Dan!
YOure "the man!"
I demonstrate fast and early respect for any associate who knows what he is talking about, and you have earned it. I rarely have seen your depth of product knowledge.
(now for the trickey bit.... for a moron I wouldnt waste my time)
I think youre missing a valid point arcdawg is trying to make. The guy is a welder, not a cum-laude graduate of an ivyleague school who majored in communications. He apologized for getting worked up (the right word is nasty) about it, but his mistake wasnt in steel and he couldnt grind it out and redo, all he can say is "sorry", which he did. l think that, and his courage to stick around and live it down, says something for his character. Why not ease up a bit and be more objective in trying to understand what he is trying to say.
I accept his point as a valid one and a symptom of the times. You know very well things are not built like they used to be.
I have a modest Miller GMAW welder (it was a top-of-the-line single phase at the time, I thought) with cheezy plastic connectors for MIG and spool gun electricals, a goofey contraption supposed to be a drive mech. door latch and a lot of little things that strike me as dissapointments about what money will buy in the 21st century. Miller has a service dealer on Perry St. who, and permit me to quote precisely, says "the [Miller] machine [I own] is such a piece of crap I wont sell it in my store" (and it was, in fact, HIS store; I am prepared to certify my allegation to include names, specific dates, &c)
There may be things going on about which you may not be fully aware. As I recall, arcdawg was in contact with a dealer about warranty which was disallowed in terms that sounded final his first time around... I dont believe Miller really wants their service reps to have Miller customers leaving in the state of mind arcdawg was in, do you? The dealer was much more to blame than his customer, arcdawg, was and easily could have averted the public scene which was later made, probably out of desperation. The dealer to whom arcdawg spoke did not live up to his primary obligation to Miller/Hobart... scold HIM.
It's appropriate to give a fellow human being some benefit of the doubt when he has the fortitude to apologize, and I think it's very possible Arcdwwg might not be soley responsible for the attitude he disavowed. Millers representative locally could have very easily had me in a lather, but fortunately I knew better.
Anyway, facts be known, that new Hobart may survive a 5 foot drop with some calculated, acceptable damage (I dunno) but everyone here would probably gamble the old gold 'uns would fare better. Heck, they dont even build KIDS the way they used to, so what is the big deal beyond the fact's a fact and a symptom of the times?
Miller's willingness to repair the damages to the machine speaks to the company's investment in customer relations and commitment to service, NOT the DURABILITY of the unit; I doubt the original owner took it out and torture tested the thing to abuse it for the sake of self abuse- more likely it ws sold becasue it was a poor choice for the job- it wouldnt stand up to the use perhaps?
Had the original owner brought it in to you for service the fact is you STILL wouldnt know what happend to it beyond whatever story the customer fed you, so as far as justifying warranty coverage, put some logic and reasoning behind it...
Dan, if you rise in defense of Miller's reputation I will be right there with you, apparent tone of this post notwithstanding.
I am reading into the ideas you express precisely what a responsible representative would be obliged to convey, but I am trying to ask you to step back and try to see the consumer's point of view here. The issues tend to conflict somewhat and are not altogether opaque...
Lacking experience in power supply design I cannot remark about comparative arc quality and such, but the dadburned Miller contraption I own welds everythig ive put under its nose from gauge up to and including 3/8", and it does so cleanly and consistantly. No doubt it will do 1/2 with similar aplomb should I loose what vestiges of rationality I still possess. I have seen the bits of cheese Lincoln installs on their equipment... different flavor perhaps, but it's still cheezy here and there. Niether will sustain a direct hit with 8" artillery but with a little care it will do OK.
If Miller would build a better trimmed "derivative" machine that would hold up to a bit more abuse for an extra couple of hundred bucks would people buy it? It might be expensive for Miller to find out, but then again it might actually make a statement about quality...
...how does one actually go about presenting that point?
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