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Hardware Technology

UPS - Your Computer Repair Depot? 310

Posted by timothy from the contrary-incentives dept.
dcsmith writes "UPS and Toshiba are entering into an agreement to have UPS provide warranty service on Toshiba laptops. Might not be as weird as it sounds -- they claim that the bulk of the effort in a computer repair is moving the computer and the necessary parts together. The actual repair itself is often trivial. I'm not sure I'm onboard 100%, but if its a faulty display or a bad CD drive, this might actually work ..."
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UPS - Your Computer Repair Depot? More

UPS - Your Computer Repair Depot?

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  • UPS Transforming Organ Donation/Transplantation (Score:5, Funny)

    by morcheeba ( 260908 ) * on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:38PM (#9576384) Journal
    This is basically the same problem organ transplantation has - transporting and speed is essential. Hearts and lungs must be transplanted within approximately 4 hours after being removed from the donor. Livers can be preserved between 12 - 18 hours; pancreas can be preserved 8 - 12 hours; intestines can be preserved approximately 8 hours; kidneys can be preserved 24 - 48 hours. (quoted from [nyodn.org]) I wouldn't be too surprised to see the UPS people coming out from the back room in scrubs (and shorts, of course), and then washing up really well before going back.

    • As a former UPS Employee... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by sTalking_Goat ( 670565 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:58PM (#9576556) Homepage
      ...trust me, this is a bad idea. I did a year as a Loader/Unloader at UPS. With the way we treated those packages I'm surporised andyone gets anything from UPS in good condition. One time the Stanley Cup came through my hub and got lost for 3 days. Management had us combing the building for the crate. And on the third day it just showed up in the international section. Whoever stole it must have realized the shitstorm they had started up. Before thanksgiving one year we had 50 Turkeys packed in ice that somehow didn't make it on the last truck (on Monday we had a small hill of individually packed rotting meat floating in water. I've got a million UPS horror stories. Trust me you don't want to ship anything UPS. And if you do ship UPS, package your stuff so that it could at least withstand being drop kicked 20 feet into a metal wall...
      • I'll second this.
        I have a lot of clients who ship various products and I don't know a single one who uses UPS any more.
        (Might explain why FedEx is doing so well! :)
      • As an employee of a small metal works company, I'd love to see you try to drop kick one of our 100lb 1/4" plate steel sheets triple wrapped in cardboard. But somehow, we stll have them go missing and get bent on the way there.

      • Re:As a former UPS Employee... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Star_Gazer ( 25473 ) * on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:24PM (#9576751)
        At my workplace (german university) it is officially forbidden to send shipments via UPS and we ask to use another courier with every supplier.

        At our department alone, I had 2 computers missing, many massively damaged packages but the worst thing was the dry ice package (with big stickers: Store at -20C) with antibodies worth about $10K that was put before our door one friday afternoon. Not only had we to reorder those antibodies, the experiments they where to be used with failed because the timing was critical and had to be started from scratch, taking two more month and $20K additional costs.
        • I agree that this sucks, however I don't think the UPS people even have facilities where they can store anything at -20C. And if whatever you were sending was that valuable, you should have insured it for $20K.
          • And UPS won't insure *anything* for 20k, which would be your first hint that they're not capable of handling such valuables. This does suck, and so does UPS from my experience, but due diligence wasn't done.

        • And How Is This UPS' Fault? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by eric777 ( 613330 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @09:13PM (#9577800) Homepage
          You were expecting a super-critical package that needed to be kept in deep-freeze.

          It was Friday afternoon around quitting time, and it hadn't arrived.

          So you went home.

          So UPS showed up, and left the package (perhaps ignoring the 'signature required' - you don't say so, but perhaps).

          What were they supposed to do? Bring it back to their special freezer for people who don't stick around to make sure $20K packages are properly handled?

          And what about insurance, anyway? Had you not heard that packages don't *always* arrive on time and intact?

