Todd, I took the liberty of forwarding your msg to Honda Lo in Taiwan, and
I'm CC'ing this one.
IMHO, the Scanwit is an excellent value, compared to how bad the "cheap"
filmscanners are, and how costly the "good" ones are. I've had similar
problems with their Customer Service--as, I think, many Acer customers have
(it took a Class Action Suit re: monitors, not scanners--to get their butts
in gear in the US). Jerry Oostrom's problem is particularly perplexing--it
could happen to me, next week.
I *do* in fact think that the Taiwanese are sincere about putting--and
keeping--a good product on the market. After all, it's in their best
interest to get repeat as well as new customers. But "Bean-counters," as I
know them, know no national boundries--some of them are prone to look only
at "Short-term Profits," sort of like the well-known "boiler-room operation"
that can fold its tent and sneak silently off into the night, then set up
again next day in another boiler room with another name. Acer has too much
invested to do this, though they've made some serious mistakes re hiring CS
people with no experience with what and who they're dealing with, or even a
scanner to look at. I don't believe it's restricted to Acer, either--it's
aparently a widespread problem.
It's possible I didn't pay as much as I should have, to expect the kind of
reliability that I need in a product--but it's possible that some have, and
didn't get the reliability they paid for (I have a very specific flatbed in
mind ;-) ). It would be nice if mfgrs paid a little closer attention to the
details and their customers. Otherwise, we may be around longer than they
will, I allus says. ;-)
Best regards from the Rust Belt--LRA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: "Todd Radel" <thr@schwag.org>
>Reply-To: filmscanners@halftone.co.uk
>To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
>Subject: Re: filmscanners: NikonUSA warranty service
>Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 21:57:06 -0400
>
>Lynn wrote:
> > I think the answer, if any OEMs are reading, is that the techs
> > need the training, and they need to be "involved," i.e. doing a bit of
> > scanning for their own pleasure. An auto mechanic who doesn't drive
>isn't
> > likely to be very reliable.
>
>Or, at the very least, to at least have laid eyes on the product they're
>supposed (alleged?) to be supporting! Case in point: the Acer techs who
>have
>never seen a 2740, had no film scanners on their desks (or even in a nearby
>lab) in which to reproduce users' problems or to become familiar with the
>product, and had no idea what "MiraPhoto" was, let alone "SCSI". And they
>freely admitted all of this to me over the phone.
>
>Lynn, your analogy doesn't go far enough. It's more like an auto mechanic
>who has never even seen a car, but has read about them in
>_Popular_Mechanics_ and feels qualified to diagnose engine problems over
>the
>phone. Next time I have a problem, you can bet I won't bother calling Acer
>for help -- I'll post here instead. You can't support users if you haven't
>"been there and done that" yourself.
>
>Granted, most hardware companies try a little harder than Acer has. It's
>really a shame, because overall my 2740 is a nice piece of hardware for the
>price -- but I can't recommend one without lots of qualifications.
>
>--
>Todd Radel - thr@schwag.org
>
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