"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
Quote from: TCT on October 02, 2012, 04:14:06 PMQuote from: ZooCity on October 02, 2012, 03:09:52 PMSo they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.They have been running all over the world aside from the US. They are actually the second oldest screen printing machinery company out there if I am not mistaken. Funny you should say that about Anatol, guess what my other press is.... Would never buy another thing from them again. Well- I might consider a manual if I was in the market. Not much that service can let you down with on one of those! I actually think it is too bad about Anatol, because they CAN make a good piece of equipment- service after the sale is where they need help. Funny thing is, I am pretty sure they know that.Back to the topic, I think SRoque has stuff all over the world, big in Europe and Africa if memory serves me correctly.This isn't a drama post at all, I am honestly just wondering. Given you have had "bad" service from an overseas manufacture, what made you decide to try another one that is even less established than Anatol at least as far as USA goes. I think id have to be concerned at what level of service I could expect if there was some problems.
Quote from: ZooCity on October 02, 2012, 03:09:52 PMSo they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.They have been running all over the world aside from the US. They are actually the second oldest screen printing machinery company out there if I am not mistaken. Funny you should say that about Anatol, guess what my other press is.... Would never buy another thing from them again. Well- I might consider a manual if I was in the market. Not much that service can let you down with on one of those! I actually think it is too bad about Anatol, because they CAN make a good piece of equipment- service after the sale is where they need help. Funny thing is, I am pretty sure they know that.Back to the topic, I think SRoque has stuff all over the world, big in Europe and Africa if memory serves me correctly.
So they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.
Which anatol auto do you have TCT?I've always got my ear to the ground when it comes to who is giving good and bad service and the one that has come up a few times on this thread seems to have taken a nose dive after a few years of trending in the right direction. It's almost like they've given up and they are perfectly content with being number 2 here in the states and selling presses to shops that will likely never buy another one or at least not another one from them. I don't see how that is a good business plan for an automatic manufacturer. I had to deal with the questions of what kind of service after the sale I was going to encounter when buying from RPM. I knew they were small and wouldn't be able to offer the kind of service that M&R could, but I knew they'd probably be better than all the other brands were offering so I pulled the trigger. I have not regretted it...yet. Basically what I mean by that is I haven't needed much tech support, only one time has the press gone down, and I'm wondering (still) if I'm going to get the service I'm wanting when that time does come around. There are little things that put doubts in my head like when I have placed a few orders for flash unit bulbs via email the response has not been prompt, but there was no need for overnight or immediate action and I did mention that in the email. But that being said, a few weeks is still a bit long to wait for some flash bulbs in my opinion. If the press goes down and I call for support, I do think I'll get it, and if the first source doesn't respond, I can go up one more rung on the ladder, and go directly to 2M.The next press I think I'm going to not worry about what kind of service after the sale I'm going to get. And I've been researching autos for many years now and I really don't think there is a better press than the challenger III, comparable yes, but better...very debatable. There was a day when we could be down a day and it wouldn't hurt us, but now, if we are down a day we are in deep s h i t. Having the piece of mind knowing that I'll have someone (an entire staff) to be there to get me back up and running is now a much more important factor when choosing a new piece of equipment.
Quote from: GraphicDisorder on October 02, 2012, 04:59:53 PMQuote from: TCT on October 02, 2012, 04:14:06 PMQuote from: ZooCity on October 02, 2012, 03:09:52 PMSo they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.They have been running all over the world aside from the US. They are actually the second oldest screen printing machinery company out there if I am not mistaken. Funny you should say that about Anatol, guess what my other press is.... Would never buy another thing from them again. Well- I might consider a manual if I was in the market. Not much that service can let you down with on one of those! I actually think it is too bad about Anatol, because they CAN make a good piece of equipment- service after the sale is where they need help. Funny thing is, I am pretty sure they know that.Back to the topic, I think SRoque has stuff all over the world, big in Europe and Africa if memory serves me correctly.This isn't a drama post at all, I am honestly just wondering. Given you have had "bad" service from an overseas manufacture, what made you decide to try another one that is even less established than Anatol at least as far as USA goes. I think id have to be concerned at what level of service I could expect if there was some problems. overseas covers a lot of territory! Not all companies are created equal and not being from US is not a good benchmark for who and what they are. pierre
