Hard and Stupid Lesson

Q.
When a hard lesson is learned, it reflects how stupid it was!?

A.
The printer gave way. The power button did not work!

So, the printer has died - as a figure of speech. It died because it failed to print.

The immediate reaction was, check the plug point, check the toner. It was recently replaced - very new! And, it costed me more than RM200 for a laser printer cartridge!

Put back!

Ensure the power was plugged on. It could not be wrong, the laptop shared the same plug point! Sure the electricity was running into the printer console.

"Don't get yourself electrocuted!" said my wife. And yet I was like an angel, rushing to her rescue...

"Tomorrow, I will send for repair. It is so new, only two years a few months old." I said.

"But tomorrow is Sunday! The service centre is not open!" I realized the difficulty ahead, and continued "No problem, we buy the same model, a new printer. This can be a spare!"

Truly next day we got a new printer, but of a different brand. Reason? The similar model now cost RM100 more! The recently bought cartridge was left wasted! The new printer came with its own toner cartridge and yet cheaper - RM205 including GST!

No choice, with different manufacturer, there is no sharing of toner! The toner cartridges are exclusively manufacturer dependent!

In order to salvage the old printer, I looked up for its service centre.

"Hello? Is that XXX service centre?" I asked after having Googled the brand and insert - 'Kuching' at the back of the search engine.

"I have this Model XXXX laser printer not able to switch on. Can you help?" Standard question.

"Sir, still under warranty?" Polite voice came from the other side.

"I bought it like 2 years plus ago, from a local computer shop in XXX, is there any problem?" Holding my breadth, anticipating some trouble ahead.

"Oh, sir... the warranty period is ONE Year, and for this model we do not repair - we replace your unit if it's still under warranty!"

WOW! It is just like telling you that YOU HAVE WON A LOTTERY, but the claimable period is over!

"... should I just bring over for you to have a look?"

"No need sir, it is better you get a new one!"

Silence, the economics of repair and refurbishment is not in today's IT dictionary!

Over three weeks it sat in my car, I finally found an advertisement in Mudah.my that accept repair for printer! I was so thrilled!

Immediately I called the center, and YES! They are working! Joy and hopeful filled my heart!

On the same day, I took my printer to them. It is a shop up the stairs - 2nd floor with lots of cartridges and printer on display. I guess this centre is a professional printer company! In my heart: That is what I am looking for! Finally someone is serious about doing repair!

The nice lady at the counter took my printer and promised to call me back with cost of repair. She even asked if I needed to buy a printer or cartridge for the time being while they checked the printer. How thoughtful she was!

I honestly let her know that I have already bought another printer during emergency and I just wanted it repaired to be a standby.

After a few days have passed before she called to say that the main board (circuit board) was spoilt! Now, looking back, I ponder if they purposely delayed the repair with motive that I was made to buy a new printer! And, she said it was no point repairing as there was no parts! It is no point to get the parts as printers are so cheap already! Better buy a new one!

I went back to collect the printer from her, and she kept asking if I wanted a new printer which I told her I already bought a replacement. I thanked her profusely for her concern and sincerity in helping me. I felt regretful going through this very mundane matter as she was big time printer company and I had the audacity to trouble her with low-end laser printer!?  My GOD! I was apologetic over the whole matter.

Putting it back to my car I told myself that eventually I have to throw it away. Why add more weight to the car? Burn more petrol?

However, I was not sure if I could just throw it in the rubbish bin? It is not normal rubbish, right?

Then, I carried on with it for another few weeks not sure how to get rid of It. It went unnoticed unless I drove through some humps.

One day, while I was running some errands at an IT Mall, I suddenly thought of checking out if the biggest IT Store in fact, performed some repair. And, again I was told that they don't do repair - they only send to the respective service centers.

On my way out of the store, I saw a specialized repair outlet for laptops. So, out of curiosity, I asked if they could repair printers. A nice gentleman came forward.

"Sure, everything can be repaired! Only thing is money and time." He impressed me upfront with such statement!

"But, the power button does not work! It is likely the main board, the other shop already said no repair possible!"

"Let me check, take a look no harm, right?"

I quickly go back to my car and took out the printer from the car boot! WOW, finally GOD Sent a specialized repair shop!

"No promise, I will take a look. You have to leave your phone contact. I will let you know if there is a chance of repair!" He cautioned me:

"If it is too expensive or the part is not available in stock, we can order for you, but if the repair costs more than a certain amount, my advice is no need to repair." He is logical, sensible and professional!

