Compaq does a U-turn over DOA

Channel pressure forces vendor to change policy on faulty machine repairs

Compaq has been forced to make drastic changes to its dead on arrival (DOA) policy for faulty goods in the wake of complaints from the channel.

Previously, it was the responsibility of resellers and retailers to fix DOA and early life failures, but resellers claimed that the policy was unco-operative and expensive.

Compaq introduced a different policy on 7 April, piloted on its notebooks, offering next-day business response for products that fail within the first 30 days of purchase.

Paul Gardner, Compaq director of customer service, said the move was an attempt to bring order to an area that badly needed it. ?In the absence of a firm policy on this matter, things have tended to be done on an ad hoc basis. There have been problems in the past, but we?re hoping we can get away from them now.?

Gardner added that the policy had been worked out in conjunction with the channel, and that all Compaq products would be covered by the summer. ?We started with notebooks because they?re one of the toughest products to look after, and we have a June time frame in mind for everything else.?

The problem of whether manufacturers or retailers should be responsible for repairing faulty machines has dogged the channel for a number of years, gathering momentum when PCs began to be sold by non-traditional computer outlets.

• Compaq has launched a low-end Armada notebook to replace its previous entry-level model, the 1100. The Armada 1500 has a starting price of #1,199 (exc VAT) for a P120 machine with 1Gb hard drive, 11.3in screen and 16Mb Ram. The Armada 1100 will be phased out over the next few months.