Author Topic: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.  (Read 36834 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #50 on: October 24, 2011, 02:43:12 am »
I guess "The Extech Advantage" is that when your Multimeter gets a stripped screw, it automatically converts into paperweight mode. :D

You are closer to the truth than anyone will realize.  My misfortune with this dysfunctional brand involved an EX570 shipped from the manufacturer.  Not a good sign of quality when the meter was defective fresh out of the box.  The first indication was the malfunction of a specific and rather basic meter measurement ability.  From there I started to notice severe instabilities/inaccuracies on all voltage and resistance measurements.  When compared to a rather cheap yet accurate meter it became apparent the level of quality defect that I had received.

After sending an email to Extech it was a few days before someone replied.  Long story short, the meter was deemed "scrap in field" and a suitable replacement was shipped out.  My postmortem of the "scrap" meter indicated a totally abysmal level of solder quality.  For those familiar with the IPC J-STD it was easily less than class-1, perhaps class-0 if such a thing existed.  The unit is a test escape that was allowed out the door.  I have updated friends and colleague's as to the outcome and warned many to avoid Extech products which would also include FLIR as well.

When it comes to test equipment that is in contact with high voltages a lack of quality can be fatal.  Only time will tell if there have been enough fatalities for a class-action suit.  I can only comment on the dmm's and ir temp guns as my experience with other Extech products is limited.  The replacement dmm started having issues after about a month or two.  The functions affected are minimally used so it is somewhat tolerable, although a nice example to show people.  Sent an email which was totally ignored, why am I not surprised.  Did I mention that both meters were used in a non-production environment?  Here endeth the lesson...

Just so you know, I intend this comment to be completely neutral, I'm just rattling off some observations.

Positive online reviews for test equipment brands other than Fluke seem to be few and far between.

I generally hate analogies, but maybe this one might work... if you look at tool brands, Snap-on is absolutely swamped with glowing reviews, a gazillion likes on facebook; essentially the company is surrounded by a swarm of dedicated fans just dying to evangelize the product. The brand has huge name recognition in the public, and it shows.

Then you look at a brand like Wright... they've been in business for 80 years, build 100% USA made tools that are absolutely superb quality, supply for the US military and industrial markets, but you search online for reviews, and it's like they don't exist.

It seems for some reason that companies that don't have significant public brand recognition, recieve very few positive reviews on the internet... even if they sell a massive amount of product.

For some reason, people love to write about how much they love their Snap-on, but not their Wright. They love to write about how much they love their Fluke, but not their Extech or BK.


It's not really that simple and the analogy is a rough fit, but I hope you get where I was going with it.
 

Offline PetrosA

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 625
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #51 on: October 24, 2011, 04:36:28 am »

Just so you know, I intend this comment to be completely neutral, I'm just rattling off some observations.

Positive online reviews for test equipment brands other than Fluke seem to be few and far between.

I generally hate analogies, but maybe this one might work... if you look at tool brands, Snap-on is absolutely swamped with glowing reviews, a gazillion likes on facebook; essentially the company is surrounded by a swarm of dedicated fans just dying to evangelize the product. The brand has huge name recognition in the public, and it shows.

Then you look at a brand like Wright... they've been in business for 80 years, build 100% USA made tools that are absolutely superb quality, supply for the US military and industrial markets, but you search online for reviews, and it's like they don't exist.

It seems for some reason that companies that don't have significant public brand recognition, recieve very few positive reviews on the internet... even if they sell a massive amount of product.

For some reason, people love to write about how much they love their Snap-on, but not their Wright. They love to write about how much they love their Fluke, but not their Extech or BK.


It's not really that simple and the analogy is a rough fit, but I hope you get where I was going with it.

