THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 10, 1995 TAG: 9507080323
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Here's another argument for home and rental insurance policies: computers and the dark thunderstorm clouds hovering above Hampton Roads most summer afternoons.
Those clouds may lead to a nightmare that can fry your personal computer, leading to thousands of dollars in repairs or replacements.
That's what happened to my computer one Sunday afternoon. A bright streak of lightning lit up the sky and thunder boomed like an earthquake. My apartment shook and I jumped about three feet in the air.
After the storm passed, my telephones were out and my computer greeted me me with ``clickety-clickety, cliiiiick-eh-teee, cliiiiick . . . BEEEEEP BEEEP.''
Then, these messages flashed: ``CMOS'' something.
I can fix this, I thought as I pulled out manual after manual.
Guess what? Not many mentions of CMOS. The manual ``PCs for Dummies'' was the most helpful. It said CMOS was pronounced ``see moss'' and was something most users should never know about.
My relatively new 486 was still hooked up when the Bell Atlantic repairman arrived. I was embarrassed to find out that my telephone service was working fine.
The irritable repairman pointed to the culprit: my computer.
``If you had unplugged the jack to your computer, your phones would have worked fine,'' he said. ``The problem is your computer. Next time, you should
``Are you listening to me?'' he asked.
The repair bill got my attention: $40.
I called the place where I had purchased my computer. The person who picked up the phone informed me that, no, my computer policy would not cover any lightning damage. (I'd neglected to renew my policy, anyway.)
``But,'' I told him proudly. ``I have a SURGE PROTECTOR!!!!''
Snorts from the computer repair guy.
Apparently, a surge protector protects you from power surges. But when power spikes, you need a spike protector. And some surge protectors have spike protection built into them, but you'll never know this unless you ask.
What exactly is a spike? Apparently, it's something bigger than a surge - possibly comparable to a tsunami. Other than that, it's like ``see moss.'' Run for your life.
Another crucial piece of information: surges and maybe spikes can also come through the phone lines, which apparently happened to my computer. So if you have a modem hooked up, you might get a surge-spike-phone protector.
Silly me.
I called American Power Conversion, maker of my surge protector, and talked to electrical engineer Brian Koch, a real friendly guy. He said I'm a lucky PC owner, because my computer wasn't hit as hard as others. He says he has heard of lightning storms that have cost computer owners $2,500 or more - basically killing their PCs.
But the real reason I called was the fine print in American Power's brochure - something about the company paying for this sort of destruction.
``Soooo, um, what are the chances your company will pay for my computer?'' I asked. ``I had a SURGE PROTECTOR!!!''
``Umm . . . I don't think so,'' Koch said.
He explained that if I had purchased surge-spike-telephone protection, I'd be all set to file a claim against his company. ``We'll protect you for up to $50,000!!!!'' he exclaimed.
So why don't customers know about these things?
``That's a good question,'' says Koch.
Of course, PC owners should know better than to leave anything plugged in during a thunderstorm, computer experts say. You're supposed to run and unplug everything before the storm.
(Whoever wrote these warnings never lived in Hampton Roads during the summer.)
Well, maybe it's better to leave the computer unplugged unless in use, the experts say.
Anyway, back to the insurance thing. I happened, for some reason, to NOT lapse on my rental insurance. I called State Farm, and they said, ``Give us the estimate.''
``No problem,'' I thought, ``I can do this.''
I called the insurer with the total damage: $250. My bill merely included Bell's 2-minute visit, a busted modem, some diagnostic gobbledygook work.
I detailed the entire story to the State Farm guy, who listed patiently and then responded: ``Umm, that's your deductible.'' ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Lightning is Mother Nature's formidable weapon against high-tech
hubris.
by CNB