I received 3 comments from labs that have had no problems with delayed service
calls. One of these labs mentioned having to wait "unreasonably long" for
replacement parts on back-order. There were 7 messages from people with service
problems. Some included delays in service calls and others merely delays with
replacement parts. I've also witnessed the parts problem. Our 477 was down for
about 2 months last year due to a back-ordered computer board. One person
mentioned that his/her lab purchased a sequencer from a competitor due to
problems with poor service regarding PE's sequencers (this person also mentioned
that the problem was related to sequencers only).
Upon seeing my posting, PE was fairly quick to call and address this issue. Tech
support pointed out that I should have called for technical assistance rather
than send a message to the ABRF. I wasn't aware that this is a technical issue
and nobody that I contacted at PE suggested that route to me. I was also told
that this is a problem regarding the southeast only. My responses say otherwise.
While they were more concentrated in this area, they included other regions of
the country. Our service person called yesterday to reschedule the visit for
today. This time he showed up and is now working in the lab (yea!). Someone from
PE's quality control area also called me today to address the issue. He listened
to all of my complaints and said he'd pass the information on to the appropriate
people.
My only complaint at this time is that we might have to schedule another visit
to finish the job. This means that we'll be expected to pay the additional
airfare, and we'll have to wait an undetermined amount of time until we are
fully functional. I'll definately try to have the extra costs waived. As far as
the down time, it's yet another frustration. The resolution of that problem is
too far in the future. I wanted to wrap this issue up now as far as the
newsgroup is concerned.
Overall I think PE did a good job in dealing with the problem once I took it to
the ABRF. Unfortunately if they hadn't handled it so poorly in the first place
many people could have been saved this headache. What is ultimately sad is that
I am not sure how this problem would have been resolved without the power of the
newsgroup behind me. I thank you all for your messages and support in this
matter. I only hope I can repay the kindness to those of you who went out of
your way to help me.
Jeni
Janelle Lauer
Florida Atlantic University
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431
jlauer@fau.edu
Phone: (561) 297-2094
FAX: (561) 297-2759