I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
removed. Is this a common thing?
What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
This seems ridiculous.
Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
third party to build it?
If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
manufacturer?
I appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Jeff
Apparently, under the terms of their "warranty", PCUSA requires that for
each repair of the system you ship the unit back to them. Gets expensive
fast.
--
---------------------
DaveW
---------------------
"straightnut" <ck747sf@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1195079709.518956.276050@d55g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
>I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
> today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
> and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
> removed. Is this a common thing?
> What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
> This seems ridiculous.
>
> Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
> manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
> third party to build it?
> If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
> manufacturer?
>
> I appreciate any help you can give me.
> Thanks,
> Jeff
>
straightnut wrote:
> I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
> today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
> and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
> removed. Is this a common thing?
> What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
> This seems ridiculous.
>
> Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
> manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
> third party to build it?
> If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
> manufacturer?
>
> I appreciate any help you can give me.
> Thanks,
> Jeff
>
Based on a search of their website (i.e. entering pcusa.com as the
domain to be searched), and using "warranty" as the keyword,
there doesn't appear to be *any* detail on their warranty.
"I should have done this before I ordered, but I just checked the
Better Business Bureau website and the company consists of one
employee. And the status is listed as unsatisfactory. It has been in
business for 10 years though."
Well, you can always file a complaint with the BBB. Or small
claims court.
Also, if you paid with a credit card, you could dispute the charge
and effectively make them take it back. Please don't tell us
you paid cash for it. If they don't take credit cards, that could
be for a reason (credit card company cut them off).
For example, this page shows their terms, back in 2002 and later. It
looks like this page has disappeared from their current site - at least
I cannot find it.
"However, PC Source, Inc ( dba PCUSA.COM ) will not warrant any product, which
have been subjected to improper freight handling/shipping, physical damage,
neglect, or unauthorized repair or installation. Some products have longer
warranties directly from the individual manufacturer. All warranty will be
voided if any Warranty Sticker or Seal is broken off on the purchased products.
Any tempering of the warranty condition of any purchased products voids the
warranty of such products"
I think the next newsgroup you'd want to visit, is one frequented by lawyers...
On Nov 14, 7:52 pm, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
> straightnut wrote:
> > I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
> > today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
> > and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
> > removed. Is this a common thing?
> > What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
> > This seems ridiculous.
>
> > Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
> > manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
> > third party to build it?
> > If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
> > manufacturer?
>
> > I appreciate any help you can give me.
> > Thanks,
> > Jeff
>
> Based on a search of their website (i.e. entering pcusa.com as the
> domain to be searched), and using "warranty" as the keyword,
> there doesn't appear to be *any* detail on their warranty.
>
> http://www.altavista.com/web/adv
>
> I suggest you talk to them immediately, to determine just how
> bad you've been stung.
>
> If there is something rattling around inside, that could be
> the heatsink on the CPU that has fallen off. Or something
> worse...
>
> (Oh dear, in another thread, you've already checked BBB and
> learned something about them.)
>
> http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.au...c7c25db31?dmod...
>
> "I should have done this before I ordered, but I just checked the
> Better Business Bureau website and the company consists of one
> employee. And the status is listed as unsatisfactory. It has been in
> business for 10 years though."
>
> Well, you can always file a complaint with the BBB. Or small
> claims court.
>
> Also, if you paid with a credit card, you could dispute the charge
> and effectively make them take it back. Please don't tell us
> you paid cash for it. If they don't take credit cards, that could
> be for a reason (credit card company cut them off).
>
> pcusa.com has been archived since the year 2000.
>
> http://web.archive.org/*/http://www.pcusa.com
>
> For example, this page shows their terms, back in 2002 and later. It
> looks like this page has disappeared from their current site - at least
> I cannot find it.
>
> http://web.archive.org/web/200202020...usa.com/displa...
