Acer brings the computer repairman to your home

Sabrina Lin (林葵玲) is often at a loss to find an easy solution when her five-year-old self-assembled desktop computer is out of order.

"It's really an inconvenience to me," the 29-year-old human resources consultant said.

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.

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 (群益證券) and an undisclosed video telephone equipment company, Lin said.

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.