Very well, so far. We have done it with Niles IC, Speakercraft EZC10, and AMX, and so far (knock, knock) no problems. Definitely looks cleaner and cuts down on the warranty service calls to reattach unstuck, stray flashers. Racks look really good. Unfortunately, we cannot put them inside Cable Boxes that do not belong to the customer. Comcast tends to get a bit testy about us opening their equipment!! Go figure.

Some of the Most Frustrating Companies to Deal With:

Sony: If the product is good, it's not in stock. They never know when something is going to be available. They give priority to the big boys, and screw the little guys.
Any input you may have will fall on the deafest of ears. If you need technical support, it's hard to talk to anyone who knows anything beyond the basic end-user stuff.

Panasonic Telephone Systems: Just try to get through to customer service-- you had better have a lot of time on your hands. I like the product, but hate the company. If I buy a Panasonic phone system, I try to buy from Capitol Sales. They have great support for the phone systems-- much better than the factory.

Hughes: They have now left their support to DirecTV. You need a lot of time to spend on hold, a lot a patience for stupidity, and a lot of patience for rediculous policies.

Xantech: Let their automated attendant take you to someone's voicemail. They have always been big on automated attendants and voice mail, but it has gotten worse since the new management. I will say, however, that the tech support, when they finally call you back, is generally good. The sales staff knows very little if anything about the product.

Won't sell Sony for this "we're better than you stance".



It's the same with many other items Capitol sells. I certainly hope the manufacturers support Capitol better than they support the vendors. But I have my doubts about that.


How true this is. DTV will just never quite get it, I suppose.



Yup.



Waited a week for a call back, only to get some smart a** responses, rather than the help I needed. Pretty sad.

I had a great experience with Fujitsu service.
In Chicago area, they sent out an on-site crew, I believe that it was Wells Gardiner, that repaired the unit on a card table I set up over a drop cloth in the living room of the client's home. All I had to do was pull it off the wall and take the mount off the back. They laid it flat on a stack of moving blankets on the table, took the back off and swapped some boards and performed a factory recommended fan speed mod that I didn't ask for and wasn't even aware of to make it significantly quieter (and the client noticed the difference). This was probably 3-4 years ago on a PDS-4222 when they first came out...


I try to pick up all of my panels to save shipping and to prevent shipping damage claims. When I do receive shipped panels, I always inspect the panels with a flashlight before I let the driver leave, and I always take the outer box off and hook them up to power and at least a composite feed (still sitting in the styro) in the first few days before I rebox and stage it for the job. I would second the recommendation to test all the gear ASAP, especially video that always has the shortest warranty period and the most hassles to go with the lowest profit margin....

This message was edited by 2nd rick on 10/19/04 22:31 ET.