          Sheesh.

        • Re:As a former UPS Employee... (Score:4, Informative)

          by dave1791 ( 315728 ) on Thursday July 01, 2004 @04:09AM (#9579608)
          Did you ship them overnight? In my experience with antibodies (used for flow cytometry), they always go next day air. Did you not track the package online? If it really was a red (overnight) shipment, it should have been there by noon (at least that is the case in the states). You did not stick around for the UPS man?

          Here is a hint: If you will not stick around to wait for the package, don't order expensive-dry ice packed things at the end of the week.

      • Re:As a former UPS Employee... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by brianosaurus ( 48471 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:29PM (#9576794) Homepage
        Maybe Toshiba entered the deal so fewer of their laptops get "mishandled". If UPS is responsible for repairs, maybe they'd tell their employees to be careful with the Toshiba/UPS warranty boxes.

        It would still be "Open Season" on the Dells, but denting a Toshiba could get you fired...
      • Trust me; finding the Stanley Cup is rocket science compared to most computer repair.

        All hardware problems arise from a bad part. The only way to fix a bad part, is to either replace it, or pay some super-genius to fix it with a solder-gun and a circuit tester...and about a million dollars worth of non-portable specialist equipment---so really, repair is not an option. So its about replacement.

        Replacement is only slightly more complicated than putting two legos together, easily within the realm of any half trained A++ certified techie with a static strap.

        • RE: computer repair (Score:3, Informative)

          by King_TJ ( 85913 )
          I'd be more inclined to agree with you, if we were talking about DESKTOPS here, but we're talking NOTEBOOKS!

          I don't know how many notebook computers you've personally repaired, but I've worked on quite a few - and I'd say it's by far the most challenging type of computer repair out there.

          Among other things, it takes lots of patience and care, because you're dealing with lots of very small screws (often several different sizes for different parts of the system) that can easily get lost, along with fragile

          • Re: computer repair (Score:4, Interesting)

            by Leebert ( 1694 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @08:33PM (#9577608)
            The last thing I want is some moron rushing through a $3000 laptop repair, losing parts and breaking things in the process!

            Honestly, whom do you think Toshiba employs in their repair shops now? You can be sure it's not an EE. Six of one...

            Besides, you all aren't reading TFA. They aren't going to be doing computer repairs in the local UPS hub or depot, all of the repairs are going to one central UPS shop in Louisville, KY. So it's either morons who work for Toshiba in God Knows Where or morons who work for UPS in Kentucky, what's the difference from the consumer POV?

          • Re: computer repair (Score:3, Informative)

            by NeoThermic ( 732100 )
            Evidently you are lacking the Toshiba laptop repair and service guide. Toshiba actually have a book on how to replace any part on any Toshiba model that is in the book.

            Not only that, but Toshiba number their screw holes and the guide of which screw size to which hole is in the guide.

            Toshiba have got it right, most internal parts are either clearly labled, or the diagram in the service guide is clear enough to follow to the last screw. The guide even covers how to put it all back together with notes on the
      • And if you do ship UPS, package your stuff so that it could at least withstand being drop kicked 20 feet into a metal wall...

        In my experience, I've only gotten two type of packages that have survived the trip through UPS with the article inside intact:

        1. Ultra-light packages with about 4 inches of padding between the box and the object, so when the box gets inevitably crushed, impaled, and dented, the object inside miraculously survives, because it wasn't heavy enough to suffer serious shock damage.
      • UPS...

        For when it absolutely, positively has to be broken over night.
      • Yep.... Granted, this was at least 5 years ago, but one of my good friends worked for UPS and told me a story about their loading dock here in the midwest.

