Author Topic: ARGH I HATE CH Products (all fo them!)  (Read 8179 times)

Offline Slash27

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ARGH I HATE CH Products (all fo them!)
« Reply #105 on: May 22, 2007, 08:37:06 AM »
See Rule #4 (that was completely inappropriate)
« Last Edit: May 23, 2007, 06:58:07 AM by Skuzzy »

storch

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ARGH I HATE CH Products (all fo them!)
« Reply #106 on: May 22, 2007, 10:28:34 AM »
for what it's worth.  I went through four or five saiteks (X45s) and one MS sidewinder ( I gave that stick to tankman2, I hated it) prior to breaking down and purchasing the full CH suite two years ago.  I spent around $US450.00  CH products are well worth the money spent.  I had one problem similar to what fester described and it was solved by merely utilizing a different USB port.  I don't know how good the customer service is at CH because I have never needed to call them.

if michaelCH is still monitoring this thread I'm impressed with your response here and with your witty answers to some of your detractors.

I have a question that perhaps you can answer for me.  if you are familiar with the saitek X45 throttle they have a very useful feature in the form of the pots labled rotary switches 1&2.  while the CH throttle is good I think the saitek throttle is far superior in most aspects.  is CH considering offering a throttle with rotary switches in the future?  in my particular case I'm missing my right thumb after the first joint so the hat switches and most of the other joystick switchs on the top of the joystick are unused by me.  my left hand does all the work of views and trim as well as some of the firing.

Offline MichaelCHProd

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« Reply #107 on: May 22, 2007, 11:07:56 AM »
Slash can't wait to hear from you...

Full name is Michael Sexton

Immediate Supervisor - Debby McDowell (in Europe at the moment)

The next bump in the chain is Chuck and he is here today

1-760-598-2518

or you can use the Tech line if this is an emergency

1-760-598-7833


Storch...
Rotaries are cool and I do miss them on our Pro Throttle.  They are on the wish list for the next throttle.  In the mean time you can always look into a Franken Potato...

Here is the link to the creator... http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/member.php?u=99

I don't know if he is still making them but he might ;)

Offline MichaelCHProd

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« Reply #108 on: May 22, 2007, 11:16:20 AM »
Here is the USB hub that works in all versions of Windows (including 64bit) and has no drop out issues...

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=159070

Offline Xargos

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« Reply #109 on: May 22, 2007, 11:25:30 AM »
You may want to note on future packaging that a powered hub is needed with your product, I think it would save you allot of future customer related problems.
Jeffery R."Xargos" Ward

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Offline Jackal1

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« Reply #110 on: May 22, 2007, 11:30:40 AM »
Michael, I assume Ack Ack has or will PM you with the answer to your question concerning who he is.
I can say this from experience that when it came to helping the customer out with a problem , there was and I believe never will be any better than Ack Ack when he was with CH.
Customer service , in any business, could use a few Ack Acks these days.
Democracy is two wolves deciding on what to eat. Freedom is a well armed sheep protesting the vote.
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Offline Krusty

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« Reply #111 on: May 22, 2007, 11:34:07 AM »
Folks oooh and aaaah at the old Sidewinders.

I've been using one for years now. Before that I had a string of crappy sticks.

While the MS Sidewinder IS a decent stick, it is only "good" compared to the string of crappy sticks that preceeded it.

Have you ever taken it apart? I have. Its simplicity is wonderful. However, the quality itself isn't that much better than anything else you'd find. My "hat-left" is starting to not work properly and sometimes buttons don't register on the base when I press them. Even when not touching it, it spikes minutely. I have it slightly deadbanded to prevent it from causing problems in-flight, but my engine boost needle always quivers unless it's at full throttle. There's only so much you can do with 1 or 2 light sensors and 4 LEDs or so moving over them.

Better than anything else I've had, but I've only had the bottom of the barrel. I'd go to an X-52 or Cyborg or combat stick in a minute if I had the means. For now the MS Prec Pro (gameport) keeps me flying, but it's not perfect.

Offline Bingolong

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« Reply #112 on: May 22, 2007, 11:53:00 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Jackal1
Michael, I assume Ack Ack has or will PM you with the answer to your question concerning who he is.
I can say this from experience that when it came to helping the customer out with a problem , there was and I believe never will be any better than Ack Ack when he was with CH.
Customer service , in any business, could use a few Ack Acks these days.


I will second that! I took my old analog stick in to CH in Vista, Ca and Ack Ack< I believe it was Ack> took my stick walked in the back and came back with a new one in the box. At that time they did refurbish Sticks. "Is that it?" I asked "yup your good to go!" he said. All it cost me was Gas and it was only $1.20 then .

