3rd Warranty Claim Now? :surrender: :surrender: :surrender:

[Mike Scott]

Bubba,

We received the unit on 8-20 which was a Friday. Entered into repairs on Monday the 23rd, repaired on Tuesday the 24th and sent to you next day air express on Wenesday the 25th (yesterday) It should arrive today. I PM

 

[bubbadirect]

Thanks Mike, I never got a call from Hector or never had a voicemail for that matter, but my wife called and said that the detector is at the house this afternoon. Again, thank you for your help! I can't wait to get home to see if it works!

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Scully]

n/t

 

[bubbadirect]

Mike,

Once again thanks go to you and Hector Martinez for your speedy fix on the unit. Per the letter sent with the unit, "we re-soldered the wire between the headphone jack and the circuit board" or something like that. The unit acts like it did before I needed repair. So again, thank you! I wish I could thank Hector and the technicians for the speedy return this time around.

bubbadirect
(David Andrews)

 

[Andy Sabisch]

First Texas has shown time after time that while they strive to build a detector that is top-notch and will provide years of trouble free operation, if something does arise, they will go the extra mile to get it fixed and you back in the field finding stuff.

When you buy a detector to spend time in the field, any repair is an inconvenience but as this post shows, they are willing to minimize that downtime as much as possible.

Mike comes to First Texas with an extensive consumer and dealer background in the hobby and what he has done at First Texas since arriving shows that they made a super decision in bringing him on-board.

It's a shame other companies do not treat customers that have purchased product in this manner . . . . . . but hat's off to Mike Scott and the First Texas team for what they build and how they service it.

Andy Sabisch

 

[jmaryt]

certainly indicates to me that F.T cares ,and being pro-active to get your repaired detector
back to YOU!..the loyal consumer!..the MOST important person in the equation!
best of luck!..bubba!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[otlew]

As an owner of the O8K this very positive news indeed!

We all know that personal and business reputations are important assets. First Texas and Mr. Scott have defended their reputations well.

 

[bubbadirect]

All is not well. It is still not fixed. UGHHH!!! I don't have time to explain yet, but maybe later today...stay tuned.

 

[bubbadirect]

Well, I received the beloved Blue Machine on Thursday, August 26th, after shipping it to First Texas on Saturday the 14th, so a 12 day turnaround time is much better than the 21 day turnaround time from the previous warranty claim in July for sure! YEA! Thank you Mike Scott and others who assisted in getting back the machine to me in a timely manner! Again, this was much appreciated! Also, thank you Mike Scott for sending a t-shirt and hat to appease me for the "downtime" "without my detector" during the prime hunting season, which is going on right now!

BUT my unit is still not working correctly! I got to use it in the field for almost 12 hours on Saturday and saw within the first 5 minutes of turning the unit on, that all is still not right. I am sure that you are starting to dislike me now. I stated this on Wednesday of this week before I got my unit back the next day,
Date: August 25, 2010 06:33PM... " I thought I would have heard something either by email, phone calls, findmall.com message, anything like that by now to let me know the status of the unit. I just hate to be a thorn in the side for First Texas. I don't want to bug them or else they might "jinx" the detector "or do something internally" that I would not know which would cause the unit to lose detecting ability. UGH. I don't want to be the guy that they say..."Oh, I have heard about you..." kind of scenario, and then screw up the unit even more."

Well, I went to 4 different places on Saturday, all places were a minimum of 1 mile from each other, and the machine upon turning it on each and every time sounded like a machine gun, or a pinball machine that had gone TILT The unit was jumping ALL OVER THE PLACE! The highest I could set the sensitivity was 43! I don't know about you other OMEGA users, but anything under 50 or so is unacceptable, if you want to achieve any kind of depth! Am I wrong here? That may be true. I don't know any more. Anyway, I couldn't take the constant blat blat blat of the unit, so I tried to change the frequency. But guess what? Since FTP "FIXED MY UNIT," I am now unable to change the frequency. The FREQ button does not work. I can't change the FREQ to try to get to a more stable setting. Here is what the O8K Manual says about FREQ: Frequency Selection Use this control if detector behaves erratically and you suspect electromagnetic interference from some other electronic device. This control will change the detector

 

[walla]

Hello,

I'm new here so forgive the repeats if you've done this, but I'd like to help:

You didn't mention ground balancing in your post, so I will ask. Did you use Ground Grab or did you manually ground balance?

Do you feel there could be any external source for interference? I leave my cell phone in the car when I'm out hunting. Does it make a difference? Not sure, but I don't have to worry about it!

