Get this....I am considering a private purchase of a Gerber Edge......so upon the suggestion of the person that I would be buying this Edge from, I decided to call Gerber and see about the history, is an extended service plan available, etc.
I am informed that they won't answer any of my questions unless I give them a valid credit card #, exp date, etc. And.....there is a MINIMUM charge of $45.00!!!
Gerber....take it and shove it!!!
Posted by Cheryl Lucas (Member # 1656) on :
Michael,
So sorry to hear this. What a reception, eh? From the manufacturer? I am stunned!
I don't own an Edge, but and still running a Gerber IVB. I have NEVER had a problem consulting with my distributor, on advice, maintenance, etc.
I can understand your current situation, but if you're still interested in purchasing the Edge, possibly you can contact a distributor in your area, who would like to have your business in regard to supplies, etc.
Good luck,
Cher.
Posted by Michael Berry (Member # 2604) on :
Cheryl,
I would, however I am getting this for such a price that it's worth the gamble, I was just so POed at Gerber that I was venting. I am still POed that they want to charge me a MINIMUM of $45 just to find out basic information. I think they have lost touch with the real world!
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Mike that sounds out of the ordinary, but I dont deny it didn't happen.
I recently called on my edge, around the same time you had those troubles with your last one and they answered the questions with no problem.
and no fee Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Bob, don't you have a service contract? If so, that could be the difference.
Mike, here is my reply from you posting of this inquiry on 4edgetalk:
maybe the guy who is selling should invest $45 in providing you the history. As for Gerber... they aren't running a popularity contest, & if we like their business practices doesn't change the profitability of their equipment.
I had an old $400 debt for medical expenses that my insurance was supposed to pay. When I was buying a house I explained to my mortgage broker why I wasn't going to pay. She said "do you wanna try to show the insurance who's right... or do you want to buy a house".... so whatever the hell I'm trying to get at... tell Gerber to shove it if you want, but don't let your feelings... or $45 measly dollars keep you from growing your company.
I sometimes raise my prices just to slow down the over-abundance of work. I wouldn't want to get so extreme that people are out talking szhit about me... but sometimes being a little selfish about your time is the only way to have enough of it to go around.
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
I'm with Mike. Last summer I was quoted by Gerber a price of $2400 to solder an $8 part on my 4B. It is long out of warranty, and even a techie call is something like $30/hour. Luckily I found a gal 2 towns over selling her 4E for $450. I used my vacation $$, bought it, bought the $8 part & my cousin Scott desoldered/soldered it for $10. I'm not against buying an extended service warranty. I just didn't like the way Gerber treated me. Love...Jill
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
WOW Jill.........Are you serious?????
$2400 to solder/install an $8 part?????
Now THAT is what I call customer NON support!!!!!
Heck, I have called Roland tech support a couple of times about small problems with WAY out of warrantee machines and have never even been asked to provide a credit card number. They just answer the question and I carry on.
NOW, just like any big company, you have to jump through hoops to get to talk to a "real" person, but at least, once I get a real person on the phone, they will talk to me for free.
To me that answers the question..."Roland vs. Gerber????" No question in my mind.
And from what I have seen and heard here, the same goes for Summa and Graphtec. THEY support their customers too. Posted by Jean-Claude Theriault (Member # 966) on :
Gerber jerked me around when it came to buying a font about 8 years ago when ND Graphic Products wasn't interesting in sourcing a used 4B font so they sent me a letter stating they were allowing me to buy from another distributor. I approached Hyatts and when they told Gerber it was for a Canadian customer the deal fell through. Gerber told them they couldn't sell to me.
While Gerber makes good equipment I've put them on the bottom of the list when searching out vinyl cutters because of poor customer service.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
dam
$45 bux just to tell you if you can get a service contract let alone anything else? Thats a little over the top in anyone's book. It could be understandable if it were a bunch of service Q's. But to ask $45 just to check if a contract is avaiable is more than just a littel test of commitment.
Someone will come out with a color printer that will rival a gerber. Its just a matter of time.
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
There is a chance you may have talked to the wrong person at the wrong time. If anyone from Gerber would like to address this issue, they are more than welcome to do so here.
