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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!gatech!akgua!usl!elg
From: elg@usl.UUCP (Eric Lee Green)
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga Death (comes with story!)
Message-ID: <907@usl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Sep-86 13:48:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: usl.907
Posted: Thu Sep 11 13:48:12 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Sep-86 20:03:42 EDT
References: <6017@alice.uUCp>
Reply-To: elg@usl.UUCP (Eric Lee Green)
Organization: USL, Lafayette, La.
Lines: 38
Summary: really, about repairs.

In article <6017@alice.uUCp> d@alice.UUCP (Daniel Rosenberg) writes:
>
>Five Kickstart disks later, I realized I was in a hole. I finally found a
>place that had an Amiga repair department.
>
>$35 to start. $50/hour for labor. ("Okay, not bad.") I explained the
>problem. ("Oh - we'll have to replace the motherboard. Ten working days
>and at LEAST $300.")
>
>Does anyone have any suggestions? This simply COULDN'T be worth a new
>motherboard...

I've noticed a disturbing fact about most computer stores.  Whereas
out in the oilfields component-level seat-of-the-pants repairs are
very common (when something goes, you need it fixed NOW, you can't
wait 10 days), most computer stores don't really have a service
department. Oh yes, they swap out motherboards. It don't take much
brains to do that. Even I can swap out a motherboard. But they sure
can't repair the computer. And then they charge you $35 just to look
at the thing, and $50/hour for doing something that I could do myself?

I guess I'm just lucky to have a REAL dealer here, one who specializes
in repair instead of sales, an ex-Conoco technician well versed in the
mysteries of seat-of-the-pants debugging. Now, if only other computer
stores learned that repairing stuff could be profitable... but then
again, since they can just ship their broken equipment to the real
repair shop (probably the only reason he's still in business, he gets
computers to repair from all over), and since the customer doesn't
mind being charge $50 just to pack it up and drop it off at the
repairman's, I guess the people get what they deserve...

-- 

      Eric Green {akgua,ut-sally}!usl!elg
        (Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509)

" In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
 people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."