I work for a bare board manufacturer and have had to deal with this 
     issue many times. It will always be the responsibility of the board 
     mfg to supply electrically GOOD boards. However if the customer 
     decides not to pay for electrical test then in that case it will be 
     the responsiblity of the board supplier to replace the boards PERIOD.
     I think it is no different for the OEM.  Would any OEM out there 
     set-up a functional test set for FREE. The cost will either be 
     amortized into the piece price or paid for as NRE. It is my experience 
     that you don't get things for free in this life.
     If we take this to the next level and get this scenario. I purchase 
     $100 worth of laminate material from a supplier which is rated as V0. 
     We build boards they are assembled and shipped to the end user.  A 
     defective part causes the fans to shut off,the unit overheats and the 
     unit burns completely. Do I understand that there are people out there 
     that feel it would be fair to pass along the complete cost to the 
     laminate supplier?  I have a problem with bringing lawyers to help 
     settle disputes.  I think the level of liablilty should be discussed 
     openly between the parties. I can't help but feel if there is a good 
     realtionship between the 2 parties that things can't be worked out.
     
     Alan C. 


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: seek for powerful strike on customers who don't reason!
Author:  [log in to unmask] at INTERNET_GATEWAY
Date:    10/21/96 6:10 AM


     It always amazes me how PCB Fabricators expect OEM's to be 
     responsible for testing a board to prove the Fabricator has 
     done his job. Why doesn't the Fabricator test the board to 
     insure he has done his job properly? Why is this cost always 
     passed down to the OEM? 
     
     
     
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: seek for powerful strike on customers who don't reason!
Author:  [log in to unmask] at Internet 
Date:    10/19/96 4:13 PM
     
     
     
Hi!  This is JH.
     
 I read the article "Ownership of Liability for Board Defects before and
After Assmbly" on October issue of CircuitTree.  My customer is asking me to 
pay for  the components ,assembly labor, etc. loaded on the defected boards.
 The board is $9.00 that I charged him.  In return he wants me to pay $30.00
per board!  He is holding the payment for other invoices (totalled more than 
$10k), which has nothing to with this order.  The electrical test was not 
requested.  The customer took his own risk to load the components without 
having inspection.  I am willing to replace the bad boards but not willing to 
pay for the cost that I have no way to control.  
     
My intention here is to seek for a knowledgeable attorney who has experence 
in this area to punish this kind of customer(s) who don't care what you think 
or what you say!   In the article, it mentioned "tested many times in court."
  Do you have any case numbers and documents available?  Those can be very
helpful if  they are presented to the judge or attorneys who also needs to be 
"educated" .  
     
     
     
     
     
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