Credit where it's due

As IT journalists, PPC writers tend to be well treated by most computer companies, but David Dorn came across an example of amazing service just this week, as an ordinary customer

I've got an old friend that runs a car dealership. By the way, by 'old friend', I don't mean that I've know him all my life. I mean he's old! Anyway, back to the story... This old friend employs my services to 'see to' his computing requirements for him, on the basis that I'm supposed to know what I'm doing with PCs, software and networks. To be truthful, I quite enjoy sorting things out - I get to play with a growing network, and do some training with his staff, and the coffee's not bad.

Anyhoo, this week I got a phone call to tell me that three monitors had, unaccountably, shuffled off this mortal coil to join the monitorial choir invisible. They were dead, deceased, no longer with us in any meaningful sense, according to the panicked voice on the other end of the line. So, I dutifully jumped into what passes for personal transport and navigated my way to the dealership.

Once I arrived, I discovered that one monitor was, indeed, completely and utterly nailed to the perch (possibly pinin' for the fjords) and the other was performing tricks that would make a Top of the Pops cameraman run screaming for headache tablets. Its picture was zooming in and out, out and in, and it was certainly not a happy piece of kit. The third had been spirited away somewhere by a computer mad employee who had, it seems, intended to open it up and run the risk of frying some of his body parts. It, too, was an ex-monitor.

Now, before we go much further, I should tell you that these monitors - all of them Hansol Mazellan 900Ps 19" jobs - had been bought at auction from a PC manufacturer that had gone bust. They were, at the time, brand new, boxed - sealed, even - and were paid for in November 1999. They were, then, 26 months old.

Hansol, though, operates a three-year guarantee, according to their website (which you can find here). I thought it worth phoning their call centre to see what needed doing, which is what, indeed, I did, having already made note of the serial numbers of the two monitors that were on the premises, their model numbers and what was wrong with them.

At the other end of the line, a very nicely voiced lady asked the necessary questions to determine what level of seriousness the faults were, and took the serial numbers. 'Aha!' she said, 'Made in 1998'. She then asked me what the purchase date was, which I had to hand. 'That's fine' she said and asked me to remove the turntable and any loose leads from the monitors, and have them ready for collection on Wednesday (this was Monday, I should add). They'd be picked up, she said, and two replacement monitors swapped in for them!

Wednesday arrived, as it tends to do once Tuesday's finished, and at roughly half past ten a man with two boxes on a wheeled doobrie entered the showroom. He unpacked two spanking new monitors, packed the duff ones up into their boxes, and, after I'd signed the chitties, returned whence he came.

Now, to me, that's amazing service. No silly questions asked, no evasion, equivocation or reservations of any kind on behalf of Hansol - the monitors are duff, ergo they get replaced. Simple as that. No need to have them examined by a series of technicians to determine the cause of death. Just swap the duff ones out.

I think it's a brilliant advert for Hansol's product and service. All too often I hear stories of companies that will do anything rather than adhere to their warranties and guarantees, using any excuse to wheedle their way out of doing what they've promised to do in terms of service. In this case, the return to base and shipping out costs have been handled by Hansol - there has been absolutely no charge at all involved.

It's not even as though Hansol monitors would be regarded as premium products - they're not. They tend to be well priced solid enough kit that rarely gets reviewers doing backflips of happiness. They'll come in at around the 8/10 mark in terms of ratings. But, having experienced this level of service (which is definitely 10/10 as far as I'm concerned), I think I can safely recommend their priducts to you.

Indeed, to come back to this 'journos get better treatment' thing I started with, the girl that dealt with the swap-out had no idea who I am, no idea what I do, and no idea that I'd be writing this article. There's no way anyone could possibly have had any better treatment - ever.

So, full marks to Hansol, and other manufacturers please take note!

David Dorn