Have you had the opportunity to try other detectors in the same area, and do they act in a similar fashion? If not, perhaps there's a possible way to get a hold of one and try it out, to eliminate the area and verify it is the machine that is misbehaving.

Battery levels good? Swap them for a new one, and if they are rechargeable, perhaps swap for a good alkaline instead.

What was your discrimination setting, where you in Discrimination mode (and what was the setting) or where you in Auto Tune mode?

Is there any way you could record the sound and share with us?

 

[Monte]

I'll offer up these thoughts. Just deal directly with Mike Scott and with Hector at First Texas. You can get a little feedback from Findmall Forum Readers, but these kinds of posts also invite "side remarks" from folks loyal to other brands who like to jump in of treads like this one. Generally, you won't get the useful answers you want because none of us are with you, at your sites, and experiencing similar detector behavior.

I have seen this happen not only on the Teknetics Forum here, but on several other forums related to specific brands. Does that mean I think you ought to just blow it off and ignore the current issues? Of course not! I am just suggesting that the primary purpose of these forums is to get help with detector operation and field use to help each other and, fortunately, report our success. That way, all readers can gain some knowledge and input. To ask for specific warranty-related help, however, defeats the real purpose of this Forum and, in the end, won't really get you the 'fix' you need. Only First Texas via Mike Scott and Hector will handle it. I'd also forget about asking Kellyco for any help and assistance.

My interest in the Teknetics Product Line has been and is based on the good I have seen from their products in general and in the field, as well as in the hands of others. Because of that I am not thrilled that you have a particular model that has some obvious 'glitches' so, trust me, I certainly want to see you out hunting with a good-performing Teknetic's unit. Now, to the rest of your post, let me add a few comments:

Well, I received the beloved Blue Machine on Thursday, August 26th, after shipping it to First Texas on Saturday the 14th, so a 12 day turnaround time is much better than the 21 day turnaround time from the previous warranty claim in July for sure! YEA! Thank you Mike Scott and others who assisted in getting back the machine to me in a timely manner!.

It speaks well for any manufacturer to be that quick in getting to a units service and return. I will join you in giving them a 'YEA' for such service.

I've had a customer, when I was a detector dealer back in 1982 or '83 who bought a Garrett Ground Hog from a major dealer. After using it for about 4 days it acted up and then quit working. She brought it to me and it wasn't a battery issue or an easy fix. The big-time, back-east Dealer wouldn't do anything for her except say sent it in for repair. After only 4 days it had to go to the factory and repair and return took over a month. It was supposed to be a new detector when she got it and it came in the factory box with factory warranty, but I noted a bit of wear when I checked it over.

I had a friend who had a detector he bought from a Tesoro Dealer get damaged, after maybe 3 weeks of owning it, so since I had a unit to ship in I sent his in as well. Tesoro got two detectors from a Tesoro Dealer and the repairs were quickly attended to in a similar manner as you had. Except that his didn't come back working properly as the GB trimmer was way out of whack. that one I fixed.

In 1988, while working for Compass Electronics as their Dealer Coordinator and Marketing rep we had a gal call with a problem because the 'new' Challenger X-100 she bought her husband wasn't working properly. It, too, was ordered from a major dealer back-east and when she shipped it in the first thing two of us noted was the appearance of multi-taping and labels-on-labels. As she told us it also had poor-looking decals and chips on the paint. Peeling off former tape and labels we determined that that same unit, sold as 'new,' had been shipped out 6 times previously and she was buyer #7. In that case not only had the unit been used and returned as a trade-in, but someone had gone inside and misadjusted a number of internal trimmers (there are a lot in them) and it was really messed up!

I have personally owned more White's Electronics models than probably most everyone on these forums. I got my first in the fall of '68, and fast-forwarding to the more recent years I have owned and used 21-XLT's, 4 of the 6000 Pro XL's and 3-XL Pros, 4-MXT's, 3-M6's, 6-IDX Pro's, 4-Classic ID's, 4 or 5-Classic III SL's. Trust me, there have been many, many, many more since my 1st White's 42 years ago. Have they all worked flawlessly? Nope. I have had some search coil failures, right out of the box, and two detectors that called for trips to White's for service. No, make that three. In my favor, White's is a 2

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Simply and politely ask them to replace the unit. I had the same problem with Minelab a few years back. Although not nice to go through, By requesting a replacement unit, should elliminate the problem you are having. that's what I did with Minelab, and they were happy to do that. I'm sure the folks at First Texas will be happy to do the same thing.
Mick Evans.

