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I've been trying to make more outsourcing decisions, which is difficult for me as I'm a combination of:
Recently, i've been trying to 'let go' and use money to outsource things. The idea that I have is that if I keep getting wrapped up in the minutia I can't get the important stuff done. Here's an interesting story..
Screwed up my Mac, only real form of computer at the time. Spilled coffee on it, keys stuck, which means that it was unusable. I started out by trying to fix it, pulled the keys off the board, cleaned it up with a Q-tip (the old DIY me was rampant..) put the keys back on, realized I'd broken a hinge, bought a new one online.
I'm all DIY at this point.
The key arrived, and I put it back on, it fit, but the problem persisted (something stuck somewhere) so I decided, albeit late in the game to send it off for repair. Technically, if I'm all about outsourcing I should have done this right away, but change is a process.
The alternative to repair (where I drew the line) was to buy new parts, and trial and error. I decided to just send it in. I was prepared for them to send me an estimate of about $700 to repair it, as I didn't buy Applecare, though the unit was only 6 months old so has that built in. I believe.
The Mac was returned via fedex within 48hrs. In that time they replaced the bottom case and battery. These parts were about $550 on iFixit (plus a good few hours of work methinks). If I had gone through the DIY process I may have fixed it for less, but likely would have needed to do the same as the apple technicians.
So I saved time and effort fixing this, elected to outsource it, and didn't pay a dime. They charged me zero.
My big takeaway
For one, it reinforced the choice to outsource it, and when you drill into that it is because when I ran the mental calculations I didn't really consider that I may get a free repair at that level. In my mind it was
'faff around, pay $200 or more to try out different things, and maybe it will still be screwed, vs pay $700 and get it right.'
Whereas the reality was 'send it in, and it might be $700, but heck, it might be free, and it will be made right.
Gaming it
Straight up truth, I told the customer support rep I spilled coffee, and they told me it wouldn't be covered. I wasn't out to fudge the facts. But something perhaps fortuitous happened. I didn't book the return with that first rep, I held off because I was trying to find a nearby applestore. I called back in another a few days later, and in that call I just said I wanted to send it in to be fixed, keys were sticky etc.. not hiding anything, but didn't mention the spill, just the way the conversation went.
As such, the rep generated a report to accompany my mac, and it mentioned sticky keys, not coffee. Perhaps, that plus my attempt to fix it (cleaning most of the coffee) rather than to hide the coffee incident, made the techs think:
So I didn't try to game it, but I do wonder if I had a lot of luck with this attempt to outsource, and perhaps my actions helped somehow. I still refuse to buy applecare, but I'd be ready to send it off for repair should something else weird happen.
I've been trying to make more outsourcing decisions, which is difficult for me as I'm a combination of:
- Control Freak
- Cheap Bastard
Recently, i've been trying to 'let go' and use money to outsource things. The idea that I have is that if I keep getting wrapped up in the minutia I can't get the important stuff done. Here's an interesting story..
Screwed up my Mac, only real form of computer at the time. Spilled coffee on it, keys stuck, which means that it was unusable. I started out by trying to fix it, pulled the keys off the board, cleaned it up with a Q-tip (the old DIY me was rampant..) put the keys back on, realized I'd broken a hinge, bought a new one online.
I'm all DIY at this point.
The key arrived, and I put it back on, it fit, but the problem persisted (something stuck somewhere) so I decided, albeit late in the game to send it off for repair. Technically, if I'm all about outsourcing I should have done this right away, but change is a process.
The alternative to repair (where I drew the line) was to buy new parts, and trial and error. I decided to just send it in. I was prepared for them to send me an estimate of about $700 to repair it, as I didn't buy Applecare, though the unit was only 6 months old so has that built in. I believe.
The Mac was returned via fedex within 48hrs. In that time they replaced the bottom case and battery. These parts were about $550 on iFixit (plus a good few hours of work methinks). If I had gone through the DIY process I may have fixed it for less, but likely would have needed to do the same as the apple technicians.
So I saved time and effort fixing this, elected to outsource it, and didn't pay a dime. They charged me zero.
My big takeaway
For one, it reinforced the choice to outsource it, and when you drill into that it is because when I ran the mental calculations I didn't really consider that I may get a free repair at that level. In my mind it was
'faff around, pay $200 or more to try out different things, and maybe it will still be screwed, vs pay $700 and get it right.'
Whereas the reality was 'send it in, and it might be $700, but heck, it might be free, and it will be made right.
Gaming it
Straight up truth, I told the customer support rep I spilled coffee, and they told me it wouldn't be covered. I wasn't out to fudge the facts. But something perhaps fortuitous happened. I didn't book the return with that first rep, I held off because I was trying to find a nearby applestore. I called back in another a few days later, and in that call I just said I wanted to send it in to be fixed, keys were sticky etc.. not hiding anything, but didn't mention the spill, just the way the conversation went.
As such, the rep generated a report to accompany my mac, and it mentioned sticky keys, not coffee. Perhaps, that plus my attempt to fix it (cleaning most of the coffee) rather than to hide the coffee incident, made the techs think:
- Report says sticky keys, we agree, no sign of a spill.. free repair.
- 'customer spilled coffee, please investigate damage..." maybe it wouldn't have been free.
So I didn't try to game it, but I do wonder if I had a lot of luck with this attempt to outsource, and perhaps my actions helped somehow. I still refuse to buy applecare, but I'd be ready to send it off for repair should something else weird happen.