        He said they had been short on space, so they were ordered to stack boxes up in a 6 or 7 foot high "wall". When it came time to get these boxes loaded on the trucks, a supervisor came along, ordering them to "tear it down!". They just let the whole thing fall all over the concrete floor, without any concern as to whether or not boxes near the top of t

      • Re:As a former UPS Employee... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by humblecoder ( 472099 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @08:55PM (#9577706) Homepage
        You, sir, are full of sh*t, and whoever modded this post up is also full of sh*t!

        Your story about the Stanley Cup is a complete fabrication. The Stanley Cup doesn't get shipped UPS. It has a personal team of escorts who travel with it 24/7. The chances of it getting "lost" in some UPS hub for 3 days is less than nil. Here's a link that backs up what I am saying:

        http://www2.nhl.com/hockeyu/history/cup/travels/ cu pkeeper070203.html

        I don't know why you feel the need to badmouth UPS. Granted I'm sure they aren't 100% perfect, but everything I've ever shipped with them, or received from them has been free of damage, so I imagine that damaged packages is the exception and not the rule. The one time a package didn't arrive on the day it was guaranteed, I got my money back, which is more than I can say for a lot of businesses out there.

  • Soooo (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Unknown Poltroon ( 31628 ) * <unknown_poltroon1sp@myahoo.com> on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:39PM (#9576392)
    Would the repair be done at the depot? How is this any easier than shipping the parts and computer to a central location?

    • Re:Soooo (Score:4, Informative)

      by jhines ( 82154 ) <john@jhines.org> on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:44PM (#9576440) Homepage
      The repair labor is outsourced to UPS's facility.

      UPS is adding services above and beyond shipping. I remember 8-9 years ago having them do warehousing and packing.

      It is handy for a growing company to just buy more space from UPS, than having to build ever increasing warehouses.

      • It's Called Logistics (Score:3, Informative)

        by ackthpt ( 218170 ) *
        UPS is adding services above and beyond shipping. I remember 8-9 years ago having them do warehousing and packing.

        I worked for a company years ago that did pretty much this same thing. It was a freight and logistics company and one of the customers was Apple Computer. We coordinated supply chains for the parts and brought the assembled systems, packaged and all, to where the end customer or store was. Less bother for the manufacturer.

    • No... In the truck...
      No wait. At your front door.
      Driver:
      Here's your package, please sign here
      Man:
      Thank you.
      Driver:
      You have the toshiba?
      Man:
      Yes, right here.
      (hands the laptop to the driver.
      Driver:
      Ok great.
      (Takes the laptop and snaps in a new keyboard in 2 seconds--They're professionals after all)
      Driver:
      Here you go Sir.
      Man:
      Thanks.

      (door closes)

      Actually, I don't think I trust the brown men with my laptop.

    • Would the repair be done at the depot?

      Right now, on-site repairs are handled mostly by independent certified techs. People call in for repair, the parts are sent to the tech who then drives out to the end-user and fixes the PC. UPS would simply hire these guys. Since the techs would all be lumped into a big building... it would be much cheaper than having them drive around indpendently (which UPS will probably do with these guys - offer both "depot" and on-site service).

      Best of both worlds. Very smar

    • Re:Soooo (Score:5, Informative)

      by DeepRedux ( 601768 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:00PM (#9576573)
      According to the linked article, the repairs are to be done at a central location (in Louisville, Ky) run by the UPS "logistics outsourcing division". This is really more of an outsourcing story than a shipping story.

    • Re:Soooo (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Lancer ( 32120 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:21PM (#9576723) Homepage
      Dell must do something similar to this -- I had an Inspiron with a flakey display picked up at my office by Airborne Express at 11:00AM on a Thursday, and had it back the next day by 11:00AM. It had travelled from California to Atlanta, been fixed, and back on a plane the same night.

      I would have been thrilled to get it back the following Monday or Tuesday - next day service blew my mind. I can only assume that Dell has a repair depot located at the airport Airborne uses.

  • This is awesome (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MerlynEmrys67 ( 583469 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:39PM (#9576395)
    All computer repair these days is at the component level anyway. Would be nice if the UPS guy that used to pickup your laptop for service, could just bring you the part - bring out a screwdriver and replace it.