Posted by Golden (Member # 164) on :
I may have mis-read the original question, but to me it sounds like the guy is buying a used machine and wants Gerber to look up all records on that machine to see what service has been done on it. If that is correct, it seems to me Gerber should be paid to go through that effort...much like a mechanic might charge you to look over a used car you are thinking about purchasing. You might spend the money for piece of mind. You might also find out the machine has had a tough road and the expense might be well spent even if you decide not to buy it.
I am not defending Gerber here so much as suggesting the whole scenario makes sense to me from both sides.
Normally, you buy an extended service program at the end of the normal warranty period. Once a piece of equipment goes out of warranty, bringing it back into an extended service contract requires some inspection or some sort of "certificate of health". As with health insurance, a company doesn't want to pick up a patient with pre-existing illnesses. If the machine already had an extended warranty, I am sure it could be transferred over, but if no warranty remains, I think it gets a little messier. I don't know how Gerber handles this issue, but I know they offer exteneded service contracts on the Edges.
Okay...if this is a NEW machine being purchased through a Gerber Dealer, then I read it wrong and none of what I just wrote applies or makes sense.
Mike Jackson
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Mike I agree,
and Doug no I had no service contract. I can see both sides of the fence as well.
and if I was serious about forking over any cash for an edge no matter how sweet a deal it is, I beleive 45 buks is a small insurance policy on how I spent my hard earned money.
I probably would have been tweaked a bit myself as well though. Posted by E. Balch (Member # 3545) on :
I bought a used edge from a dealer 3 years ago and registered it with Gerber. I only called Gerber once in the last few years and they gave me the same sales pitch. I have to pay for any answers.
I guess they expect the dealers to answer all the questions.
Who do they think they are a car company?
ernie
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Gotta respond here. I too was told that i would have to pay for tech support. Mine was purchased new. I DO have a contract. I posted on 4edgetalk.com and Tony addressed my concern @ no charge. I do agree with Steve, Doug & Bob Ro. Maybe someone's wife just left them and they were crabby. Why can't we all just get along?? Posted by Ted Nesbitt (Member # 3292) on :
As with Doug Allan, this thread has been dup'ed over at the 4EDGETalk board---this is a copy from there;
"Mike Berry---sorry you feel the way you do about Gerber. I have to echo both Becky and Doug's sentiments----if the guy selling you the used EDGE doesn't want to go the extra mile to help you out and provide the history, this is he really out to help you?? Geez, perhaps it's still under some sort of service contract or something, or, as the 'registerd owner', perhaps he can get you the info you desire from GSP....maybe he doesn't want to provide you that---I dunno.....for me, your $45 spent with GSP would be about the same as me paying $500 to my Home Inspector upon the closing on the sale of a new home---MONEY WELL SPENT....
as for the $45 charge, sure, it sounds close-minded wanting to charge...but I have to jump in and defend my brothers as well.....providing Tech Support comes with a very large cost attached to it----and quite often it's very thankless....that's not to say that GSP don't make money on the things they sell, and that THAT money can't be used to support Tech....
my company struggles with the same things such as charging for support, or charging for Training, etc....unfortunately, the only way to make people realize that some service has a value to it of some sort sometimes is to attach a price to it....if they don't charge to discourage misuse and build value, how many MORE phone calls would they get that they wouldn't be able to accomodate??
DON'T GET ME WRONG----We as Gerber distributors, and Gerber themselves I'm sure, value everyone's business.....sure, we all make money off of you, the EDGE customers buying products....but you also make money with the products you buy from us, and sometimes make ALOT more return on your $150 investment here and there than WE make selling you that $150 piece...."
JillBeans; I suspect that your 4B needed a mainboard or something, and that's why you were quoted $2400. It's an old plotter, but I know they still work great. It's more a matter of available parts and time. I don't believe that Gerber actually fixes these boards, but rather swaps them out and puts in a new one---thus, the high cost attached. The problem with fixing a board by starting in on piece is if it's not the first piece, which piece is it. They/we like to fix a machine but putting in a new board and rectifying the situation right away. If you can find someone to fix an older electrical part like that, that is usually the way I recommend to go...
