DRIVE FAILURE EVALUATION

The purpose of the drive failure evaluation is to determine the cost of repair and the cause (or possible cause) of the failure.

When sending a drive in for failure evaluation, you MUST specify either “Normal evaluation” or “Return drive under any circumstances”.  If, after disassembly of the unit, it becomes clear that repair is not worthwhile (repair would cost more than half the price of a new one) and “Return drive under any circumstances” has not been specified, we will charge only half the evaluation fee and simply throw the pieces away instead of putting the unit back together and returning it.

The evaluation will be without charge if the failure is determined to be covered under the manufacturer’s Warranty.  An evaluation fee of $150 will apply if the failure is not warranty, the drive has not been worked on by others, and is either repaired or returned.  The customer stipulates their preference when sending in the drive.  The evaluation is more difficult, and often more expensive, if the drive has been worked on by others.  NOTE:  If the customer does not stipulate either “Return drive under any circumstances” or “Normal evaluation” we will ask once in the process of sending the evaluation report and, if no answer is received, in one week we will scrap out the drive and charge the full fee.

We will fax or e-mail (please advise your choice; we prefer e-mail) the results of the evaluation when it is complete.

Any unit returned for evaluation or repair MUST be packed in its original shipping container or other suitable material (not in packing peanuts).  If not packaged in the original container, please use a strong container large enough to allow for a good amount of protective material such as bubble-wrap or foam.  If you are forced to use packing peanuts, please seal the unit completely in plastic or heavy paper so that the packing peanuts do not enter the unit (extra billable time is required to dig them out so that the evaluation can begin).

Extra charges will apply if we provide a shipping container for the return trip.
Extra insurance is normally not necessary when original containers are used, and does no good if the shipper deems the packaging “insufficient”.

Ship the unit to:

Under 100 lbs: 

Ortman Electronics   Attn: Jeff Ortman
3445 Collins Avenue, Richmond, CA  94806

101 lbs and over:

Ortman Electronics / Matrix HG, Inc.
2355 Whitman Road - Suite A, Concord, CA  94518