Monday, 11 December 2006
*Updated: HDTVSupply is not happy with me about this post. Read more here*
I had a bit of a snafu recently with HDTVSupply that irked me. I had bought a component video switch from them some time ago – I wasn’t sure exactly when, but I knew it was about 2 years. The thing is ugly as hell, but does a great job at switching video without signal (quality) loss. I had misplaced the power supply for the switch and could not figure out what the specifications were to replace it. I checked both the website (linked above) as well as the online manual. The only thing is said was that it shipped with a 9V wall wart.
The problem with Video-Storm (the maker) is that they don’t include a phone number to get ahold of them. I really wanted to get this particular power supply replaced that day, so I knew that the email they provided would take too long. I shot them an email anyway, but decided I would just call the store I got it from and ask nicely if they could just look at the wall wart and tell me what it says.
When I called HDTVSupply the first time, I got a fairly gruff guy that informed me I should check the manual. Not knowing that the online manual was the same as the one that was originally shipped to me, I told him I had lost it (which I have). He told me to then check HDTVSupply’s site and they have the manual and it should have it. He then pretty much hung up on me. It was hard to get a word in edgewise with the guy to let him know that I had already checked the manual at the manufacturer’s site and I was just hoping he could look at one for me. To cover my bases, I checked the manual on their site, and it was of course the same as the one on the manufacturer’s. I then called HDTVSupply back. What came next was pretty surprising. As I explained to the gruff man again that I had bought the switch from them “almost two years ago”, he accused me of lying. He told me to be honest with him and admit that I didn’t buy the switch from them and that I was looking for free support. He claimed they hadn’t been selling it for that long and yada yada that people were always doing this because Video-Storm doesn’t publish a phone number on their site.
I will admit a moment of doubt crossed my mind, as it had been nearly two years - but I was 99% sure it was HDTVSupply that I had purchased this thing from (on eBay no less). When I couldn’t produce an order number for him, it really seemed to confirm for him that I was lying.
Well, gruff man from HDTVSupply - bite me:
I pulled this image from my purchase history on eBay. Hmm… It appears to me that Mar 14, 2005 is pretty close to two years ago. All in all, it was a rather unpleasant and unhelpful experience and it really makes me think long and hard about purchasing from them again. Even if I had been one of those ‘free support’ people, it was his moment to shine and convert me into a customer with his amazing HDTV knowledge and customer skills. It’s really a shame. He blew that chance when he accused me of lying.
Video-Storm did end up getting back to me with the information I needed (~3 hours later) – but it was all for naught as I ended up finding the damn wall wart about an hour later!
Sidenote: The artifacts on the screenshot above are caused because I am running Vista RC1 still and nVidia has crappy drivers for it. As such, WinSnap corrupts the image as it tries to capture it. *Updated: fixed the artifacts*