Xref: utzoo comp.os.vms:12354 comp.sys.dec:1079
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!hscfvax!pavlov
From: pavlov@hscfvax.harvard.edu (G.Pavlov)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms,comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: Some Questions about 3rd Party ESDI Disk Subsystems
Message-ID: <732@hscfvax.harvard.edu>
Date: 3 Mar 89 14:43:12 GMT
References: <2035@nmtsun.nmt.edu> <15216@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Health Sciences Computing Facility, Harvard University
Lines: 19

In article <15216@cup.portal.com>, Wiley_M_Sanders@cup.portal.com writes:
> I have decided to replace the puny RD53's in my MicroVaxII with an ESDI
> disk subsystem, but I'm having trouble getting straight answers regarding
> a couple of questions about DEC service......
>    3) Is the term "Category A DEC-service" familiar to anyone? We have DEC-
>Service on our machine, and my DEC rep says that only some of the manufacturers
> listed in 1) are "Category A", which means that DEC will service them uncon-
> ditionally. Other are "Category C", subject to some approval process, and some
> are not serviceable at all.

We have found that regardless of "Class" designation, the local service office
is the ultimate determinant whether a particular 3rd party item is serviced or
not.  If it refuses to do so, you have little recourse unless you are large
enough to be important to DEC beyond the local office.  In our case for ins-
tance, we are small and the local service office is both uncooperative and 
unresponsive, so we've stopped buying from DEC.