| Programs for Profit |
Nothing is more useless than a blown Spectrum. Wendie Pearson finds gold at the end of the soldering iron
IT'S GIVEN UP the ghost. You're tearing your hair out, practically climbing up the walls trying to get the damn thing to function but NOTHING WORKS.
What can you do? Chuck it out of the window? Thump it? Kick it? You're more likely to curse aloud and start poking its insides around - but don't. Although it's tempting to go for it with the soldering iron, you'll probably do more harm than good. People messing about with their micro's innards are half the reason third party maintenance companies are in business at all.
But once your micro is in the hands of those people, what will they do to it? Will you get your money's worth? And how long will you have to wait?
Advice from the maintenance companies is loud and clear - leave the messing around to the experts, or you'll be sorry. Not only do they have machines admitted to their sick rooms all choked up and covered in biscuit crumbs, coke and lemonade, but there is also evidence that many users fancy themselves as amateur surgeons and completely wreck their machines.
Verran Computer-fix in Camberley runs an insurance scheme in conjunction with the Domestic and General Insurance Company in Wimbledon.
Verran has a First Aid Plan covering all home computers with premiums based on the machine's value. Micros worth up to £150 cost £16.60 for a 12 month guarantee covering fire, theft and damage. Machines worth between £150 and £299.99 cost £22.60 for the same cover and the QL, at under £600, would be £30.60. On the peripherals side, a printer worth £300 would be covered for £29.60.
The company is run by commercial manager, Laurence Fritwell who says, "Computer-fix is the biggest computer services company in the world, with branches in France, Spain and Germany. It's an advantage to work with an insurance company as it gives a company more credibility."
Fritwell says their Superfast repair service will turn machines around within seven days, subject to availability of spares.
"Our prices include postage and transit insurance. It's a fast and direct repair and we have a comprehensive range of computerised test equipment to see what's wrong with a machine when it arrives."
Like every other maintenance company we talked to, Fritwell says the main preventable problem is plugging an interface into the Spectrum while it is still on. That does ghastly things to the PCB. "It's rare that we have an irreparable machine, but people do horrific things to them," he says. "One person put 240 volts down the ear and microphone socket and that sort of thing blows every chip on the board."
Eric Allen, marketing manager of Domestic and General says, "We don't take on people from outside the UK. It is very complicated, as you have to conform to the individual country's regulations. If a foreign user approached us, we would refer them to repair agents there."
D & G operate various schemes through a number of companies including RCS Computer Services in Feltham, who deal with Acorn machines, and John Menzies. They also run a general scheme called Computer Care. That is available through various retailers although, oddly, Dixons, Boots and Currys will not do it. "They haven't seen that there is a market need for it." says Allen. Slapped wrists for all three!
Computer Care is taken out within 30 days of purchasing your micro and costs £12.60 a year for a micro worth under £150, giving you a one year extension to your guarantee. If you want to extend it for four years, it costs £25.60.
D & G are covered by the Department of Trade & Industry so that policy holders are protected by the 1976 Policyholders Protection Act. That safeguards the end user in the event of a third party maintenance company going into liquidation. If that happens, you then have redress to the British Insurance Association which deals with claims of that sort.
It seems, however, that few people insure their micro when they first buy it. "Most people don't take out a policy until the thing breaks down," says Fritwell. "At the same time, it's like any other insurance policy and the reason more people don't insure their micros is that they're often unaware that there is a breakdown policy of this kind available."
One company there to help when your Spectrum gets sick is Mancomp Ltd, based in Manchester and run by Mike Bhatt. Of all the repair companies Sinclair User spoke to, this one seemed the most professional when it came to advice and a helpful attitude.
Bhatt is insistent that anyone with a problem should phone him at his premises, tucked away between Manchester City Centre and Stockport. He is happy to give all the advice he can over the phone.
Mancomp runs bilingual ads with half in German. That caters for overseas readers and is a considerate gesture on the part of Mancomp. The company has a multilingual member of staff who speaks German, French and Italian and helps specifically with overseas enquiries, which account for a fair proportion of its business.
