mPower Extended Service Contract
HumanWare US offers an Extended Service Contract on the BrailleNote family of products. Customers in other countries should contact their local HumanWare distributor regarding the service contracts provided in their country.
The Extended Service Contract comes into effect after the expiration of the normal warranty and may be renewed on a yearly or two yearly basis. Subsequent renewals are at HumanWare's discretion based on the serviceability of the unit and the availability of replacement parts.
Recent changes have been made to the availability of the Extended Service Contract for mPower units that contain "transplanted" Tieman braille displays. The changes do not affect mPower units fitted with the KGS braille display, which may be distinguished by the one-piece integrated cell cover and touch cursor switch.
Effective 8 November, 2007 the Extended Service Agreement is no longer available on mPower Transplant units that use the Tieman braille display, and is now only available on braille machines that use the KGS braille display. Tieman units will normally have a serial number lower than 17881 for braille keyboard models, and 17951 for QWERTY keyboard models. The Tieman cells may be further identified by the square rubber touch cursor switch above each cell.
All current Extended Service Contracts on units fitted with Tieman displays will be honoured through to their expiration date.
The reason for withdrawing the Extended Service Contract on mPower Transplant units containing Tieman braille cells is that some of these units are now approaching 7 years of age and it is becoming increasingly difficult to source spare parts for these cells, with some items being impossible to obtain.
If your BrailleNote with Tieman display was transplanted and is in good working order, there is no reason to upgrade to a new unit. You may choose to pursue minor repairs if parts are available. If the technician determines that the repair is expensive, a trade-in will be offered to those with Tieman displays to upgrade to KGS. Many units are approaching 7 years of use and the braille display no longer has the performance of a new display. For this reason, several people have chosen the option to upgrade their braille display only from a Tieman to KGS. Complete displays and parts for KGS displays are available and units with the KGS display can continue to purchase service contracts.
Customers who already have an mPower fitted with a Tieman display may upgrade from the Tieman to KGS display and will receive a one year warranty on the entire unit. A 10% discount is available on Extended Service Contracts taken out at the time of purchase of the Tieman to KGS braille display upgrade.
The braille display upgrade replaces the Tieman braille display and its associated touch cursor electronics in mPower Transplant units fitted with Tieman displays. Other components such as the motherboard, keyboard, thumbkeys and battery remain as per the original Transplant unit.
Price to upgrade mPower Tieman 32 cells to KGS 32 cells is US$2995
Price to upgrade mPower Tieman 18 cells to KGS 18 cells is US$1995
Price to upgrade from mPower Tieman 18 to KGS 32 cells is US$2995
The cost of the Extended Service Contract is:
BrailleNote 18 cell: US$340.00 yearly
BrailleNote 32 cell: US$500.00 yearly
VoiceNote BT US$200.00 yearly
VoiceNote QT US$200.00 yearly
HumanWare reserves the right to review the policy relating to Extended Service Contracts and their related pricing.