>
> "However, PC Source, Inc ( dba PCUSA.COM ) will not warrant any product, which
> have been subjected to improper freight handling/shipping, physical damage,
> neglect, or unauthorized repair or installation. Some products have longer
> warranties directly from the individual manufacturer. All warranty will be
> voided if any Warranty Sticker or Seal is broken off on the purchased products.
> Any tempering of the warranty condition of any purchased products voids the
> warranty of such products"
>
> I think the next newsgroup you'd want to visit, is one frequented by lawyers...
>
> Paul- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Thank you all. And thanks so much Paul for being so thorough. I
suppose returning the PC is the
most ethically appropriate thing to do, but I'm wondering how sticky
this can get. I was actually considering
building a PC with practically all of the same parts that PCUSA put in
this one. And I priced it and they
did it cheaper than I could have. Plus they added a 3 year warranty
and lifetime tech support, so that
was my reasoning for going with them. Now that I realize the warranty
is crap, I have to consider
whether the computer itself is built well and whether or not the
warranty for the individual parts is under my name
and can therefore be used if something should fail within the warranty
period for that part.
No course of action will sit well, so I'm wondering which one to take
to save me the most stress. I haven't
touched the PC yet, and what seems the next thing to do, is to contact
each of the manufacturers of
the parts to see how they view the situation.
I did use a credit card for the purchase. The shipping was $55, and
shipping back I assume would be at least
$30. And who knows how ugly they'll be about it, so I'm at least
considering other options.
Thanks again.
I really appreciate your help.
Jeff
On Nov 14, 7:52 pm, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
> straightnut wrote:
> > I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
> > today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
> > and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
> > removed. Is this a common thing?
> > What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
> > This seems ridiculous.
>
> > Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
> > manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
> > third party to build it?
> > If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
> > manufacturer?
>
> > I appreciate any help you can give me.
> > Thanks,
> > Jeff
>
> Based on a search of their website (i.e. entering pcusa.com as the
> domain to be searched), and using "warranty" as the keyword,
> there doesn't appear to be *any* detail on their warranty.
>
> http://www.altavista.com/web/adv
>
> I suggest you talk to them immediately, to determine just how
> bad you've been stung.
>
> If there is something rattling around inside, that could be
> the heatsink on the CPU that has fallen off. Or something
> worse...
>
> (Oh dear, in another thread, you've already checked BBB and
> learned something about them.)
>
> http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.au...c7c25db31?dmod...
>
> "I should have done this before I ordered, but I just checked the
> Better Business Bureau website and the company consists of one
> employee. And the status is listed as unsatisfactory. It has been in
> business for 10 years though."
>
> Well, you can always file a complaint with the BBB. Or small
> claims court.
>
> Also, if you paid with a credit card, you could dispute the charge
> and effectively make them take it back. Please don't tell us
> you paid cash for it. If they don't take credit cards, that could
> be for a reason (credit card company cut them off).
>
> pcusa.com has been archived since the year 2000.
>
> http://web.archive.org/*/http://www.pcusa.com
>
> For example, this page shows their terms, back in 2002 and later. It
> looks like this page has disappeared from their current site - at least
> I cannot find it.
>
> http://web.archive.org/web/200202020...usa.com/displa...
>
> "However, PC Source, Inc ( dba PCUSA.COM ) will not warrant any product, which
> have been subjected to improper freight handling/shipping, physical damage,
> neglect, or unauthorized repair or installation. Some products have longer
> warranties directly from the individual manufacturer. All warranty will be
> voided if any Warranty Sticker or Seal is broken off on the purchased products.
> Any tempering of the warranty condition of any purchased products voids the
> warranty of such products"
>
> I think the next newsgroup you'd want to visit, is one frequented by lawyers...
>
> Paul- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I forgot to mention that I called them immediately upon noticing the
sticker, and they were not fun
to talk to. It's actually just one guy who runs the whole thing I
believe. He said something about if
I open the case and a part is broken, I have no way to prove that it
wasn't me who broke it. His english
was bad, so I'm not sure about everything he was saying. But I recall
him saying that I assume
full responsibilty for the parts if I open the case.