    I imagine they actually bring them into a regional repair depot so they don't have to train their whole fleet of drivers

  • $75.17 per share (Score:3, Interesting)

    by RKBA ( 622932 ) * on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:39PM (#9576399)
    UPS is currently selling for $75.17 per share [bloomberg.com]. Good time to buy, or too late? Their stock already went up by about 30% in September '03.

    • Buy Buy Buy!

      My labmate has a friend who knows this girl who dated my cousin's brother's nephew's mother who read on /. that UPS was undervalued!
    • IANAIA (i am not an investment advisor), but i play one for my family.

      there's one school of thought that the best time to buy a stock is when it reaches new highs -- the idea is that you buy winners because winners will go higher.

      interesting thing about UPS [yahoo.com] is that it's never split. i'm half tempted to buy some shares speculating that it will soon enough.

      another way to look at the stock is to check it's options activity. from what i can see [yahoo.com] (i rarely trade options -- usually only when i can cover a put

  • Closed the loop (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:41PM (#9576409)
    Since they're responsible for breaking most of the notebook computers during delivery, they decided to close the loop and profit from it.
    • Sadly, this was modded funny...from what I can tell, that is the actual point of this, stated in a somewhat roundabout fashion.

      But I guess that would only be the case if UPS were the primary/exclusive shipper of new Toshiba laptops, which for all I know they are.

  • Not that odd (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Jarnis ( 266190 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:41PM (#9576415)
    In today's PCs and Laptops, everything is very modular. And at the same time the components are so tightly packed that you cannot possibly do 'real repairs' without major magnifying glass, special tools and access to documentation on the device that nobody outside the original manufacture can have.

    So its all about replacing dead parts until the thingy works. You can eliminate the cause by simple trial & error + pile of known working parts.

    I know I've been 'trained' for laptop repairs of certain models. In about 30min for each model - which basically consisted of demonstrating how to disassemble and reassemble the thing, and which parts were replaceable and how ya could troubleshoot few of the most common faults.

    Not rocket science... and if they can save on costs of moving things around by doing that in some shipping depot, more power to them :) Especially if the huge spares warehouse IS at the said shipping depot.
  • We've all rattled a vending machine to make something drop. Now Toshiba has realized that UPS' famed drop-kicking of packages has a potential payoff!
  • Who provides service for other computer makers?

    I bought a three year warranty for my HP laptop, and they promise next-day on-site service anywhere in the US. I'm sure HP hasn't got reps in every city on the continent. So how does this normally work? Where do the reps come from?

    • subcontract, subcontract, subcontract

      I know Dell it anyway, local contractors handle most everything.

    • In New York City, Dell uses Unisys who employees a bunch of low-wage service monkeys to come around and replace parts. They don't do a terrible job, I guess I'm not being totally fair, but they always seem to bring the wrong parts with them the first try. I guess that's really the fault of the call center who takes the service call in the first place though, and since they are most likely located in India, well, I guess you get what you pay for.


  • Interesting twist on "Inventory in Motion". Good solution for the reverse logistics loop.

  • Great idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:44PM (#9576447)
    Often the biggest problem when trying to set up service locations is to do so in a cost-effective manner. Then, one needs to be able to transport the goods...

    By using UPS outlets, Toshiba makes it really easy to provide service points for customers and nails the transport issue too.

  • Neat Idea BUT (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chanc_Gorkon ( 94133 ) <gorkon.gmail@com> on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:44PM (#9576449)
    I would rather have a local STORE that can do this work and quickly too. Gateway used to have stores and the screwed that up. If they had actually stocked components at the store then they would have been able to do the repair a whole lot quicker. as it is, it would have probably taken the same time if I had UPS'd it instead of hauling it into the store. That's NOT the only reason Gateway closed their stores, but it's a big one.