Offline scottydawg

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« Reply #113 on: May 22, 2007, 11:58:02 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Krusty
There's only so much you can do with 1 or 2 light sensors and 4 LEDs or so moving over them.


Beats the snot out of analog pots any day, though.

Offline Red Tail 444

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« Reply #114 on: May 22, 2007, 12:05:55 PM »
Fester,

I have a spare set of CH analog (not Pro) HOTAS. I'm happy to ship them to you, I had them since '95 and never had a problem with them. Upgraded to Ch Pro in 2002...

If you want them, send a PM w/a mailing addy, I'll ship 'em

Offline Krusty

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« Reply #115 on: May 22, 2007, 12:14:09 PM »
Scotty: I just wished they'd used more sensors and more LEDs to avoid all the spiking.

Either the design is lacking, or the chips that PROCESS the signals burn out, because it's spiking. It's better than LogiCrap by a light year, but still you're getting what you pay for, and you're only paying $20.


I wouldn't call it "revolutionary" or anything.

Offline Ack-Ack

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« Reply #116 on: May 22, 2007, 12:16:29 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by MichaelCHProd



Now serving Ack Ack...


Who are you?  


 


Ack-Ack vollies...

I worked at CH Products from '95 to '99, with Rick Salvador, Jon Micheals (a.k.a. MajorFireball; -MF-), Gil Sorenson (Mac Tech) and myself.  After -MF- left, I became the Senior PC Tech, as I was the only PC tech other than the tech manager, Rick.  This was before your time there, as Greg was still the CEO and Chuck was semi-retired building his airplane on the second floor.  You can also ask those that attended the '98 Warbirds Con in Irvine, TX or those that attended the '98 AW Con in San Francisco or those that used to lurk or visit the Gamestorm AW tech forums who I am.


ack-ack
"If Jesus came back as an airplane, he would be a P-38." - WW2 P-38 pilot
Elite Top Aces +1 Mexican Official Squadron Song

Offline Rolex

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« Reply #117 on: May 22, 2007, 12:29:06 PM »



:D


Hi Michael,

We went all through this about a year and a half ago. I think it was Debby McDowell I emailed with this story. The name sounds familiar, but it was definitely a woman with the same title. She sent me a reply that someone would contact me about it and you sent the reply directing me to the parts link at your site.

Since then, I've bought another throttle (which spikes like mad) and a few more sticks, as you can see. Every single one has something wrong with it.

Anyway, I mentioned before that I did get the distributor to send me another set of pedals. Credit cards are used infrequently in Japan, and the usual method of payment is COD, bank transfer or a post office payment. The pedals were mistakenly sent by post office payment, which means that the product is delivered with a form that you take to the post office to pay for it.

I know that sounds strange to you, but in Japan there are still many businesses that ship that way. The product is expected to work or be up to the customer's expectation, so the customer pays the bill whenever they go to the post office.

I told the distributor I was not going to pay unless they exchanged the pedals. They sent another set COD and took back the first set. My point is that you should have gotten those pedals back from the distributor, right? You should have just as many returns, statistically, from every location. If that isn't happening, then maybe your distributor is not returning them to you. They could be going back out without you knowing it.

Another reason could be that I have all the defective products in Asia at my house... Statistically unlikely, but you never know. ;)

The retailers insist that the distributor handle any warranty claims, and the distributor insists that the customer contact you for warranty service. If you get very few returns, then I can understand why. The customer still has any defective product (like me), or has thrown it out, since no parts or warranty service is actually available. They cannot navigate the English CH site to return product any better than anyone at CH can navigate the distributor's Japanese language site.

If your sales aren't what you expect, then there may be some answers somewhere in the above. Sorry that I got this thread from Citabria sidetracked. I'm not trying to be preachy or belabor the obvious about business or distributors. It's your business.

Sure your product is a little expensive here (I've spent about $1,200 in the last year and a half), but I just wanted it to work. That's all I asked for. I just wanted it to work. Call me crazy, but I'm not going to buy any more. It's too frustrating and something doesn't seem right here in Japan that I should have 7 controllers and not one that works normally.

I'm ready to try something new anyway. Maybe I can start collecting all the bad X-52 sets in Japan? I think I can buy a new X-52 every 60 days and spend less money. As long as it works for those 60 days, I'll be happy to do that.

And everyone will be happy to hear that I'll exit this thread now. ;)

Offline scottydawg

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« Reply #118 on: May 22, 2007, 12:33:18 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Rolex



:D



Bonus for having Michael's post in the background of your picture.  I can't imagine how the heck you actually fly with that setup, must be hilarious to watch you.

Offline MichaelCHProd

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« Reply #119 on: May 22, 2007, 12:53:39 PM »
My post is in there to prove the time and date... kinda like "proof of life" in a kidnapping :)

Send me an e-mail Rolex