Your Universal Remote Control Center
RemoteCentral.com
Custom Installers' Lounge Forum - View Post
Previous section Next section Previous page Next page Up level
Up level
The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:

Login:
Pass:
 
 

Page 1 of 3
Topic:
WTF. Clients be cray
This thread has 32 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 15:03
3PedalMINI
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2009
7,860
I had to go out today and pull out the last of my JL audio transmitters and replace with one that didnt take out my zigbee network.

Anyway I was assuming it would be like my others, literally like a 5 minute swap. just like always I check to make sure everything works, and of course i don"t have picture on the TV. Start the usual troubleshooting/resets/waiting 15 minutes. Of course nothing.

grab the kitchen TV to check output at avr/hdbaset transmitter and I do. Diagnose it to a bad HDMI from the HDbaseT receiver to the TV. Pull it out and there is a gouge in it and the cable. The TV is fixed so no way it can get pinched. Clients wife tells me it was working fine lastnight...at this point im suspecting rat/mouse chewing it. so i show her and she said "Ohh my husband needed a cable this morning for his presentation, maybe something happened then" she calls him and he says "ohh, i think my chair ran over it when it fell on the ground"

WTF. 1.5 hours of trouble shooting that i didnt plan for or expect. Clients wife face palms when he said that, looks at me with my eye twitching and said "guess your going to bill us arent you" said yup! walked out with $330 bucks and billed for another HDMI cable.

Gotta love it! think im going to take the lady out for a nice dinner this weekend. Handed the client an extra HDMI cable I keep from what comes with cable boxes for random things like this... UGH! Cleints be Cray! :P
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 2 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 16:45
oprahthehutt.
Active Member
Joined:
Posts:
December 2011
624
Have a client that has been having HEOS issues. "During Superbowl the Home Cinema soundbar started playing classical music!" "Its not working, and very glitchy".

I keep asking if he has the 2 zones grouped and hes not sure what that means but nobody touched it. Finally sends me a screen shot of the app and both zones are named the same thing. Kitchen.

The myriad of ways a client can jack something up is staggering.
Post 3 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 17:26
Trunk-Slammer -Supreme
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2003
7,454
Nothing like the people that figure they can fix it by pushing some buttons, changing some settings, etc, etc.
OP | Post 4 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 17:37
3PedalMINI
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2009
7,860
On February 24, 2017 at 17:26, Trunk-Slammer -Supreme said...
Nothing like the people that figure they can fix it by pushing some buttons, changing some settings, etc, etc.

Guess this could have been avoided if I used locking HDMIs ... who would have dreamed.... lol!
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 5 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 17:38
Jeff at Zektor
Active Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2009
596
Maybe the ghost from Fins project moved to 3Pedal's and now he's just screwing with everyone.
Jeff Haynes
The CA Guy
Coastal Source [email protected] 619-889-3700
OP | Post 6 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 17:40
3PedalMINI
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2009
7,860
On February 24, 2017 at 17:38, Jeff at Zektor said...
Maybe the ghost from Fins project moved to 3Pedal's and now he's just screwing with everyone.

LOL!
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 7 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 18:26
buzz
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2003
4,366
On February 24, 2017 at 16:45, oprahthehutt. said...
Finally sends me a screen shot of the app and both zones are named the same thing. Kitchen.

Just wait till everything turns to voice commands. "Screen Shot", complicated "Help" screens? Forget it. Will one even be able to ask for Help?

There will be interesting discussions, such as: "Did it work before you caught cold"?, "Your accent is a little thick, can it understand your husband or the kids?", "Were you watching the 'Alexa' show?"

Last edited by buzz on February 24, 2017 18:52.
Post 8 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 18:34
kgossen
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2008
3,026
So they damaged an HDMI cable by mistake and somehow this makes them crazy? You must live the most boring life of anybody if this is crazy sh*t.
"Quality isn't expensive, it's Priceless!"
Post 9 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 18:53
goldenzrule
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2007
8,470
Thats nothing. A builder I work with asked me to come by because his TV needs a firmware update. I have never stepped foot in his house. I look at the TV and check for network settings, there are none. Meaning the TV has no network capabilities, need to download to a USB. I dig deeper to find out that the issue he is having is the picture going out, which he researched and determined it to be a firmware issue.

So I test the TV, while watching, picture goes out. I press a button on the cable remote to see if the menu comes up, sure enough, cable menu. It's a cable issue. Figure bad box, swap it with a box in the other room (house has two cable boxes and one modem, thats it on cable). After swapping boxes, neither box would load. Check signal within the cable boxes menus and both are complete sh*t. WTF. Both had picture before. Check internet, working. One of the cable boxes and the modem are in his den, fed off a two way splitter.

