Vendor tech support “rant”

Salty

Salty

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Salty
So here I am at sun n fun talking to the touted “technical guru” about an issue with my configuration. I’m not going to name the vendor because it doesn’t matter, it could be any of them.

So he doesn’t know how to resolve the problem, but we’re talking through it and he says “well, if you’re not picking up a ground station you’re not going to get traffic”. I said, well I’m picking up some data from other aircraft. He says “that’s not how adsb works. A ground station sends packets specifically made for your plane. Without a ground station you won’t get any data.” He even went so far to suggest that foreflight was pushing “internet traffic” to my gps and that’s why I saw traffic without a station. I argue with him for awhile, even showing him a picture where I had traffic showing with no ground station. he is absolutely, positively adamant that he is correct, and his peer is nodding his head saying “this dude would know”, so I find an excuse to leave realizing that brainstorming with this dude is not going to fix my problem.

/rant
 
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yup - that is sad.
 
In his defense, the FAA narratives are a bit confusing. TIS-B, ADS-R, and FIS-B are indeed only available via ground stations. The special packets sent for your plane are TIS-B and ADS-R data. Takes a couple of readings to make clear that these are in addition to direct reception of ADS-B out data from proximate aircraft. But you would expect a pro to know better.

Don't be coy though; let's hear the vendor! o_O
 
Ed Haywood said:
In his defense, the FAA narratives are a bit confusing. TIS-B, ADS-R, and FIS-B are indeed only available via ground stations. The special packets sent for your plane are TIS-B and ADS-R data. Takes a couple of readings to make clear that these are in addition to direct reception of ADS-B out data from proximate aircraft. But you would expect a pro to know better.

Don't be coy though; let's hear the vendor! o_O
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Nah. The tech support at the home office is helping. We’ll figure it out eventually. The guys that actually understand this stuff probably aren’t fit to put in front of customers. Lol
 
Salty said:
Nah. The tech support at the home office is helping. We’ll figure it out eventually. The guys that actually understand this stuff probably aren’t fit to put in front of customers. Lol
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hey!
 
Salty said:
Nah. The tech support at the home office is helping. We’ll figure it out eventually. The guys that actually understand this stuff probably aren’t fit to put in front of customers. Lol
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Respect for not ruining a reputation based on one encounter.

That said, I do have to share the opposite of that story and I am going to name the vendor!

I stopped by the Pratt & Whitney booth at Oshkosh a few years ago. Some of you may remember that every year they have a cutout model of a PT-6 on display. I never really had a good idea on how jet engines actually work and figured I'd wander over and look at the display. There was a guy there answering some questions, so I felt ok about asking some of my own. I was astonished at the level of detail this guy had and the way he could dumb it down for me. Obviously we first started with the principles of jets and how the air flows through the engine. With that out of the way I asked a bunch of questions about the metallurgy, fuel system, etc. No matter what I asked about, he could go into arbitrary depth. I kept asking if it was ok to keep talking, because I didn't want to monopolize his time, but no one else was around so he kept laughing and basically asking me to stump him. We finished after a little while and I congratulated him on being un-stumpable. I also asked him what he did for the company that he was so deep in *everything* about the engine. He grinned and casually disclosed that he was the chief engineer on the project!

So, I guess sometimes, maybe rarely, but sometimes, you really can put the guys that actually understand things in front of customers!
 
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It wasn’t EI. Lol seriously it wasn’t.

I have to say that because I did have a couple conversations with them.
 
kyleb said:
What the eff does "PC Load Letter" mean?
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It was a common error code on HP printers back in the day, telling you the paper tray was empty.
 
It's not limited to aviation. One of my biggest gripes is salesman that don't know their product. I go to fabtech (metal fabrication expo) every other year. I'm looking at upgrading our cnc plasma to a high def unit. 150k upgrade. My power is a little different (high leg delta 240) and while the vendors advertise output current, that doesn't really help me with what the power source needs. Verbatim the response regardless of vendor "well, let's look in the book". I've looked in the book, it's not there. After spending 5 minutes looking for the answer they'll point to the guy I need to talk to. I thank him for wasting my time and walk to his competitor.

When I was shopping for my new service truck I wanted a Miller welder that had the air compressor built in. I knew the unit I wanted. My only question..."where does the air come out"... Just so I know how to plumb the truck. Guy was absolutely stumped. Took every panel off and couldn't find it. Then tried selling me a cheaper unit because the unit I want is "overkill for what you do". I ask (already knowing the answer) where the 12 pin amphenol for a spool gun is on the cheaper unit..."oh, it doesn't have one". Exactly, now can we talk about the more expensive product that I'm actually interested in and maybe find someone that knows your product? You're spare parts bud.
 
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