  • Have them change laptop displays you say? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    A while back I got a laptop with a broken display handed to me, and managed to get my filthy fingersesss on a nice LCD screen that would fit it.

    It was pretty damn hard and timeconsuming to replace that monitor, and I broke off a couple of plastic hinges. I thought I was treating it fairly well, but it required some force to get out. And I've worked tech support(yes hands on) for 5 years, for the Duuuude. Never with laptops though, I'm a server guy.

    Getting back to the point - na, I dont think I'd like them

    • Replacing a disk like that is not hard, though, so if you DON'T wanna do it yourself - why not have the courier do ALL that work and skip sending expensive technicians?

      The technician is expensive because he is trained and knows what he's doing. The courier is getting paid barely above minimum wage to deliver packages.

      I know replacing disks isn't hard... for us. That's because we know what we are doing in there. But just as I could assemble a computer blindfolded, you wouldn't want to put me in the e

    • UPS drivers aren't replacing anything, they are simply shipping them to a center where techs replace the parts, then ship them back. While the article gives the impression that the techs will be UPS employees, they still are most likely experienced laptop repair techs, not guys pulled from big brown trucks - if only because it's probably easier to find good laptop techs then good truck drivers these days.

      It isn't that unusual for shipping companies to do other loosly related stuff - for example, outpost.

  • No thanks (Score:2, Funny)

    by armypuke ( 172430 )
    Great...., so not only will they repair your laptop, they'll drop kick it a few times before giving it back.

    • Re:No thanks (Score:2, Informative)

      by homer_ca ( 144738 )
      Toshiba, Dell and everybody else doing mail order know how their boxes get treated by the shippers and design their packaging accordingly. We ship computers with UPS and Fedex all the time, and we never had a problem shipping in the original packaging. I've heard stories about boxes with forklift holes and tire tracks on them, and I've also seen the results of inadequate packaging. I know it's a huge waste of space, but just save the original box and foam. If you pack it in that, 95% of the time it gets the

  • Sounds nice (Score:3, Interesting)

    by truthsearch ( 249536 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:52PM (#9576513) Homepage Journal
    This is either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid. It sounds like one of those business arrangements that in hindsight everyone says was brilliant or should never be mentioned again.

  • DIY (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Custard ( 587661 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:56PM (#9576537) Homepage Journal
    I wish companies offered discounted DIY warranties, where they shipped you the part and a short instruction sheet and you could replace it yourself, even for semi-complicated things like keyboards.

    Basically, it'd be a warranty on only parts, but you could choose to supply your own labor (instead of paying them to do it).
    • It's not discounted, but you can often get parts shipped that way, and even get them cross-shipped without sending the part back in. Sometimes you have to pay a deposit on the part though.
    • Dell will ship you parts if you know what you're talking about, and more importantly, know how to properly lie to them (Yeah, it's just stopped working, and there's not been any lightning storms or anything!). Of course the way they design their computers these days, chimps could replace the parts.
    • Keyboard replacement for laptops is relatively simple (on my Inspiron 8500 at least). Pull off the colored plastic bits, 2 screws, pull it out, unplug it.

      The most important thing to remember about taking laptops apart is to be fairly gentle with the flimsy bits. If they won't give, theres probably a screw somewhere you missed. DIY warranties will probably never happen, but even parts that seem like they ought to be expensive (like laptop keyboards [ebay.com] are under $20 on ebay. I don't know about you, but $2

  • Oh, great. (Score:5, Informative)

    by qtp ( 461286 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:57PM (#9576547) Journal
    Now UPS can read your hard drive as well as open your packages [findlaw.com].

    Apparently, the only reason that the specific search in the linked case was questionable was the fact that the UPS employee opening the packages would sometimes allow DEA agents to assist her if they were on site and the package was difficult to open.

    Of course, a "Toshiba repair shop" would likely be free to do the same, as they are also a private entity. (Only government entities are "required" to abide by the Bill of Rights.)

