I recently purchased 9 new Digitrax UP5 panels for the layout. When I started installing them yesterday, I noticed that the new ones had some quality issues. First, the problem: The bracket which holds the front panel on are set to far back on the component board so the faceplate rolls back at an angle instead of being perpendicular. This makes the connection jacks sit at an angle, so instead of plugging the cab straight in, it would have to be pushed up at an angle. This may not be a big deal, but it just doesn't seem acceptable to me.

Photos:







So, I sent a detailed, tactful, lucid, helpful email to digitrax with the above photos, and explained the nature of the problem.

Quote:Sir,

First, let me say that I thoroughly enjoy my Digitrax Empire Builder system and have never had any issues with it - flawless operation. Thanks for producing a great product.

I am in the middle of expanding my layout and recently purchased 9 UP5 panels from Papa Ben's Train Place here in Houston, Texas. The panels have some issues with the front plate mounting brackets. I have attached photos to show the issues.

The issue is that on the new UP5s, the front mounting brackets which are threaded for the black screws are set to far back from the front edge of the green electronic component board. This causes the front panel to tilt back at an angle instead of being perpendicular. All of the new panels exhibited various degrees of this issue - the one in the photo is the worst case.

I already had 5 UP5 panels on the old layout. These were purchased about 4 years ago. In the photos, I used one of the old UP5s to show the obvious differences between the old panels and the new panels. Note that I took these photos with the UP5s sitting on a piece of foam. I dug out the foam so that the heads of the black screws would go down in the foam so the front panels would sit flat.

Please review photos.

Thanks,
Gary

Here is the reply I got back:

Quote:Thank you for your observations regarding the UP5s.
Our Production Dept. will be advised of this.

Geez. No offer to fix the issue? They didn't even ask how they could help. Was I too nice? Should I have thrown a fit and demanded a fix? Does the squeaky wheel get the grease? Maybe I am expecting too much, but after my nice tactful detailed explanation of the issue, I expected something a little bit more personal. Am I just being too soft here? Business as usual? Wait... am I a valued customer or not? Come on, they could have done better! I mean, when I let Jack-In-The-Box know of some issues awhile back, they sent me a bunch of coupons for free food!

Would the poor fit of the faceplate be a concern to the rest of you guys? Am I just being overly perfect in my expectations?

Hi Gary,

Good letter. They should be lucky to have such a customer as you. It is too bad that they didn't take it to the next step, so you will now have to tell them what they should do. I think you are well within your rights to craft a much sterner followup letter suggesting that they provide replacements (once the Quality Control issue is fixed), which is what they should have offered.

If you really want to push it, you can tell them that after returning the defective panels for a refund, you intend to replace use 6P6C telco jacks.

I would also suggest you find a specific name for this letter, such as a VP or whatever ranking they use at Digitrax.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Andrew

Gary, I would hold off for a couple of weeks to see if you get a further response. It looks like it might be a standard form letter that is automatically generated whenever a customer reports a problem. since the letter said that the "Product Dept." would be informed of this problem, give the Product Dept. time to review the situation and contact you about a solution. If you need to send a follow up letter, I would mark it "Attention Product Dept," and enclose a copy of your original letter and picture just in case the original letter was lost.

I have sent emails to companies about a problem with a product in the past, an invariably I get an automatic response email not unlike the letter you received, and it is followed up by a personal response from tech support, quality control, or whatever a few day later.

Russ Bellinis Wrote:Gary, I would hold off for a couple of weeks to see if you get a further response. It looks like it might be a standard form letter that is automatically generated whenever a customer reports a problem. since the letter said that the "Product Dept." would be informed of this problem, give the Product Dept. time to review the situation and contact you about a solution. If you need to send a follow up letter, I would mark it "Attention Product Dept," and enclose a copy of your original letter and picture just in case the original letter was lost.

I have sent emails to companies about a problem with a product in the past, an invariably I get an automatic response email not unlike the letter you received, and it is followed up by a personal response from tech support, quality control, or whatever a few day later.

I agree with Russ here. The original email may have gone to a generic "inbox" that gets opened and read by an administrative assistant. That assistants' job may be to send a standard "thank you for your question" response and then forward to the appropriate department for further response. I think that is standard business practice these days. I deal with similar when applying for jobs. I have tried sending resumes to specific managers within the company, but the way companies are set up these days they prefer to to have an administrative assistant handle the mail, and hire through a dedicated HR department.

