Terms & Conditions
Conditions of Use
Welcome to the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site. By using the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web site and our services YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS CONDITIONS OF USE (explained below), PRIVACY POLICY and all disclaimers and terms and conditions that appear elsewhere on the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site. References to PC Alternatives herein refer to PC Alternatives, Inc., or their affiliates, subsidiaries and designees as deemed appropriate by PC Alternatives, Inc.
PC Alternatives, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site and its Conditions of Use and Legal Notices at any time. Each time you use the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site, or do any business with us in our office, you should visit and review the then current Conditions of Use, Legal Notices and Privacy Policy that apply to your transactions and use of this site. If you are dissatisfied with the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site, its content or Conditions of Use and Legal Notices, you agree that your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site. Tampering with the site, misrepresenting the identity of a user or conducting fraudulent activities on the site are prohibited.
Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
By using the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site, you expressly agree that use of the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site is at your sole risk. The PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site is provided on an "AS IS" and "as available" basis. Neither PC Alternatives, Inc. nor its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries or designees nor each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, third-party content providers, designers, contractors, distributors, merchants, sponsors, licensors or the like (collectively, "Associates") warrant that use of the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site will be uninterrupted or error-free. Neither PC Alternatives, Inc. nor its Associates warrant the accuracy, integrity or completeness of the content provided on the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site or the products or services offered for sale on the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web site. Further, PC Alternatives, Inc. makes no representation that content provided on the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site is applicable to, or appropriate for use in, locations outside of the United States. PC Alternatives, Inc. and its Associates specifically disclaim all warranties, whether expressed or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No oral advice or written information given by PC Alternatives, Inc. or its Associates shall create a warranty. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
Under no circumstances shall PC Alternatives, Inc. or its Associates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from your use of or inability to use the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web site, including, but not limited to, reliance by you on any information obtained from the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site that results in mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion or corruption of files, viruses, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance. The foregoing Limitation of Liability shall apply in any action, whether in contract, tort or any other claim, even if an authorized representative of PC Alternatives, Inc. has been advised of or should have knowledge of the possibility of such damages. User hereby acknowledges that this paragraph shall apply to all content, merchandise and services available through the PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
Product Display/Colors
The PC Alternatives, Inc. Web Site attempts to display product images shown on the site as accurately as possible. However, we cannot guarantee that the color you see matches the product color, as the display of the color depends, in part, upon the monitor you are using.
Errors on Our Site
Prices and availability of products and services are subject to change without notice. Errors will be corrected where discovered, and PC Alternatives, Inc. reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions including after an order has been submitted and whether or not the order has been confirmed.
Pricing Policy
Online prices and selection generally match those in our office, but may vary. Prices and offers listed on our web site, are subject to change without notice. It is always best to call our office to get the most current and accurate price of any hardware, software, product or service.
Tech Tips, News and Links
Our Tech Tips and other information may or may not contain links to sites on the Internet owned and operated by third parties. PC Alternatives, Inc. is not responsible for the availability of, or the content located on or through, any such third-party site. Information in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and freedom from infringement. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. We will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this information, including, but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages. Some of these tips have been reprinted with permission from WestStar TalkRadio Network®. Feel free to also subscribe to Kim Komando's free e-mail newsletters at www.kimkomando.com.
Limited Labor Warranty
We have a 30-day limited* warranty on our labor. New equipment such as a new computer or hardware such as power adapter has a 1-year manufacturer warranty for any defects only. Any new part or computer that is ordered as recertified from our vendors or purchased from us, generally has a 15-30 day warranty. At times, the vendor requires that we pay the return shipping and restocking fee specially is there are no defects to the part or product. If so, the customer may also be responsible for paying these fees as well if they cancel or decline their order once accepted. *We only offer a 30-day warranty on our labor if it directly and specifically relates to why the customer came in and the work that was performed to fix the issue. In other words, once the computer is fixed and it is picked up and paid for and the customers computer gets infected with a virus, drops their equipment, spills something on it, makes any setting changes, installs or downloads miscellanous software, etc. this is NOT covered under our normal 30-day labor warranty. If we find out after our full inspection that the customers computer or device has been misused or changed in any way beyond what we fixed, we have the right to not accept or offer our warranty at all.