  • Not really THAT weird... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by retro128 ( 318602 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @05:58PM (#9576559)
    Like the article says the laptops are shipped to a central facility where the laptops are worked on. Radio Shack does the same thing, as they take Compaq laptops for repair. I should have trusted my gut on Radio Shack and stayed far away, but I brought an out-of-warranty Compaq to them that had problems turning on without a battery. So I give them the laptop and the bobo at the repair facility says they have to replace the mobo to the tune of $800. I explained to him that I thought the problem was probably with the charging unit and to try that first, but he wouldn't have any of it. I told him to pack it up and send it back.

    After that I went in search of a way to repair it myself, and I found Impact Computers [impactcomputers.com], which stocks just about every laptop component under the sun for a decent price (including replacement plastic covers for your more clutzy co-workers) I ordered a new charging board and sure enough it worked for a fraction of the price even if they had made a correct diagnosis in the first place. Suck on that you so-called technician!
  • If they bring their huge network of UPS Stores into this as drop/off and pick-up points, it's cool.

    But if you actually have a day job, are trying to get your personal laptop repaired, and have to rely on UPS residential service (or company depots) for this... Take a gun and shoot your laptop. It will be cheaper and less aggravating in the long run to buy a new one than to try to deal with UPS's poor residential service and their very limited depot hours.

    UPS will need to make the UPS Stores network a p

    • But if you actually have a day job, are trying to get your personal laptop repaired, and have to rely on UPS residential service (or company depots) for this... Take a gun and shoot your laptop. It will be cheaper and less aggravating in the long run to buy a new one than to try to deal with UPS's poor residential service and their very limited depot hours.

      Dunno about poor residential service... I'm on rather good terms with my regular UPS driver. It's the cover drivers that suck. (Fortunatlye I teleco

  • Funny thing (Score:2, Informative)

    by enjoilax ( 792737 )
    i read about this 6 months ago in Fast Company, a management magazine... Go figure...

  • Incompetence pays (Score:3, Informative)

    by cr@ckwhore ( 165454 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:07PM (#9576624) Homepage
    They claim that the bulk of the effort in a computer repair is moving the computer and the necessary parts together.

    Hey! UPS' own incompetence is finally paying off!

    1. Obstruct and make shipping process as difficult as possible.

    2. ????

    3. Profit from Toshiba

  • That's a change... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rorschach1 ( 174480 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:07PM (#9576625) Homepage
    I remember when we used to have to do computer repair for UPS. Back in '95 or '96 there was quite a rash of false computer damage claims. I think someone started passing around instructions on how to rip off UPS, but it didn't take UPS long to catch on and start bringing in damage claims for assessment and repair.

    I was working for a small local computer shop at the time and we didn't do a huge volume of UPS claims, but what I saw was outrageous. Yeah, there were a couple of legitimate claims - almost always loose cards or cables from vibration - but most of the fraudulent ones didn't even try. VLB cards stuck in ISA slots, toasted motherboards, junk components just jammed in a case... nothing that even looked remotely like shipping damage.

    Not sure what they did to the people that tried to pull this stuff, but the claims seemed to stop almost as fast as they started.

  • Use UPS to sell on eBay (Score:3, Informative)

    by majid ( 306017 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:09PM (#9576635) Homepage
    Another original use for UPS (UPS Stores, actually) is as a drop-off point for stuff to sell on eBay [feld.com]. You don't even have to have an eBay account - this company will take care of everything for you (for a commission, of course).

  • Former UPS technician... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I worked as a technician for UPS once. It's amazing what people will do to try to get their machines replaced by UPS. Some would ship really ancient machines with thousands in insurance then claim it was damaged in shipment. One guy was really upset because he had paid to have an old machine sent as a high value shipment but on inspection it was worth less than $50. Blame it on Seinfeld episodes...

