"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
Well, that's the first mention of trading in. You were flippant in your response as to what would happen with the epson machine on the first go around.A bunch of machines being replaced all at once with retarded answers as to why and where doesn't exactly scream transparency. I assume the epsonsare being resold, perhaps a loophole in a c&d from Seiko?
Quote from: Gilligan on January 22, 2015, 10:47:23 AMOne statement I took exception to.... ONE! And I'm the one blowing things out of proportion? HmmmBrandt, I've seen a trend with your post/shout box post. Positives go into post on the forums, negative gripes go into the much lesser read and VERY much lesser archived Shout Box.Maybe it's a coincidence and I'm perfectly ok accepting that, but it has been the trend that I noticed.It's the way you did it, disrespectful if you ask me. M&R or any company for that matter are not perfect. I've never said otherwise.
One statement I took exception to.... ONE! And I'm the one blowing things out of proportion? HmmmBrandt, I've seen a trend with your post/shout box post. Positives go into post on the forums, negative gripes go into the much lesser read and VERY much lesser archived Shout Box.Maybe it's a coincidence and I'm perfectly ok accepting that, but it has been the trend that I noticed.
Brandt, if there was anyone "hanging on to this" why would they... why not just pop it out if they wanted to roast anyone?
It's when things are said that conflict with the evidence on the table that people will step up and say... "yeah, but what about this?" and point back to the evidence. No conspiracies... just facts and logic vs potential sweeping under the rug.
You also didn't buy your unit and then next week they came out with the new model and you thought "Son of a b!tch! I want that NEW model!" You bought your original one after it was already WAY discontinued. You in fact got one of the VERY last ones. So you knew it was an Epson head, and as you said, everyone knows what kind of problems you can have with Epson heads, you even had them yourself with your 4800. Yet you were still sold on that "inferior" (by my impression from you) model over the current one.
Being the person that you are and the kind of money you are willing to invest in "the best for your business", you bought a CH3d for christ sake, it just seems like something is missing in the story on why you would buy that product and then upgrade within a month or so.
And EVERYONE bailed on that model at the same time... only thing we heard on the forums was "I'm excited about getting the new model!"... I think a lot of people were pretty shocked to see so many people that kept writing gushing reviews about their equipment all of a sudden switch from said equipment.
Quote from: ebscreen on January 22, 2015, 12:04:57 PMWell, that's the first mention of trading in. You were flippant in your response as to what would happen with the epson machine on the first go around.A bunch of machines being replaced all at once with retarded answers as to why and where doesn't exactly scream transparency. I assume the epsonsare being resold, perhaps a loophole in a c&d from Seiko?I don't believe anyone asked me ever if I was trading or not and sorry if it wasn't obvious that my shop didn't need 2 CTS's? I was impressed with the Epson Unit. Over time we seen the Epson typical issues pop up here and there and some where frustrating to say the least, things like cartridges no longer reading they have ink, something even our 4880 does. For me considering the better unit had to hit the table at that point and M&R was there to make it easy. It's not that complicated. Everyone traded theirs and I have no idea if they are being resold or what, Rich would have to comment on that. I know that they weren't actively selling them and they were just left over from when they went on to the new unit. We are talking on a few units here folks, not some massive out break. I don't think or at least I don't remember anyone specifically dodging a open public question. I suppose its possible or was missed Feel free to point it out, otherwise I don't know that anyone owe'd you a explanation on why or transparency if you didn't even inquire. Food for thought...
Questions were asked and then glossed over and sugar coated answers were given.
Brandt, you are the only one talking conspiracy here. None of us are. We just think of you guys as hardcore fan boys. No black ops deals... but you certainly think that we have secret meetings to time when we are gonna "blow the lid off slant model gate". Hey curious though... what kind of deal did you get on that trade-in?
