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Commission votes to spend $3K on extended warranty for scanner

KINGWOOD — The X-ray scanner in Preston County’s courthouse is now protected by the five-year extended warranty.

And the offer didn’t come by robocall.

The yearly cost for the warranty is $3,300, County Administrator Kathy Mace told county commissioners at their most recent meeting. She said she would prefer to go year-by-year but the five-year service agreement package is the smallest the company Astrophysics offered.

The agreement provides 24/7 email and telephone support, on-site field technicians, on-site services, replacement parts, corrective maintenance visits, preventive maintenance with radiation leak testing and refresher training.

“It’s like every other insurance policy or any other warranty — you may never need it and then you may need it a bunch,” Mace said.

Also like any other warranty, the longer you have it the more valuable it is, she said. When the machine was purchased it came with a warranty, however it expired on April 22.

Commissioner Dave Price said the warranty is almost as much as the machine costs. 

Yes, over five years, Mace said. However, the machine cost nothing because it was purchased with a grant. 

Mace said she could request more information from the company’s rep but Price said there’s really nothing else they could do. They just had to decide.

Commissioner Don Smith pointed out just the travel costs for the preventative maintenance would probably be $3,300. 

Commissioners unanimously voted to go with the extended warranty. 

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