Business: Howto Lower Warranty Costs

I recently bought a Toshiba laptop.  It wasn’t cheap, way over $1,000.00.  It was slim and light, it had all the right buzzwords – Intel Dual Core, Windows 7 Free Upgrade, lots of cache and disk, LCD screen.  The works.  I also came with a large book of warranty.  You know, this document that explains to you that all, virtually all the technical mishaps and troubles that will ever happen to anyone but you will be covered for a limited time.  Your technical problems will be special and will be covered by another booklet, the “extended warranty” booklet.

Anyhow, as I am looking through the booklet, I realized, after a few pages, that although the letters are familiar to me, the content is not.  At least not always.   It seems that in order to save, the little booklet was printed in a country that’s, well, how should I say it in a polite way, not Israel.  As Israel is the one and only Hebrew speaking country in the world, it’s highly unlikely to get skilled and proficient Hebrew printers outside Israel.

The result is anywhere between useless and ridiculous.  After all, using reasonable language to communicate with your customers is kind of, well, basic.  I scanned the front page, which is eye catching in its misery.  And while I love the laptop, I’d have to admit that Leading Innovation is somewhat a pompous statement when it’s stamped on a page that’s carrying a bunch of unrelated letters in a foreign language.  Toshiba, spend the extra $1.0 and have the booklets printed locally in whatever country.  Trust me, it’s worth it.

There are some things it simply isn’t worth to save on.  A kid’s smile, a woman’s heart, a user’s understanding that someone really cares.  Well at least just a little more than the next quarter bottom line.