Receiving, Shipping and Restocking Fees
From the day we order a part, it generally takes about 3-5 business days to receive - unless the customer chooses and the vendor offers exbedition i.e. over-night shipping. Once we receive a 100% working part, we will start the repair process. At times, if the part is not defective and returned because the customer cancels, declines or abandon's their order once accepted and ordered, the vendor requires that we pay the return shipping and\or a 15% restocking fee. These fees may get charged back to the customer if they decline to accept the part order or job once they have verbally or agreed in writing per a signed or emailed estimate. Normal shipping fees for parts can range $5 - $12 and up depending upon how fast the customer wants to receive the replacement part. At times and as a courtesy, we will absorb these regular vendor shipping fees.
Equipment Check-In Disclaimer
In some instances, the customer will bring in their equipment like a laptop, macbook, desktop, tablet, iPad, iPhone, etc. that is totally dead or not displaying anything on the screen. If this is the case, we have no way of knowing what is wrong to even begin to troubleshoot until we can get power or display to the device. Therefore, at times we will first have to install or purchase a DCPJ, cable, battery, power adapter, etc. to get power to diagnose. For any loose or damaged DCPJ issues, that the customer may have continued to try and use may have already made the condition worse or irreversable like damage or shorten out the motherboard or other equipment. Also, there are times that our diagnoses may still not always be 100% definative. In other words, we may think it is one part like a DCJP and it may be another part due to it not working like a motherboard, CPU, memory, etc. For any laptops, macbooks, etc. that may have been dropped or suffered any other trauma, may have also damaged the internal hard drive. In this case, we will try and backup the customers personal data files if requested. However, at times, the mechanical or sector damage is too servere at our level, that we cannot fix. We do partner with another company that does this type of work exclusively.
Job Completion and Notification
All job completion will vary based on the condition and if parts have to be ordered. If parts or recovery software has to be ordered, it will generally take 3-5 business days to even receive the part - unless the customer chooses and the vendor offers exbedition i.e. overnight shipping. If we have the part in stock, we can fix the computer hardware issue in the same day depending upon our current workload and equipment condition and situation. For any or all miscellaneous Microsoft, Java, Flash, security, driver, etc. type of updates, can take up to 1-2 days depending upon how fast or slow the customers equipment is. We cannot make or push this update process ANY faster. Customers will be fully notified upon 100% job completion by phone, voicemail, text, email, etc. once our technician notifies us that job is 100% complete. When feasible and\or requested, we will do our best to try and keep the customer updated on their job progress.
Other Job Fees
If the customer does want their part expedited i.e. over-night, etc. this will be added and billed on their final invoice. If we have to order any recovery media, there will a charge from the manufacturer and can range $49 and up. At times and as a courtesy, we sometimes will absorb the smaller vendor shipping fees. Other times, we will charge the customer for the replacement part and it can range about $5 - $12 depending upon how fast the customer wants to receive the replacement part. If customer wants us to send out their failed or damaged hard drive to our partner company that does this type of work exclusively, we can prepare, pack and drop off to ship for our flat administrative fee of $20. At times, our partner will waive their shipping cost to get the hard drive to them. If they don't waive their shipping fee, this fee will also be added on to the customers invoice. Once they advise us if they can fix the hard drive issue and the cost, we will notify the customer. If the customer is ok with this cost, our partner will bill us and then we will add this cost on to the customers invoice.