I think there's something in human nature that only allows most people to see one "great" thing of a kind. We want Mac or PC to be best, we want there to be a #1 between Canon and Nikon, or Fluke over the rest, or Snap-on or DeWalt or Mercedes ad infinitum. Once the greatest is seen to be on the same level (even the highest) as another contender they both lose some value and take on a more generic quality. If Agilent really can give Fluke a run for their money, Fluke loses it's magic for thousands of users. Does it mean that they're any worse than they were before? Not a bit. But that magic quality is prized by the marketing people for sure because you're way harder to compete against when you have it.
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #52 on: October 24, 2011, 06:35:43 am »
I think there's something in human nature that only allows most people to see one "great" thing of a kind. We want Mac or PC to be best, we want there to be a #1 between Canon and Nikon, or Fluke over the rest, or Snap-on or DeWalt or Mercedes ad infinitum. Once the greatest is seen to be on the same level (even the highest) as another contender they both lose some value and take on a more generic quality. If Agilent really can give Fluke a run for their money, Fluke loses it's magic for thousands of users. Does it mean that they're any worse than they were before? Not a bit. But that magic quality is prized by the marketing people for sure because you're way harder to compete against when you have it.

Your entire post makes a great point, but I bolded what I considered the most notable.

Some people are so focused in on the brand images they aspire to emulate in themselves, that telling them anything that contradicts their own personal view of the product landscape, is essentially the same as telling a child that santa claus or the tooth fairy doesn't exist.

I actually know a couple engineers that couldn't admit to themselves that Flukes were being made in China, for months after I showed them the first "Made in China" stamped unit. Their perception of the brand was so strongly ingrained into their psyche, that it actually was causing distortion of their perception of reality.

RDF or "Reality Distortion Field" was a term coined probably somewhat jokingly about Steve Jobs, but I find it to be a very real phenomenon.

Fluke has a monumentally powerful RDF, as does Snap-on.

I made a thread here regarding "Fluke Discrimination" a little while ago... the short version of the thread: I've encountered individuals so hopelessly entrenched in the Fluke RDF, that they actually believe that no brand of test equipment other than Fluke can be explicitly trusted, even to the point of trusting Fluke instruments in leiu of calibration papers, where they demand the same for any other brand on the market.

I try to keep a very open mind about the purchases I make and the products I choose to use. I have some prejudices that are based on nostalgia, or just for fun, but when it comes down to it, I feel that I have a very open view for the most part.

In fact, I find that seeking out the lesser known and unfamiliar, is one of the finest joys in life. ;)
« Last Edit: October 24, 2011, 06:43:15 am by slipjointed »
 

Offline EEVblog

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37626
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #53 on: October 24, 2011, 06:55:52 am »
There are other examples of this "reality distortion field" in this and related industries.
Take the audio measurement industry for example. Unless you use an Audio Precision brand measurement kit, you are not in the business. Customers simply will not trust a report that isn't generated by an Audio Precision analyser.

Likewise Brüel & Kjær gear for vibration analysis.

The Seismic industry I worked in is another example. You simply could not design in another ADC on the front end other than a Cirrus Logic brand. If you did, it's almost certain your product and ultimately entire system would not be accepted in the industry.

In some areas of the industry, nothing but Tek scopes will be considered, or Agilent RF spectrum analysers etc

Dave.
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #54 on: October 24, 2011, 07:15:16 am »
At my old employer, we bought a shock/vibration test system that was developed by a small local business which was run by a retired Ph.D and a few others. It was a very solid and accurate system, but our customers would throw an absolute fit if we tried to submit any test data from it. We ended up having to send it out to APL and have the same exact tests and data reproduced on their system every time we had a submittal.  ::)

I was pretty heavily into audio for some time, and I ended up becoming disenchanted with the hobby/industry due to the associated RDF's.

Oh well. I switch hobbies every six months anyways.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2011, 07:18:43 am by slipjointed »
 

Offline PetrosA

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 625
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #55 on: October 24, 2011, 12:23:10 pm »

In fact, I find that seeking out the lesser known and unfamiliar, is one of the finest joys in life. ;)

I ABSOLUTELY agree! :) It's not the "safe" path to follow though so many people won't go there. It takes more self confidence to do the seeking out and decision making involved but it can be enormously rewarding.
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #56 on: October 24, 2011, 07:54:18 pm »
I spoke with Andre several times over the weekend regarding this issue; today I recieved a call from the manager of Extech's technical support department.

We spoke at length about my experience, and the discussions he has had regarding the matter with his support staff. It was made very clear to me that this was not a policy, just a lapse in support. I can confirm this personally, because I definitely have recieved good support from Extech in the past.

