Shouldn't requesting support be enough?

[Sammie]

Since upgrading to prinergy 5.1 we have experienced acrobat crashes with prinergy 5.1 plugins. We have a full service agreement with remote response times within hours and onsite the next day. Kodak managers explain that the kodak response center can dial in and fix most problems quickly and easily.
 
One of our prepress techs (a prepress veteran with over 20 years knowledge and experience belonging to national professional associations) placed a call to the kodak response center and their tech decided to delete workshop through a webex on 5/7/10. When he could not reinstall he blamed our administrator passwords, then our security settings and asked us to completely disable. Our tech explained that all our programs have been installed successfully with our administrator passwords and security settings in place. Our tech then put in an escalation request to get workshop reinstalled  from a field engineer - which successfully installed workshop on this computer in the first place several years ago without any problems - and got no response.
 
Our tech heard back from the kodak response center 5/17/10 asking for another webex. He  agreed to let him try again and received the webex info 5/20/10. Kodak tech failed again and then blamed our pc hardware. Our tech explained there is nothing wrong with the hardware and requested that kodak come onsite to reinstall. The kodak tech then argued with our tech and said we would be billed for coming onsite if kodak had trouble!
 
Our district manager called 5/21/10 stating that since according to the kodak response center our pc hardware is the problem we would be charged for the trip if kodak had trouble reinstalling workshop.
 
Basically, our view is that since kodak deleted workshop kodak should INSIST on reinstalling it along with resolving the problem with the kodak prinergy plug ins but clearly that is not the case. 
 
 
In another case our matchprint computer is experiencing a recurring downs in the form of a loss of connection. We tried chkdsk and restarts on our own in march but the problem has continued to happen every few weeks. There have been 2 calls placed to the kodak response center and they have insisted that getting their log files reviewed would provide a solution but we have never heard back with a solution in either case. The last one being 5/11/10.
 
The response center complained in an email that when our tech made suggestions like "replace parts as needed"  that was antagonistic and then used his helpful suggestion as an excuse for failing solving the problem. Apparently it doesn't matter that recurring downs interfere with getting jobs done.
 
The response center also stated that our tech was uncooperative, for example our tech did not put in the ip address for the matchprint computer when asked - our tech explained he couldn't because kodak already did so when it was set up as this is a requirement. Shouldn't the kodak response center already know this?
 
Last year we had the same problem with with prinergy dell server – recurring loss of connection. Kodak checked log files, our electric, our network, ip addresses but failed to solve the problem after a month. I contacted Dell and the Dell Tech explained these were symptoms of nic (network interface card) failure and it needs to be replaced. The Dell tech also explained that he did not use log files because they can be misleading and unreliable. I explained this to Kodak and about 2 months after I opened the first case a Dell technician came in and replaced the nic board located on the motherboard on the prinergy dell server and the recurring loss of connection stopped.
 
Dell, HP, Epson, Xerox, Canon, Heidelberg and others all replace parts quickly for intermittent ongoing problems - without the use of log files. Why is this an acceptable excuse for kodak techs for not solving the problem?
 
Our tech kept detailed case notes and emails. Does kodak ever look at results?
 
i kid you not, this is all unbelievable to us! Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
 

[Joe]

Whew, long post. It sucks to experience issues like these. Are you trying to install Workshop on a Mac or PC? Which version of OS? And what errors are you receiving when you try to install workshop?

[Sammie]

Kodak response center deleted workshop with preps on the pc. When trying to reinstall it just hangs - no error messages.

No solution for the recurring down on the matchprint computer either.

Everything but solving the problem seems to matter. 

Any suggestions on what else I can do to get problems resolved?

[Joe]

Do you know how Kodak "deleted workshop with preps on the pc"? Did they just delete the application folder or run the uninstall routine? Hopefully they weren't dumb enough to just delete the folder. Open Control Panel and open the CP for uninstalling the app. (Not sure which version of Windows you are using and they are all different.) If Workshop and/or Preps is still listed try uninstalling it. If it does an uninstall successfully...try to re-install it. If that doesn't work...well it could get messy after that.

