I purchased a computer from Comp USA in Waco, TX, on April 26. My business at that time was photo restorations and the young man recommended this particular computer. I also bought a three-year extended warranty (Gold-3 Year Comprehensive Plan) which was recommended and was told that if anything ever happened to the computer and they couldn't fix it I would be given a new computer. The extended warranty cost $369.99.
I've been very pleased with the computer until last month. When I returned after lunch one day I could not get anything on the monitor. I tried to restart the computer but after turning it off it would not come on again. On April 23, just four days before the warranty would have run out I called the 800-number and asked for service. The Comp USA store here closed shortly after I bought the computer so they sent out a private technician to check the computer. He said it needed a new power supply and ordered one. Several days later it came in and the tech came out and installed it. The computer would start then but nothing showed up on the monitor. After spending time on the phone with Comp USA he ordered a new mother board. When it came in he came out and installed it. The computer still didn't work. He sent it to Comp USA in Austin.
I didn't hear anything for some time so called the 800-number again. They gave me the name of the person over the repair department. I called and he said they had just ordered a new processor and hopefully the computer would be ready in about a week. I didn't hear anything. Today, May 25, six weeks after the first call, I called him and he said that the mother board was bad so they ordered a new one this morning. I told him the mother board had already been replaced. He just said it needed a new one. I asked how long this would go on before they just gave me a new computer. All he said was the tech said it needed a mother board.
I called the Comp USA 800-number again to complain. They gave me the number for filing a complaint. I called it and was told that a part had to be replaced 3 times before a recommendation for a replacement would be given. She said it could be taken in ten to twenty times, figuratively speaking, before that would happen. I guess that means that since they obviously don't know what's wrong then every part in the computer will have to be replaced three times, but they only order one part at a time which takes about a week to come in and be installed then when it doesn't work they order another which takes a week to come in and on and on. I told the lady that this could go on for months and she said that it could. She said the only thing I could do was call the store manager and ask him to rush the job. She gave me the number. I called several hours ago and still have not heard from him.
The lady I talked to on the complaint line said that in my warranty book it stated that this was the way it worked. I looked at the warranty book and finally found in extremely small, very light gray print at the bottom of the page it says, "If a covered component fails three times, covered product will be replaced. A nominal fee may apply." Even if I had read that at the time of purchase I would not have dreamed that little phrase could be blown into what is going on at this time. I wish there was some way to warn everybody never to waste their money on a Comp USA extended warranty. I will go farther though. I will never shop at a Comp USA store again. And if I am ever tempted to buy an extended warranty somewhere else I will first ask a lot of hypothetical questions about it.
I have retired now from the photo restoration business, but if I were still in the business, being without a computer for this long would have put me out of business.
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