Problem with Winni

[planters]

Alex,
If there is any uncertainty about the cause of the failure then there might need to be more than one item that needs to be shipped. For example, if you receive the new driver and it still doesn't work then do they ship a new head and if this doesn't work then do you return essentially two complete lasers and they then send you a third? You see. this could go on and on. In my opinion , and this is just my opinion, you should pay additionally to ship just once and if necessary after this they pay all shipping costs.

[Alex_kld]

Alex,
If there is any uncertainty about the cause of the failure then there might need to be more than one item that needs to be shipped. For example, if you receive the new driver and it still doesn't work then do they ship a new head and if this doesn't work then do you return essentially two complete lasers and they then send you a third? You see. this could go on and on. In my opinion , and this is just my opinion, you should pay additionally to ship just once and if necessary after this they pay all shipping costs.

I also thought that it could be delayed, so sent it back.
Thank you for your response.

[MIIKKKLLLL]

I can add : how on eath a seperate/spare driver can match a head without specific adjustements for TECs & diode current?

[norty303]

In recent conversations with Winni, she has made it clear to me that she can supply at a certain cost, but return costs would be down to me. I'm sure if we all paid a bit more for our heads then we might get a better support service. As it is, I think that like to ignore the reasons China sales are cheaper, until it bites us.
It does sound like they may be experiencing some issues more recently, maybe victims of their own success. I hope they can scale the business without sacrificing the things we like them for in the first place.
Winni did ask me for feedback on anything they could improve a little while back, I'll drop her some comments on this subject.

[The_Doctor]

I'm sure if we all paid a bit more for our heads then we might get a better support service. As it is, I think that like to ignore the reasons China sales are cheaper, until it bites us.

Agreed. More on the subject in general, than specific to lasers, I'll tie together a few separate observations..

Steve Roberts said something recently about the margins needed to be able to support properly, being 3- to 5-fold above costs. People may differ on that but I agree with the principle, and most of us know how important a buffer is in engineering. Same applies to finance. The 'West' has been agonising over how to compete with China; and its answers, especially in the UK, aren't helping: stricter labour laws, lower wages, etc. When we see what happens to a Chinese business running on what is effectively no buffer at all, having to wait for fixing of a failed order before it can complete a new one, this should tell us something: we need those buffers on money, parts, and anything else in engineering. Trying to operate without them is a race to the bottom! Once Chinese firms raise their costs to cover the buffering needed to protect themselves, and in turn their clients, two things will be cured at once: Reliability of goods and services, and the threat that compels the 'West' to play the same game in order to compete will also be curtailed. People will still compete, but they won't be running on empty so much. I've done my share of gambling on the lowest cost, but I've seen enough in the last decade to know that the buffering is too low. If I know that a firm will take care not to run too close to danger, I'm willing to go a bit further to pay for that better support. The downside of that is: I'm only willing to do it when a firm has already demonstrated at least five years of tenure. I guess many people feel the same about that. But after five years or so, isn't it about time we gave our suppliers an easier ride? After all if they got that far, haven't they earned it?

[The_Doctor]

I can add : how on eath a seperate/spare driver can match a head without specific adjustements for TECs & diode current?

Coherent do it with a 'personality module' in the head. It can definitely be done... Worth it too, given that it eases the headaches. Especially given the costs avoided in now having to ship only a head, or a controller, not both every time..

[planters]

As I have said above, I have ordered from China multiple times and have been very pleased. The price was good, the quality better than I expected and the shipping went without a hitch. This situation is different and I believe the difference is that before this I always ordered from the manufacturer/factory directly. I don't know if anyone ever gets hit by "Alibaba" when doing a web search , but I do all the time and invariably the response to an inquiry seems to be coming from some sketchy Hong Kong firm (probably the owner's apartment-office). I think there are firms that have been operating as brokers of inexpensive Chinese goods that have been taking advantage of the market inefficiency that exists between the "West" and the more obscure Chinese producers.

What is the purpose of distributors if not to stock some inventory, test and provide repair services and speed turn around above what can be provided just as well from the the factory? There is some need here and as it has been seen recently, my newer demonstration videos are posted on a You tube channel called Tech-Igredients. This is an eBay site which my son has set up to sell computer components around the world. He has been EXTREEMLY successful. I am considering contacting Laserwave directly and offering to become a broker for North America.


An update:

The Russian gentleman may return the package, but as of yet has not shipped the package. Winni has agreed to refund my payment to PayPal, but has not done this yet. Waiting...

[norty303]

Speak to CT Lasers. He was the N American Laserwave distributor a few years back iirc. BTW I'm not saying its right that you have to wait or be supplied the wrong PSU. Not sure why they don't simply stock dual voltage switching supplies anyway, I think all of mine have the little switch behind the mesh.

[The_Doctor]

I don't know if anyone ever gets hit by "Alibaba" when doing a web search

Many times. Many, many times... (Round The Horne joke, UK thing..)
My instincts always scream 'avoid'. I think you got the right idea, a broker should be in the country where the buyers are, not the sellers. If I want Laserwave (entirely possible), I'll go to Stanwax, being in the UK. I originally bought Lambdapro lasers from Adrian Feudale in Canada, several years ago, because while he wasn't in the UK, he was dealing with Lambdapro on a regular basis, and was building a reputation on eBay so was unlikely to screw up. He did ok for me, at least three times. One went bad but he helped get it fixed. Large scale brokers who are in a source nation, diverging their interest into shifting boxes and sundry semiconductors, all promised to be in stock when it's absurdly unlikely to be so, do NOT interest me, at all. Some parts brokers are obscenely expensive, and the last thing to do, in my opinion, is let them preen in their self-justified view that it's a seller's market. Which is nonsense, it's a buyer's market; who else gets to decide if the item has any value at all?! I prefer not to let such people know that I am interested, it plays straight into their delusions (and is no doubt why most people on PL like a seller to declare specs and prices up front).

I look for people who are keenly interested in what they're selling, who specialise enough to know what they're doing, and who can negotiate well with the maker on my behalf if I can't do that directly, which I prefer when possible. I did end up writing directly to a guy in China, at Lambdapro, which was also good, but his English was hard to follow, and my Chinese non-existent, so Adrian Feudale was vital. He also sold Lasever modules, but I never tried those. No reason, I just stuck with the decision I made first time, to keep things as simple as possible. Of course, if people care and know enough about their stuff to stay for the long haul, with good service, I don't care where they are, I'll buy so long as shipping is worth it, and I can easily get payment to them.

[The_Doctor]

Speak to CT Lasers. He was the N American Laserwave distributor a few years back iirc. BTW I'm not saying its right that you have to wait or be supplied the wrong PSU. Not sure why they don't simply stock dual voltage switching supplies anyway, I think all of mine have the little switch behind the mesh.

Most switchmode PSU's I've seen run 'universally' on anything from Japanese 100V up to 265VAC or so. Often as little as 85V will work. And they won't choose some setting either, they'll just load the supply for whatever power they need to satisfy their own load. I have laser and LED drivers here that all work this way. It's likely cheaper to make them like that than it is to agonise over problems in not doing it. An advantage of supplies like this is that the crude 'modified sine' inverters, basically a dual-polarity rectangular wave timed to crudely map a sine curve in three levels, one at zero crossing, are safe to use as power source. I've used one to no ill-effect on Lambdapro lasers. I think the filtering components used, in allowing source volts as low as 85, mean peak currents being higher. In turn the parts are beefy enough to stand the heat when filtering the crude waveform on a 110V output from a really cheap inverter. So a good 'universal' voltage PSU is a fairly safe bet all round. I always look for that now when buying stuff..