This gives you 14 days for me to diagnose and troubleshoot the problem. If I deem it defective, I will go to the store and swap it out for you and set up the second one for NO additional charge! This will save YOU time and YOU money by not having to call tech support and NOT having to waste more money on having whoever set it up again OR purchasing a new thingamawhatsit.
Like I said, I don't mind if you don't want to have me set up your thingamawhatsit. You can call the Geek Squad or Staples or some local PC dude. However, you will be paying a "premium" for the former companies. You can use the latter "PC dude" for a lesser service charge but can you trust this "PC dude" to come to your house and set it up? What's his background? Where does he come from? How is his demeanor? I don't have to mention my previous blog post of the other computer company, do I?
Or, you can call the Dragon who has a span of customers from over ten years ago to today and constantly increasing. Customers who always say I can use them as references; customers who refer me to their family, friends, and neighbors; customers who also consider me as their "friend" and a part of their "family" but also know when I put on the "business" hat. But don't take my word for it. Here is a small example.
