Customer Service

WARNING!: This message is set to go a little AV!!!

A friend of mine recently decided to go ahead and purchase a plasma screen for his AV room that I had previously discretely wired for full surround sound and provided him with speakers.

Using an IT trade contact of mine we purchased a Panasonic plasma screen and set up at his home. The plasma itself only has the standard PC serial input connection, so a DC powered SCART sync cable is required in order for an RGB signal to be displayed via this connection.

The problem starts in that my friend wants to watch TV on the unit but does not want to install a third SKY digi box in this room due to the added subscription expense so we used his VCR as a tuner.

We have sound but no picture which would relate to the VCR putting out a composite signal and the plasma only expecting an RGB.

The company I purchased the screen from are basically just box shifters to the trade and have no technical support so I contacted a company called JS Technology as they have just won an award for the specialist video interface boxes that are advertised as solving these kind of video interface problems.

To my amazement I receive an email from a representative of the company (who signs his name with the prefix 'Dr.'), that I should contact the supplier of the screen as he is not able to provide support for other manufacturers products.

I then sent another email stating that the supplier has no technical support and that surely as a company that offers a product which supposedly resolves the whole issue of video matching to plasma displays they can offer some advice,...the response I received was again,..."as I said, best talk with your supplier".

What is it with our British mentality towards customer service?! It's all very well winning an award for a techincally proficient product but when you have absolutely no idea on how to inter-relate with prospective customers you don't deserve anything.

What's also funny is that the company in question have the exact same plasma screen featured in their ads that my friend purchased, but yet they can not offer me a product fit for purpose.

 

very poor

unbelievable that any retailer in todays market thinks they can get away with that

 

I've just had a looksee at the JS site, very good information, well written. If you bother to read it, you will note that they don't make a composite to RGBHV converter, so their advice is correct - they can't help you, contact your supplier, who should provide you with after sales service.

Most specialist retailers are heartilly sick of providing free advice and support for people who buy plasmas and projectors from box shifters. You get what you pay for in this world, and it seems that you didn't pay very much!

Rant over.

Ed.

 

You'll need to buy a connection board that plugs into the plasma, either a scart board or a composite video board (Yuck). TBH though with a screen of this quality, why feed it with a crap signal and limit its potential?

Why does he need to have a third sky box, surely some kind of signal switching with his existing box would do the trick?

 

the other problerm is that the british public has shot itself in the foot with the new litigous society we now live in. for example if 'dr whatsit' said 'do this, that and the other and it should work' and your made did it and blew up his plasma or electrocuted himself then he or someone in his family would probably sue the good doc. who needs that amount of grief?
the other thing is that if the company itself is just the manufacturer and only supplies to trade they probably arent geared up for customer support. all the game developers i've worked for have had e-mails asking about games they've written either to buy or for help. it is the retailers or publisher job to field these enquiries, a small developer just isn;t geared up to deal with this kind of thing. there may also be contract issues where they are obliged to bounce questions off to their dealer network to give them an advantage over the box shifters.
cheers


julian

 

ListeningEar, I may have missed the point and no disrespect intended, but putting my work hat on for a minute, if you advised your pal to cut costs by buying an IT orientated plasma screen directly from a distributor, you cant really then expect technical support from a reseller.

Amongst other things my company resells software licensing. We would be irritated if a company used their corporate status to sign up direct with a Disti as a reseller in order to save money on purchases for themselves (ie. no intention to resell), then to contact us with a pre-sales "enquiry" (ie, a casual request for free technical support ) to assist their implementation because they didnt have the skills of other resellers.

The point is - if you pay more to buy from a VAR (value add reseller) you should expect to get value added in the form of support and guidance (if they're any good). If you buy direct from a Disti who doesnt provide implementation support then expect to pay someone else for that.

 

Couldn't agree more. It's hard enough to make a living these days without spending lots of time (and hence money) supporting people who don't want to pay for service....and we're all guilty of it!

 

Some very valid points and I did read the JS web site in full prior to contacting them but where is the loss in contacting a company that markets a video switching product in an attempt to determine whether further products would be available/obtain clarification on their existing products (such as the PC serial output box)?!

This exercise was not one in trying to avoid the VAR (value added reseller), I used my own former trade contacts (I had an audio distribution company), to buy a plasma which was also on offer with Richer Sounds for the exact same cost and specification.