Paying for Your Product or Service
PC Alternatives, Inc. accepts major credit cards issued in the United States of America. Currently, we accept Visa®, MasterCard®, and AMEX® Cards as well cash. If we have to order any part for your computer, we will need to make an imprint of your credit card. We will only charge the card prior if the customer decides to decline the product or once the part arrives, job is complete, etc. All service and product payments are due immediately upon being notified by any of the following: phone, voicemail, text, email or regular mail. We are also not responsible if the customer gives us any wrong, incorrrect or out of service communication or contact information. If we cannot contact the customer at all or the customer does not pay for their product or service once contacted, a late fee of $25 will apply to their invoice as stated on their sign estimate. Your product or service can be paid for by coming into our office when you pickup up your equipment and pay by credit card or cash or by mailing us a business certified check.
Late, Collection or Attorney Fees
As listed on every estimate that is given to the customer, there will be a late fee charge of $25 if they do not pay once services have been rendered and they are notified. We notified the customer either by a phone call, voicemail, text or email once their computer is ready to be picked up. As a courtesy, we sometimes will give a 'grace period' of only 3 days for the customer to pay in full without any late fees. In addition to the $25 late fee, the customer will also be responsible for the full amount of any collection fees at 40%, attorney fees at 33 1/2% or administration fees such as certified letters, returned receipts or postage that is incurred by us trying to collect what is due for our product or services.
Abandonment
As listed on every estimate and signed by the customer; if customer has not paid for or picked up their laptop, desktop, iPad, or other miscellaneous equipment in over 30-days, their item(s) will be considered abandoned and we will then have the right to sell the item to try and recoup what is owed to us. As a courtesy, and if feasible, we may try and make a backup of the customers files only and store them on our server for an unset amount of time or until we need the server file space. If the customer wishes to only claim their backed-up files, they will also have to pay our "file backup" and "storage fee" of $89. Customer will also have to pay for the cost of one of our backup devices such as a flash drive, external hard drive, etc. This additional media cost can be saved if they simply bring in their own device so we can transfer their files.
Validating, Collecting Payment or Cancelling Your Product or Service Credit Card Charge
After you place an order with us either on the phone, in person, on our website or via email, we will check the information you give us for validity. We reserve the right to reject any order you place with us, and/or to limit quantities on any order, without giving any reason. If we reject your order, we will attempt to notify you using the e-mail address or phone number you have given us with the order. If order is actually placed, the customer will also be fully responsible for the payment of any orders that are made with us. If an order never gets paid or is collected after a product or service is delivered, there will be a flat "non-payment" fee of $35 added or charged to your credit card. This will cover our cost for reshipping and restocking fee that our vendor will charge us. Also, if a credit card payment is declined or disputed without cause or does not go thru successfully then other fee's to collect what is due such as Collection and Attorney Fees as mentioned above will also be added and or collected on your order, invoice or account.
Refund Policy
We only refund brand new computers or new parts such as power adapters, power supplies, etc. that have a manufacturer defects within the 1-year warranty time frame. Any misuse or accidental issues such as dropping, liquid damaged, etc. to any computer or device such as iPad, Tablet, PC, etc., will not be considered a defect and cannot be returned. If we find out after our full inspection that the customers new computer or device has been misused in any way, we have the right to not accept, return or refund the customer’s computer, part or money. We do not refund any open, used, installed, damaged or tampered software packages like Kaspersky Internet Security, etc. We also do not refund any labor charges.
Return Policy
Any product purchased at PC Alternatives, Inc. either in the office, Website, online, on-site, email, etc. can only be returned if the product such as a computer or other hardware has a manufacturer defect and/or is covered under the products (generally) 1-year limited warranty time frame. Any software that was purchased, opened and installed and\or the package looked as though it was damaged or tampered with, cannot be returned. Any misuse or accidental issues such as dropping, liquid damaged, etc. to one of our computers or hardware parts, will not be considered a defect and cannot be returned. If we find out after our full inspection that the customers new computer has been misused in any way, we have the right to not accept, return or refund the customer’s computer or money. If a customer decides they do not want or need any parts we ordered (once actually ordered), the customer will pay the return shipping cost (freight, packing material and labor) and a 15% restocking fee that our hardware or software vendor charges us if applicable. Any new or used parts such as hard drives, power supplies, power adapters, etc. that were not professionally installed by us, can also not be returned.