Making The Most Out Of Your Warranty

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By B2B Cambodia

There are countless shops in Cambodia that deal in computers and other IT hardware.

While authorised retailers for brands such as Apple are among them, there are many who falsely claim to be accredited, which can spell trouble for consumers when it comes to warranties.

Phay Som, owner of Uni Young Technologies, says that in recent years the situation for Apple customers has improved due to an increase in authorised service providers.

“Previously there was only one authorised service provider – my company – but now they have expanded … and it’s a worldwide service, meaning you can buy a Mac anywhere in the world and you can bring it here for a free service if it is under warranty.”

When it comes to problems with other brands, however, having a warranty honoured can be somewhat more difficult.

“Other brands do this also but it’s not as simple and open as with Apple. For example, if you buy a product in the United States and you want to come to Cambodia you have to send a request to transfer your warranty.”

And even if such a request is approved, the process here in Cambodia can be halted due to a number of factors as Glenn Miller, the chief information officer of Ezecom, explains.

“My understanding of where the difficulty lies has to do with a confusion or misunderstanding of the customs and excise laws. Typically, when a part fails in a machine it needs to be sent away from Cambodia so that it can be processed – either repaired and then sent back or replaced with a new part.

“My understanding of where the confusion occurs is when the item comes back across the border into Cambodia and is then treated as a brand new product again and potentially re-taxed,” he says.

“So it can be very difficult for the companies in Cambodia that are processing warranty claims for their customers because they’re faced with double taxation in a way – paying the import duty again on a product which has already been imported.”

So, as the Kingdom’s IT industry continues to expand, some of the major brands have taken matters into their own hands in an effort to better service their customers.

“As the market has grown over the years what the major brands have done is they’ve started to set up a supply of warranty parts inside Cambodia which enables them to more directly service the warranty claims inside Cambodia.

“But as you can imagine, that requires them to make quite an investment on parts that will sit in a room and might not get used.”

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