Thank you to Shopbot tech support

[phil_o]

I had trouble with my machine on Sat. that I was at a loss to deal with. I emailed tech support and received very much appreciated help to track down the issue and resolve the problem.
I don't know of many companies that support their product this well. I bought my machine 12 years ago. It still runs great, this was a software issue.
Thanks x 1000

Phil

[tomhartnett]

Thanks, Phil. I forwarded your kind thanks over to Ben and Aaron. I think Ben worked directly with you :)

Happy chip making,

-Tom

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Tom. The tech support and this forum were two important factors in my choosing Shopbot as my CNC about 10 years ago. I am glad to see Shopbot now having some employee input on the forum.

While I like the tech support, I have always felt it was my obligation to first try to obtain a solution here on the forum before engaging tech support. Yet at times the replies here on the forum can be all over-the map. There are some individuals here on the forum that can be counted on as having advice you can count on........ But they aren't always on the forum. So having someone from Shopbot that can regularly provide input (when needed), will be appreciated. And at the same time, some of the misinformation that can be spread by well-meaning people (like even me.....) can be nipped in the bud by having Shopbot staff weigh-in.

In a related matter that could help both the support staff and the customers, not too long ago, TJ asked for input on topics to focus on in upcoming videos. My recommendations to him were to come up with videos that would keep the load down on the tech support staff at Shopbot by addressing common issues that come up here on the forum. For example, having videos showing a machine that is misbehaving (perhaps by intentionally having staff mess it up first) and then going through how to fix it. This could be done to show how to fix grounding issues/Com Error problems,,,,,,,,, inconsistent cutting problems, and machine out of alignment issues.

And taking it a step further, showing in detail a real user's machine, detailing how it cut before being tuned up,,,,,,,,, and then detailing how it cut AFTER careful tune-up. Then taking it yet one step further, showing how the machine can be further improved by adding various Shopbot upgrades, such as a new gantry for an old PRT, etc. That could even help sales.

Thanks again for being on the forum, Chuck

[tomhartnett]

Thanks Chuck, the thanks and recommendations are always appreciated.

My/Our intentions at SB are to remain more diligent on watching out for the forums/posting that we can provide some helping hand. That could certainly change as things at ShopBot are evolving, but the intention is certainly there and feedback like this is certainly good motivation.

The video recommendations are also much appreciated. Much of my time recently has been working on technical videos and documentation , I am currently in the midst of quite a large video project for the Desktop tools that I hope to have finished in a few weeks or less and then branch to other videos from there, I've also been trying to compose a list of such videos for TJ to tackle like you mention. I am adding tune-up/maintenance to this list and untuned/tuned cut examples to this list :)

When I complete this large project I plan on posting it to the forum for input, be sure to keep an eye out and give me your feedback!!

-Tom

[Mikebpeters]

I too had heard good things about Shopbot's customer service and now have my own story about their exceptional support - my hat is off to both Ben and Aaron as well!