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Ted, It was a little teeny thingie that had to be desoldered/soldered on to one of those little motor thingies. The thing I used to rub with my finger or an alcohol-soaked cotton swab when I got my old ERROR 14 (I think) message. I paid $4000 USED from Advantage Sign Supply in 1997 for this thing. That in and of itself was a rip-off (not to blame Gerber) But I did just get a motherboard for it (that I didn't need, non-returnable, I had something plugged in BACKWARDS) for $150 from Advantage thru Gerber...I figured I might as well and not whine about it, cuz you never know when you'll need one and they are obsolete. I still think that Gerber is being a bit ridiculous. Love...Jill
Posted by Bruce Evans (Member # 44) on :
Well, I definitely don't agree with Golden,
They want to charge you $45.00 to tell you whether they can sell you a service contract? Give me a break! If someone comes into your shop and says "I just bought a business from a previous owner and you did all the previous signage for the business. How much would it cost to change the phone numbers on the signs?". Are you telling me that your going to tell them that you have to charge them $45 in order to give them a price?
Gerber has definitely slipped big time over the last 5 years or so. They have always provided decent service, but it has always came at a large price tag. I'm not sure what their strategy is. Do they figure that since they have less customers they better charge alot more? one would think that they would choose to charge reasonably in order to increase the customer base. It's no secret that they over charge big time on repairs. Problem is, we usually don't have any other options when their machine crashes on us.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Hey Bruce,
have you ever called Symantec Corporation when Norton's antivirus crashes at no fault to you?
Bend over! even if you just bought it.
Now thats really out of touch customer service.
[ May 18, 2004, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Ben Who?????
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i was lookin for a plotter in 93....was a couple GOOBERS for sale at good prices. before i laid down any money i did a little researchin. after finding out they only connect to comm ports, that slowed me down(comm port connection in the old 386 days was a pain and you needed an engineering degree)next the fonts for the cutter was still a $100 each, then was told it wont run real good with any other softwear then gerber...$3000, and i had played with their program and hated it from day one it was so "redundant". then you had to buy a link card....another $400-500...so all told it woulda cost me close to $5000 to buy that $1500 cutter!!!!! then i found a roland pnc-1000 barly used, got LETTER ART 6.0(nothing to brag about)with it, and i knew i could work from corel 3(which i already had)and could cut vinyl!!!!! so i paid $1600 for the ROLAND & crap sign program, took it home and was cuttin from corel that evening.....AND COULD CUT ANY OF THE 400 FONTS ON MY COMPUTER!!!!!! its 2004 now i just sold that PNC-1000(same one i bought in 93)i have never had one major problem with it. replaced the cut strip 2 times, and the pinch roller solinoid got outa line once. this was all the maintanance i did in 11 YEARS, and i cut with it almost every day of that time. so iam glad i never had the "pleasure of being abused by gerber" and i dont see it in my future. as for a bullet proof and time tested cutter, iam a ROLAND lover and now i have 2 other "bullet proof" plotters that i have $2000 in!!!!!! so iam happy........
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Hey OP
My "Goober" will also cut any font in my computer or any font in my entire network! Way easy conversions and seamless transitions.....OH YEA, HOW SWEET IT IS!!!!
(In all fairness, I had a Roland plotter, and it was trouble free too. But I wouldn't give you a nickel for their printers.)
Regards,
[ May 18, 2004, 04:55 PM: Message edited by: Rick Beisiegel ]
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
with the cadlink card...it will...without it no....not in 93!!!!!
Posted by Golden (Member # 164) on :
Bruce, I believe Micheal simply asked the wrong question to the wrong person. He should have called a Gerber distributor to get the information about buying a service contract on a used machine. The seller should have had to call Gerber to supply the history information, even if the seller had to pay for the information.
Michael Berry probably called their tech support line. He wasn't even a Gerber Edge owner calling. There are a lot of people making judgements here and we probably don't have the full story to work with. It is hard to bash Gerber, or any other company for that matter, in a circumstance like this without knowing the full story.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Joe,
It's Comforting to see you never miss a Gerber bashing party.
