In a message dated 6/5/99 5:41:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> I would like some inputs and advice from the Tech-Net community at large.
>
> Consider the following:
>
> I recently purchased a piece of electronic manufacturing process equipment.
> The cost of the item was between $10 - $30 K. I would like to inform the
> community about the very poor service and technical support from the
> manufacturer and sales rep. The intent of disclosing this kind of
> information is to inform others who may be considering a similar purchase
to
> be aware of these shortcomings when purchasing this item.
>
> This is not a "single event" occurrance, this is month after month of not
> responding to e-mails, faxes, and phone calls. I am frustrated beyond
> tolerable limits.
>
> What then are the risks disclosing this kind of information on this forum?
> Is it important for us to share bad experiences with the hope that perhaps
> corrective action from the offending party may take place if disclosure
> results in "lost sales"? Maybe this is not the right place for this?
>
> Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.
>
> Bill Kasprzak
> Moog Inc.
>
Hi Bill!
Boy I hear ya'! I think all of us at one time or another have been totally
frustrated with the support from equipment vendors after they've sold us
their wares. Before the sale is made, the story always is that you'll be
supported 24-hours a day, 7-days a week should you ever have any problems,
which you won't because their equipment never breaks and it does whatever
it's supposed to do better than any other equipment out there.
While all are more seasoned than to buy that line, there are those vendors
out there that truly do try as hard as they can to make sure that their
customers are supported well and that they are happy with their purchase. On
the other hand, there are times that a company that has been known for it's
outstanding customer support can get into a bind for whatever reason. They've
had a mass exodus of Field Service Engineers so they're short handed, or for
some reason when the machine was originally built there was some errors made.
But if they're up front about those kinds of things to their customers, and
let them know that they're honestly trying to correct the poor support
situation, I think most of us are reasonable enough to understand, and will
cut them a little slack while they're trying to correct the problems.
But there's absolutely no excuse to ignore their customers, or try and
"suger-coat" a bad situation by not being up front about their problems. You
lose a great deal of credibility by doing something like that, and once you
lose credibility, it takes a long,long time to regain it.
Actually, I don't think it's a bad idea to expose a company that is marketing
something that doesn't work as they say it does, or doesn't support their
customers like they promise before the sale. Just as long as it's based in
fact, and all other avenues have been exhausted to try and get some
satisfaction. Maybe even the threat that you may let all of your colleages
know about the poor support that you've been receiving will be enough to
light a fire under their butts and get them to start taking care of you the
way they should.
I don't know how Jack feels about doing something like this on the TechNet,
but I feel that if something is being marketed to those of us in this
industry that is really no good and a waste of good money, I would appreciate
knowing about it before I fell for the same trap. Maybe just a post like: "If
any of you are considering buying a "XYZ Machine", send me a email and I'll
share with you privately the experiences I've had with it and the support
I've recieved." That way you won't be out and out flaming them publically,
but you'll still be able to get the point across to other people that maybe
thinking about buying the same thing.
Companies can spend a lot of money on "glitzy" marketing and advertising, but
the most effective advertising out there is word of mouth...and sometimes
they forget that. With the advent of the INTERNET, word of mouth goes a lot
farther and reaches a lot more people than it has in the past...
-Steve Gregory-
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