BTW, you also asked about the poor fit of the faceplate and if it would bother me. Yes, i would think it sloppy, but I am more likely to walk up the street to the hardware store and buy a couple of nylon spacers the right thickness to fit between the faceplate and the bracket. I don't know if I am that way because I enjoy fixing things, or because I have very low expectations for a timely fix from a customer service complaint

I would continue to follow up and demand a proper response, however, watching the way you work and the speed at which you get things done, I suppose that you would not have the patience to wait for Digitrax to correct the problem. Knowing you, you will have your layout completed and will be adding a 2nd story to that way-cool train complex you have built by the time they fix things!!!

Good thought on waiting a bit to see if the Production Department makes a response.

Kevin, although I did not mention it to digitrax, I did take the solution into my own hands. Because I was right in the middle of wiring all the panels when I discovered the issue, I was not about to let that stop me. Also, a trip to the hardware store for proper washers wasn't appetizing either. So I dug through the "bolt box" to find some washers. All the washers I had were either too big or too small. So, for the worst panel, I broke the "ears" off of an old 120 volt receptacle and used those. For the rest, I took some #18 copper wire and made little rings that fit the screws and used those as washers.

Gary S Wrote:Good thought on waiting a bit to see if the Production Department makes a response.

Kevin, although I did not mention it to digitrax, I did take the solution into my own hands. Because I was right in the middle of wiring all the panels when I discovered the issue, I was not about to let that stop me. Also, a trip to the hardware store for proper washers wasn't appetizing either. So I dug through the "bolt box" to find some washers. All the washers I had were either too big or too small. So, for the worst panel, I broke the "ears" off of an old 120 volt receptacle and used those. For the rest, I took some #18 copper wire and made little rings that fit the screws and used those as washers.

Brilliant use of resources! But, it is still very good that you let digitrax know, so that they are aware of the problem and can (hopefully) fix it before someone less understanding really starts complaining!

Sounds like a dropped ball, but I would pick it up again, hand it to them, and say, "Ssssoooooo..........? I would like to send it back rather than have to modify it myself. May I have an RA?" Hopefully you'll get a, "D'Oh!! Sorry, yes, here it is...."

I sent their tech people an inquiry by email just this morning, and had an answer 90 minutes later. So, I would have to say they are responsive, but maybe we'll have to make allowances for the odd boneheaded approach to customer observations and requests for help

-Crandell

scubadude Wrote: I would continue to follow up and demand a proper response, however, watching the way you work and the speed at which you get things done, I suppose that you would not have the patience to wait for Digitrax to correct the problem. Knowing you, you will have your layout completed and will be adding a 2nd story to that way-cool train complex you have built by the time they fix things!!!

Thanks for the compliment, and as I posted to Kevin, I went ahead and fixed the problem. That's kind of why I am wondering why I should even be thinking about the response from Digitrax. Like so what? They sent some messed up product, I fixed it , so good enough.

But let's make a comparison. Also around 4 years ago, I bought a couple hundred Intermountain metal wheelsets from the LHS for all my cars. I remember those wheels being extremely shiny and bright right out of the box, like a triple polished chrome mirror finish. Last winter, I purchased another 100 wheelsets off the internet. Well, they arrived and as I opened the box, expecting those same bright shiny pretty wheelsets, much to my dismay, the wheelsets were a grimy dirty mess! Like a coating of black oil on them. I began to suspect that these were not Intermountain wheels at all, but some slight of hand somewhere - crappy wheels placed in an Intermountain box and sold for Intermountain prices. I did note that the oil would wipe off, leaving the wheels shiny silver, but not the same shine I had remembered from the past. I sent an email to Intermountain noting my concern, and their response (multiple responses actually) was very warm and personal. They informed me that there had been a change in the manufacturing process and they were now shipping the wheelsets with an oil coating to protect them from the adverse elements found in some warehouses and cargo holds. They also said that the internet hobby supply I purchased the wheelsets from was one of their large customers and they didn't feel anything was wrong. Obviously the folks at Intermountain acted like they cared about one of their customers, and I suppose that is really all I ask.

Selector Wrote:Sounds like a dropped ball, but I would pick it up again, hand it to them, and say, "Ssssoooooo..........? I would like to send it back rather than have to modify it myself. May I have an RA?" Hopefully you'll get a, "D'Oh!! Sorry, yes, here it is...."

I sent their tech people an inquiry by email just this morning, and had an answer 90 minutes later. So, I would have to say they are responsive, but maybe we'll have to make allowances for the odd boneheaded approach to customer observations and requests for help

Crandell, I am glad to hear you got a quick response on the tech question. Seeing that I am pretty much married to digitrax, I don't really have a choice when buying new stuff now. So, I am hoping that they are actually much more customer friendly than that email response I got back. I'll wait it out and see. And after a week or so, then maybe I send them a follow-up email explaining to them how customer relations should work!

