I sent in my DOA decoder several weeks ago, and I have yet to hear anything from NEC after several attempts to get status of my decoder. I know they have it, I sent it to them priority confirmed mail. Does anyone know anything about how to contact these people to lite a fire under them? Thanks... T
On Jan 16 I sent 2 wireless procabs, and an RB02 for internal antennas and firmware upgrades, and a couple weeks ago emailed asking on the status, and have not heard back yet either. I was told Larry is very old, and may be running slow, so I am being patient, but will probably resort to telephone calls soon. A status update that say's "Been busy with backlog, looks like a few more weeks" is all I am asking for.
i sent mine in about a month ago to.call them today they got it but he said they were about a month behind.upgrades have them backed up.i ask what so hard about swapping out decoders digitrax was about a week turn around ,said they were doing the best they can
All I want is some communication. I can wait, its just not hearing anything that irritates me. Especially when I inquire. People like to trash Digitrax, but Im tellin ya, I run allot of digitrax In fact for the money two of them for every one of other brands. The few I sent in, they didn't even spend time on them, they just turned a brand new one around right to me, and my junk was back on the rails within a week.
I sent in a Radio pro cab that the thumb speed control wheel was sticking and they recieved it on Jan. 7 and have not recieved it back . I called them about 2 weeks ago and they said that they was behind but they did not say how much longer it would be before they would fix and ship it back.
Man, what some of us would do to have a backlog of 30 days worth of work. Looks like the DCC business is booming.
NCE has a "special offer" on their website, although you have to hunt for it, where you send in any manuf. damaged decoder plus $12, and they send you "one of our finest decoders". So I tried it, and the only one I had to send was a burned out MRC sound decoder. I sent a note specifiying the web offer, and wanting to try one of their decoders, and even mentioned the one--PNP for Atlas 4 axle diesels that I would like if it was possible. About a month later, I get a package back, and in it, they sent my old decoder back with a note that it could not be repaired, but they took the money anyway. I emailed them that it wasn't sent in for repair, and please either refund the money or send me a decoder as per the web offer. I get a note back saying that we could send you the decoder originally asked for, if I would send them $12. Grrr! I said you had the money, so go ahead and send it please. This was back in November and nothing has arrived, and I give up. I'm sure they have a nice line of product, but after this Pythonesque episode, I will stick to TCS and Digitrax.
From what I have heard, the best way to contact them is by phone. I have e-mailed them in the past and it usually takes a few days before you get a response. From what has been posted on the Yahoo users group, most people are very happy with their service from NCE so I am very surprised that people are having issues with them. My last contact with them was about a month ago. I asked when their decoder for the SD70 Mac was to come out. It has been over a year that I have waited- I wanted to stick with all NCE products. They said go ahead and buy either TCS or Digitrax. Oh well, Craig
Thanks Robin I just got an email from Larry at NCE. He simply states that he will get my decoder out to me today. Irronic, the day after I asked for help from one of my favorite E-tailers to light a fire under them. I don't want to make this a commercial, so I won't mention the e-tailers name, but it rhymes with "Bobbin & Ike Lifer". In an unrelated comment, Thanks Robin & Mike Fifer at Fifer Hobbies.. :thumbs_up:
Actually that could be misleading. An overworked service area is indication of bigger QA issues in a manufacture. If their service, especially warrantee work is bogged down with work, what does that tell you? Also, warrantee work is a total loss as far as revenue.. Never a good thing..
Or it's a little company doing big things. NCE not only produces it's own line of product but provides a lot of OEM product to other companies. Larry is the primary repairer and whilst some of the other employees do the upgrades, etc., they also have their own work to do. I suppose one way to look at it is they provide an upgrade path within their product range rather than a redundancy path (the creation of the SB3A to replace and upgrade the SB3 is one example) and provide the service in-house rather than farming it entirely to dealers. This takes resource as well.
The SB3A has a bug that their trying to fix this could be part of the problem but not getting back to people is'nt the answer either. I talked to the guys at the Big E show and they were great. I even bought a Power Cab. I think it might be growing pains.
Nce called me today and left me a message to call them back about putting a new upgrade in my radio pro cab so I will call them back tomarrow
Could be, but I do hope it is because they are working on mostly upgrades. I plan to upgrade my SB3 one day to. Who knows for sure?
The bug has been found and replacement chips offered to be sent out to those willing the change them out. It only affected a small number (probably the first batch of 100) with software version 1.28D1. All subsequent versions are ok. To paraphrase the NCE list; "The SB3a version 1.28D1 code had a bug in the recall function as its implementation had a bit shared between the recall function and a speed zero flag. As a result more than 2 recalls did not work correctly. "The SB3a version 1.28D2 code fixes this problem. If you have a SB3a with the version 1.28D1 code call NCE and they will send you a chip with the new code version." As for getting back to people, no, it is not acceptable to have an excessive delay. Dependant on circumstances it could be explained.
I called Larry about my Wireless Procabs and RB02 yesterday, and he was just emailing me that they were being sent out that morning. Alos, my friend Jeff had sent a decoder for repaint January 5th, and he just received it yesterday, so what it look like is just a seasonal backlog of 6-8 weeks, which is really not bad. They are actually a very pleasant bunch to deal with.
I have been thinking about buying a DCC system and was considering either Digitrax or NCE. NCE was at the top of my list. But after reading these comments I'm a little nervous about getting repairs or upgrades in the future. Is NCE a pretty small outfit? Jeff
