Alternatives to NI

[altenbach]

 You should probably check your profile and how the contact numbers are setup. I seriously doubt that they would intentionally call you at home.

A communication is always two-way, so maybe you should have taken control of the discussion earlier and agree on a different call pattern. Do you know how they got your home and cell phone numbers in the first place?

Was that your first issue with NI or was there a long list of similar issues in the past? This does not seem to be the first case if I read between the lines ("The circumstances were (again) EXACTLY the SAME ".

I try very hard not to read too much into the style of your posts here, but I am a bit puzzled by your choice of words ("...but they threatened that ...", "...they lied to me on the phone ...") so I am curious how well you were able to communicate the factual problems without reaching into hyperbole and making unreasonable demands right away.

If you are lucky, there will be a recording available from your service call so a supervisor can determine if things were handled within company policy and take action.

[Wayne.C]

I have had nothing but top notch response from NI.  I've been dealing with electonics hardware for over 20 years and NI ranks right up there at the top when it comes to support.  I had a cFP controller module fail two days out of the box.  Called NI, explained the problem and what steps I had taken to troubleshoot the problem and they issued RMA.  Sent unit in and they repaired it no questions, no charge.

You seem very worried about NI not finding the problem with your board and quite honestly they never will if you don't ship them the board to test.  Ship them the board and give them as many details as you have about the problem.  If you tell them it is an intermittent problem, they will test accordingly.

If you think you are not getting the response you need from NI support on the phone, then you should definitely get your sales rep in and show him the problem.

[Ray.R]

Alternatives to NI may prove to be no better..  most likely not as good.  And that comes from experience. 

Talk to the sales rep.  You want an effective and rapid solution.  Be honest no matter the situation and work with them.  It's a lot easier and faster.  And hopefully, everyone will be happy!  🙂

[Ben]

Yes I know I am late on this thread but I need to add...

After 31 years of working with computers and electronics in general, I have to say that NI rates very highly in my book.

I can not go into the details but I have been suprised by how willing the top level support engineers have been in attempting to help out.

And since I am at it...

Matt S (also known as Spex) is amoung the best!

Ben

[Ray.R]

Ben,

I was wondering where you were!!  😄 😄

[Tom_W_[DE]]

Hi mrees515-

Can you please let me know what type of board is giving you trouble (i.e. model name and serial number)?  Do you have a service request (SR) or RMA number for the interactions you have had previously?

Thanks-

[Joe_H]

@ mrees515-

I have had some of the same experiences that you had. We once had a board that was very sporadic. We sent it back to NI under RMA and it was sent back to us as a good board and we were charged for it. So what we did before the warranty period ran out we called the local NI Rep and had him come out and see that the board is not functioning correctly. He took the board back with him and in a few days we had a new board and was refunded the charges from the other board. Your local sales rep can be of great assistance in matters like this. I know that ours was.

I have also bought boards from just about every manufacturer out there. And everytime I have always came back to NI, yes they are a littile expensive but 99% of there stuff works out of the box and the other 1% was taken care of in a very professional and curtious manner. Just my 2 cents

[Ray.R]

Well said Joe.

I just bought more GPIB cards.  No question about it, they were from NI.

RayR

[Matt_S.]

As a former NI employee (in the AE department non-the-less), I have to add my $0.02 here. We worked very hard (and the support group still does work very hard) to make sure that every customer is successful with their applications. From the tone of your forum posts, it sounds like you've gotten extremely frustrated at some point, and are looking to jump ship a bit quickly.

Certainly, as others have said, talk with your local rep. They are usually driving distance away (99% of time there is one in your area code), and most are more than willing to visit any customer (especially one that's having troubles!).  I now work with one of NI's alliance partners and have to make use of the support chain (not just the support phone number, but the local field engineer, systems engineering, etc.), and it's as good now as it has ever been. I consider our local reps here in Southern Cali to be not only great partners in engineering, but also good friends. They take care of any and all issues we ever have at Cyth.

Lean on these forums as well. The blue posts (I don't know how I'm still a blue poster, ) aren't the only good advice here. Ben, Dennis, Joe, Altenbach and many others make these forums some of the best in the world for support for more than just NI hardware and software(and they're good for a LabTOON now and then too).

Sorry to hear you've had some issues, but don't give up on the NI group. It's a thing to be a part of (and you'll be hard pressed to find better hardware or software anywhere in the world).

Cheers,

-The other Matt S.

p.s. Ah Spex, one heck of a guy.  One of the many reasons I miss Austin sometimes.

[LyLee]

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Dennis Knutson wrote:
I have been using NI products for close to 20 years and have found that there products and customer service are second to none. You don't seem to ever have taken advantage of the forums to ever discuss an issue with a DAQ board. From what I can tell from your other posts, you've gotten rapid and accurate responses to your questions. You would be hard pressed to find any other company that maintains such an active forum. You would also be hard pressed to find a company that would replace boards that are out of warranty or have been used in an inappropriate manner.

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I wouldn't say I am perfectly satisfied with NI's customer support, or perfectly satisfied with NI's hardware/software products, lots of bugs, errors, stupidities, etc., but, when compared to other company's product or support, NI still is significantly better. In other words, not until you got fed up with some other company would you appreciate NI's level of quality and support.  Just my personal opinion after dealing with another company.