Epson Support is TERRIBLE!

[Mata]

I don't normally gripe about stuff on a public forum but I'm at my wits end here.

About two years ago we went to a sign show in Atlanta, I forget if it was ISA or what. Our lease on our Roland VG-540 was up, and we had nothing but trouble with that printer and the Tru-Vis inks until the last year we owned it, and Roland finally reformulated the inks and overhauled the printer's firmware. I think we eventually ended up replacing all the print heads in that machine. Anyway, I vowed to never purchase another Roland. I had heard great things about Epson. My Wensco guy tried to steer me away, because he said Epson services their own machines and we'd wait a long time for service if we had a problem. Well, here it is, a year and a half after we took delivery of a band new Surecolor 80600 and we're getting terrible banding. Like someone threw a switch, one day it was fine, the next it wasn't. I contacted support from Grimco, who we bought the machine from, and they suggested I buy a cleaning cartridge for each ink cartridge slot (10) and a complete set of inks and flush the lines. That sounded not only expensive, but extreme. No, mind you, we purchased an extended warranty. So, in my world, if I purchase additional warranty, when I have an issue, someone (I don't care who at this point) should show up and fix it at no charge. So the Grimco guy gave me the number for Epson support. I call them. Wait on hold a reasonable time and get a well meaning chap that sends me a PDF with lots of things to "try". Nothing has worked. I have cleaned, deep cleaned, calibrated, adjusted and gone so far as to reinstall all the drivers and software. The problem persists. It doesn't matter what resolution, what material profile, etc. The banding is still there, and noticeable.

So, the technician from Epson mailed me and basically said to call back or email if those things didn't work and he's call me back. So here it is a week later and no calls or replies to my email. Yesterday I decided to call. I get through and they ask for the serial number and I get, "Oh, you've been assigned to (the guy I talked to at first who hasn't communicated with me in a week). He'll have to call you back." No call yesterday. In the mean time, I'm pretty much dead in the water. I can print small things, because it seems the long the print is, the more the banding is visible as the print goes. Like the first 4 to 6 inches is fine, then the banding gradually gets worse. We print a lot of wraps, so all that is on hold until we get this issue solved.

It just sucks that a machine that isn't even two years old yet, begins to show trouble, we put additional money into our warranty, and we still can't get any help. Think I need to go back to Roland and get it through Wensco, because at least they could service them and send a guy out quickly. Never had this problem with a brush and can of OneShot.

Can you share the pdf they sent you to check the printer, I'm intrigued as I sometimes get this issue.

 

[d fleming]

Roland warranty isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Just paid over 1200 to replace a motherboard in a 9 month old machine under warranty. Glad I did't get the extended. Add to that it has the worst plotter I have ever cut vinyl with on the cutting side. Will be my first and last roland.

 

[greysquirrel]

why would you have to pay for that part for a machine under warranty?

 

[swordguy3222]

It's always sad to see you guys down south posting about tech support.

Things are different here - The companies (Epson, and others) Tried to take the techs / support away from the dealers... but that got shut down fast. Over here Grimco services all the machines they sell... So do all the other dealers.

In my city alone, Theres 3 Techs (Grimco), 1 Tech (ND graphics), and 3 other shops, no idea how many techs they have... That are all certified to work on the printers. If something happens and the machine is under warranty...Grimco places a call to Epson, and Epson will overnight every part they ask for - They shotgun replace a half dozen items and get you up and running in 1-2 days.... no waiting on a head office tech to make a service call from another state / city.

If its not under warranty... you generally pay Travel fee + labor, and they'll suggest what it could be... and you can buy the parts and they'll come back and put them in. No shotgunning parts since you'd have to pay for them all, unless you want to.

Service is great here though - Our grimco tech can service our Epson printer, HP printer, and our Graphtec... The person who sells you the device has a tech on hand, which is good because its in their best interest to get you up and running since you're buying all your media / ink through them as well.


What is Epsons incentive on getting your machine working? Just to keep you happy / sell you a bit more ink? Not saying Epson support sucks... Just that Grimco would be more motivated to get you up and running and making money, so they can in return make money as well. I like our model better than having to deal with the manufacturer directly...

Nice, but here there is no dealer that has local support. That's why I had to start doing it myself. Haven't run into any issues doing my own service, pretty straight forward. The only issue is getting parts because Epson won't sell me parts directly, I have to order thru a dealer.

 

[soggywinter]

Dealers (Grimco in your case) should be able to to reach someone at Epson with authority to get your issue escalated.

 

[jfiscus]

Sounds more like poor dealer support/assistance with your problem. We have a GREAT local dealer who we buy our large format equipment through. (Trigon Imaging) Whenever we have an issue a quick call to them results in a quick call back or tech out from either them or the manufacturer. Purchasing supplies from places like Grimco doesn't give me much faith in ever using them for service.

 

[cmoist]

Sounds more like poor dealer support/assistance with your problem. We have a GREAT local dealer who we buy our large format equipment through. (Trigon Imaging) Whenever we have an issue a quick call to them results in a quick call back or tech out from either them or the manufacturer. Purchasing supplies from places like Grimco doesn't give me much faith in ever using them for service.

Trigon rocks!