Based on my conversations over the weekend and today, Andre and Extech have convinced me beyond a reasonable doubt that this is a sincere effort to listen to the customer and improve, and not simply PR/Damage control.

Although I'm sure there are still plenty of folks with differing views regarding Extech's motivations for aggresively attacking this situation, I have to say that any company that is willing to step up in that manner, is in my mind, light years ahead of a company that is not.




 

Offline Bored@Work

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3932
  • Country: 00
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #57 on: October 24, 2011, 08:57:30 pm »
Although I'm sure there are still plenty of folks with differing views

And you can see in this thread that Extech has no problems insulting and shunning those who don't believe in their dog and pony show.

Don't forget, the "help" you now receive from Extech, and the gifts you are getting is not because you have a legitimate issue. Extech couldn't care less, they already demonstrated that to you. Otherwise you wouldn't have had to complain here. They now react because the people here made your issue known to the world and helped you. And you have now decided to turn your back on some of us and fart in our direction by singing the Extech PR song.

Do you seriously think the next customer with an issue will get a call from Extech's tech support department manager? The poor manager guy would have to have a telephone implanted in his head if he would have to call everyone with a support issue. Extech is just proceeding according to their PR crisis damage control playbook. And that happens to read on page 42 to let someone with a title call you - after he aligned the message to convey to you with PR. PR maybe even listening in during the call. Do you think that manager guy will remember you in a month? His golf handicap is more important to him than you and your screws are.

What you can learn here is that Extech is excellent when it comes to executing PR moves. That is impressive, seriously impressive.
I delete PMs unread. If you have something to say, say it in public.
For all else: Profile->[Modify Profile]Buddies/Ignore List->Edit Ignore List
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #58 on: October 24, 2011, 10:14:59 pm »
Although I'm sure there are still plenty of folks with differing views

And you can see in this thread that Extech has no problems insulting and shunning those who don't believe in their dog and pony show.

Don't forget, the "help" you now receive from Extech, and the gifts you are getting is not because you have a legitimate issue. Extech couldn't care less, they already demonstrated that to you. Otherwise you wouldn't have had to complain here. They now react because the people here made your issue known to the world and helped you. And you have now decided to turn your back on some of us and fart in our direction by singing the Extech PR song.

Do you seriously think the next customer with an issue will get a call from Extech's tech support department manager? The poor manager guy would have to have a telephone implanted in his head if he would have to call everyone with a support issue. Extech is just proceeding according to their PR crisis damage control playbook. And that happens to read on page 42 to let someone with a title call you - after he aligned the message to convey to you with PR. PR maybe even listening in during the call. Do you think that manager guy will remember you in a month? His golf handicap is more important to him than you and your screws are.

What you can learn here is that Extech is excellent when it comes to executing PR moves. That is impressive, seriously impressive.

I didn't shun anyone... I inserted that section you quoted as a caveat, so you and others wouldn't feel attacked by my post... obviously it had the absolute opposite effect for you, and maybe for others as well. Perhaps my grasp of the english language and my ability to imply meaning is not as sharply tuned as I had previously thought.

I've already mentioned that I recieved satisfactory support from Extech in the past. That was part of the reason I was so surprised in my original post. It's also part of the reason I was willing to change my mind based upon Extech's response.

Your claim is that you were on my side, yet the moment I felt that I was fully satisfied with Extech's response, you accuse me of being a paid shill, and therefore accuse me of having absolutely no integrity by proxy. Extech could pay off my mortgage and it wouldn't change my mind for me. I appreciate gratuity, but I'm not the kind of person that can be bought off. I've been around the block once or twice.

You don't have any idea what was discussed between myself and Extech's staff over the last couple days, and you believe you have the whole thing figured out. You also aren't aware about the additional communications I've had outside of Extech. That's fine... as I said, there are still plenty of folks with differing views.


edit: A little while later, and after having nearly gone blind in one eye from a hot piece of welding slag, I'm not quite so worked up about your post as I was.

The bottom line is I didn't intend to offend anyone with the bit you quoted, in fact quite the opposite. I'm gonna go home and slap a piece of cucumber on my eye, and eat some homecooked food.

Hopefully we can disagree amicably.
 
