What should I consider when looking for someone to service my television or computer?

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a service facility to have your product serviced.  Contact family and friends to see if they have had service recently and find out who they have and have not been happy with.  Contact the manufacturer's customer service number to find out who the closest warranty service is.  Even if the product is not under warranty, many manufacturers monitor their service network which gives you at least some recourse.  Keep in mind however, that just because  a service facility is not a warranty station for your particular brand or product, does not mean that they are not a capable service facility.   Check to see if they belong to local and national trade organization such as NESDA, TEA, or others as well as having certified technicians.  Because we cannot be all things to all people, on our links page, we have provided you with links to other servicers in the area that work on a variety of products.  While proper diagnostics can lead to a quick and cheaper repair, such troubleshooting typically requires certain assumptions to be made.  Poor troubleshooting skills can lead to improper diagnosis but, experienced technicians will constantly reevaluate their assumptions to confirm that a diagnosis is correct.  Those who fail to reassess their diagnosis/assumption should be avoided at all costs.   For a better idea of what I am talking about check out these videos and become aware of some of the scams that are out there.

Why is it so hard to find a servicer that works on your particular product?  Why is it taking longer to get your product serviced?

The attrition rate for service centers is staggering.  Below is a listing of the number of service centers that exist in this country dating back to 1992.  While we do not service appliances, their numbers have been included as well for comparison purposes.  An interesting site that discusses many of the problems faced by servicers and some of roadblocks put in place by legislators, manufacturers, and consumers is costofservice.com.

Well, the obvious answer is VERY CAREFULLY.  Actually, it really depends on the television. For most projection televisions, the screens are made of a special type of plastic.  These need special care when cleaning as certain cleaners can cause a chemical reaction with the screen.  First, check your owners manual.  They often give instructions for caring for your television and give suggestions for cleaning.  Failing that, your best bet is to pick up a kit at some place like Wal-Mart specifically designed to clean your screen.  An alternative is to use a damp (not dripping at all), soft, lint-free cloth and a mild dishwasher soap.  Nothing abrasive.  Go with the grain if the screen is grooved pressing VERY gently.  For regular CRT sets, this works well too.  Even though they are glass, be reluctant to use a glass cleaner.  Often times the manufacturer coats the screen at the factory in order to reduce glare and protect the screen. Common cleaners may remove this coating.  Also, if the the clothe is too damp, the liquid can run down inside the set, corroding PC boards and buttons leading to an expensive repair job.  Good luck!

Well, for the most part, you don't have to worry about this.  If you are on cable or satellite, your carrier will take care of the conversion for you.  It may require that you change boxes or something along those line but your standard televisions should continue to work.  If you receive you programming off the air however, you may have an issue.  If you are on antenna and within range, you will either need to have a television with an ATSC tuner (HDTV) OR you will need to obtain a converter box.  These converter boxes can "convert" the HDTV signal into a signal that your standard televisions can use.  The problem is range.  If you are too far away from the transmitter towers, you may end of getting a pixelized picture or no picture at all as opposed to simply a bad signal using the analog system.  If you are in range, these converter boxes work quite well.  I would recommend getting one that passes the signal through when turned of.  Essentially, these boxes act as your tuner.  You switch your tv to channel 3 or put it on the input you've hooked the box up to.  Using your tv as a monitor, you then change channels on the converter box.  Every converter box I've seen so far comes with a remote (like we all need more remotes).  The point is, that for most consumers, the conversion will not affect them to a large degree and they can continue to use their standard television sets.  See https://www.dtv2009.gov/ for more information.

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