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

quit wasting your time and energy typing all these posts about these problems and use that energy to work the issue through the proper channels. I alrady know full well that a lot of detectors and service departments aren't perfect as do most that have been around any period of time at all. I wish that could be the case but it's not. I'm not sure what you really hope to accomplish by airing this laundry here like you have that you couldn't do much more effectively and effeciently on the phone to FT service/repair department. I wanted to say something the first time you started this thread but held back. The whole "I'm afraid they might spit on my hamburger" thing was nonsense. They (FT) are professionals with absolutely nothing to gain and in fact something to lose by fouling up so the two parties here want and need the same thing to happen by design. You brought up your belief in the Golden Rule earlier. That works both ways. If YOU sold a product that you manufactured and it had some defect issues and you had a service department in place, would you want that customer complaining on the internet and even speculating that your company was capable of outright intentional sabotage or complaining to your service department that you pay to handle such things? There is still no way of knowing if the real problem might be abnormally rough handling by someone along the way between El Paso and your location. That's a possible explanation where the unit is leaving FT fine and being damaged along the way. Packaging is designed to handle "the norm", not the extreme. I know I've jarred detectors severely and it never left a mark but the detector wouldn't work properly after that. Barring that being the case, the only way you and them are going to get this resolved is to work it directly between the two of you. Again, I suggest you do just that.

 

[Paul (IL)]

Brad you stated what he needs to do very well. I have been following this rant since it started and it was making me il not to mention the rap FT was getting out of it. I really don't care which company is involved in a situation like this with an individual, this is not the place for it. I really thought there were forum rules that prevented this type of company ridicule.

Paul

 

[bubbadirect]

buckeye brad and paul, sorry about the ranting.

 

[bubbadirect]

buckeye brad and paul, sorry about the ranting. You are right, this rant has gone on too far. But I don't believe that FT really cared about the customer, or else they would have done something to make this right. They would have sent a fedex label when they said they would 1)(told me I would have it in my email within 1 hour--I had to call them 24 hours later requesting the label, as I was told "sorry, I forgot all about it") 2)was told I would have a Fedex label overnight, I was emailed a fedex ground label that arrived to them supposedly 7 days later from Indiana to Texas--That doesn't make sense either in this day and age of instant this, instant that... 3)was asked what size shirt I wanted, I said XXL and was shipped a L and was sent 1 instead of the 2.

Paul basically what i am saying is this...If I was taken care of properly from the beginning, I would not have even started venting my frustrations here. I would be busy bragging and showing pictures of my awesome finds with my awesome Omega detector. I have been in customer service (this is my profession) since 1987 and I know what it is like to drop the ball and to overpromise, yet underdeliver. I can be the worlds best product "cheerleader". But I also know what "dropping the ball" looks and feels like.

I won't continue with this rant, I just needed to vent my frustrations.

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

Bubba, there's no need to apologize to me because you really didn't do anything to me. What you have done is repeatedly state your having a concern that FT would possibly intentionally screw up your detector, and in just my opinion, that is totally out of line in several ways. If you feel like reconsidering the path you took around airing this out on the forum, apologize to them. If not, it's your right to feel you've done the right thing. Please try and understand that there are A LOT of guys on here that have had repeated and reoccurring defect issues with nearly all manufacturers and as such, know how it feels but also knows that the public lynching approach does no real good whatsoever and in fact it's potentially damaging to BOTH parties. It's sorta like having a heated argument with a spouse and wisdom/experience should tell you to sit on some of those figurative verbal hay makers you're just dying to land but restraint makes you think better of it. I know some folks mistakenly think the Internet offers a "soapbox" which to stand on and wield some sort of perceived consumer lightning bolt, or that it's a great place to play the "squeaky wheel" card to hopefully get what they want. I'm just saying you might want to consider just using and sticking to the systems that are already in place and wield your communication skills in that arena even if it does take a couple attempts. You want respect? Show them some respect....that's The Golden Rule, remember? Oh....and you're right...not delivering on a promise is wrong no matter who does it. That will be their opportunity and you have a few of your own.

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

and then you take it further saying the same things that, just speaking for myself, I got the first time around. I don't know how to make it any clearer...I nor anyone else on this forum are in a position to actually help you. Those that should and can are a phone call away and God forbid, you might have to try more than once so don't leave a message or send an email. So now rather than have two people being further redundant, I'll shut up. This issue has definitely morphed into something that belongs on the Feedback forum IMO.

 

[bubbadirect]

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