« Last Edit: October 24, 2011, 11:44:22 pm by slipjointed »
 

Offline SgtRock

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 1200
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #59 on: October 25, 2011, 12:17:28 am »
Dear Slipjointed:

--It just occured to me what the best feature of quote tags are. I had previously thought that they were clumsy and had avoided them in favor of the use of ordinary quotation marks. But it now occurs to me that, they serve a good purpose, in that they accurately document the quotation, even though the original may be changed or deleted at a later date. I will henceforth triple check rather than double check my posts for stupid mistakes before
posting.

--Also regarding posting issues; Having lost a number of lengthy posts in midstream, I have been saving copies to Notepad as a safety measure. My only problem is that Notepad keeps inserting unwanted blank lines between the lines of text. Can anyone recommend a good replacement for notepad? I find Wordpad too complex for this simple purpose.

--Now, to the matter at hand; I do no know why BoredAtWork cannot voice his opinion without getting personal, hostile and distasteful. He used to be even more hostile and often outright profane and disgusting. But of late, for some reason he has reformed and occasionally, even comes across as rational and friendly. In any case, not to worry. I do not think very many people on this forum thought you had sold you honor for a replacement DMM. And, I do not see why any rational person would conclude that you are singing the Extech PR song. Good Lord.

--My dispassionate arms length of the latest contretemps, is this; Extech is an honest albeit imperfect company that is trying very hard to do the right thing, and still survive in a very cut throat market place. And, I hardly think that Andre AKA ARebelo-Extech needs a phone in his head, he already has a presence on this very forum. Hardly the move of a "hide behind the receptionist" suit.
 

"He was born ignorant, and has been losing ground ever since." Fred Allen

Best Regards
Clear Ether
 

Offline IanB

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 11771
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #60 on: October 25, 2011, 02:40:46 am »
Notepad is a disaster. To use a profane and disgusting, but also amusing and colorful, phrase, Notepad "sucks fetid monkey balls". For a better alternative you could look at the free Notepad++ editor.

The BoredAtWork post above was so far beyond reason I just dismissed it as the rantings of a lunatic. If you want people to take your bait, you first need to bait the hook with something appetizing.

I think Extech is in the position of many companies that outsource or rebadge designs. Are they a product designer and manufacturer in their own right or merely a reseller (I'm not sure but I'm asking)? One thing about Fluke is that we may presume they design and manufacture their own products to their own specifications. Regardless of brand recognition and reality distortion fields, this must be one thing that separates them from the herd.
 

Offline Bored@Work

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3932
  • Country: 00
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #61 on: October 25, 2011, 06:06:42 am »
slipjointed, you did receive here what is called "solidarity" from the people here. The moment you got what you want you decided to no longer need solidarity and claimed a victory. Good luck with your new friends from Extech.
I delete PMs unread. If you have something to say, say it in public.
For all else: Profile->[Modify Profile]Buddies/Ignore List->Edit Ignore List
 

Offline Bored@Work

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3932
  • Country: 00
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #62 on: October 25, 2011, 06:32:58 am »
IanB, your mistake is to assume that I want to bait people. It is the opposite, I recommend people don't swallow Extech's slipjointed bait. I have seen PR working in exactly this manner before. Make the customer feel honored by getting someone with a title calling him, and all that bla, bla bla. Take the communication private, bla bla bla.I have even sat in meetings where such things were plotted out. If slipjointed now gets his screws, fine. But trying to sell this to me as the great Extech service revolution? Pull the other one.

On an other note, but speaking of lunatics, I would recommend you don't spend too much time with my Internet stalker and harasser Private Fluffer. To support his master Crackpot-GR he went through two or three years of my postings to figure out who I am, but still hasn't a clue.
I delete PMs unread. If you have something to say, say it in public.
For all else: Profile->[Modify Profile]Buddies/Ignore List->Edit Ignore List
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #63 on: October 25, 2011, 06:50:11 am »
edit: dbl post
« Last Edit: October 25, 2011, 07:38:39 am by slipjointed »
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #64 on: October 25, 2011, 06:51:05 am »
edit: I had a long snarky reply posted, but I decided I just don't care to go there, so I edited it out.

