A faulty device disappears without a record
The laptop goes into a box to the manufacturer and after that nobody knows where it is. Two weeks later the user calls, and then the hunt begins for the RMA number in the mailbox of somebody on holiday. This page is about that piece: the way back, and keeping track of it.
What happens to a faulty device
Five steps. The first decides whether it is a warranty case, and it is the step most often skipped.
Establish what it is
Fault, damage or wear. That difference decides whether it falls under warranty and whether sending it in makes sense; shipping a device with a cracked screen as a warranty case costs two weeks and returns a rejection.
Data off before it leaves
A device going out of the door takes its drive with it. Where possible the drive is removed and kept; where that is not possible it is wiped and that is recorded before the box is closed.
Request the RMA and ship
We request the number, prepare the shipment and send it off. The serial number, the RMA number and the date sit in one place instead of in an email thread.
Replacement with the user
The user gets a configured device from the spare stock instead of waiting. That is the point at which the manufacturer’s turnaround stops being your problem.
Back into stock or disposed of
What comes back goes into the spares tested, or it goes for disposal with the certificate. A repaired device that ends up in a drawer is money spent twice.
Three things that strand a return
In all three the device is gone and the problem is not.
- The number sits in a mailboxAn RMA number that exists only in one person’s email does not exist at the wrong moment. It belongs next to the serial number in the same list as the rest of the fleet.
- Nobody knows which device it wasWithout a serial number on the shipment, the returning box cannot be matched to the user waiting for it. That sounds like admin until three are running at once.
- The drive went alongThis is the case where it genuinely goes wrong. A drive with company data ending up at a repair party is a breach you organised yourself; it is also the easiest of the three to prevent.
What we do not do in this
The transport is part of this work and not our trade.
- We do not carry it ourselvesThe shipment goes with a carrier, and shipments outside the EU need a declaration made by a forwarder. We arrange the process and work with those parties; we do not drive or sail.
- Batteries are dangerous goodsLithium batteries fall under the rules for hazardous transport, including inside a laptop. That is why a faulty battery cannot simply go in a box; we make sure the shipment reaches a party allowed to carry it.
- We do not decide the warrantyThe manufacturer decides whether something is covered. What we do is present the case so that the decision is taken on the facts rather than on their absence.
What goes with this
The way back hangs on the stock and on the end of the lifecycle.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
What happens to the data on a device going back?
Where the drive can come out, it comes out and stays with you. Where it cannot, it is wiped to a recognised method and that is recorded before the box is closed. A drive with company data ending up at a repair party is a breach you organised yourself.
How long does an RMA take?
The manufacturer decides that, not us. What we do decide is whether the user has to wait for it: with a spare from stock, the manufacturer’s turnaround becomes an administrative fact rather than a day without a workplace.
Can a faulty battery simply be shipped?
No. Lithium batteries fall under the rules for hazardous transport, including inside a laptop, and a damaged battery carries stricter requirements again. We make sure the shipment goes to a carrier allowed to do that; we do not carry it ourselves.
The way back with a record
Tell us how many devices fail in a year and how it runs today. You get back where the turnaround sits and which step gains the most.
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