Benefit of Labelling customer machine

[Your PCMD]

The main benefit for me to apply a label is not for advertisement, but to save and make me money. How so? Well, you never know when a client will decide to try and fix it themselves at some point. Applying a label in certain locations - be it laptop or desktop - with the words "warranty void if removed or seal broken" ensures me that if an issue arises and the client complains or files a warranty claim, I'll know whether to cover it or not. You'd be surprised at how many clients come back with broken seals.

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

Spare pricing gun - our system generates a 5 digit code every time we raise a booking. When the customer's signed the booking form we use the pricing gun to sticker the booking number on the laptop, power lead, bag, and anything else with the laptop.
Very cheap, very quick, easy to do, and the price stickers take a second to remove - quite a few customers have told us they really don't like labels on their devices.

 

[GlitchGuards]

Currently we only label machines that are in shop. For this our system prints an information sheet which we stick to the machine using glue dots (those cool dots that magazines use to stick samples inside the pages); really easy to remove and leaves no residue behind. We also have warranty stickers which can be applied, but I've only used these a handful of times.

Question for those who are tagging machines with stickers: Do clients never complain about having decals added to their computer? This is my main concern when it comes to doing this, as I want to be as unobtrusive as possible to the client. And if not, how big is your sticker?

 

[ComputerPro]

Currently we only label machines that are in shop. For this our system prints an information sheet which we stick to the machine using glue dots (those cool dots that magazines use to stick samples inside the pages); really easy to remove and leaves no residue behind. We also have warranty stickers which can be applied, but I've only used these a handful of times.

Question for those who are tagging machines with stickers: Do clients never complain about having decals added to their computer? This is my main concern when it comes to doing this, as I want to be as unobtrusive as possible to the client. And if not, how big is your sticker?

We tag laptops on the bottom of the unit. Desktops on the top or side. No complaints really. Most like having the phone number on top. We used to get a few customers that wanted the stickers removed from the tops of laptops but now we just tag the bottom and no issues since.

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

Do clients never complain about having decals added to their computer?

Yes they do. One of the large electrical retailers in the UK puts labels that are about 4inches across on their service jobs and every single customer I've spoken to with one of these labels on their device absolutely hates it - removing the label with a drop of IPA usually generates some goodwill with the customer.
One of our local competitors also puts on small labels (fairly unobtrusive and normally on the underside of laptops) and a good number of customers don't like it and have said they much prefer our system.
Oddly enough though this guy's habit of changing browser homepages to his website doesn't draw as much negative feedback.....

 

[fencepost]

To make people less unhappy about stickers on the underside, make it something like "If found, please return to or contact Cheddar PCs. System ID: 12345678." Then let customers know that if their laptop makes its way back to you or someone calls you about it, you'll contact them to get it back to them.

Hard to complain about someone offering a free lost-and-found service, particularly if they don't have a return sticker of their own on there.

 

[JohnKennex]

we always inventory hardware with labels and asset tags

 

[Krynn72]

The main benefit for me to apply a label is not for advertisement, but to save and make me money. How so? Well, you never know when a client will decide to try and fix it themselves at some point. Applying a label in certain locations - be it laptop or desktop - with the words "warranty void if removed or seal broken" ensures me that if an issue arises and the client complains or files a warranty claim, I'll know whether to cover it or not. You'd be surprised at how many clients come back with broken seals.

Not sure if you know this, but denying warranty exclusively because the sticker is removed or damaged is illegal. You cannot deny warranty because someone else worked on it. It needs to be specifically because that work caused the damage. The sticker is, at best, just a clue and one that could be misleading at that.

This article talks specifically about the big guys, but it applies to anyone who offers a warranty tied to a product.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/warranty-void-if-removed-stickers-are-illegal

Not that anything is likely to come of it anyways, as the public at large seems to believe it's legal to base a warranty on the physical condition of a sticker.

 

[GTP]

Not sure if you know this, but denying warranty exclusively because the sticker is removed or damaged is illegal

Thanks for that info, I just checked with Consumer and Business Affairs in South Australia. It is illegal here as well.
Good to know.