Seagate to offer 3 year warranty

Chennai: Computer hard drive major Seagate Technology Inc has enabled its Indian customers to ascertain the drive warranty status on the web. Through the web-based warranty authorisation facility, Seagate customers can generate the return material authorisation for faster drive replacement through its 32 SeaCare centres located in India.

Seagate offers two to four working days turnaround time on all hard disc drive replacements, and since January 2004, in excess of 97 per cent of the shipments are meeting the committed turnaround time.

Additionally, Seagate also announced that effective May 20, 2004, Indian buyers of its hard disc drives can have the option of purchasing entry level Seagate personal storage products with three years warranty through their extensive network of 700 premier partners across the country.

The entry level Barracuda range of hard drives, which carry a standard one-year warranty, can now be purchased with a three-year warranty option at an additional cost of only Rs. 150.

"We are pleased with the success of our SeaCare centers and their establishments as we continue to add value to our support services to better serve Indian users of our hard drives," said Sharad Srivastava, country manager for Seagate in India. "For example, the introduction of the web-based warranty authorisation facility will empower and enable Seagate users to deal directly with the 32 SeaCare centers and help reduce the turnaround time further. And by offering the optional three-year warranty for Seagate entry level personal storage drives in India, coupled with our comprehensive channel support through our call centres, Seagate aims to further increase customer satisfaction levels and fuel our support services in the channel market to a new height."

According to Somesh Narang, director of Elcom Trading Company Ltd, "Seagate''s SeaCare centres and its National Call Centre have helped us support our customers better. By constantly adding value to the service offering, Seagate reinforces its brand pull." "Seagate service in India is great!" says Brijesh Nigam, director of Iterate India Private Limited (IIPL), a software product company based out of New Delhi. "For a company like ours, which supports our product Automate across nearly 1000 Maruti Authorised workshops nationwide, it is critical that any hardware problems are expeditiously addressed so that my service engineers are not delayed. Seagate, through its SeaCare centers, provides very prompt replacements. The web-based warranty authorisation would help reduce the turnaround time even further."

Another contributing factor to Seagate''s success in the channel market is its ''national toll free call center'' that is testimony to Seagate efficiency and effectiveness in providing good support for pre- and post-sales service and support. The call center functions like a window to Seagate for any business or technical query on Seagate products and services. As Seagate continues to expand its business and reach out to more cities across India, it can call upon the strengths of its channel support services, in addition to its widely accepted range of world-class products, to give the company a competitive advantage in the Indian market.