O.K., Gary ...
I agree with Russ to a point … “…looks like it might be a standard form letter that is automatically generated whenever a customer reports a problem. Since the letter said that the "Product Dept." would be informed of this problem, give the Product Dept. time to review the situation and contact you about a solution. If you need to send a follow up letter, I would mark it "Attention Product Dept," and enclose a copy of your original letter and picture …”

I am sure that customer “contacts” of a technical nature get the response you got. The term “Product Department” has a strange sound to it for me, as problems of a design and/or engineering nature generally go to Engineering, a department I am infinitely familiar with. I looking at your photos, it is either a production quality problem or a design revision that resulted in a “dimension drift” that wasn’t caught be the draftsman, the drawing checker or the designer and/or engineer responsible for the change, either of whom would also have to sign off on the drawing before the change could be implemented.

Kevin’s impulse to “insert washer here” would solve the angle of the mounting but might impact the flushness of the RJ11 receptacle to the faceplate. It would satisfy the verticality but … as I study your photos, it might be just the angle from which it was taken, but it seems that the brackets are moved back but so are the receptacles. Something is definitely awry there!

Your initial solutions so that you could keep going show and admirable ability to improvise … I like that … shows me that all synapses are firing in the good ol’ brain bucket …

Now … some useful info that I dug up prior to penning my post here …
Digitrax Officers/Founders: Anthony J Ireland & Zana Ireland -- Panama City, FL
Some valuable ammunition that might be discretely refered to in further correspondence would come from Digitrax’s own Mission Statement … “Our company goals are posted throughout our building so that we never lose sight of them:
1. Make Customers Happy
2. Make Good Products & Sell Them At A Fair Price
3. Give Excellent Service to Our Customers
4. Continually Improve Our Products and How We Make Them
5. Have an Enjoyable Workplace"

If the problem were mine, my next email would be addressed to the Tech Support Group at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:techsupport@digitrax.com">techsupport@digitrax.com</a><!-- e -->, and mention that you are awaiting their “timely response.” In two days of non-contact, my next move would be to take them up on their suggestion “…So, don't suffer in silence, give us a call (850) 872-9890 and ask for tech support …” and begin with the admission that you were tired of “suffering in silence” and would appreciate a few answers.

Now, Gary, you follow your own head, but I’m just sayin’ …

P5se Camelback Wrote:looking at your photos, it is either a production quality problem or a design revision that resulted in a “dimension drift” that wasn’t caught be the draftsman, the drawing checker or the designer and/or engineer responsible for the change, either of whom would also have to sign off on the drawing before the change could be implemented.

The whole thing is rather baffling. As I look at the new UP5, it seems that the metal mounting brackets are just too short at the front. The component boards look the same. That is a simple solution to the issue, but I have already installed the new panels and didn't check this out further.

P5se Camelback Wrote:Kevin’s impulse to “insert washer here” would solve the angle of the mounting but might impact the flushness of the RJ11 receptacle to the faceplate. It would satisfy the verticality but … as I study your photos, it might be just the angle from which it was taken, but it seems that the brackets are moved back but so are the receptacles. Something is definitely awry there!

I checked all the panels - the receptacles on the new UP5s may be back just a little bit, but not enough to make any difference on plugging in the cab. That makes me happy!

P5se Camelback Wrote:Your initial solutions so that you could keep going show and admirable ability to improvise … I like that … shows me that all synapses are firing in the good ol’ brain bucket …

Thank you Sir!

P5se Camelback Wrote:Now … some useful info that I dug up prior to penning my post here …
Digitrax Officers/Founders: Anthony J Ireland & Zana Ireland -- Panama City, FL
Some valuable ammunition that might be discretely refered to in further correspondence would come from Digitrax’s own Mission Statement … “Our company goals are posted throughout our building so that we never lose sight of them:
1. Make Customers Happy
2. Make Good Products & Sell Them At A Fair Price
3. Give Excellent Service to Our Customers
4. Continually Improve Our Products and How We Make Them
5. Have an Enjoyable Workplace"

If the problem were mine, my next email would be addressed to the Tech Support Group at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:techsupport@digitrax.com">techsupport@digitrax.com</a><!-- e -->, and mention that you are awaiting their “timely response.” In two days of non-contact, my next move would be to take them up on their suggestion “…So, don't suffer in silence, give us a call (850) 872-9890 and ask for tech support …” and begin with the admission that you were tired of “suffering in silence” and would appreciate a few answers.

Now, Gary, you follow your own head, but I’m just sayin’ …

Thanks for the research and suggestions. If anything from digitrax shows up in my inbox, I'll let everyone know. If a week goes by and no response, I'll send another cordial email to digitrax.