Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Frustrating phone support eposide

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Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 09-14-2003, 08:23 AM:

Hi

We look after a pile of sites in the UK, and this includes first level phone support at all hours of the day and night (a service that we have always provided to all our customers free of charge). Had an call yesterday that might be worth relating..

I got a call from a site with a CP200 and THX D1138 xover, the problem being low sound in the theatre. Went through the quick things first - bypass, switching power supplies (or so I thought) , run fmt 66 etc, crossover to bypass and analog .. Talked this through for 10 minutes and worked out that it was on all formats, both projectors, and in the booth as well as the theatre. The Operator told me "the fault light on the CP200 is on". "Ok" I said, "which "fault" light?". "On the Dolby" he says. "Oh wait, the fault light is now on the remote fader in front of projector 1".. "What fault light on the remote ?" says me.. "the red light on the fader that says "fault"" I am told, most emphatically.

By this stage I'm really raking my brains. "OK, try running CD" - low level. "Try a loop on projector 1" -low level. "Try running a loop in projector 2" - low level. "But wait" he says "the fault light is now on the fader in front of proj 2". WHAT me says ?? Operator, getting frustrated, swears that the light on the fader in front of projector 2 (a std CP200 Dolby remote) says FAULT - F-A-U-L-T. By this stage I was really scratching my head - have been working on the CP200 for 15 years and cannot recall a FAULT light on the faders. Getting out my CP200 manual and looking at the Cat204, I once again puzzled as to the evasive "fault" light, so I asked the operator to describe the location of the light - "just above the mute button" he said. The penny dropped - I asked the operator to spell the word "fault" as it is written above the supposed "fault" led - "Ok" he says (thinking I'm sure that I am being patronising) ... Suddenly silence on the phone. "Oh shit" he says "that light doesnt say "fault" but "activate this fader". Mmmm - an easy mistake to make ???

Two minutes later, talked him through from scratch, found a dead 24v rail on a power supply, switched over the the backup and all was well.

I'm sure there must me a moral to the story somewhere

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 09-14-2003, 10:50 AM:

Been there delt with it usually it is just as the food is arriving at an expensive restaraunt when the call comes [Mad]

Posted by Darren Briggs (Member # 1071) on 09-14-2003, 03:38 PM:

Peter,
I had the same conversation with the person in question, told him to check power supplies for all three leds, said all were on, told him to check again, switch one psu off and the other on etc, but like you was getting well pissed off with him. #I even pulled the 24v fuse on the cp200 i have here and sure enough the system emergency light came on, it was like talking to a brick wall.
Told him there isnt a fault led on the Remote, well frustrating, had films to run so gave him your number, sorry!!!
Two words for x person, useless twat!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 09-14-2003, 09:37 PM:

I used to go through episodes like this on, virtually, a daily basis. I have driven 500 miles in a day only to put a plug back into an outlet or flip a breaker. On one day I had already driven 400 miles only to get a call from a location 400 miles in the opposite direction.

On a visit to one theater a kid walked up to me and said, "The screen is all funny." After the requisite interrogation I determined that there was an intermittent vertical jitter in the picture. The standard answer was, "Clean the projector." A couple hours later the same kid came up to me and said, "The screen is still funny." I asked, "Did you clean it?"... "No.", he says. Finally, I grabbed a kid by the shirt sleeve, dragged him over to the projector, put a rag in his hand and MADE him clean it while I stood there and watched. Afterward, we threaded up, started the machine and took a peek. IT WAS A PERFECT PICTURE! "Wow! How'd you do that?!", he said.
Now, the VERY NEXT day, the same kid walked up to me. Guess what he said? You guessed it! "The picture is funny." When I told him that he had to put a clean rag in his pocket and clean every projector before he threaded up for each and every movie, he looked at me like I had three heads!

Guess WHO got yelled at for turning in high-dollar expense reports?

People just don't believe me when I tell these horror stories! I swear people think I make them up! Frankly, if they didn't actually happen to me I would think they were made up too! There was many a day when I would walk out the door cussing and swearing into the air.

This is one of two main reasons I quit the job.

Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 09-15-2003, 01:14 AM:

Wouldn't have happened if A*d**a was here - she had her problems but could put a film on like nobody else there (surely a prerequsite for a projectionist's job )

Does he need a PSU ? Why dont you send him one of yours and then I guess send me back your whole 200 to sort ?

You have two words for him - "useless prat" - but I have six - "useless prat, but who hired him ?" I await an answer

Posted by Rob Younger (Member # 1770) on 09-15-2003, 05:16 AM:

Hi,

I also had messages left about this problem on Saturday - however as we were away for the weekend, I wisely didn't take my phone with me! Lucky old me - hard luck Peter & Darren!

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-15-2003, 06:27 AM:

I get calls like this all the time.

"The projector is down!!! The exciter doesn`t work!!!"
"OK, but you can play the feature in dts until I come out."
"dts?"
"The thing with the CDs."
"Do you mean digital?"
"Yes."
"I was told it works automatically."
"It does. Provided you have loaded the CDs."
"But we have no light!"
"Oh, you mean the lamp does not ignite? You meant the igniter?"
"No, the projector does not work!!!"
"Apparently you mean it runs but there is no light coming out at the front?"
"No, there is no light!"
"Is the green ready light lit?"
"What is that?"
"That is the green light where it says ready."
"Where is that?"
"On the lamphouse."
"The lamphouse?"
"The big box where the big light is in."
"Oh, oh, yes, but I don`t see the light."
"Do you mean it is not on?"
"Did you say I should check the green light?"
"Yes."
"OK, wait. Yes, it is on."
"The green ready light?"
"No, it says presence."
"That is the failsafe. I said you should check the ready light."
"Which one?"
"The big square green light on the side of the big box where the lamp is in."
"Ah, oh, OK."
SILENCE
"Do you see it?"
"You mean the light where it says ready?"
"Yes."
"OK."
"OK, what? Is it lit?"
"I am not sure."
"What do you mean I am not sure. Is the light on or off?"
"I don`t know. It is kind of hard to tell. It looks like it is on. But that could also be a reflection."
"Then go to another projector which is running and see what it looks like there."
"Another projector?"
"Yes, like the one right next to it."
"Ah, oh, OK."
1 MINUTE PASSES ALTHOUGH THE OTHER PROJECTOR IS JUST 5 STEPS AWAY
"Did you see the light?"
"Yes."
"This one should be on. Does it look the same on the projector where the lamp does not light?"
"No, it looks kind of lit."
"And this one here is not lit?"
"No, not really."
"Aha. Is the exhaust fan running?"
"What is that?"
"That is the big fan which sucks the air out on top of the projector, where the big tube is."
"Ah, oh, I am not sure."
"Did you switch it on?"
"Where is the switch?"
"It is next to the porthole, where the worklights are."
"Lemme check. Which switch is it?"
"The one where it says exhaust fan. Is it on?"
"I am not sure."
"Is it pointing up or down?"
"The one where it says exhaust fan?"
"Yes."
"It is pointing kind of down."
"Flip it on."
"On?"
"Yes, upward."
"Ah, oh, OK."
"Is the green light on now?"
"Which green light?"
"Where it says ready."
"Lemme check. On this or the other projector?"
"On the one we are looking at now."
"Oh, yes, it is on now."
"OK, start the projector."
"You mean start the show?"
"Yes."
"Ah, oh, OK."
"Is the big light on now?"
"Yes. But nobody told me I should flip that switch on."
"You have been working in that location for three months but nobody told you you should switch the exhaust fan on?"
"No, they told me I should flip the switch on the right side of the window."
"That is the switch where it says exhaust fan."
"Ah, oh, OK."
"Good night."

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 09-15-2003, 08:17 AM:

Much as some hope differently, good projection (film OR digital) is a SKILLED craft. You get what you pay for. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 09-15-2003, 09:29 AM:

Best one I had was a hotel saying the video projector had "gone" again. If it's "gone" then surely they need a policeman and not an engineer..

Posted by Darren Briggs (Member # 1071) on 09-15-2003, 02:50 PM:

Who Hired the chap?? Well he cant drive at the moment! (legally)
Yes we must sort the CP200 this week, would like to get it in for october, have 5 70mm shows on in Oct.
We will have a chat on tuesday regards it.

Rob, nice to see your smiley face on here!
The lovely lady you mention Peter, may well be able to lace up but dont think she was much better on the technical front from the stories Rob told about her trying to time the shutter on one of the century's.
I Agree im sure she could read, and tell the differnce between 'fader active' and Fault! The CP200 doesn't even have a FAULT light, only 'system emergency'.

I think lessons can be learned from the staffing at the cinema. No experienced Chief with Art house background, big mistake.

No excuse for the episode on Saturday, they lost 2 shows of Calendar Girls due to not opening there eyes and listening to advice.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-15-2003, 03:02 PM:

Michael, it sounds like you need to do some training at your theaters!

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-15-2003, 03:06 PM:

Brad, John - you didn`t get the point. It is not that we expect our people to be space shuttle pilots on minimum wage. We know that we can`t expect that, so we do train them. The point of my and I guess also Peter`s posts was that some people can`t simply answer a simple question like "is the green light on". That has not much to do with high intelligence or years of professional training...
Allowing that of course sometimes the operators are completely stressed out because they just had a theatre go down, so they can`t be focused - that is why you talk them through step by step -, it is more a general attitude problem. People in general are often too lazy to just look carefully if it says "ready" or "fan" or "fault" or whatever. So before the actual training starts, you often have to teach people to do the simplest things, like just looking and seeing what is in front of their noses. Then you can proceed to explain to them what it all means.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 09-16-2003, 04:49 AM:

Michael--that's hilarious. And probably all too true. [Big Grin]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-16-2003, 09:45 AM:

quote:
Best one I had was a hotel saying the video projector had "gone" again. If it's "gone" then surely they need a policeman and not an engineer..

I beg indulgence for an off-topic anecdote, but on the subject of policemen...

The neighbour of a friend of mine who lives just outside a large market town in the south-west of England got home one evening back in the spring, noticed lights on in the house that shouldn't have been on, and quickly established that the place was being burgled. He rang the police from his mobile, explained the situation and even gave them the registration number of a suspiciously parked car just up the road. 'I'm sorry, all our officers are busy at the moment, we'll get back to you when we can,' was their response. Five minutes later the burglars still hadn't emerged from the house, so he rang again. 'I just wanted to say not to worry about coming round to arrest the burglars now,' he told them, '...because I've just been to the garage, got my 12-bore and shot both of them at point blank range through the head. You might send an undertaker when you get a moment, though.'

Within three minutes several car-loads of armed police had turned up and arrested the burglars (and my friend's neighbour, who had never seen - let alone owned - a firearm in his life). Sadly, he's currently waiting to find out if he'll be prosecuted for wasting police time.

But I guess the moral of the story is that the quality of telephone support you get depends on how you ask for it! [Smile]