iPad and 1.7

[thecodeman]

If your gear is still under warranty' date=' and you switch dealers, will Control4 still honer the warranty, even if another dealers sends it in? I would think so.[/quote']

I'm not too sure. I still need clarification on this. Please see http://c4forums.com/viewtopic.php?id=7182

Your comments are appreciated.

I'll clear this up - it's a manufacturer's warranty covering their gear for two years when bought new from an Authroized dealer. Any dealer can service that equipment and process the RMAs. Whether or not you are charged for the dealers time/shipping/etc. is dependant on your arrangement with the dealer doing the service work.

[joemci]

Just read the post referenced above and agree 100% with your analogy in the of Control4 changing business models in the event of a warranty claim. I do think though that even if you change dealers you will be covered under Control4's warranty for the unit. If the original dealer doesn't honor the warranty, I would think a call to Control4 would help the process. I can't imagine that if a dealer goes out of business or you move, or just hate your dealer that the warranty stops.

Lastly, I think that it would be against the law for Control4 to deny a warranty claim on the equipment simply because your original dealer is no longer the dealer. Control4 is providing a manufacturer's warranty, not the dealer. That said, it looks like one would be on their own for the install labor - although with the above dealer, I think he would charge you anyways!

Joe

Joe

[thefred]

I'm not concerned about the warranty issue. I'm just disappointed that it looks like I'm going to have to switch dealers because I refuse to be fleeced for a couple of hundred dollars. I liked their service but could not get around the sales and pricing issue. I just don't want to continue to have this ongoing issue if/when I decide to add to my system. Hopefully, I can find someone with fair pricing and good service.

I told him the following: I understand your position, but don't understand why I should bear the full burden of any problems with the update. If I take my car to get an oil change, they quote me a price to do the job. If they find that the drain plug was jammed and they had to spend more time on it, I don't get charged extra for that. Presumably, that could even be my fault if I had previously changed the oil and accidentally torqued the plug. Even more so in this case, I have no ability to tinker with the program and if it has bugs that is the fault of the program/manufacturer and is unrelated to anything that the user can do. So, why should I have to bear the expense of a product that has problems updating. I should be the last one to bear the expense. If you can't absorb it, then Control4 should. Frankly, paying for an upgrade to fix something that doesn't work (coverart on the iPod dock) should not come at a cost to the customer at all. Like I said, many dealers do this for free and especially on this update since is not a major update. If you want to do it for $300 including the license, I'll happily pay you to do job. If it only takes 1 hour, you get the upside. If it takes more than 2+, its on you. Don't you think that is fair?

His response was: I have offered you a very reasonable cost for the update. If you are interested, I would love to help.

So, I guess I'm shopping for a new dealer. For those of you that have switched to dealers that access your system remotely and are not DIY people, how have you found the experience? Clearly, there are very qualified dealers here that work on many people's systems remotely. I'm just concerned about issues that arise where you need someone to physically do something and they are states away. What about if I decide I want to add lighting to my system or an AV component goes bad. How do you handle this with a remote dealer? Any input?

[RyanE]

Having the *ability* to switch dealers is one of the advantages of a Control4 system.

Many of the higher-end systems allow the dealer to lock-out other dealers from accessing the system, and make the switch from dealer-to-dealer (or heaven forbid a dealer go out of business, lose the password, etc.) nearly impossible. It causes the cost to change dealers have to include basically reprogramming the system from scratch.

Any Authorized Control4 dealer can service your Control4 system, and any of them can process your under-warranty RMAs, although I doubt a dealer would do it willingly without having you as a customer already.

RyanE

[thefred]

Having the *ability* to switch dealers is one of the advantages of a Control4 system.

Many of the higher-end systems allow the dealer to lock-out other dealers from accessing the system, and make the switch from dealer-to-dealer (or heaven forbid a dealer go out of business, lose the password, etc.) nearly impossible. It causes the cost to change dealers have to include basically reprogramming the system from scratch.

Any Authorized Control4 dealer can service your Control4 system, and any of them can process your under-warranty RMAs, although I doubt a dealer would do it willingly without having you as a customer already.

RyanE

Thanks Ryan. I do not have any warranty issues. That issue was brought into the thread by others on the issue of changing dealers.

Are you saying that I don't need to get any particular passwords or anything from my current dealer to switch dealers?