So I go in the basement, I find an 8 way splitter with a cable amp attached. I tone the wires out so I can eliminate the splitter, one of the lines is not toning. Find in another part of the basement another nest of cable wires. The line coming in the house is going to a two-way splitter, then to a 4 way splitter, then off to the 8 way splitter I already found. Again, only 3 devices connected and two of them fed on one line. So we reconfigure so it comes into the house, to a two way splitter, than over to where the 8 way splitter was and just barreled the one line feeding up to the TV. Go upstairs, same thing.

Go outside and check the drop and line coming in. A little corrosion on the ends, so I replaced the fittings and they looked fine, so only the tips had corrosion. Back inside, same thing. Replace two way splitter, check all fittings, same thing. Call Cablevision and they were able to send a hit to one box and wake it up, the one on the same line as the modem. The other box just would not come online. Finally had the guy setup an appointment for cable to check their signal and equipment. I was going to stop by for a half hour and ended up being there for 3+ hours. It will be quite difficult to run a new line to that TV if needed, so I told him to see what Cablevision does/says and we can run a new line next week if needed. Ended up having to race through the back streets to get back to the dealership to get my van that was in for service before they closed. Friday traffic is HORRENDOUS here. Dealership closes at 6pm, I walked in at 5:59pm :-)
Post 10 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 19:07
Fins
Elite Member
Joined:
Posts:
June 2007
11,627
Quit complaining. At least they are alive.
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.

OP | Post 11 made on Friday February 24, 2017 at 22:07
3PedalMINI
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2009
7,860
On February 24, 2017 at 18:34, kgossen said...
So they damaged an HDMI cable by mistake and somehow this makes them crazy? You must live the most boring life of anybody if this is crazy sh*t.

Did you read? Client removed the cable from extender to tv for a presentation at work and then re installed it. Had I not checked that today you know damn well that I would have gotten a panicked phone call saying nothing works, in which case I would have had to roll a truck again. I was already out there, it was just coincidence it was when I was already there and being thorough enough to check things over.

So removing a cable from a tv with an extender that is installed on a flat mount seems pretty crazy to me!
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 12 made on Saturday February 25, 2017 at 00:43
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
Joined:
Posts:
December 2001
30,104
On February 24, 2017 at 18:53, goldenzrule said...
Thats nothing. A builder I work with asked me to come by because his TV needs a firmware update. I have never stepped foot in his house. I look at the TV and check for network settings, there are none. Meaning the TV has no network capabilities, need to download to a USB. I dig deeper to find out that the issue he is having is the picture going out, which he researched and determined it to be a firmware issue.

I've said this before and the above paragraph shows this is true: you should NEVER accept a client's diagnosis of a problem, nor prescription as to what to do to fix it. They might not even get the symptoms right!

The rest of this is the typical answer when SO says "I thought you said it would take you about an hour on that service call."
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 13 made on Saturday February 25, 2017 at 08:12
Craig Aguiar-Winter
Senior Member
Joined:
Posts:
September 2002
1,489
On February 24, 2017 at 17:26, Trunk-Slammer -Supreme said...
Nothing like the people that figure they can fix it by pushing some buttons, changing some settings, etc, etc.

Or re-wiring. Like the cables magically jumped out of the right holes and into the wrong ones.

Craig
My wife says I can't do sarcasm. She says I just sound like an a$$hole.
Post 14 made on Saturday February 25, 2017 at 08:28
goldenzrule
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2007
8,470
On February 25, 2017 at 00:43, Ernie Gilman said...
I've said this before and the above paragraph shows this is true: you should NEVER accept a client's diagnosis of a problem, nor prescription as to what to do to fix it. They might not even get the symptoms right!

The rest of this is the typical answer when SO says "I thought you said it would take you about an hour on that service call."

The proper form of troubleshooting, no matter WHAT the client says is to turn on the system and observe what the issue is, as I did. From there, move on to normal troubleshooting steps.
Post 15 made on Saturday February 25, 2017 at 09:40
highfigh
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
September 2004
8,311
On February 24, 2017 at 17:38, Jeff at Zektor said...
Maybe the ghost from Fins project moved to 3Pedal's and now he's just screwing with everyone.

That's sexist.












:D
My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
Page 1 of 3


Jump to


Protected Feature Before you can reply to a message...
You must first register for a Remote Central user account - it's fast and free! Or, if you already have an account, please login now.

Please read the following: Unsolicited commercial advertisements are absolutely not permitted on this forum. Other private buy & sell messages should be posted to our Marketplace. For information on how to advertise your service or product click here. Remote Central reserves the right to remove or modify any post that is deemed inappropriate.

Hosting Services by ipHouse