Bought an APC BX625CI-MS 625VA Battery Backup less than two years ago as of this writing. The unit failed last night and the circuit breaker would no longer reset. By just plugging in the unit to an outlet, a continuous tone would be heard. Power light is steady, but even if you press the power button to try and shutdown the unit, the noise would continue, and you would have to unplug the unit from the outlet.
I thought that the unit had a two-year warranty as advertised on the box it came with. But when I went to PC Express, the same shop I bought it from, they told me that items purchased from them only came with a one year warranty. This was despite the 2-year warranty label on the APC box. To process this unit, they wanted to charge me a Php 500 processing fee. They would then send the unit to APC and the processing time might take 3 to 4 weeks. And even if they return the fixed unit, its warranty would only end up being continuous, which means I could probably only use the unit for another three months before its warranty runs out.
The unit I purchased more than a year ago was priced at Php 2,850.
I couldn't wait for 4 weeks so I decided to purchase the same unit model. The price of the unit on PC Express' price list was now 3200. That's more than a 12% price increase in less than two years time. I figured I'd rather invest the 500 peso processing fee in a brand new unit than risk the old unit failing again in a couple of months.
I was expecting to get a discount from PC Express since they usually provide a discount for customers when they pay in cash. But they have what they call a "CASH basis" price list. It essentially is the same price list they have been providing all these years with the term "CASH basis" printed on it. This means, gone are the days of a cash discount from their stores. The price on the list is what you would pay if you paid with cash.
I was not a happy customer. PC Express discourages warranty claims by charging a processing fee. I got in touch with the Department of Trade and Industry and narrated my concern. (You can call them at 751-3330 local 1). According to them, in this case, PC Express shouldn't have asked for a processing because services should be free under a warranty. It should be PC Express' responsibility to spend for the shipping fee of the unit to APC's repair center because the product was still within APC's guaranteed two-year warranty.
Called up APC to see their take on the issue. (You call call their customer service hotline at 976-9999). They advised that I should have called them directly at their hotline and after troubleshooting, if the unit needs replacement, they can have a replacement shipped within 2-3 business days, or if the unit is out of stock, within a week. But APC agrees that PC Express shouldn't be charging their customers a processing fee since the unit is under the 2-year warranty.
So, if you go through the same experience I went through, if your battery backup is still within warranty, call APC directly.
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