Bătăi de cîmpi

My new Suunto X10 wristwatch broke.

Skipping over why it broke in the first place, I'll just say that I eventually decided to have it serviced.

This was a tough decision as I was almost sure that Suunto would reject my request, given that I'd got the thing from eBay (thanks, sis!) and it came with no warranty.

So I went to Suunto's website and followed the steps to register a problem.

I got an answer within a few hours (from a human) instructing me how to fill in a service request. And by "instructing" I mean I got a printable PDF with graphics even a monkey can understand.

I filled in a simple form, and I dialed a Romanian DHL number which Suunto also provided.

The next morning the yellow DHL dude rang the front door and I gave him the wristwatch. (Technically it's called a "wrist-top computer".) No original box, no warranty papers, no cables, nothing.

1 week later I got an email from Suunto apologizing that it'll take more than the promised 7 days.

A couple of days later I got another email with a DHL tracking link and then the yellow DHL dude rang again and handed me back the device like new.

Total effort: 5 minutes (filling a simple form, making a phone call).

Total cost: 0 (zero).

Conclusion: Suunto wins.

By comparison, having my Apple laptop serviced within warranty implied me going to Bucharest on my own budget, locating the Apple service center, making an appointment, explaining the hows and whys, having all paperwork inspected and wasting an incongruous amount of time and cash. Apple loses.

Yes, Macs rarely ever break. Yes, the Suunto device was new and the fault was not rare and it was obviously at their door. But that these things work is normal, not a merit. The true merit of a hardware vendor lies in how they deal with the abnormal events, like a break-down or factory faults.

In all my experience with serviced products, I have never been as satisfied as I am now with Suunto.

Azi am fost invitat la Cluj-Napoca la al patrulea GeekMeet de-acolo. Am vorbit din nou despre Arabela. În premieră a fost invitat și prietenul meu Istvan Szakats, care a venit însoțit de colegă și soție, ambele întruchipate în Rarița Szakats. Au făcut o impresie foarte bună, atît ei cît și prezentarea lor.

Tot azi se mai celebrează două evenimente care au, în mod ciudat, ceva în comun. Este vorba de 150 de ani de la Unirea Principatelor Române, și... 25 de ani de Apple. Ce au ele în comun? Ambele reprezintă succesul zdrobitor al unei echipe de geeks vizionari.

În ideea asta, se poate spune că azi sărbătorim 150 de ani de la primul geekmeet românesc, de la hotelul Concordia din București, în 24 ianuarie 1859. (Pînă atunci am fi putut vorbi de geekmeet moldovenesc ori de geekmeet... țeararumânescian...)