Sabrina Lin (
"It's really an inconvenience to me," the 29-year-old human resources consultant said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
She does not like to bother her friends for help, but if she sends the computer for repair at a place like Kuan Hwa Market, the journey back-and-forth lugging the heavy computer and the likely high cost is troublesome, Lin said.
PHOTO: VANESSA CHO, TAIPEI TIMES
People who suffer similar problems as Lin may welcome Acer Inc's recent move to launch a new "on-site maintenance" service.
Acer, the nation's No. 1 personal computer (PC) vendor in the first quarter of this year, began in July to offer an on-site computer check-up and maintenance service. The service applies to computers of all brands, not just Acer products.
Transparency
The service offers zero transportation fees and high transparency regarding fees compared to other repair service providers. Consumers do not need to pay the required NT$200 examination fee if Acer engineers fail to find the problem on the spot.
"The service has been well-received by consumers," said Scott Lin (林顯郎), Acer's president of Greater China operations, citing over 10,000 cases received as of the end of last month. The service was rolled out in July.
According to a survey Acer conducted earlier this year, as many as 3.7 million families in Taiwan have personal computers and each family encounters breakdowns they cannot fix themselves 1.14 times per year.
The company expects its on-site troubleshooting solution to grab one-third of the mass market, he said.
People can call the service through a toll-free number or Acer's Web site and orders are immediately passed on to Acer's 60 agents and 145 engineers across the nation who are required to fix an appointment with the consumer and report to Acer within 30 minutes.
"We have seen about 80 percent of cases successfully resolved in consumers' residences ? and the charge is around NT$845 per case on average, lower than the NT$911 level consumers find acceptable that our survey showed," Lin said.
Consumers were satisfied with the company's quality of service, he said, with only 59 customers reporting dissatisfaction out of over 3,800 cases in July.
The company said it does not expect to earn money from the service. Instead it expects to reap value from the enhanced visibility and awareness of its brand image, and by fulfilling replacement demand through direct contact with consumers.
"What is really valuable to PC vendors is service," Lin said. "Competitors can easily imitate products, but they cannot effortlessly surpass us in the sophisticated service that wins public recognition."
The service has also earned Acer bonuses: sales of over 200 computers, as well as maintenance and installation service contracts with Capital Securities Corp (
Acer plans to spend over NT$10 million on advertising to promote the service in the home market, but its competitors seem to doubt the service will bring extra value.
"Recognition for its maintenance service cannot be easily translated into ultimate market share," said Laurence Hwang (黃維德), an executive in the personal systems group of IBM Taiwan Corp, the nation's third largest PC vendor.
"What really matters is whether or not the products can meet consumers' demands," he added.
In terms of after-sales services, IBM's three-year global guarantee for service in about 1,500 cities all over the world is the company's unbeatable advantage as an international brand, Hwang said.
The vendor rolled out a 24-hour repair service in January of this year, with 99.7 percent of cases resolved within 24 hours, according to IBM.
Users whose computers cannot be repaired receive gifts as consolation, and they can e-mail complaints to company management to help improve future services, Hwang said.
Another heavyweight player doesn't anticipate Acer's service winning significant market share, as most consumers stick to the service guarantees and components offered by the company that made their computer.
"Compatibility of components is one of the major concerns. Components of different brands may not work in harmony with other ... parts, which could cause damage," said Dennis Chen (陳敬宏), general manager of the Personal Systems Group with Hewlett-Packard Taiwan Ltd, the nation's No. 2 PC brand.
The major segment for the maintenance service should be the self-assembled computers and these account for half of Taiwan's PC market, he added.
However, since do-it-yourself (DIY) computer users can enjoy repair services provided by retail channels, such as Synnex Technology International Corp (
Speed of service
Synnex, the nation's top information technology product retailer, said the main issue is speed.
"The key point is how long consumers [must wait to] get their repaired computers back if Acer cannot fix the problems on the spot," Synnex's marketing associate vice president Lin Jun-jian (林俊堅) said.
Synnex, which has 25 repair service centers across the nation and invests an average NT$800 billion in maintenance services every year, boasts that it can repair mobile phones within 30 minutes and fix computers within two days.
Another issue is whether consumers will accept Acer's higher prices for servicing computers of other brands, due to a lack of support from other vendors, Lin said.
"If Acer cannot sort out these problems, the [on-site maintenance] service is merely a marketing issue," he said.
However, Acer's service seems to be benefitting its 60 cooperating distributors across the nation.
"We saw monthly sales grow by about NT$500,000 from repair service fees, increased sales of components and additional sales of over 10 to 20 computers, after providing on-site maintenance service," said Liao Ming-jie (
Acer's Lin said the company hopes the model will lead to a win-win situation for both Acer and its distributors. In the future the company may roll out the service in other markets, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, if it sees success in Taiwan, he added.
Acer's move is helpful in building up its brand image but could also backfire if the company overlooks strengthening internal control, a marketing expert said.
"If the quality of engineers on the first line of contact with consumers cannot be carefully controlled, the negative effect could swell faster and larger than the good result the company originally expected," said Paul Huang (黃志鵬), a senior research manager at ACNielsen Taiwan Limited.
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