Conference akocoa::decpc_portables

    I finally found out the answer to my own question.  If you want to
    purchase Digital Passport service for a Digital owned Laptop, contact
    Dick Sundell @DAS.  The internal charge is $200/yr

    Don't be fooled however, Passport service on Ultra and Ultra-1's is
    'best case' fix. Most folks are reporting weeks of downtime. If you
    need generic fixes, like a disk drive, then you are probably ok. If you
    need plastics, motherboard, screen, etc. then good luck! Passport will
    not make it any faster, just pay for the repair once it can/if be
    completed.
    
    Mark

I just had a conversation with Jim Collins, who is the focal point of 
the PCBU for the outsourced company, SEQUEL, who are providing laptop 
repair. My last two incidents wtih PASSPORT service were dismal, and 
the situation seems to be getting worse. Jim is aware of the problem, 
and says that the problems are being addressed.

	(Yeah, and "I'll respect you in the morning". Or, "I'm from 
the federal government, and I'm here to help you.")

    I think you may have misunderstood Jim Colins.
    
    I see the stats daily.  We had a problem last December, but this has been
    largely corrected.
    
    Units with Passport service go to the head of the repair line.  If
    parts are available, the units are repaired the same day.  The only
    part that is in short supply now is the lower housing on the Ultra I.
    
    There is a delay in the portal-to-portal time, and this is due to the
    air courier.  Presently, Airborne delivers broken units to us at the
    end of their delivery run and makes the pick-up at the beginning of
    their afternoon run.  This means units repaired in one day may not 
    make it out the door the same day.  We are working with Airborne to 
    place us in a better position on their route.
                                                   

No, I understood Jim Collins very well. The two incidents I referred 
to were related to my daughter's PC (i.e., I am a paying customer, 
not a DEC employee). The following is an excerpt of what I sent him:

	Last year, she needed to have her A/C charger replaced due to 
a frayed power cord. The person she spoke with on the phone told her 
the part was backordered and should be available in 3 weeks. 3 weeks 
later, my daughter received a modem in the mail. The service person 
had made a mistake on the part number. She called, and was shipped 
the correct part overnight, which had been in stock all along. She 
was not happy about losing the use of her laptop for 3 weeks. After 
receiving the charger, she called the service center to find out how 
to return the modem and the defective a/c charger. She was given a 
run-around, and was never instructed how to return the items. 
Approximately 6 months later, she began receiving particularly nasty 
phone calls from Dun & Bradstreet who maintained she owed DIGITAL 
about $800 for the items. My daughter contacted DIGITAL and returned 
the items, but continued to be hounded by Dun & Bradstreet, even 
after she had Airborne supply proof of delivery to Dun & Bradstreet. 
Her last contact was about 2 weeks ago, so we do not know if this 
situation is finished yet.

	On 10-Mar-97, my daughter's laptop was picked up by Airborne 
for repair of her Hinote's hinge lid. On Friday, my daughter spoke 
with the people at SEQUEL, complaining that she was supposed to have 
48 hour turnaround. She asked that they arrange for Saturday delivery 
to our home in Orlando: if that was not possible, then ship her 
laptop to her address in Tallahassee. My wife spoke with Gene Yamada 
on Tuesday, when the laptop arrived in Orlando. Apparently, the 
laptop was left in shipping on Friday to be sent for Saturday 
delivery, but it was overlooked and did not ship until Monday. Gene 
arranged for Airborne to drive the laptop from Orlando to Tallahassee 
(a 5 hour trip) where my daughter received it about 7:00 P.M. only to 
discover that the cable for her hard disk had been removed and not 
replaced. This rendered her laptop useless. On Wednesday, she 
contacted Gene Yamada, who shipped her a cable overnight. She was 
able to install this herself on Thursday, and resume using her 
laptop. During this period (Monday to Thursday), my daughter lost $60 
in income for research work she could not do without her laptop.

    I have to add my 2 cents here.  I have a more extensive note in the
    Sales Workbench notes file but will add some here too.
    
    I sent my Ultra out at the end of December '96 and it took about 6
    weeks to get it back.  I don't believe it is legitimate to claim there
    was a problem in December but all is well now.  My unit had a broken
    case.  But that was all since it worked fine even the day I shipped it
    out!  However, Sequel replaced the Case, the LCD, the motherboard and
    the hinge.  Unfortunately, I din't get a new bigger disk out of it.  My
    personnal opinion is that they still have problems.
    
    Dave

    re; -.1
    
    you made the mistake of sending them a working hard-disk! It's the one
    thing they didn't think needed replacement! 8-)
    
    Next time, a little FCO before you send it in?
    
    Mark