New member from ND purchase experience

[thehagg501]

I purchased a powertig 225 LX and a Power plasma 50 on 1-27-11
Received the units promptly and tried them out. I burnt a few rods on the 225 and the unit worked good on stick. Switched to tig using the hand controls and unit worked good. Switched to foot pedal on the tig unit and unit didn't work. I called support and Ray walked me through troubleshooting the foot pedal and the pedal checked out. He said it has to be the daughterboard in the mainboard controlling the foot pedal. I got another call from Mike the next day and he suggested we open the case and locate that board to see if I might solder a new chip. When opening we found the mainboard support bent. Mike says it looks like it was dropped. He had me measure the bend with a straight edge. I show 3/8 on one side and 1/2 bend on the other. So back in the box it goes for repair/replacement. I follow the return with the shipping number and Alex signed for it on 2-22-11. So after a week with no news I send a few emails, no response, then call Cali, no response. I call Mark my sales rep get him right away and he provided some explanation. Next day i get a tracking number. Well a week later this tracking number still doesn't have a package. So I call Cali ext 202 and got ahold of someone, seems the tech/repair guy is relocating. Anyway, is it just me or don't you think they should of sent a replacement? I even offered to pay for an upgrade to a 250

[aaxiss]

Holy cow thats bad, I feel for ya. From what I have been told the best way to get some action is via the forums here. I had an Issue and it was the phone lines that were the cause of me not being able to reach anyone . I was getting a msg that just said Blah blah blah and mailbox full. evidently the lines were somehow crossed.

I do believe that the problem lies in the fact that they are waiting on the unit to send out to you. I believe that they should have them now or very soon to send out as they made port and customs a while back . I know it is frustrating but the reason the costs are low is because they are a small company and stay very busy. The product is high quality and well worth the wait. I am waiting on a 250ex myself atm and have no doubts that I will enjoy the welder is UPS doesn't bust it up before it gets here LOL

Take a deep breath, try sending another email but also this post may get you an answer also.

[performance]

IF they have forwarded to the new service center,which should take about a week if they have it in San Fran, then it will be better than new. Its not that the repair guy is relocating, rather its that we have worked an agreement with a bonafide welder repair guy/center in MN to save time and improve service. As always the warranty agreement was to replace or repair the unit at our descretion. In the past, we normally opted for replacement without considering repair. But as things keep progressing, and the company moves forward, there still will be times for replacement, but only after our service center looks at it. They are coming up to speed quickly, but there may be a day or two delay once the equipment arrives.

Here's what we have found (NOT insinuating there isn't a problem here...there is..): Our recent round of repairs on our plasma cutters that we sent out to the factory, came back with a report of only 40% being found actually defective! The units were gone over with a fine tooth comb, by us here on the phone with the customer, but we have to rely upon the information doled out by the customer. Until now, we haven't had a reason to doubt the customer so we just send them back to the factory for repair and then back to us to recycle into our warranty stock... That means a lot of operator error is going on, even with the manuals posted online. I get calls everyday with "problems" that are often a result of the customer NOT reading the manual...Many are just wanting to send the unit back because of one tiny issue that is a result of failure to read the manuals posted online, because they either fear the worst or they are frightened to have something "wrong" right out the gate, even though most are OE. So we have had to develop a better system to catch these issues. We've not seen any repeat issues with your issue once its been gone over by the repair center and the chip is redone. Most of the repairs use a socket when the chip is replaced with this issue, which has been a 100% improvement to date. The new ones on the way, should be here in about 2.5 -3 weeks and things should be better as some modificaitons were to be made, but I'd still rather have it repaired since we know the fix we have here has been efficient at solving the problem.

[thehagg501]

Mark thanks for the reply, I can say I have had great customer experiences with you during the purchase process, and top notch phone support with Ray and Mike. I have no reason not to believe you when you say the machine will be good when I get it back. I do think that service center in Cali could use some adjustments though. It would be nice to speak to whoever will be repairing the unit.

As far as the repair goes, I have no problem with the chip issue resolution. I am concerned with the bent mainboard frame. When my unit arrived the packaging wasn't damaged and the case on the welder looked good. So how the in the world did this thing take a hit hard enough to bend the frame without damaging the outside?

Interesting what you said about the rate of defective units. I've been in customer service for computer and information systems hardware and software for 15 yrs now. The most significant problem I see is trying to establish "effective commutation" or interpretation of the actual problem, and then it seems like some people are resistant to finding a solution. I think people get used to just taking #### back to wallyworld whether is broke or not no questions asked mentality.

[thehagg501]

Got my 225 back yesterday. Unit works like it should now. Evidently it ended up in Minnesota for repair . The tech Eric called me to tell me it worked fine and there was nothing wrong with it. Hmmmm

[dgarnier]

So you work with the support guys, and they fell the machine needs repair, so you send it in for repair. Then the repair guy sits on it foe a few days olny to report there is nothing wrong with it...Seems I read that same story just a few days ago http://www.everlastgenerators.com/fo...ead.php?t=1136

[performance]

At worst, the problem did not present itself after thoroughly checking it out. At best it was a problem that was resolved by a simple check out of the unit. No "sitting" on it has been done. I have talked with Eric, and he and his guys don't "SIT" on anything. They work with it to get it to repeat a problem. They do go through and check and adjust everything. I think the end result is that it works. Its hard to go through all the tech support calls everyday, and find if its an Operator issue, or a unit problem. Our diagnosis ability depends upon communication, and sometimes we make some assumptions we shouldn't that we figure are a given, in an effort to speed up the diagnosis, and sometimes the customer makes assumptions as well, that we know about something they are doing that we don't. There isn't any intent to make things more difficult, but things do happen in the diagnosis procedure. Its not 100% fool proof. But the end result is that the customer said the unit is working.

[aaxiss]

Hey It could be a lot worse.... My Support Guy Wanted To pray with me and my repair tech told me I was screwed... Been in a wheelchair for 18 years now HAHAHA

Sorry had to interject a little humor and perspective.

Everlast team rocks and will take care of ya, just watch out if a Priest delivers your repaired unit back to ya

[Oleg]

Got my 225 back yesterday. Unit works like it should now. Evidently it ended up in Minnesota for repair . The tech Eric called me to tell me it worked fine and there was nothing wrong with it. Hmmmm

Thehagg

Eric did called me and said that your settings were off , he even duplicated your problem

So your unit was fine , looks like we need to add more info to the manual
So it will not happend again

[everlastsupport]

DGarnier,

Mark's very right and I would think you and others would understand, when we are on the phone we can not "see" anything at the welder.

We instruct, wait for feedback, go from there. We rely on the customer to be a good set of hands for us, and sometime we might miss something. We do the best we can under the conditions. Some people will say they did a step they didn't do as well.. So this could happen. We can hear the fan in most cases, so we do know if someone really turned the unit on and tested something for us, or we can ASSUME they did the test, they did turn the unit on.

Sometimes it is a unit is bad, sometime it's operator error (many more times than not). Many of our customers are new to the process they ordered (or new to welding) and our units are not a "5 step selections A-E" type machines. Some of our units are very advanced in control and there's a learning curve. I have spent hours helping people with the controls, and I "know" they are all documented in the manual. Some people like to read, some like pictures.