Quote from: GraphicDisorder on January 22, 2015, 12:16:40 PMQuote from: ebscreen on January 22, 2015, 12:04:57 PMWell, that's the first mention of trading in. You were flippant in your response as to what would happen with the epson machine on the first go around.A bunch of machines being replaced all at once with retarded answers as to why and where doesn't exactly scream transparency. I assume the epsonsare being resold, perhaps a loophole in a c&d from Seiko?I don't believe anyone asked me ever if I was trading or not and sorry if it wasn't obvious that my shop didn't need 2 CTS's? I was impressed with the Epson Unit. Over time we seen the Epson typical issues pop up here and there and some where frustrating to say the least, things like cartridges no longer reading they have ink, something even our 4880 does. For me considering the better unit had to hit the table at that point and M&R was there to make it easy. It's not that complicated. Everyone traded theirs and I have no idea if they are being resold or what, Rich would have to comment on that. I know that they weren't actively selling them and they were just left over from when they went on to the new unit. We are talking on a few units here folks, not some massive out break. I don't think or at least I don't remember anyone specifically dodging a open public question. I suppose its possible or was missed Feel free to point it out, otherwise I don't know that anyone owe'd you a explanation on why or transparency if you didn't even inquire. Food for thought... What happened with these units is very clear. Customer Service!!! First all the customers that had the Epson based i-image with issues were originally offered the I-Image ST and they balked due to price. All recognized the value to some degree but not in its entirety. After having the Epson based unit and seeing the benefits I don't believe anyone would go back to film. The problem with the machines were two. One the chips on the cartridges would not occasionally reset and as we had stopped production the rip supplier no longer supplied upgrades to the rip. As the computers upgrades automatically on the web issues between the upgrades software and existing rip became an issue. As such we decided to give the customers with issues a chance to upgrade to the machine we originally suggested. Hope that clears this part up for those who need it!
Maybe that is just more evidence that it doesn't seem like what is being said equates the evidence on the table.Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one.
We have two Douthitt CTS units (the CTS-30 and CTS-52 if I recall correctly). The CTS-52 does our jumbo screens (up to 43"x52") and doubles as a backup for the CTS-30.These units are simple, no frills units that do precisely what they were purchased to do. They are built like tanks. The software, as mentioned, is pretty spartan...but it does everything I could need it to do.Douthitt support is unparalleled compared to the two prior units we had (Kiwo I-Jet2 and PlanetB Sprite)...as is the reliability, in my experience. I could get into greater detail if anyone wishes to private message me for specifics. I'm not looking to publicly smear a company with my own anecdotal evidence. That's just not fair. But what I do know and will gladly say is that these machines function non-stop with very few issues...and there is yet to be a single issue that Mark fails to diagnose within seconds of a phone call--which he always picks up the phone for, from 7am EST until whenever the hell he goes home...which is after I go home, that's for sure. He responds to e-mails within minutes and is 99.9% of the time correct with his first diagnosis...of which is usually a very simple fix.Sure, they aren't quite the Ferrari of features that the I-Jet2 was...but we didn't need a Ferrari, we needed a box truck. Some people may need the Ferrari.
Play devils advocate for a second. Let's pretend Anatol makes CTS units and 4 or 5 recent buyers got new machines shortly after they had the originals installed. Allow yourself to wonder, as honest as you can, how that scenario would have played out on this forum. Now look back to how the real issue was handled and discussed and let's talk about how the two would have been different, if indeed you feel they would have been different. If you think it would have been the same, then that's fine too, but I doubt anyone that's being honest with themselves would feel that way. Since it was M&R, the discussion, what little of it, was handled very professionally and it certainly didn't get out of hand. But most of us that have been here a long time know exactly how this has been handled in the past with other manufacturers. Mods would have been involved, hell, I might have been sent more legal papers telling me to shut the F up or else. Regardless, we all know there is a double standard with this situation, it's not the end of the world and it really doesn't affect whether or not we will go with M&R for our CTS purchase. I can see through it all and put things in the proper perspective as well as most of us can, but we also know how one or two dogs are not usually a problem, but a pack of dogs takes on something far greater/different than the individual dogs that make up the pack.
Quote from: alan802 on January 22, 2015, 12:13:56 PMPlay devils advocate for a second. Let's pretend Anatol makes CTS units and 4 or 5 recent buyers got new machines shortly after they had the originals installed. Allow yourself to wonder, as honest as you can, how that scenario would have played out on this forum. Now look back to how the real issue was handled and discussed and let's talk about how the two would have been different, if indeed you feel they would have been different. If you think it would have been the same, then that's fine too, but I doubt anyone that's being honest with themselves would feel that way. Since it was M&R, the discussion, what little of it, was handled very professionally and it certainly didn't get out of hand. But most of us that have been here a long time know exactly how this has been handled in the past with other manufacturers. Mods would have been involved, hell, I might have been sent more legal papers telling me to shut the F up or else. Regardless, we all know there is a double standard with this situation, it's not the end of the world and it really doesn't affect whether or not we will go with M&R for our CTS purchase. I can see through it all and put things in the proper perspective as well as most of us can, but we also know how one or two dogs are not usually a problem, but a pack of dogs takes on something far greater/different than the individual dogs that make up the pack. Using Anatol as an example would certainly change the response, based on how they handled business in the past. It's interesting the spin here is basically people here are faulting M&R for making customers happy? Nothing to sweep under the rug, obviously the ST is a better unit and M&R pointed that out to each of us prior to us buying the older units. Instead of "told you so best wishes", they let us swap + difference in cost. That's customer service most companies can only have wet dreams about.