On February 2, 2011 at 00:11, wakeboardr116 said...
Universal Remote should provide full support for their product to begin with. Instead of trying to force you to go through a dealer. I imagine there are a lot of people out there who like to and are fully capable of DIY. It's not like it takes a genius to figure the program out. I had it down in about 5 minutes, and even added and fixed a few things the programmer didn't do.
Sorry Dave if sounds like any of this is directed towards you. I know you were just trying to help so please don't take anything personally. I was just very shocked and frustrated at the time with my installer and Universal Remote for selling a product as simple as a remote control and not allowing the consumer to use the full extent of it. That just seems wrong to me. But then again, I guess most consumers of theirs would rather just pay someone to do it all and not have to mess with it at all (I am not most consumers).
As far as the dealer I used, they are a very reputable/high end installer and do work in 10,000sq/ft plus houses with all kinds of custom work. I'm sure for most people the work they do is fantastic, but I like to look at all the little details and tweak things and play with stuff as I go. The only reason we used an installer in the first place is because we needed wiring run and mounts put in that I am not capable of doing on my own.
Again sorry if it seemed like any of my rants were directed at anyone personal and thanks to everyone who tried to help. I guess I learned my lesson and will know what to expect next time I buy a new remote.
+1
What URC needs to understand is that they have two types of customers - ones who need custom installers and those who can do it themselves. The two will not meet.
It's not like I would have gone to a custom installer/dealer to program my 28 device, 8 monitor system. I would have found a different remote company instead. The one dealer I talked with had a runaway volume up button during his demo. I knew at that point I could easily do better than him and it has turned out to be very true.
The other thing the friendly dealers/CIs on this forum should remember is that the people here are not the ones who would do business with them, whether they provide software or not. While knowledge is power (and money), part of using a forum is to share knowledge and I've seen the dealers/CIs help on this forum and I've seen the DIYs help.
Let me be clear, though...I have nothing against custom installers or dealers. There are people who need that service and they should pay for that service. It isn't cheap to start a business but the people here asking questions aren't your potential customers.
Last edited by ALK3997 on February 2, 2011 09:13.
