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Thread: Pangolin Customer Support is AWESOME!

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up Pangolin Customer Support is AWESOME!

    So picture this: outdoor show on a weekend, about 4 hours 'til doors. Massive lightning strike during setup (yikes!). Decide to swap computers and controllers just to be safe. But now I can't remember how to get rid of the previous controller in Beyond. What do do?

    Simple: Call Aaron McDonald at 5 PM on a Saturday and ask him. 90 seconds later we are back in business...

    That's what I call customer support! Thanks Pangolin.

    Adam

    PS: Turned out that the computer was fine and we didn't need to swap controllers after all. But I was freaked out by the strike and wanted to be sure. The strike was a true "bolt out of the blue" that hit less than 100 ft away. It tripped out the powered subs, the overloads on two amps, and every ground-fault breaker on the power pole, all at once. I just about crapped my pants as well...

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    So picture this: outdoor show on a weekend, about 4 hours 'til doors. Massive lightning strike during setup (yikes!). Decide to swap computers and controllers just to be safe. But now I can't remember how to get rid of the previous controller in Beyond. What do do?

    Simple: Call Aaron McDonald at 5 PM on a Saturday and ask him. 90 seconds later we are back in business...

    That's what I call customer support! Thanks Pangolin.

    Adam

    PS: Turned out that the computer was fine and we didn't need to swap controllers after all. But I was freaked out by the strike and wanted to be sure. The strike was a true "bolt out of the blue" that hit less than 100 ft away. It tripped out the powered subs, the overloads on two amps, and every ground-fault breaker on the power pole, all at once. I just about crapped my pants as well...
    So.. what was the 90 second solution? You should tell us... so we dont have to call Aron when it happens to us.

  3. #3
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    Well, I'm rather embarrassed to admit it, but here goes:

    You know how in Showtime when you change your QM's the QM-2000.net software automatically pops up and says "there has been a change to your configuration" and lets you delete controllers that are missing? Beyond doesn't do that. Instead, it will load up and just show the missing controllers with an "X" through them at the bottom of the screen. But if, like me, you have stuff custom-assigned to projector 1, then you're in trouble!

    Also, unlike in Showtime, you don't access projector hardware from the Zones menu. Instead, you first go to the Edit / Hardware menu and select/deselect your controllers there. *THEN* you can go to projection zones and make whatever assignments you want.

    I completely forgot about the stupid Hardware menu option. In fairness, I had just survived what could have been a fatal lightning strike, so I probably wasn't thinking too clearly, but still - it was a rookie mistake.

    Nonetheless, Aaron immediately figured out my mistake (before I finished explaining it, in fact), and was able to direct me to the right place from memory. Very easy to fix, and I felt like an idiot for not remembering it. But I was nonetheless quite thankful that he was able to help us out!

    I'll be happy to re-create the problem (hopefully without the near-fatal lightning strike!) and demonstrate the solution at SELEM for anyone who is curious...

    Adam

  4. #4
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    I remember a while back, I sent an email to Pangolin at like 2 in the morning, expecting it to get answered later that day. 20 minutes later, I get a response from Bill with the link to a hotfix... People complain about Pangolin's prices but the customer service is absolutely worth every dime!
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  5. #5
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    HAHA! True story: Bill Benner called me Friday night at around 8:30 PM, and I was tied up, so I asked him to call me back in a bit. He said he wanted to have dinner first, and wanted to call a bit later, which was cool with me because I planned to be up quite late. So he calls back around 10 PM, and he was AT THE OFFICE!

    Going back in to work at 10 PM on a Friday night... To actually work!

    Man, I just can't deal with that kind of work ethic! But it was cool to chat with him for about 35 min or so... Then he had to get back to work, and I had to get to bed!

    But yeah, awesome customer service with those guys!

    Adam

  6. #6
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    Yep... I think Bill was actually at the office when he sent me the email. iirc he was getting ready for one of the international show conventions but still... The thing that impressed me most was, at the time, I had only bought an FB3 from them. I got the same level of service that I would only think a $20K+ client would have gotten. It pretty much sold me! That's why I wave my Pangolin flag so much.
    If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.

  7. #7
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    There is usually someone at the office NEARLY 24/7. Bill allows us all to keep very flexible schedules and work when we are most comfortable and we're all very thankful for that. Occasionally I'll come in overnight or on a weekend to pick something up or if I can't sleep and its not uncommon at all to see Bill working away all night long as long as there's things to do (and there always is!)
    Sincerely,
    Ryan Smith
    ScannerMAX Mechanical Engineer
    ryan {at} scannermax.com

  8. #8
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    Bradfo69 is offline Pending BST Forum Purchases: $47,127,283.53
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    I work like that. And even if you enjoy it, it can still suck. It's tough on family too but, it looks like based on Facebook that Bill tries to balance it out. They go on some pretty nice trips and have some pretty cool experiences. I on the other hand, basically manage to get to LEM's and that's about it!
    PM Sent...

  9. #9
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    Thanks for the kudos guys!

    It was great seeing everyone at SELEM as well, and for the PL guys and gals to finally meet Ryan (rns0504 as above) and Val.

    Bill

  10. #10
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    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
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    bill spent a couple hours helping me troubleshoot in issue with etherdream dacs and his little kvant projector with saturn galvos that i used during my LSX talk.

    we ended up grabbing dz's o-scope and looking at voltages and signals. it was very informative and actually a lot of fun. that was some excellent and completely above and beyond expectations support. for bill it was probably old hat, but i walked away feeling a little smarter.

    thank you bill.
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

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