I left the printer with him, and very soon in the same afternoon, he called back! What a superb store! Efficient and kept to his words! I praised this gentleman for his speedy action!

"Yes, your printer is working fine! Nothing much of an issue, but we took the trouble to make good the power button, and cleaned your printer. No big deal, only some service charges!"

"Fantastic!" I said while silently praising myself! Why? You see, I am so good, I knew it was okay! Luckily I did not dispose of it! I can still salvage the printer as a spare, you never know you need another printer in near future.

I went back the next day. While making payment, I asked how much?

"Only RM85 for servicing, cleaning and checking..."

"In comparison to buying a new printer, anything below RM100 is a fair price. New printer costs more than RM300 nowadays!" I made sure I checked the price list for the same model with GST!

I took it back home immediately, plugged on, fired up the laptop and PRINT! YES!

Ala! #$@% WTF! The power-on button had no response!

Anger took over my head! I checked again the power supply which was sharing with the laptop. It was definitely connected to the power source! Still ROSAK! Or NEVER repaired!

"Hello! You said the printer already make good? Why I still unable to switch it on?"

That was definitely no standard English!

"Yesterday, we tested and it was OK, we printed out the test sheet! You bring back to us, we will see again!"

"You better, I stormed!"

Straight from home, I rushed back to the shop. On the way, I was contemplating how to confront him with this lousy job! Cheat me!? HOW DARE YOU!

"He is not in. He has gone for lunch!" His assistant replied when I dropped the printer on the counter! Straight away, I sensed that he was avoiding me!

"Never mind, I want to test if what I said was true. It could not get switched on! You be my witness!" I acclaimed!

He took out the cable from inside the box and switched on the printer. YES! No response! See, see, you be witness! Never repaired!

He did not utter a word, and took another cable from his power plug to replace mine. Then, he switched on the printer the second time!

A series of electronic sound, vibrant and so familiar. The printer started up itself and the lights went blinking! The printer was instantly switched on!

I dared not look at him. I only said two words - take back! And, I ditched every single bit of my printer in the box, and rushed out of the shop!

While driving back, I cursed myself! I cursed myself for being so STUPID! Paying RM85 for a job that should have been discovered by myself in the first place! YOU DON'T NEED to be a computer nerd to know about the cable problem!

Reflection

The lesson is a hard one. Nobody is thinking how to solve your problem. People are thinking how you can solve their problem (not your problem) - business not enough, money not enough, customer not STUPID enough!

So, I fit into the category of STUPID CUSTOMER! Why?

Because I had not used logic to deduce the possible faulty cable. In handling the problem, I should have excluded the possibilities of faulty cable first. Was it the plug point? The cable? The contact points, etc. before I could arrive at the verdict that the PRINTER was faulty.

I did not think like a logical person. I learned a hard lesson. And, a STUPID one.

The only consolation for this was I did not throw the printer away! At least, I did justice to its life!

Marketing segment analysis

The Service Centres are there for handling the manufacturer's STUPID mistakes! It is not a profit making centre. It is for after-sales service, just in case some quality check back in the factory did not pick up defects, service centres are to "cover up" some embarrassments, NOTHING MORE!

Printer sellers (like IT Shops) are making the targets. The number of units sold would mean earnings and getting better price from their suppliers. They are not interested in repair and maintenance. This is cost center, not profit center for them. In order to reduce their cost, they lower costs by using 2nd floor. May be start ups. When they make big, they will go ground floor or in mega malls! The shopping crowd will need accessibility to window shop!

The Repair Shops are specialized stores. They survive in niche areas - in IT, mainly expensive Laptops where repair might be viable to save cost! Not printers! Printers are so cheap nowadays that nothing much are made from selling their console. It is better to specialize in highly technical matters and charge a hefty 'Service Charge' like a consultant physician! Anyway, the STUPID customer deserves it!

And yet! It is only occasional that you get a STUPID customer like me!

Cost analysis

Cost of making good - RM85 + bought a new printer - RM205;
Economic benefit = Two Printers.
Total Consideration = RM290

Throw away - lost of RM220 (newly replaced cartridge), lost of a good printer (depreciated value ?);
Economic benefit = One printer.
Total Consideration = RM220

Hence, if salvaging RM220 with RM290 and having 2 printers vs 1 printer, I guess I am still not that STUPID! I get another printer for RM70. Not bad at all!