I am still looking for experiences from other users that switched to dealers that only can access their systems remotely without getting on a plane or taking a loong roadtrip to see what challenges they have experienced.

[Kevin L]

Having the *ability* to switch dealers is one of the advantages of a Control4 system.

Many of the higher-end systems allow the dealer to lock-out other dealers from accessing the system' date=' and make the switch from dealer-to-dealer (or heaven forbid a dealer go out of business, lose the password, etc.) nearly impossible. It causes the cost to change dealers have to include basically reprogramming the system from scratch.

Any Authorized Control4 dealer can service your Control4 system, and any of them can process your under-warranty RMAs, although I doubt a dealer would do it willingly without having you as a customer already.

RyanE[/quote']

Thanks Ryan. I do not have any warranty issues. That issue was brought into the thread by others on the issue of changing dealers.

Are you saying that I don't need to get any particular passwords or anything from my current dealer to switch dealers?

I am still looking for experiences from other users that switched to dealers that only can access their systems remotely without getting on a plane or taking a loong roadtrip to see what challenges they have experienced.

That is correct there are no passwords or anything you need unless you dont know your networking passwords etc.. Ie user name and passwords for routers, switches etc

There are plenty of users who deal with online dealers and MOST of the time you can do updates and add licenses just fine all remotely. The only down side is when there is a zigbee update of some sort dealers typically want to be onsite to ensure everything gets back up how it should be. Also sometimes during updates things need to be power cycled so you would need to pull down tvs or anything else that may have a controller behind it

[thefred]

Thanks, Kevin. That takes me directly to my point. What if you do a zigbee update where you want to be onsite or a blu ray player craps out and needs to be replaced. If you have a remote dealer then what? You're in Arizona, I'm on the other side of the country. Its clearly not practical for you to come to my house to do that. Am I left trying to figure out things with you on the phone? Do I have to then try to find a local dealer again? Just curious how you negoitate the issues of having a remote dealer....

[Kevin L]

Thanks, Kevin. That takes me directly to my point. What if you do a zigbee update where you want to be onsite or a blu ray player craps out and needs to be replaced. If you have a remote dealer then what? You're in Arizona, I'm on the other side of the country. Its clearly not practical for you to come to my house to do that. Am I left trying to figure out things with you on the phone? Do I have to then try to find a local dealer again? Just curious how you negoitate the issues of having a remote dealer....

Depending on what there is the dealer helps you walk you through things...

[bjeff]

Having the *ability* to switch dealers is one of the advantages of a Control4 system.

Many of the higher-end systems allow the dealer to lock-out other dealers from accessing the system' date=' and make the switch from dealer-to-dealer (or heaven forbid a dealer go out of business, lose the password, etc.) nearly impossible. It causes the cost to change dealers have to include basically reprogramming the system from scratch.

Any Authorized Control4 dealer can service your Control4 system, and any of them can process your under-warranty RMAs, although I doubt a dealer would do it willingly without having you as a customer already.

RyanE[/quote']

Thanks Ryan. I do not have any warranty issues. That issue was brought into the thread by others on the issue of changing dealers.

Are you saying that I don't need to get any particular passwords or anything from my current dealer to switch dealers?

I am still looking for experiences from other users that switched to dealers that only can access their systems remotely without getting on a plane or taking a loong roadtrip to see what challenges they have experienced.

That is correct there are no passwords or anything you need unless you dont know your networking passwords etc.. Ie user name and passwords for routers, switches etc

There are plenty of users who deal with online dealers and MOST of the time you can do updates and add licenses just fine all remotely. The only down side is when there is a zigbee update of some sort dealers typically want to be onsite to ensure everything gets back up how it should be. Also sometimes during updates things need to be power cycled so you would need to pull down tvs or anything else that may have a controller behind it

I agree with Kevin.. If the owner of the system is willing to participate, a number of dealers perform these functions remotely. It is cheaper for them and the customer.

[thefred]

Thanks Bryan and Kevin. I am clearly at a crossroads here. Let me throw something else out. What if I decide one day to add lighting? Clearly, someone needs to be here physically to handle that. How do you guys handle something like that?

[bjeff]

I have worked with customers and there electricians to install the lighting and our guys activate and program it remotely.. We have had to adopt this model even locally, because of some union issues.

[nvgvup]

@BJeff do you do full installs that way? I've been kind of unsatisfied with my local dealers when I talk to them