There is no set price for repairs. "We try to be flexible, depending on the problem. The minimum price is £9.00 and the maximum £23," says Bhatt. "We will repair things while people wait - all they have to do is phone and we'll advise them on their problem. If it turns out that they should come in, and are near enough to do so, we make an appointment and give them a quote as to the repair price. It's up to them whether they wish to proceed.
"There's no shortage of repair companies, but our reputation helps us rather than anything else," he says. "We will bust a gut trying to repair a machine and will never reject one unless the damage is phenomenal."
Bhatt's basic advice goes as follows. "Don't keep anything metallic or liquid on the same surface as the micro, particularly near the Spectrum's rear end, as it could go inside and short-circuit it. Also, keep all the leads tidy as kids playing nearby can easily pull it off the table and wreck it."
Bhatt says repairing it yourself can often result in small hairline cracks in the Spectrum bodywork, and little bubbles of solder can be left behind which fall into the Spectrum's innards making it short-circuit. That will result in lots of problems, so that you won't know what is wrong.
The only micro Mancomp has been unable to take so far is the QL, due to the shortage of spares, although Bhatt has not been short of queries on this machine. At the time of writing, Preston-based distributor CPC was expecting its first big delivery of QL spares which it will distribute to interested third party maintenance companies - just in time for all those QLs coming out of warranty towards the end of the year.
Those based near Coventry may care to try Quantum, at the City Arcade Shop who do all Sinclair repairs including Interface 1, microdrive, ZX-81, 16K RAM pack, Spectrum ZX Printer, Spectrum and QL - once parts are received. Repairs are done on the premises and a Spectrum repair will set you back about £20 including VAT and parts while a ZX-81 repair is £2.50 cheaper.
"If more than £10 worth of spares are necessary, we'll do a written estimate for the customer", says manager Glen Lloyd, who finds that most sick Sinclair machines arrive in the school holidays.
Lloyd is irritated by magazines which teach readers how to build things like interfaces. "Unless you've done a lot of building, you stand a good chance of wrecking your computer," he says. "Some customers think they're experts when they're not. They go around connecting strange things to the Spectrum, like homemade edge connectors."
The culprit, it seems, is that ominous little wafer of plastic that goes vertically down the edge connector. If that bit falls out you can easily stick the plug into the wrong hole.
The machine will be damaged unless it is switched off within seconds - so be warned. "We recommend that you glue the plastic in place to stop this happening," says Lloyd.
Another common problem is the membrane underneath the Spectrum's 'dead flesh' keyboard. That becomes brittle with age and use and is likely to need replacing at some point.
Although the company does not concentrate on education, they do Coventry City Council's repairs and they're popular with US customers too. Users of the old Timex can get it to perform like a Spectrum if they have a Sinclair ROM to go inside, so Quantum do those mail order.
Ishtiaq Hussain at Luton's Chiltern Repair Centre bases his service on 'speed and reliability' - two things he feels Sinclair lacks. "Sinclair would probably charge you more, and our service is quicker," he says. "We turn machines around within three to five days. "
That is certainly better than Sinclair's efforts on a 10 working day turnaround system, charging £30 compared with Hussain's £18.
Again, plugging in peripherals while your Spectrum is on was Hussain's main warning, combined with messing about with your machine.
Meanwhile, if you are stationed in the depths of Norfolk, MP Electronic Services in Dereham is a good bet. A ZX-81 repair is £12.50 including six month's warranty, while Spectrums cost a straight £20 all-in. The company also does modifications to power supplies and ULA circuitry.
"About 50 percent have been damaged by users, by the 'power on' phenomenon. There are lots of memory failures and CPUs getting damaged by users," says service manager Alan Jackson.
The bulk of MP's foreign custom comes from the RAF and WRAF in Germany - they do a lot of work for the forces here, too, so most of the work comes through recommendation.
