Oops...now what? A lesson on how to navigate equipment repairs

When a critical piece of equipment conks out in the middle of a busy clinical day, how do you feel? Do you want to hit the panic button, or do you have Plan B in place? Do you know how to keep your cool while you get the situation under control?

Accidents happen and things get broken, but the key is knowing how to manage the situation with minimal angst. Let's look at the story of one dental hygienist who learned this lesson the hard way.

The case of the busted headlight

Three weeks ago, Kim’s Saturday schedule was jammed. There was no room to take a breath. As she was quickly setting up for her next patient, the unthinkable happened. Her headlight battery pack slipped off her waistband and crashed to the floor.

Boom!

Kim had invested in the high-quality portable headlight six years ago, as the overhead lighting at her clinical office was less than ideal. Kim was accustomed to using the headlight mounted on her loupes. It was just what she needed to provide sufficient illumination to do her work without stress.

Over the years, Kim realized the loupes-light combo not only helped improve her neck posture, it was also saving her shoulder from annoying, repetitive overhead reaches. And she noticed less eye strain. Kim’s loupes-light system allowed her to do better clinical work. She was hooked on lighting.

Kim picked the battery pack up off the floor and quickly reattached the cable, but the headlight did not turn on. Kim’s next move was interesting, but in hindsight, probably not optimal. Kim asked her colleague if she could try the headlight cable in her colleague’s battery pack, a device made by another company. Surprisingly, the headlight lit up. This led Kim down a false diagnostic pathway.

Self-diagnosis woes

It seemed logical at the time for Kim to try her cable in another battery pack, but this strategy is not advisable. Every device has unique specifications. Even if two similar products are sold by the same company, there is no assurance that swapping parts is a safe plan, and it’s even more dicey when the products have electronic components. Kim was trying her best to troubleshoot the immediate situation, but that's where the problem got bigger. Over the next few weeks, Kim continued to self-diagnose her headlight problem. She never contacted the manufacturer for guidance. She just tried to solve the problem on her own.

Kim finally concluded that the battery was bad, so she contacted the manufacturer and placed an order for a new one. But remember, she never had a conversation with the company’s technical support about what might be going on. When the new battery arrived, she swapped it out. But her system still did not work. At this point, she contacted customer service and was told the company had a no-return, no-refund policy on batteries.

That was the last straw. After three weeks of being without a headlight, Kim was frantic and posted a rant in a Facebook forum. She had invested in high-quality equipment and felt betrayed. Frustrated, she reached out to her fellow hygienists for condolences.

Stop the action and rewind the scene

How could this whole story have played out with less frustration and drama? First of all, when it comes to equipment, we are dental professionals, not electronic-repair experts. It's important to understand our limits and take responsibility for understanding equipment warranties. Kim’s original equipment was well past the warranty period, but if it had still been covered, trying to self-repair the battery pack would have voided the warranty terms.

When an event like this happens, it's best to call a company’s technical support line. It’s their job to help customers and to troubleshoot issues. Through the years, tech support experts have seen and heard every story on the planet. They are your lifeline and their jobs are all about helping customers.

Some problems are easy, and technical support can walk the owner through the fix over the phone. Sometimes a new part may be the solution. Companies often have videos or PDF files to walk users through simple repairs. And sometimes the damaged product can be sent to the manufacturer for evaluation at their repair facility. Give them a chance.