I used to be a tech for a local PC firm that customised PCs for handicapped people. (the field is known as 'assistive technology'). I therefore have my fair share of RMA experience:
Acer laptops - Usually on hold (hold music has been the same since 2004!). UK call centre. Most machines are turned around in a week although they are notorious for months-long sagas, usually when they are awaiting a spare part. As Neoboy had said - you do need to book the courier yourself although it is free. Acer used DHL then it became Citylink for a bit and now they're back to DHL. You do need a box.
Toshiba laptops - You're normally straight through to tech, and most laptops are turned around in 3-5 days, even if it's a faulty mobo. They use DHL, and unlike Acer, you don't need a box. DHL provides a box that is tailored for a laptop.
Ergo laptops - Ergos are re-badged Asus laptops, so if there is a fault, they order Asus parts but Ergo are a company in their own right. There is no phone queue - you're normally straight through to someone. You arrange the Fedex courier by faxing Ergo (weird) and most machines were back within a fortnight. Beware though, some Ergo laptops had flimsy hinges, particularly the Ensis 211. We had to send back dozens of machines with broken hinges. Ergo honoured most of the repairs but attributed some of them as down to customer damage.
HP printers - HP are my least favourite people to deal with. It's mainly because they have so many different telephone numbers, I don't always get the right department. Plus they used to have a UK call centre but they off-shored it soon after 2003. It was also tricky because HP prefer you to be with the printer so that they can carry out diagnostics. This often meant that the customer had to call HP direct, and due to HP's overall uneasiness, it has caused a lot of fireworks between the IT department and the customer.
Epson printers - They have Epson Express Centres, so as long as there is one near to your post code, it was never a problem for the customer to take their printer in. It was tricky for wheelchair users though, so we had to go out for those.
Apple desktops - Again, they have express centres, so as long as there was one near to you, then cool.
PC desktops - We used local firms and they were generally OK. This was until one of the PC firms became a competitor to us and stopped supporting our customers who bought their PCs through us.
Olympus dictaphones - You can't fault Olympus. You don't even need to phone them. Just send the faulty product with enclosed covering letter and receipt, and they'll repair/replace within the week. (The same applies to Olympus cameras from personal experience).
TFT monitors - Most companies were OK with faults, although the dead pixel policy was sometimes a pain. Iiyama (they pronounce it Eeee-yama lol) used to be good in that respect with zero tolerance, but they went to pot from 2007 onwards. After that, Philips had the best post-sales support. Thankfully though, TFT monitors don't fail anywhere near as frequently as the old CRTs did.
As a home user:
OcUK builds - Overlocked bundle purchased last year, motherboard was faulty. Raised RMA via the private "OcUK Matters" section of the forum. Send bundle back to OcUK. Replacements arrived 1 week later. I had a bit of hassle in 2006 where I did my own OcUK build and the build wouldn't POST. After sending numerous parts back and to find that they were all functioning, it turned out that I chose an incompatible CPU. Just bad luck there, but otherwise OcUK are excellent and I've used them solidly since 2003.
HP optical drives - I went through a phase of CD burners and none of them lasted longer than 1 year, even though I probably only burnt about 10 CDs on each drive. Those that were lucky enough to be within the 1 year warranty were replaced without hassle. I switched to LG drives in 2004 and none of them have failed yet, touch wood.
. Prior to that i think ill stop now.