My decision to buy through the selected channel was to support my own business contacts. But hindsight is a wonderful idea, if only it existed! I was also influenced by the fact that the supplier had appropriate technical experience but this proved later to be limited to the extent of buying a unit for themselves and only using a SKY digi box connection, beyond this they are lost.

My point was this: You offer a service to provide a product that interfaces between other manufacturers items and when approached with connection questions you pass the buck repeatedly back to the manufacturers/other suppliers who will do the same thing. No one wants ownership!

And don't even begin to get onto the issue of VAR's, going back to Richer Sounds they have no idea either other than selling a media box for £200.00 to interface with the unit when other options are available for less, and many other AV suppliers have no idea either.

I remember when running my audio distribution business VAR's were extremely frustrating in that they:

1. Only want to promote products that gives the highest margin
2. Influenced by looks over sound
3. Carried the products that required them to learn little or nothing about them

(These were the top three results in a Nationwide survey carried out in the USA of audio dealers in understanding what motivated VAR's to take on new products).

The whole issue of VAR's providing value for money is a totally seperate subject matter and one for close scrutiny as value needs to quantified.

 

...O yes, and as for expecting something and not being prepared to pay for it, that's also ridiculous as all we wanted was to get the exact product needed and then pay for it. That money would then pay for costs such as product development, customer support etc. all generally factored into any item put to market for sale!

 

no doubt we've all entered a new era in sales with the enornous popularity of internet purchasing at silly prices. a large number of calls i will recieve today will be from people who treat us as a free service provider to internet facilities and then get aggressive when we refuse to help! it's got nothing to do with the British attitude to customer service as after all, this industry does more for it's customers than any other that i've come across.
the fact is the world of sales is changing, it will become impossible to get demos on equipment available on the net, like pioneer for example, as dealers simply refuse to support these brands and i guess without a high street presence these brands will become the new obscure makes totally reliant on good press coverage.

times-are-a-changing-my-friends, bring it on!!!

 

Will a FreeView box not provide the necessary RGB out for broadcast TV?

Paul

 

Yes Paul, but the end client does not want to go this route.

It seems that persistence pays off, my repeated emails to JS Technologies has resulted in them turning around and researching a product available elsewhere that may be suitable.

Great work!

Now that is great customer service and if the product is fit for purpose then they will receive my business.

 

Could some kind soul please post the URL for JS Technology. I have Googled to no avail. Many thanks.

Robin

 

sounds like you need some cheese

 

http://www.js-technology.com/

 

Yes I've purchased many products through VAR's too and got zip by means of after sales service. Essentially the problem is that very few people in the UK give a toss about such things anymore. Malaise Malaise.

 

Robbo,
Thanks. I wonder why Google didn't find it

Robin

 

I disagree with some of the poinst above.i've been a retailer for 20 years,would i send a customer away becuase he had been to the competition? who i hellers like,its madness, a sure fire way of sending your business down the pan.the bloke in question should jhave spent 20 mins drafting a reply,then he may have got himself some business in the future.At wirst he bought some goodwill,as it happens,he got himself some bad advertising in a well read forum.see what i mean? narrow minded lazy retailers don't survive.Plus,before you all whine and say the guy might have been too busy,he wasn't too busy to check his emails,and at the very worst he could have sent a link to a helpful site,which would ahve been better than go away,or at least some honesty ie 'I am afraid that due to high business demand i cant answer all emails personally but here is a link to blah blah.........'

 

well i would have to agree with JS Tech response ,you purchased a unit via trade saving you or your freinds some cash however now you want service
from a supplier you did not purchase it from.one i dont logic how you can point the blame at JS tech at all .they didnt supply you the unit so why the heck should they stand up and say no problem sir we will sort it.

your problem obviously is buying via a trade contact doesnt buy you service or aftersales most distribution trade companies will use the manufacturers warranty and service facilities!!!!
this is such a common occurrence where someone gets clever using a trade facilitiy to save a few bucks but when all starts to go wrong you find yourself stuck without an answer.

basically do your homework buy from a good known source even if it costs your more at least you will get a peace of mind when all is not well.


sorry to be harsh but i hear and see this problem all the time and i dont sympathise if you want service or aftersales you got a pay for it! like it or not .

ps good luck in getting it sorted


brian

 

So why weren't you bitching about this company? Maybe because it's something to do with a mate of yours? Instead you start having a go at a completely unrelated outfit, simply because you didn't do your own research about the kit you were buying - in a professional capacity to install for a customer!

If you want to have a go about customer service I think you should look a little closer to home.