Jeff
> I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received my PC
> today with something rattling around in it. I went to open the case
> and there was a sticker sealing it saying that the warranty is void if
> removed. Is this a common thing?
> What about people who want to add a PCI card or a drive or something.
> This seems ridiculous.
>
> Also, even if they don't honor their warranty, will all of the parts
> manufacturers at least honor theirs, even though I went through a
> third party to build it?
> If so, what would I need to have in order to return a part to a
> manufacturer?
There are free diagnostics that can read hard drive serial numbers so
you can verify the warranty with the drive maker, and one such
diagnostic is Hitachi's (www.hgst.com) Drive Fitness Test, which will
do this for any brand of HD. If the drive has a retail warranty, you
can usually get it replaced under warranty without a receipt.
What do the directions say about installing cards or HDs? Because if
they show you how to do it but don't warn against voiding the warranty
by opening the computer case, then the sticker seal may be
meaningless, although I'm no lawyer. I've never heard of a computer
warranty being voided for opening the machine because it's normal to
open it, and every major manufacturer allows it.
"straightnut" <ck747sf@aol.com> wrote...
>
> Thank you all. And thanks so much Paul for being so thorough. I suppose
> returning the PC is the most ethically appropriate thing to do, but I'm
> wondering how sticky this can get. I was actually considering building a PC
> with practically all of the same parts that PCUSA put in this one. And I
> priced it and they did it cheaper than I could have. Plus they added a 3 year
> warranty and lifetime tech support, so that was my reasoning for going with
> them. Now that I realize the warranty is crap, I have to consider whether the
> computer itself is built well and whether or not the warranty for the
> individual parts is under my name and can therefore be used if something
> should fail within the warranty period for that part.
Unfortunately, you cannot determine how the computer is built unless you open it
up...
Have you tried using the "lifetime tech support" to ask them what they want you
to do? If they merely say "send it back," that will be an indication that you
MUST send it back -- permanently! OTOH, will they give you your $$ back if you
do?
The other option is to open it anyhow, and commit yourself to doing your own
repairs if necessary. You save the $30+ shipping, and you may be able to fix it
in a couple minutes.
You would likely prevail in a small-claims court suit for "warranty of
merchantability" or similar, but again, would it be worth it?
> No course of action will sit well, so I'm wondering which one to take to save
> me the most stress. I haven't
> touched the PC yet, and what seems the next thing to do, is to contact each of
> the manufacturers of the parts to see how they view the situation.
What is their return policy? If they say they will NOT take it back, the court
solution may be the only feasible one. If they agree to refund your $$, take it
and build your own.
> I did use a credit card for the purchase. The shipping was $55, and shipping
> back I assume would be at least $30. And who knows how ugly they'll be about
> it, so I'm at least considering other options.
You can try to dispute the charge if PCUSA doesn't respond well. However, that
may only delay the inevitable if the card company eventually sez, "You got the
box; you gotta pay."
"straightnut" <ck747sf@aol.com> wroteom...
>
> I forgot to mention that I called them immediately upon noticing the sticker,
> and they were not fun to talk to. It's actually just one guy who runs the
> whole thing I believe. He said something about if I open the case and a part
> is broken, I have no way to prove that it wasn't me who broke it. His english
> was bad, so I'm not sure about everything he was saying. But I recall him
> saying that I assume full responsibilty for the parts if I open the case.
So, you're now down to asking for a full refund, or assuming the risk
yourself...
On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:48:01 GMT, John Doe <jdoe@usenetlove.invalid>
wrote:
>Paul <nospam@needed.com> wrote:
>> straightnut wrote:
>
>>> I went with a custom PC builder called PCUSA.com and I received
>>> my PC today with something rattling around in it.
>
>> If there is something rattling around inside, that could be
>> the heatsink on the CPU that has fallen off. Or something
>> worse...
>
>Or worse?
>
Should have built my own, but... 
Linear Mode
