I had my Fluke Intellitone 200 Pro fail internally last week, when testing cables it shows pin 1 as always open. It's been very lightly used as I prefer the pro3000 toner over the digital one unless I am working on a live network. I figured the reason I shelled out the premium for a Fluke tool was the warranty and support, so I contacted fluke.

Their response was:"Thank you for your quote request. Your unit is not supported by repair. The price below is to replace your unit with the current comparable model.

The RBR or Repair By Replacement program can take more than 3 weeks and your unit must arrive at our facility before we can place the order for your new unit. Calibration is not included and may not be available on every item. Let us know if you require calibration quoted on your new unit. Accessories are not necessary when returning the defective item."

Then they offered to replace my toner and probe for $125 each, $50 more than street price for the kit.

At this point I'm really frustrated, and don't know why I bothered to buy Fluke/American at all. If the stuff they make is unrepairable and disposable, I may as well have bought imported tools. If I'd bought the import version, I could have had three spares sitting on the shelf for the same price and not be without a tester right now.

I'm in the market for a network qualifier/certifier, and as far as I'm concerned Fluke has removed themselves from the options. No way am I shelling out thousands of bucks for a DSX when the support is this useless.

So if anyone has suggestions for a digital toner and a qualifier or certifier that has good company support behind it, I'd love to hear about it.

Byte Brothers has worked very well for me, but I don't know about repair.

If you insert anything other than an RJ-45, there is risk of damaging the jack. Examine the jack very closely to make sure that the contacts are correctly aligned.

They have never had anything but a RJ45 used in them, I carry an analog toner for everything else. I was hoping it was something simple like a bent pin, but visually they look perfect on the outside. I'll open them up tomorrow and actually check the solder joints.

I've been called Captain Obvious, so here I go:

1. You must not have read the warranty on your 200 Pro. I also would not have imagined their policy was this bad, so I can understand that. Haven't seen crap like this before? As the old folks say, "keep on living."

2. I'll bet the policy on the DSX is a lot different. But now we know you'll read the warranty before buying, or immediately before returning the freshly opened packaging, if the DSX's "warranty" is as much of a fairy tale as that of the 200 Pro.

If you're done with Fluke and still in need of a certifier for everything, these guys are badass. We are in the market as well and had these guys come and visit our shop for a demo. Basically, their features should cut down labor by a 1/3, if not more. The kicker, less expensive than Fluke.

Softing WireXpert

[Link: industrial.softing.com]

I have been using the Ideal VDV II Pro and it works pretty good. Its pretty cheap as well.

Just an FYI. Be careful with Ideal. That is the tester we are moving away from.

They are not in it for the long haul. Support was also terrible when they were needed. Most of the product engineers have jumped ship from them and moved to Softing WireXpert.

I certainly did read the warranty, and I take umbrage at the fact that you assume I didn't.  I's the same generic warranty as on every Fluke product (mentions "main frames" and software even on a toner) and it says "To obtain warranty service, contact your nearest Fluke Networks authorized service center to obtain return authorization information, then
send the product to that service center, with a description of the difficulty, postage and insurance prepaid (FOB destination). Fluke Networks
assumes no risk for damage in transit. Following warranty repair, the product will be returned to Buyer, transportation prepaid (FOB
destination).". I knew the tool was out of the 1 year warranty, however I did expect to be able to pay to get it repaired. My cordless drill costs half what this toner did, and the manufacturer will happily repair it for me if needed for less than the cost of a new tool. The fact that Fluke considers these expensive tools disposable is what irks me, I never would have paid the premium for a fluke tool if I knew it was just as disposable as a cheap one.

Thanks for the recommendation, can you give me a ballpark of what it cost you? They don't seem to publish any costs online.

My apologies. I assumed that you didn't because their treatment of you was so VERY far from the written warranty's promises. I didn't think they would simply LIE to the world about how the warranty would be handled.

On the other hand, they're also screwed up in a whole different way. You are rightly upset with their warranty service, when you weren't even asking for warranty service. I'll bet that you told them your unit was out of warranty; that would have been the perfect place for them NOT to quote their warranty policy (the policy that they weren't going to follow, anyway), but to state simply that the unit was out of warranty and repair was not available for out of warranty units.

The company has every right to refuse to do anything for an out-of-warranty unit, but they missed the boat by not declaring anything about that (unless that's stated somewhere and you didn't quote it here).

All you can do is shout about this from the rooftops and/or file a lawsuit. You could try threatening them, if the person you reach on the phone would even care, by telling them that their handling of this issue is being followed online by a large international community of audio/video and IT professionals. Would that be an accurate statement? It'd be a whole lot more accurate than their warranty statement and their lack of statement of out-of-warranty procedures!

I can't imagine that it is cost effective to physically repair these things other than swapping the board. Many companies accommodate customers by offering an "exchange". One might receive a new or refurbished unit for a flat fee, but it is a quick, painless transaction for both parties.

And, apparently, when that is done, it is a well thought out means of satisfying and keeping a customer... it's not just a fluke.

Half or a little over of what Fluke would charge you. And...it's better.

I will be checkinv this out too. While I like my Fluke stuff, I do not fi d them to be durable (pro 200)