BoredatWork, if you're going to continue to insist on treating everyone around you like stupid children, just let me know so I can stop wasting my time trying to talk to you. I'm a grown man and a respected professional, and I don't need my integrity and decision making abilities questioned by the likes of you.

I doubt the rest of the members of this board appreciate your implication that they're also too stupid to come to a conclusion on their own regarding the statements I've made in this thread.

« Last Edit: October 25, 2011, 07:41:39 am by slipjointed »
 

Uncle Vernon

  • Guest
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #65 on: October 25, 2011, 07:47:41 am »
On an other note, but speaking of lunatics, I would recommend you don't spend too much time with my Internet stalker and harasser Private Fluffer. To support his master Crackpot-GR he went through two or three years of my postings to figure out who I am, but still hasn't a clue.
They are both masters and pointing insult then running to momma when called on it. Put the fools on ignore, and if you dont log off the only traces of them are what some poor unfortunate has quoted assuming them to be capable of rational debate. If people didn't quote these idiots I'd have no reason to even remember they exist.

I'm on the fence re the Extech service thing, I've learnt to expect little, assume they wont care and everything you get after that is a bonus. I saw some good things in their final responses to SJ, but things like that don't gravitate off down to the salary slaves and phone droids overnight.

I got a couple of Extech meters of another forum member and they aren't too bad they aren't Flukes but they aren't priced like them either. They look deceptively like Jaycar nasties but have better specs. I suspect there is a hell of a lot of badge engineered models each built to a price point but made to look alike. Ultimately this draws all the product down to the reputation of the cheapest model.

I wouldn't expect much in the way of service for any device of any brand that retails for under $500, it's just commercial reality. We want service but in reality we don't want to pay the cost of it. Just look at some of the genius review comment we see.  "Almost the same features as the name brand and a quarter of the cost" What these self appointed geniuses haven't considered is the availability of service and the life of service spares. But hell any fool can have an opinion some even bother to have three.
Many of the big brand reputation are built on years of this kind of service, but sadly with merger and takeovers and just plain dumb management several are dropping their standards. 
All the bleating and bouncing off walls in the world isn't going to change the fact that individual purchases of low dollar items is going to involve some risk.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2011, 10:19:03 pm by Uncle Vernon »
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #66 on: October 25, 2011, 08:05:44 am »
I'm on the fence re the Extech service thing, I've learnt to expect little, assume they wont care and everything you get after that is a bonus. I saw some good things in their final responses to SJ, but things like that don't gravitate off down to the salary slaves and phone droids overnight.

What has been said here is a tiny, tiny fraction of the conversations I've had over the past few days.

BoredatWork thinks he has a clue what those conversations involved and who they were with, but I can assure you that he truly doesn't.

I'm not a person that will change my opinion for a backlit plastic box. I am certainly not a person who will change my opinion for run-of-the-mill PR speak.
 

Offline SgtRock

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 1200
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #67 on: October 25, 2011, 08:38:14 am »
Dear IanB & Slipjointed:

--Thanks for the tip on Notepad++, I will give it a test install.

--I own a couple of plain old (no Roman numeral) Fluke 87s, one recently calibrated, one not, both of which are well within spec. I got them both at a very good price by following DJs advice, and biding my time on eBay. Other than periodic inspection and cleaning these things are nearly indestructible. I have had to replace the elastomeric connectors in one, but the parts are reasonably priced, and easily available. I have never read of someone having an unreasonable amount of trouble with a Fluke. I only read of people making miraculous repairs to extremely old and out of service instruments. I highly recommend purchasing old Flukes as a backstop to your newer and fancier instruments. Did I forget to say Fluke, Yea.

--Now, to the unfortunate comments by BoredAtWork; Once again we see that he just cannot tolerate anyone disagreeing, even accidentally. I have been politely encouraged by our gentle moderators to ignore troll-like behavior. For the most part I have done this, with an occasional gentle chiding being the exception. But, these repeated attacks on peoples integrity and character and references to their sexual proclivities verge on abuse, it seems to me, and so, unfortunately must be addressed:

--BoredAtWork makes the veiled pseudonymous charge that I in combination with Kiriakos are stalking him and have undertaken to ascertain his real identity. This I deny. Furthermore, I swear upon my sacred honor that I will not at anytime stalk anyone or attempt to ascertain their identity, whereabouts, employer, school, etc. Nor will I assist or coverup for anyone doing so at anytime. If I ever become aware of such activity, I will report it immediately.