Quote from: GraphicDisorder on October 02, 2012, 04:59:53 PMQuote from: TCT on October 02, 2012, 04:14:06 PMQuote from: ZooCity on October 02, 2012, 03:09:52 PMSo they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.They have been running all over the world aside from the US. They are actually the second oldest screen printing machinery company out there if I am not mistaken. Funny you should say that about Anatol, guess what my other press is.... Would never buy another thing from them again. Well- I might consider a manual if I was in the market. Not much that service can let you down with on one of those! I actually think it is too bad about Anatol, because they CAN make a good piece of equipment- service after the sale is where they need help. Funny thing is, I am pretty sure they know that.Back to the topic, I think SRoque has stuff all over the world, big in Europe and Africa if memory serves me correctly.This isn't a drama post at all, I am honestly just wondering. Given you have had "bad" service from an overseas manufacture, what made you decide to try another one that is even less established than Anatol at least as far as USA goes. I think id have to be concerned at what level of service I could expect if there was some problems. When I was deciding, it came down to SRoque and MHM. There was nothing else out there that could really compare apples to apples. When looking at SRoque and MHM they are both from overseas, SRoque has been around longer and I was able to get in touch with 3 owners(only one directly) all of who would not stop raving about how much they liked their machine. Not a single one had had a problem. If(and I guess when) there is a problem I am not all that worried- I have had some equipment that has a local number and service, but they just say that. So I am used to no support, if that happens to be the case it is not un charted territory for us. I would think it would be hard for them to have poor support considering they don't have a "cheep" or "entry level priced" machine. That in my head(tumble weed blowing across a desert) would mean they would have to maintain good standing with current customers or I would assume it would be hard to continue to sell higher priced/higher end machines. Also keep in mind with the higher end machines chances are they are going to someone that has already had an auto, they are not making the step up from the garage and a table top press. So if you are adding a auto or upgrading, chances are you are going for more features or capabilities- individual off contact, on press flocking, on press foiling, ect. All of this would mean they have to set the bar higher than a company that sells a large number of $20K-$40K machines. I'm pretty sure that I lost almost everyone there. Guess what I was trying to say is: if they have been around since 1983 selling automatics- higher end ones at that, and are still around doing it today and advancing to another country, chances are they are doing something right. Go ahead ask me another question, I can probably type out another cluster-f*%$ of an answer before the day ends!
Quote from: TCT on October 02, 2012, 06:27:10 PMQuote from: GraphicDisorder on October 02, 2012, 04:59:53 PMQuote from: TCT on October 02, 2012, 04:14:06 PMQuote from: ZooCity on October 02, 2012, 03:09:52 PMSo they offer four options for pre-reg? Damn. If I caught this right, you can get a Sroque machine that's MHM compatible, screen wise?Very interested to see some pricing at some point. As far as the "eek it's made in Europe!" response, well, I get that way too but if the machines have been running in Portugal for awhile and are good machines with reasonable support than it's probably no less a risk than going with an MHM. And look how many folks buy Anatol...talk about rolling the dice on support...or getting a press that works.They have been running all over the world aside from the US. They are actually the second oldest screen printing machinery company out there if I am not mistaken. Funny you should say that about Anatol, guess what my other press is.... Would never buy another thing from them again. Well- I might consider a manual if I was in the market. Not much that service can let you down with on one of those! I actually think it is too bad about Anatol, because they CAN make a good piece of equipment- service after the sale is where they need help. Funny thing is, I am pretty sure they know that.Back to the topic, I think SRoque has stuff all over the world, big in Europe and Africa if memory serves me correctly.This isn't a drama post at all, I am honestly just wondering. Given you have had "bad" service from an overseas manufacture, what made you decide to try another one that is even less established than Anatol at least as far as USA goes. I think id have to be concerned at what level of service I could expect if there was some problems. When I was deciding, it came down to SRoque and MHM. There was nothing else out there that could really compare apples to apples. When looking at SRoque and MHM they are both from overseas, SRoque has been around longer and I was able to get in touch with 3 owners(only one directly) all of who would not stop raving about how much they liked their machine. Not a single one had had a problem. If(and I guess when) there is a problem I am not all that worried- I have had some equipment that has a local number and service, but they just say that. So I am used to no support, if that happens to be the case it is not un charted territory for us. I would think it would be hard for them to have poor support considering they don't have a "cheep" or "entry level priced" machine. That in my head(tumble weed blowing across a desert) would mean they would have to maintain good standing with current customers or I would assume it would be hard to continue to sell higher priced/higher end machines. Also keep in mind with the higher end machines chances are they are going to someone that has already had an auto, they are not making the step up from the garage and a table top press. So if you are adding a auto or upgrading, chances are you are going for more features or capabilities- individual off contact, on press flocking, on press foiling, ect. All of this would mean they have to set the bar higher than a company that sells a large number of $20K-$40K machines. I'm pretty sure that I lost almost everyone there. Guess what I was trying to say is: if they have been around since 1983 selling automatics- higher end ones at that, and are still around doing it today and advancing to another country, chances are they are doing something right. Go ahead ask me another question, I can probably type out another cluster-f*%$ of an answer before the day ends! Fair enough. But I don't think a machines price high or not will mean automatically they have good support, I think it's likely they won't be the worst in service so you have that going for you. There are some really low benchmarks out there that should be easy to beat. Best of luck with the machine and keep us in the loop of how it is doing!