Having heard more than a few complaints about Sinclair, we turned to them for their comments. Officially, repair time is 10 working days from the date Sinclair receives your burnt/broken offering. Asked about the long delays, spokesman Julian Goldsmith says, "If you consider that there are one and a half million Spectrums in the UK, even if you handle 0.1 percent of them, that's still a lot, especially considering that things get lost in the post etc."
Commenting on independent maintenance companies, he says; "If those people are more local and convenient for people, fine. The only problem is if it's done by people who aren't properly qualified or who use the wrong parts. It's like putting one star petrol in a Rolls Royce."
Goldsmith says he is unaware that people are having problems getting spares for the QL and that "they wouldn't need them anyway," as most are still in warranty.
Although the one year warranty still stands, you will not get your Spectrum replaced by Sinclair after it has gone more than one month into its warranty period, as Sinclair has had problems with users "seeking to get a new machine at the end of its life and generally taking advantage of the return system."
If the hardware has been tampered with in any way during the warranty period, you invalidate the warranty, but the upgrade kit which lets you turn your Spectrum into a Spectrum Plus, by attaching a keyboard, is an exception to that. Goldsmith says Sinclair will do this for you if you do not feel happy about DIY.
Sinclair charges £30 for a Spectrum repair out of warranty and will charge a horrendous £60 for the QL. If you have a bust ZX-81, forget it. "You can buy them for about £20 from Boots or elsewhere so I don't think we'd bother mending it," says Goldsmith.
| "the message is that independent companies are not only faster than Sinclair but cheaper too" |
Video Vault at Glossop, Derbyshire has a computer which checks each micro coming in for repair. Riad Kassar, managing director, says, "We put a connector onto the circuit board of the customer's micro and it reads the board to find the fault. Many customers have messed about with their machines and have put the wrong components in."
Video Vault turns over 400 machines a week and has a claimed success rate of 95 percent. Not only is it good to find a company which admits it is not 100 percent perfect but it also gives you a free game with your repair so you can test out your Spectrum to see if it has been mended properly. Jolly Roger, a graphic adventure worth £6.00, was written by the company and uses all 48K of the Spectrum memory. "We have a thorough checking system and we even put new rubber feet on if they're missing." Cute, eh?
A security seal is put on each machine afterwards so that if it is returned a second time, the company can see whether someone has tampered with it. If the seal is intact, the machine will be repaired again.
Spectrums are fixed for £19.95 inclusive and they do Spectrum Plus upgrades for £30 plus postage and packing. A repair and upgrade is £49.95.
At TV Services in Cambridge, managing director, Ben Done charges £18.75 for Spectrum repairs, £11.50 for ZX-81s and £19.95 for 16K RAM packs. They will also do QL and microdrive repairs once spares are delivered and are happy to repair for foreign users.
Meanwhile, beyond the bracken and heather MicroServ in darkest Denny, Scotland, is doing its stuff. In fact, Sinclair had better watch out if manager Jim Lynch keeps to his expected price for QL repairs estimated at £20 plus parts, postage and packing, making a likely price of around £30. Spectrums cost £20 and ZX-81s £15 and both prices are inclusive. "We'd give an estimate over the phone but not a definite quote until we'd seen the machine, and there's a three month warranty on each repair." Spectrum repairs take an hour while you wait or 24 hours if posted.
Overall, the message seems to be that independent companies are not only faster than Sinclair but cheaper too, in addition to giving a more personal service.
Users wanting to keep their ZX-81s in good nick will find them useful, and it is worth deciding whether to insure your micro through one of the companies mentioned or take pot luck with one of the other companies. Many advertise in Sinclair User and the list below is only a fraction of the outfits in existence.
One reader did have problems with a service company based in Birmingham. After continual problems trying to get his Spectrum fixed by the company, the reader eventually got some joy at Computer-fix instead.
We would like to hear your experiences of such companies first hand, so if you have any comments on the subject, or any friends who have used them, do write to us at Sinclair User.