--BoredAtWork further charges that I went through several years of his postings (in order to ascertain his identity). Now, I did indeed review his postings, but only to document his repeated resort to lurid, obscene and disgusting attacks on those who had the temerity to disagree. I am well aware that I am making a permanent record when I post on this forum, and so I try to keep a civil tongue in my head. This has been shown to be a good practice, when, after having been proven wrong, I have had to eat crow. Eating one's own words is so much easier when they are kind and reasonable. I recommend it to all. This also has the advantage, that, should someone at sometime review all of my postings, they will not be able to summon up a list of my scurrilous, unhinged, profane and obscene ravings to embarrass me with. I so dislike being taken down a peg or two, and having my hide nailed to the barn door.

"Oh, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags ... it out-Herods Herod. Pray you avoid it. William Shakespeare

Best Regards
Clear Ether
« Last Edit: October 25, 2011, 09:12:45 am by SgtRock »
 

Uncle Vernon

  • Guest
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #68 on: October 25, 2011, 08:42:03 am »
What has been said here is a tiny, tiny fraction of the conversations I've had over the past few days.
I quite understand, I wasn't pointing any bone your way although I can see how some could read events as over-reaction.

Quote
BoredatWork thinks he has a clue what those conversations involved and who they were with, but I can assure you that he truly doesn't.
BAW is a miserable git, but he's far from a clueless miserable git. Take a little of what he says on-board without seeing it as a personal insult. Yes maybe he could have shown a little more tact, but after having our time wasted by some of the forum fools us miserable gits can get a little prickly.

Quote
I'm not a person that will change my opinion for a backlit plastic box. I am certainly not a person who will change my opinion for run-of-the-mill PR speak.
I'm certainly not accusing you of that and never was.  Just understand that not everyone will read things exactly as you do. You are getting some vendor support , that is a great result. 
 

Offline Kiriakos-GR

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 3525
  • Country: gr
  • User is banned.
    • Honda AX-1 rebuild
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #69 on: October 25, 2011, 12:14:05 pm »

I think there's something in human nature that only allows most people to see one "great" thing of a kind. We want Mac or PC to be best, we want there to be a #1 between Canon and Nikon, or Fluke over the rest, or Snap-on or DeWalt or Mercedes ad infinitum. Once the greatest is seen to be on the same level (even the highest) as another contender they both lose some value and take on a more generic quality. If Agilent really can give Fluke a run for their money, Fluke loses it's magic for thousands of users. Does it mean that they're any worse than they were before? Not a bit. But that magic quality is prized by the marketing people for sure because you're way harder to compete against when you have it.

Oh yea ?
How about the fact that Fluke / Agilent /  Gossen / Brymen / DER EE / all have a real factory, and they care about their production lines.

Comparison about apples with apples makes more sense to me.

I would be really interested to watch a video from the Extech product lines ..   

Extech looks to me as another Greenlee chain or ProsKit chain, and so it does not compare directly with the true manufacturers.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2011, 12:19:07 pm by Kiriakos-GR »
 

Offline saturation

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4787
  • Country: us
  • Doveryai, no proveryai
    • NIST
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #70 on: October 25, 2011, 12:34:55 pm »
Thanks, just reviewed the ISO certification procedures, all it means is you have a clearly defined process for every step in an organization, but its not related to outcome: i.e., customer satisfaction, higher production quality, or even safety!

As for the screw issue, it comes down to you get what you pay for.  To quell this thread it seems like a simple matter to mail some screws to the OP.



