Service contract issues, a year later

[Christian-103]

Listers,

We have had continual disappointment in the management of our FluoView 500 service contracts (two systems).  We've been informed, contrary to what we've been lead to believe, that our older system will no longer be covered by Olympus.

At this point, I am frustrated, but do not want to completely "trash" a company, so I would like instead to ask questions.

1)  How popular are the purchases of extended service contracts?  

2)  If a service contract is not purchased, how are the systems serviced, such as swapping out lasers, alignment issues, component degradation?

3)  A few years ago, we had a wonderful service company for an older Zeiss 410.  Are there companies anyone can suggest for continued service for a FluoView 500?  I'm in the Midwest of the US, and do have some problems getting the service I enjoyed on the coast.

Thank you all for your input, and please feel free to contact me off list if it's more comfortable.  Any information would be a great help.

Christian Elowsky

[Alice Rodriguez Diaz]

Oh, I understand.

 

But I agree, I wouldn’t “trash” a whole company since the problems usually emerge  from representatives that service a particular area. A good representative can be a life saver… providing “loners” pricing, service in exchange for a future purchase…etc.

 

Extended contract services? Depends on the use you give to the instrument and any alterations or switches you may want to make, if at all. They can be extremely expensive and some very simple things and non-routine practices of use can void a very expensive warranty…

 

Best,

 

Alice Rodriguez-Diaz

 

From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Christian
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 3:07 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Service contract issues, a year later

 

Listers,

We have had continual disappointment in the management of our FluoView 500 service contracts (two systems).  We've been informed, contrary to what we've been lead to believe, that our older system will no longer be covered by Olympus.

At this point, I am frustrated, but do not want to completely "trash" a company, so I would like instead to ask questions.

1)  How popular are the purchases of extended service contracts?  

2)  If a service contract is not purchased, how are the systems serviced, such as swapping out lasers, alignment issues, component degradation?

3)  A few years ago, we had a wonderful service company for an older Zeiss 410.  Are there companies anyone can suggest for continued service for a FluoView 500?  I'm in the Midwest of the US, and do have some problems getting the service I enjoyed on the coast.

Thank you all for your input, and please feel free to contact me off list if it's more comfortable.  Any information would be a great help.

Christian Elowsky

 

[Craig Brideau]

If the scanning system starts to act up, or any motorized components (objective turret, motorized stage or focusing device) go bad then expect to pay big bucks to replace them.
Worse yet is when a user comes to you and says the scope is 'taking funny pictures' and you can't figure out what is wrong.  This turns into a 'bug hunt' which can cost a lot of time and money if a hired tech is doing the bug hunting.  If you don't have a really knowledgeable microscopist on hand (and by knowledgeable I mean 'has built own laser-scanning microscope from scratch') then you will probably want to find a freelance technician that you can call in to handle problems.  Check reputations and ask to talk to previous customers to make sure the service company/tech knows what they are doing.  The best would be a 'brand agnostic' tech who knows fundamentals about a variety of different brands and flavors of microscope.  A tech which understands the fundamentals will be better at tracking down the source of weird problems.

Craig

On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 2:07 PM, Christian <[hidden email]> wrote:

Listers,

We have had continual disappointment in the management of our FluoView 500 service contracts (two systems).  We've been informed, contrary to what we've been lead to believe, that our older system will no longer be covered by Olympus.

At this point, I am frustrated, but do not want to completely "trash" a company, so I would like instead to ask questions.

1)  How popular are the purchases of extended service contracts?  

2)  If a service contract is not purchased, how are the systems serviced, such as swapping out lasers, alignment issues, component degradation?

3)  A few years ago, we had a wonderful service company for an older Zeiss 410.  Are there companies anyone can suggest for continued service for a FluoView 500?  I'm in the Midwest of the US, and do have some problems getting the service I enjoyed on the coast.

Thank you all for your input, and please feel free to contact me off list if it's more comfortable.  Any information would be a great help.

Christian Elowsky

[Christian Elowsky]

Craig,

I'm not sure everyone can get access to a "real" microscopist.  But on that
topic, does anyone have any texts or workshops that might help those who
want to learn how to service their equipment?

I have heard of companies having great service representatives who can teach
much of this, but I have not had any experience here either.  I have been
able to do much on previous systems with a tech on the phone, but again,
this not something I enjoy now.

Surely this 2000+ strong community has some pointers for system services.

Thanks.

Christian