    This is not to say that UPS didn't damage stuff. THey did. Lots of stuff. Sometimes I was amazed that equipmen
  • Dell's on-site service consists of outsourcing to local tech-monkey providers, I think IBM in our area. What happens is they dispatch a guy a with little knowledge and a lot of parts. You ten get peices of your computer replaced until it's not broken anymore. It's rather inefficient and we all got a big kick out of watching the time it takes for simple tasks (like replacing a faulty disk in a RAID, which is fully hot-swappable and non-critical) but Dell would rather their tech did it.

    So all UPS needs is to
  • IMO, it would be interesting who proposed the idea?

    Did UPS ask Toshiba? (eg they want to diversify their business model).
    OR
    Did Toshiba approach UPS? (eg they want to get out of repairing customer computers).

    Of course, UPS can always HIRE trained, certified laptop repair persons as well. I don't think the drivers will be fixing them anytime soon.
  • I don't think a company commonly known as 'United Parcel Smashers' is an appropriate place to take something to be _repaired_. The replacement parts they get shipped in would probably all be busted in transit, anyway.
    • I've worked as a loader at UPS, and 99% of the time when a package was damaged it was due to poor or improper packing. A well packed and secured box can go through a lot of stress and the contents inside will not get damaged. But when someone ships a TV in a paper thin cardboard box with one piece of scotch tape holding it together, they shouldn't have expected it to get there in one piece.

  • in other news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by LuxFX ( 220822 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:24PM (#9576760) Homepage Journal
    ...UPS has announced they plan to change their name to "un1tED P4rc3l 53RViC3"

  • UPS builds Dell's computers. (Score:3, Informative)

    by SuperCal ( 549671 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:26PM (#9576774) Homepage
    We were just talking about this in class the other day. Its not all that new. UPS has been building many Dell's computers for awhile now.

  • Guess (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jeffkjo1 ( 663413 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @06:27PM (#9576782) Homepage
    I'm going to guess that UPS uses a lot of Tosiba laptops and this made business sense for them, as they now probably get lots of parts at cost.

    This is kinda like Amazon becoming a ICANN certified domain selling company.... it was cheaper for them to manage all the domains themselves then it was to go through netsol.
  • Mail via UPS your broken laptop to yourself. Insure it for twice what it is worth. After recieving it, report that the laptop was broken in the shipment and demand the full payment. Then buy a new laptop. Or hope that they lose it, and you get the money for a new laptop anyway.
  • the package for $300, which was a few dollars less than it was worth. They paid the claim almost a year later. UPS seems OK for most things, but I will never send anything fragile or irreplaceable by UPS again.
  • First they fix them. Then they licence the brands. Then they buy the designs and produce them. When we finally have nice 3-d object printers that do for complex physical objects what Print on Demand technology does for books, then they will be Universal Product Supply. The giant brands of the world will be studios...

    Or maybe Flextronics and UPS merge?

  • After watching like a hawk my packages transit the UPS system, I've got to wonder how many repair depots they will make. Typically packages take very little time to reach the nearest large megadepot (Ohio, New Jersey, theres one in California) but going cross country and going back the last 300 miles takes a fairly long time. If every large UPS hub had a repair depot, this would be great. But would they but one in every hub? Transit times between hubs are fairly high; then again, I usually ship ground b

  • I'm betting these won't even be repairs! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by strider_starslayer ( 730294 ) on Thursday July 01, 2004 @03:28AM (#9579432)
    I'm betting this will come down to- you say there's something wrong with your laptop, they swap your hard disk into another refirbished laptop of your model and send it back- it still dosen't work; they try it one more time, then you loose the hard drive.

    Somewhere along the line a tech will look at all the 'dead' laptops and find the working ones, as well as fix easy to repair ones, and lable them refirbished for other people to get on exchange.

    But all UPS will be doing is swapping hard disks- you grandmother, while drunk, could do that.

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