Using B@W point:

http://www.extech.com/global/misc/TUVcertificate.pdf

I would send an email letter of complaint to officers at Extech, and TUV, who certified them as

ISO.http://www.extech.com/iso9001.asp
There's a common misconception that ISO 9001 has anything to do with quality. It really doesn't.  All it defines is that there is a paper trail for every step of the production process. Somewhere in a filing cabinet is a piece of paper saying that a quality inspector noted the damaged screws and recorded the date, time and serial number in a log book as required by the inspection procedure  ::)
Best Wishes,

 Saturation
 

Offline PetrosA

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 625
  • Country: us
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #71 on: October 25, 2011, 12:40:37 pm »

I think there's something in human nature that only allows most people to see one "great" thing of a kind. We want Mac or PC to be best, we want there to be a #1 between Canon and Nikon, or Fluke over the rest, or Snap-on or DeWalt or Mercedes ad infinitum. Once the greatest is seen to be on the same level (even the highest) as another contender they both lose some value and take on a more generic quality. If Agilent really can give Fluke a run for their money, Fluke loses it's magic for thousands of users. Does it mean that they're any worse than they were before? Not a bit. But that magic quality is prized by the marketing people for sure because you're way harder to compete against when you have it.

Oh yea ?
How about the fact that Fluke / Agilent /  Gossen / Brymen / DER EE / all have a real factory, and they care about their production lines.

Comparison about apples with apples makes more sense to me.

I would be really interested to watch a video from the Extech product lines ..   

Extech looks to me as another Greenlee chain or ProsKit chain, and so it does not compare directly with the true manufacturers.

I don't understand your response Kiriakos. I didn't make any comparisons between Extech and any other company and I have NEVER claimed that Extech tools were on the same level as Agilent, Fluke or Gossen (in alphabetical order ;) ).
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
 

Offline Kiriakos-GR

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 3525
  • Country: gr
  • User is banned.
    • Honda AX-1 rebuild
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #72 on: October 25, 2011, 12:44:39 pm »
I don't understand your response Kiriakos. I didn't make any comparisons between Extech and any other company and I have NEVER claimed that Extech tools were on the same level as Agilent, Fluke or Gossen (in alphabetical order ;) ).

I just wanted to make a nice Rant   :D

And to point out that, not all brands stands equal in the market so to look as equal sources of admiration.   
 

Offline slipjointedTopic starter

  • Contributor
  • Posts: 42
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #73 on: October 25, 2011, 05:33:06 pm »
What has been said here is a tiny, tiny fraction of the conversations I've had over the past few days.
I quite understand, I wasn't pointing any bone your way although I can see how some could read events as over-reaction.

Quote
BoredatWork thinks he has a clue what those conversations involved and who they were with, but I can assure you that he truly doesn't.
BAW is a miserable git, but he's far from a clueless miserable git. Take a little of what he says on-board without seeing it as a personal insult. Yes maybe he could have shown a little more tact, but after having our time wasted by some of the forum fools us miserable gits can get a little prickly.

Quote
I'm not a person that will change my opinion for a backlit plastic box. I am certainly not a person who will change my opinion for run-of-the-mill PR speak.
I'm certainly not accusing you of that and never was.  Just understand that not everyone will read things exactly as you do. You are getting some vendor support , that is a great result.

BoredatWork suffers from the same problem I do... thinking he's always ahead of the curve. I just do it a bit more surreptitiously. The more often you're ahead of the curve, the less likely you are to realize when you aren't.

I've had extensive conversations with four individuals, and two of those conversations are ongoing and only related to this thread by association (meaning we are having an open discussion of things other than customer service). Extech and FLIR have gone so far above and beyond the call of duty, that it's impossible for me to come to any conclusion but the one I've come to. The possibility of PR stunt started to fade after about the second conversation I had.




 

Offline Mike-Extech

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 5
Re: HUGE thumbs down for Extech.
« Reply #74 on: October 25, 2011, 07:51:01 pm »
We clearly fumbled when addressing Slipjointed's issue - no excuses.  Sir, I do want to apologize as well because product support is part of my group.   I am happy to hear that your problem was fully addressed, and hopefully the level of service ultimately exceeded your expectations. 

We have an outstanding group in Boston that supports Extech's customers.  They take pride in their work and the Extech brand.  They're not happy with this incident either and they're using this as an opportunity to review and improve their processes and the resources available to support Extech's customers.

Although some of the criticisms in this thread sting a little (to say the least), the feedback is quite valuable.  We are listening, and very interested in your thoughts and opinions regarding service, quality, value, features & functionality, as well as the details like "screws".  We want to build the meters that you wish you could buy!   What would you like to see in future meters? 

Mike Fox
Vice President, Product Development
FLIR - Test and Measurement / EXTECH
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf