I can't believe the stupidity of some service techs..... (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Rogers]

I mean...I don't know a lot. I admit that. But I know enough to know when the man is full of [censored].

I call Mitsusbishi to ask them if the insane amount of Red push would be covered in my current warranty from them. They say yes.

I ask them if the overscan problem that I have has since day one. (I have had it 3 weeks) is covered. They tell me yes.

They refer me to a place in my town to call and set up an appointment.

First thing the guy does is turn up the contrast to about 75 %. I start to worry.

He goes into the manual convergence screen and converges each square. During this time I try and tell him what I want done with the tv.

Apparently he has never heard of Red Push and wont even go into the service menu. I told him that I am at 20-25 % and need the red to come down and that it is the Mitsubishi curse.

He tells me noooooo I don't want to do that. And ranted off some lame idea... I couldn't really understand b/c he was super duper foreign

I tell him about the overscan and his reccomendation is to use the "format" mode. I nearly shat myself at his stupidity. Me taking this day off was an utter complete waste of my time. He jsut packed up and said.

"well, nothing really wrong with it"

I said. "there never was anything "wrong" with it." It just needs a few adjustments that Mitsubishi said was covered!!! He said that they would have to take it into the shop to get into the menu.

At this time I shook his hand and bid him goodbye. I am now ready to cry. As it seems no one in this town has any way to get their heads out of their asses.

So all this does for me is make me calibrate it again tonight and waste my time again.

I am so mad. Thanks for listening.

BTW -- If you live in Omaha, Neb. Stay away from Ak-sar-ben television. They know what tv's are....and thats about it

 

[MickeS]

I know how frustrating it is when the supposed "expert" actually knows less than you do about something. :frowning:
Don't expect service techs that don't specialize in TV-calibration to be really knowledgeable about the details.
At the ISF website you can search for ISF-trained dealers with calibration equipment in your area (http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm), and it returned a couple of hits. Don't know if they're any good, but it might be worth checking out.
I think you should be able to find information online on dealing with at least the red push, I've seen other people mention that here.
/mike

 

[Dave Marx]

Jeff...I feel your pain. I didn't think I would ever hear of anyone who would be as idiotic as the tech support people from AT&T Broadband Cable or Sprint PCS, but I was apparently wrong.
If I were you, I'd call the manager of that ridiculous store and tell him what happened. Tell him you know more about the tv than his employee does. He will either act in an apologetic fashion and see if anything else can be done, or he will be defensive...at which point you should hang up the phone. Sorry you had to go through that...

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

Unfortunately, I have read many stories similar to yours. And, I should point out that the service techs who are authorized by other manufacturers tend not be any better at all. The reality is that they often know much less about the sets than you do. Many have sat in a factory training seminar that lasted two hours, and then they are told to "read the service manuals" for everything else.

By the way, if you took this up far enough up the ladder with Mitsubishi, I believe that their official response would be that there is no "error" in the color decoder settings. In other words, they would deny that the "red push" is a problem at all. They have to state this, since they ship all of their sets this way, on purpose (and they are not alone. Most brands ship with at least some red push. Just not Mits' famous 25%). They probably do this because it makes the picture look better when it is sitting on a showroom, next to 50 other sets. This is also why they ship them with the contrast maxed out at 100%. It gives an artifical appearance of brightness and vividness, especially if you do not watch it for two hours... but it is at the expense of other picture anonalies. You probably knew this, but I thought I would clarify it, anyway.

The warranty (I believe) does not technically cover the red push because "there is no problem," if you listen to the offical line. That is nonsense, of course, but I would not expect any Mits rep to correct for it. They are not trained to, and if they called Mits, they will be told that is "normal."

Even though you do not live close to any metropolitan area, most of the ISF calibrators DO travel, some of them almost constantly. You might consider hiring one of these guys, especially one who is comfortable with the Mits sets. They are often willing to set up "tours" through a region, which allows everyone to share the experience without paying for huge travel expenses.

Another thing to consider would be to read up on the method to correct these two problems (both the red push and the overscan), and tweak them yourself. I took this route. However, I would never advise anyone to do this unless they were fully aware that:
1.) This could technically void any warranty, if a service tech were ever sharp enough to find out that you did this (which they are usually not), and they wanted to make an issue of it (which I have never heard of happening).
2.) The procedures involve some amount of risk. Entering the service menus gives one access to many, many settings ewhich can trash the picture, or even make you lose your picture altogether, or even cause risk of major disasters like fire (some sets have voltage settings in here, for certain items!)

You did not state which set you have. I have the 65819. I have tweaked it myself, while I wait for a true ISF calibrator. I have completely gotten rid of my red push, and mine is TOUGH to get rid of (it is not even available in the service menus on my model, so I had to hook up a PC to the set and flash the EEPROM settings). I studied the procedures for more than a month, first, planned well in advance, and went very carefully, very slowly, and very cautiously. I made lots of notes, and backups.

You may know this, but you can correct for the red push on your component cable inputs with a simple inexpensive attenuator. That is another option. Only apartial solution, though...

Again, there are ISF techs who can do what you have asked for $350 to $450, and they will do much more, as well. There are ISF techs who will give you additional, more advanced calibration options as well, and some fees can go as high as $600 and $700 (GULP!) if you want these additional chores done. These are the calibration sessions you read about where the calibrator works for twelve to fourteen hours, or comes back for a second day, and completely does everything to every separate input, even the ones not hooked up yet. Some will charge you a very small amount to travel. Some will put you on their lists, and the next time they swing through your state, or even a state which borders your state, they will contact you and quote you a price. I know that one of the best Mits calibrators in the country is considered to be Craig Miller, and he is on a tour to Florida and Oregon right now. Many who thought they were "too rural" for any ISF calibrator have hired him. I know because I pointed a guy to his direction, who swore that he lived so far in the Georgia boonies that nobody "good" would ever pay him a visit. I also know of Mits calibrators arranging tours right now for Ohio/Indiana/midwest states, and another who is arranging a Canadian border tour.

These guys, especially the ones who specialize in your brand, are often raved about by their customers. The price is not as cheap as your service call under warranty , but they do tend to leave you with a picture which is "letter perfect," and detailed instructions for how to ealily revert to those settings in case the power goes, or the AV Reset is hit, or another service tech goes in after them and screws it all up . Many calibrators swear that the "Mitsubishi picture, once properly calibrated, is as good as if not better than any other conmsumer level set in the world." I have read this many times, from several different calibrators. You have a great set, in other words. It just needs tweaking, and it is tweakable.

As usual, my keyboard runneth over...

Just my opinions,

-Bruce in Chi-Town

 

[Jeff Rogers]

Thank you guys!! This is good info!!! Keep it up!!! IT is greatly apprecaited