For the matchprint computer, if you have a spare network card I would install it and try running with it for awhile and see if that stops the problem. You really shouldn't have to do that if you have a Kodak Service contract but if you can prove it works ok with a different network card at least you have some ammunition to fire back at them. And if you don't have a spare you can pick up a new gigabit card for around $20 - $30. Well worth it in my opinion.

[Farabomb]

I've had issues with Kodak support not unlike you Sammie. I have an issue with the KPS software dropping connection to the Epson on average once a month. When it first happened I was told by the tech that it far beyond her and she would have to escalate the problem. While I was waiting for them to get back to me I checked the FAQs at ecentral and noticed a few issues with .net and KPS. I followed the instructions and rolled back to .net 2.0 and it was solved for a short time. Mind you this issue first showed it's head on install and the tech said we'd have it solved within a week. Over a year later I was still calling about the same issue. As of right now it seems to be working but we shall see.

Kodak really tried to destroy us by changing the plates on us without any warning. Their attitude was change them and deal with the customers that have issues rather than warn them that they may have issues. They fought tooth and nail with us because we didn't have their platesetter. They said time and time again that they were a "drop in" replacement. After a few weeks of fighting and a little research that was far from the case. That left us with such a bad taste in our mouths we kicked them out plate wise. They could not provide a product that worded for us and did all they could to be difficult.

Joe had had good luck with Kodak service but there are quite a few with issues. Maybe it matters what region you are in. With Fuji in for plates now I'm amazed with their service. If I fart and think it's lumpy, one call to my guy there and someone will be down to check my shorts. They go above and beyond what I have seen from Kodak. If you're paying the HUGE cost of a service contract I agree, why should you have to fight to get your equipment fixed?

[Joe]

Joe had had good luck with Kodak service but there are quite a few with issues. Maybe it matters what region you are in. With Fuji in for plates now I'm amazed with their service. If I fart and think it's lumpy, one call to my guy there and someone will be down to check my shorts. They go above and beyond what I have seen from Kodak. If you're paying the HUGE cost of a service contract I agree, why should you have to fight to get your equipment fixed?

First...ewwwwwwww

While I agree with this 100%...if it's just a case of a bad network connection I'd rather fix it myself than to go through the hassle of dealing with support whether it be Kodak, Dell, or anyone else. To me it's worth the $20 - $30 and a half of hour of my time to NOT have to deal with them.

[Farabomb]

I'd have to agree Joe but not everyone is good with tech. I wonder how much downtime is caused by them giving their customers the run around. Normally while I'm down and waiting for service I'm trying to find out as much as I can about the error. Hopefully the information will help in the troubleshooting but not everyone is like that. If the KPS was dropping all connections I would have ran home and grabbed a NIC out of my box of stuff but it was isolated to the one program.

My day pressman had been causing hell for the fuji guys since Monday. He's complaining about plates blinding after 21k impressions. He bitching about the fountain solution, the plates, the weather but he's ignoring the suggestions from the fuji guys. He's gone as far as to lie to them about troubleshooting steps. About 10 plates later (big run) he finally got tired of making plates and put the effort into working with instead of against them. Surprise, after doing what they told him the plate came back. Just wasted about $100 in plates cause he's stubborn.

[David]

that's weird, I've never seen a stubborn pressman...

[gnubler]

that's weird, I've never seen a stubborn pressman...

I've never seen an alcoholic pressman. Weird. (sarcasm)

[David]

we must be in the same business

 :laugh:

[DigiCorn]

Unfortunately, with Kodak, you have to stay on them. I had a Preps issue for 6 months that just got resolved. It involved me getting a bunch of free shit, so obviously they didn't want to just hand it over. Post your displeasure on the GUA forums. They will take note of that and expedite your case.

