[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/...nter-in-taiwan/

"Reportedly, the center will provide customers in Taiwan with a comprehensive range of services including "personalized consultations on new and existing HTC products, warranty repairs, and other valuable after-sales support." Notably, the HTC Care facility promises "speedy turn-around times" for all items sent in for repair, and unlike Apple's $29 rental fee, HTC customers can look forward to a free loaner should their handset fall ill."



I'll be honest, I'm a little puzzled by this. Not so much as to why HTC are opening up a service centre, but rather - what took them so long? The move away from the ODM business and towards their own branding took place last year, and the Dopod acquisition was completed a few months back. Dopod's retail strategy is to appoint authorised agents in each country they operate in, to handle sales and after-sales service. That has the advantage of reducing upfront costs, and allowing Dopod to concentrate on branding and marketing (the flip side is that their reputation gets tied to however good their partners are). This is great for a local or regional company looking for a low-cost entree into the global markets. Now that HTC are trying to remake themselves into a global brandname, they can't afford such a piecemeal approach - with their own centres, they have greater control over their branding and image (to see what this kind of strategy can do when done properly, look no further than Apple). On that basis, I'd expect to see more centres opening up soon in other countries - or I'll have to conclude that HTC aren't quite ready for prime time just yet.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/...nter-in-taiwan/

"Reportedly, the center will provide customers in Taiwan with a comprehensive range of services including "personalized consultations on new and existing HTC products, warranty repairs, and other valuable after-sales support." Notably, the HTC Care facility promises "speedy turn-around times" for all items sent in for repair, and unlike Apple's $29 rental fee, HTC customers can look forward to a free loaner should their handset fall ill."



I'll be honest, I'm a little puzzled by this. Not so much as to why HTC are opening up a service centre, but rather - what took them so long? The move away from the ODM business and towards their own branding took place last year, and the Dopod acquisition was completed a few months back. Dopod's retail strategy is to appoint authorised agents in each country they operate in, to handle sales and after-sales service. That has the advantage of reducing upfront costs, and allowing Dopod to concentrate on branding and marketing (the flip side is that their reputation gets tied to however good their partners are). This is great for a local or regional company looking for a low-cost entree into the global markets. Now that HTC are trying to remake themselves into a global brandname, they can't afford such a piecemeal approach - with their own centres, they have greater control over their branding and image (to see what this kind of strategy can do when done properly, look no further than Apple). On that basis, I'd expect to see more centres opening up soon in other countries - or I'll have to conclude that HTC aren't quite ready for prime time just yet.

[hamishmacdonald]

Not ready for prime time? When I had problems with my old Fujitsu-Siemens unit, it was sent to some college for repair. They did a good job, but it was very clear that I wasn't dealing with the company but a very obvious third party.

Same with getting my Mac repaired here (or broken further, as the case was, prompting me to become a different sort of "Switcher" -- from Apple to PC).

And Axim? I spent a lot of time having chats with people who were in Ireland, then others in India, then Ireland, etc.

Lots of us on here have warranty and repair issues (HP, Toshiba -- I don't think any of these companies is blameless here). So the fact that HTC are opening a branded, dedicated repair centre strikes me as a move that should be applauded. I hope they're successful.

Slightly off-topic, but I'm loving my Touch. The build quality and HTC-added interface elements, right down to the included wallpapers, are excellent, far beyond anything I've received before. Same with the packaging, being given a full-colour manual instead of a print-it-yourself PDF file -- the whole operation strikes me as classy, and respectful of the fact that I just dropped £300 on this machine.

[miterb]

I visited my CompUSA store on Monday and asked a sales representative about the HTC Adventure that I knew they were about to receive. He checked and found that there were indeed three of them in the stock room. He brought one out and we unboxed it so that I could see the unit. I am seriously considering it. I asked about an extended warranty. As this is a new product to them he did not know whether it would be considered a laptop or a mobile phone or, my thought, a PDA. But, he indicated they would have it available.

I thought I would find out from HTC America what warranty was available and received (in part) this reply:

"The HTC Advantage is definitely a unique device and I am sure that you would enjoy using it. As for the warranty, it would be through your place of purchase, as we do not sell our devices directly to the consumer. When purchasing the device you would have to ask CompUSA about this.

I hope we have answered your question in detail. Feel free to contact us again if you have any further questions.

HTC Technical Support"

Brad Miter

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by miterb

As for the warranty, it would be through your place of purchase, as we do not sell our devices directly to the consumer. When purchasing the device you would have to ask CompUSA about this.

He must have meant the EXTENDED warranty...because surely HTC America has to provide warranty for the first year (or whatever) of the device? CompUSA won't care one way or another after the first 30 days...

[yslee]

Can it be worse than Dopod's service in Singapore?

Here's a forum dedicated to service related to WM devices in Singapore... note the amount of Dopod threads. :P
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=25

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Originally Posted by yslee

Can it be worse than Dopod's service in Singapore?

:lol: That's one of the reasons for the thrust of my commentary. Dopod's service reputation is, shall we say, notorious at best. To be fair though, it is more a function of who they partnered with rather than their own capabilities.