Who brought the dip? Posted by Michael Berry (Member # 2604) on :
Just to set the record straight...
I have decided to get the Edge regardless of the ability to buy the extended warranty. I got a call today from Chet @ Hyatt's, very helpful man, quite a bit of knowledge too!
I simple called Gerber to aske if the extended warranty was even available, I did not get past that, the coperator/janitor or whatever she is said that I had to provide them with a valid credit card and there was going to be a minumin charge of $45.00
This is what got me POed. I am trying to buy something, and I am faced with the attitude that I have to pay in order to get an answer if I can even buy what I want.
Bruce Evans was on target with his compairson.
I hope this clears things up a bit.
[ May 18, 2004, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: Michael Berry ]
Posted by Golden (Member # 164) on :
Clear as mud ....you need to specify which number you called. They have a lot of different contact numbers including several customer service numbers. However, if you called Tech Support instead, I can see the problem. I doubt you would have the credit card issue if you called a customer support number.
Then again, I could be wrong. That happens quite often.
Posted by Jean-Claude Theriault (Member # 966) on :
What ever happened to 'customer service'? Whoever took the call at Gerber should have given him the appropriate number to call for his question.
The next scam is likely suppliers charging a fee to tell us something is not in-stock??
Posted by Michael Berry (Member # 2604) on :
Mike-
This what I found and who I called:
Customer Service (U.S.)
Get answers to questions regarding Gerber products, sales promotions, material usage, and orders. Phone: 800-222-7446 (SIGN) Fax: 860-648-8376
I thought this might be the right place, but as yourself, I am wrong quite often.......
Thank you for your input!
Mike
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
lets take Bruce Evans example for a minute:
quote:If someone comes into your shop and says "I just bought a business from a previous owner and you did all the previous signage for the business. How much would it cost to change the phone numbers on the signs?". Are you telling me that your going to tell them that you have to charge them $45 in order to give them a price?
suppose they say that there is a small phone number way up on the building sign, one on the glass door, & another on each side of the vehicle. When I ask for sizes & colors... they say they don't know... "just quote to make them the same... to fit the layout you did years ago... you got those 3 files still right?"
or wait... lets say they are still negotiating the purchase of the business & they need the sign quote to help finalize the deal & maybe buy the business... & maybe become a customer of mine...
so would I charge them $45? probably not, but I sure as hell wouldn't go digging through the archives to spec out the information they need for free on the chance they would become a customer.
The "chick" may have been in the wrong to not be more helpful... but I don't think she was Mrs. Gerber either, or that the company as a whole is tainted by her lack of service.
Every pay-per-incident tech call I've made (& there are a number of companies operating this way... not just Gerber) asks for the credit card up front... sometimes it is even a machine doing the asking, like Adobe for example. I don't like it, but there are times I wish I had a machine to tell those yellowpage tire-kickers to come in for their quotes in person instead of thinking that "letting their fingers do the walking" is all it takes from them for me to scurry around working hard to win the opportunity to do business with them.
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
I've been a Gerber user for 15 years now and never had a maintenance problem ...I have contacted them from time to time and find them a little aloof but in the long haul there is no better eqipment on the market (considering longevity).
I for one wouldn't even hesitate to pay the $45.00 if for no other reason than to find out if everything you've been told about the eqipment is true.
Then consider this (I'm not saying that this is the case here) what if the equipment were stolen? Better you know now that when someone swoops in to take it after you've paid for it.
I may be wrong but I think Gerber is wading through that possibility...and assumes that anyone that isn't willing to invest that amount for information on a previously owned piece of equipment jusst maybe harboring ilicit goods.
If all is as it should be why not have the owner take the $45.00 "hickey" ...it's to his advantage to be able to sell it at a fair price...after all it sounds like this may have killed your deal with him.
If all is as he says...the ability to get an extended warrantee would be to his advantage and maybe even raise the price in his favor...sounds like a good investment for him.
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....you need to specify which number you called. They have a lot of different contact numbers including several customer service numbers. However, if you called Tech Support instead, I can see the problem. I doubt you would have the credit card issue if you called a customer support number.