[Farabomb]

The 4th Fuji guy just left. Everything is ok processor wise. The night crew ran all night on the same plate. Instead of changing it out as soon as it went "blind" they cleaned it as per the instructions given when we first had the issue. Day guy is still bitching about the plates and how they suck.  :rolleyes:

[Sammie]

Unfortunately, with Kodak, you have to stay on them. I had a Preps issue for 6 months that just got resolved. It involved me getting a bunch of free shit, so obviously they didn't want to just hand it over. Post your displeasure on the GUA forums. They will take note of that and expedite your case.

That's great you got a solution. :smiley:   We still have unresolved problems. :sad:

The 4th Fuji guy just left. Everything is ok processor wise. The night crew ran all night on the same plate. Instead of changing it out as soon as it went "blind" they cleaned it as per the instructions given when we first had the issue. Day guy is still bitching about the plates and how they suck.  :rolleyes:

At least the night crew is happy.  :smiley:   The unresolved problems we have no one can work around or solve. :sad:

After 3 weeks a Kodak field engineer reinstalled workshop with pc. Unfortunately, reinstalling workshop with preps on the macs solve the prinergy plugin problem on the macs but not the pc. The recurring down since march on the matchprint computer continues.....log files fail to solve the problem again...... We are down most of the day, restarting as many times as it takes......  With a service agreement Kodak is supposed to replace parts, but none have been replaced yet.

Last year, at one point when Kodak techs failed to solve the problem a Kodak manager told me to do whatever I needed to do to get a solution. I assume he was trying to be helpful and really didn't know what else to do.  Kodak can never complain about customers asking for help on forums or anywhere else for that matter. We are just trying to get the job out the door on time......

Kodak makes no bones about monitoring forums, maybe they should spend less time monitoring forums and spend more time monitoring their own techs making sure they return calls and solve problems. Just a thought.......

If anyone has any suggestions on how solve the prinergy plugin problem crashing acrobat please let me know. No crashes without plugins.

[Joe]

Unfortunately, with Kodak, you have to stay on them. I had a Preps issue for 6 months that just got resolved. It involved me getting a bunch of free shit, so obviously they didn't want to just hand it over. Post your displeasure on the GUA forums. They will take note of that and expedite your case.

That's great you got a solution. :smiley:   We still have unresolved problems. :sad:

The 4th Fuji guy just left. Everything is ok processor wise. The night crew ran all night on the same plate. Instead of changing it out as soon as it went "blind" they cleaned it as per the instructions given when we first had the issue. Day guy is still bitching about the plates and how they suck.  :rolleyes:

At least the night crew is happy.  :smiley:   The unresolved problems we have no one can work around or solve. :sad:

After 3 weeks a Kodak field engineer reinstalled workshop with pc. Unfortunately, reinstalling workshop with preps on the macs solve the prinergy plugin problem on the macs but not the pc. The recurring down since march on the matchprint computer continues.....log files fail to solve the problem again...... We are down most of the day, restarting as many times as it takes......  With a service agreement Kodak is supposed to replace parts, but none have been replaced yet.

Last year, at one point when Kodak techs failed to solve the problem a Kodak manager told me to do whatever I needed to do to get a solution. I assume he was trying to be helpful and really didn't know what else to do.  Kodak can never complain about customers asking for help on forums or anywhere else for that matter. We are just trying to get the job out the door on time......

Kodak makes no bones about monitoring forums, maybe they should spend less time monitoring forums and spend more time monitoring their own techs making sure they return calls and solve problems. Just a thought.......

If anyone has any suggestions on how solve the prinergy plugin problem crashing acrobat please let me know. No crashes without plugins.

Can you refresh me on your situation? The PC that you can't re-install workshop, that originally was crashing Acrobat, is not the same PC as the Matchprint one that keeps losing it's network connections, right?

Did you ever get Workshop to re-install on that PC?

What version of Acrobat is it crashing?

What OS and version is it running under?

On the Matchprint one...have you tried replacing the NIC?

[Sammie]

The pc crashing acrobat is different than the matchprint computer.

Workshop was reinstalled on that pc, operating system is windows xp with acrobat 9.

With a Kodak service agreement it is up to kodak to replace parts. The nic has not been replaced. The event viewer says 'your computer's network interface card or driver is not functioning correctly.'