HP restricts repair to dealers
Published: 03 Jul 2003 13:44 BST
Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday that only those who sell their consumer PCs will be able to service them.
The move will winnow the number of authorised service providers from about 1,000 to just 40, though HP notes that those 40 partners have more than 6,000 locations. Those still authorised will include national retailers such as Best Buy, Costco, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics and Circuit City, HP said.
"We are going to limit warranty service authorisation to those retail partners that sell our consumer PC products and will de-authorise all service providers that do not sell HP consumer (products)," HP spokeswoman Cherie Britt told CNET News.com.
The service providers in question are the ones HP has approved to do repairs and warranty work for its desktop and notebook PCs, including Pavilions, Presarios and Media Centre PCs.
Britt said the service providers being de-authorised accounted for just 2 percent of HP's repair business. Despite reducing the number of repair options for consumers, Britt said HP expects the move to "increase customer satisfaction."
"We've got the country covered," she said.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.


