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Dispute with supplier regarding Gerber fastrack 650 plotter
I hope someone out there can give me some advice about these plotters.
I bought this plotter 2 years ago from a local supplier who I am now in serious dispute with regarding this Gerber plotter, in the 2 years Ive had this plotter I have had to have the main circuit board renewed twice and it has now packed in for the 3rd time at a cost of £871.50 to get it replaced, 1st 2 times the board was replaced under warranty but now they are refusing to replace it saying there is only a 3month warranty on Gerber parts.
My argument with this supplier is there has to be something seriously wrong with this machine if it keeps blowing circuit boards, they had the cheek yesterday to charge me £90+vat to just look at the plotter knowing fine well what the outcome was going to be.
At this time i am refusing to pay or deal with this supplier (who I would stay well clear of if based in Ireland) as their attitude is basically its your problem either pay the costs or buy a new plotter, luckily i have a cadet + which i am using as a plotter to keep my business ticking over until I get this resolved, although its taking allot longer to get jobs out.
1. OK I’ll get to the point can anyone tell me if they have experienced such a problem with their Gerber plotter.
2. has anyone ever had such a dispute with a supplier over a case like this? and how did they resolve it.
3. As I am going to contact Gerber direct to also confront them about this problem, would anyone know who the best contact name and address of some with Gerber who would deal with such complaints.
Hope someone out there can help me on this problem as Ive a fleet of vans to get done and without a cutter I’m in big shit…
Cheers
Dave
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14 Replies
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Don’t quote me I could be wrong.
But I think they are actually Mutoh Units with diff firm ware I could be wrong. Maybe someone else knows more than me.
I have a Mutoh 650 here currently dead. I need to repair when I have the finances. I was told by one person to make sure a surge / spike filter was fitted on the mains also as that can sometimes cause the epproms to be messed up.
Tim.
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well the gerber stuff is exclusive to a Bristol company here… i have no idea why your main board is poping, so when u switch it on is it dead or no-screen or error code?
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quote David McPhillips:…….. 1st 2 times the board was replaced under warranty but now they are refusing to replace it saying there is only a 3month warranty on Gerber parts.[/b]To the best of my understanding:
Under UK law, ALL new products must carry a minimum of a year warranty (except those classified as temporary) – that includes installations / repairs using new parts.
ie. If the part breaks or is installed incorrectly within the first year you can use your statutory rights.It does however depend on how you / they worded the repair invoice.
It you asked for them to "repair your machine" – ALL existing defective parts whether discovered at that time or not are covered. New faults are not.
If you just asked for them to fit a new main board – then only that part is covered, but warranty will be void if the power supply keeps killing it since you didn’t ask for it to be checked / repaired.
Sounds like he’s rapidly getting out of pocket!!
Gerber may well offer a 3 month warranty in the states, but it’s not the US here…UK law applies.
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definately sound like you have another intermittant fault that is causing this mate. You may have a motor that is going short.
Sounds like the company you are dealing with are what we call ‘board jockeys’in the computer repair trade. That is, they are not technicians as such, just guys and girls employed to remove and replace major components.
They should not have returned the unit to you until they found the source of the problem. Alarm bells should have rung when they had a 2nd board for the same problem.
I have a mate here that had a plotter, not a gerber, that died 5 times in warranty. He inisisted the unit be totally replaced, which they refused to do.
A quick letter from a soilicitor resolved the issue tho. Heaps cheaper than 800 quid, may be worth a try. You certainly have a case that the machine is faulty from the day you purchased it.
Tey may pull the ‘zapped by a surge’ card on you though, but you have the right to ask them to prove it. When they do, if they do, tell them they breached their responsibilty not informing you of this the last time the unit was repaired.
Our electricity suppliers here will put a monitor on your power to see if yu do have spikes. If it has been spiked, you may have an insurance claim.
Worth a try.
Shane (former technician)
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Thanks for all the replies fellas very useful as usual.
Shane you are spot on as they have already started to try placing the blame with us but all my electrical equipment is on surge masters as this was a thing I was always warned about by my brother who is an electrician so when I hit them back with that the started on to working temperatures and degrees that the machine should be kept in "something I was never informed off".
As for electricians they are precisely what you described them as Shane all they are trained to do is take on part out and the new part in, after all the back up support we were promised from them at the start, they are a total disgrace as agents and should not be selling any type of hardware.
I asked for a copy of the previous reports on the first two failing boards to be told "O we don’t do reports we just bin the failing parts and replace them so we don’t know if this is the same problem happening over again"
I’m seriously considering legal action with this company as I cant afford for this to keep happening and the manager wont take or return my calls, if I try get an appointment to see him hes always busy.
Thanks again for your advice fellas much appreciated.
As I’m considering buying a new plotter can anyone please advise on suppliers and make that are good and supply good back up service.
Cheers
Dave
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Just another quick question I’m being told these are the main suppliers for spandex here and that they are getting their Gerber plotters from them would anyone know if spandex do sell Gerber items???
Cheers
Dave
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Hi Dave
Spandex do sell Gerber machines, we have only ever used this make of plotter & have bought all our machines from them. The technical help is based in Manchester I think, the phone number I’ve got is 0161 772 2045 they might be able to help sort out your problem.
Hope you get it sorted mate
Neill
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Hi Dave, are you a member of the Federation of Small Businesses?
If so, they have a legal advice line free of charge (well, its about £150 per year to join but its well worth it) and also get good deals on insurance & vehicle recovery etc.
Anyway, if you use their advice line you just quote your membership number and someone phones you back in about 30 minutes – you just tell them the problem, explain what evidence you have to support your argument and they will give you the advice you need.
I think its basically down to it being a pre-existing fault which should have resulted in you having the machine replaced after the 2nd board blew (in my opinion).
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Thanks again fellas for the help.
Unfortunately Les I’m not a member of the federation of small businesses but it sounds worth while having especially at times like this.
Neill have you ever had any problems with your Gerber plotters in the respect of circuits blowing or running of badly???
I really liked that plotter but to be honest it has but me off buying another Gerber machine I’m looking at other plotters but as Ive never worked with any other plotter I’m puzzled on which are good machines and which are not worth while looking at.
Ill try their technical department in Manchester thanks again fellas.
Cheers
Dave
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Would your supplier be based in Belfast, David? Was thinking of upgrading and I only want to get a decent backup service.
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Yes Harry they are based in Belfast
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Never had anything blow on any of our plotters, they have always been very reliable. We used to have a Fastrack 1300 which was a good machine
We now have an Envision 375 and a P2C 1600, they were both brand new from Spandex. The P2C did have to be replaced as it couldn’t see the black squares that are used to cut out digital prints. The replacement machine is fine.
The Envision did have to have the blade holder assembly replaced as it wasn’t cutting properly. Again since this was done it has been fine.
Both cutters are used all day, every day (well weekday!).
Having only used Gerber stuff I know what you mean about other makes.
cheers
Neill
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Same for me with Gerber equipment.
I have 2x GS15 plotters (15 year old each), Envision 375 (new), Edge Trunion (11 year), Edge FX (new, had problems but all sorted), Embosstrack 650 (8 years), Fasttrack 650 (3 year).
Any problems have usually been dealt with quite promptly by Spandex and/or Gerber USA direct, so thumbs up from me.
Regards,
GeoZ
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