Buzzing from Power Adapter; Grandstream HT-286

[nounofchoice]

Sorry if this is comes off as a stupid probem.

I am new to freephoneline.ca, just installed the Grandstream HT-286 to my netgear router and found there is this really annoying buzzing noise coming from the power adapter when the phone is not in use.

I tried another power outlet and did not hook up the ATA to my router. Same buzzing.

I'm up for any ideas/help to get rid of the noise. If you need more info on my settings, let me know and I'll do my best to figure it out.

Thanks!

[bridonca]

Sorry if this is comes off as a stupid probem.

I am new to freephoneline.ca, just installed the Grandstream HT-286 to my netgear router and found there is this really annoying buzzing noise coming from the power adapter when the phone is not in use.

I tried another power outlet and did not hook up the ATA to my router. Same buzzing.

I'm up for any ideas/help to get rid of the noise. If you need more info on my settings, let me know and I'll do my best to figure it out.

Thanks!

Sometimes, if the ATA is too close to the router, you get noise. Same goes if you have a cordless telephone base too close to the router or ATA. Would that be be your problem?

[nounofchoice]

Normally I would agree, but when i tired another outlet in the house, it was in a different room and the same buzzing was still present.
Forgot to mention in the OP, if i put some force on top of the power adapter, the noise seems to go away.

[TheHardy]

I am new to freephoneline.ca, just installed the Grandstream HT-286 to my netgear router

...

Forgot to mention in the OP, if i put some force on top of the power adapter, the noise seems to go away.

Is it a BRAND NEW Grandstream, IE just from FPL fresh out of the box? Could be DOA/Lemon as this sounds very suspicious to me. I'd give tech support a ring. Don't want a fire popping up unexpectedly --- buzzing power adapters should not really be messed with...

[nounofchoice]

Is it a BRAND NEW Grandstream, IE just from FPL fresh out of the box? Could be DOA/Lemon as this sounds very suspicious to me. I'd give tech support a ring. Don't want a fire popping up unexpectedly --- buzzing power adapters should not really be messed with...

Yes, brand new. Called tech support before coming on here. Unfortunately I was told I would have to deal with Grandstream to get a new ATA under warranty, or pay for one from FPL. The day's of complete customer care and service are long gone, so I am left to ponder the lesser of the two evils....

[TheHardy]

TBH, it sort of makes sense that it would end up being a Grandstream issue --- I bet that when FPL configures them before they ship 'em, they leave THEIR power supply plugged in and just shove the ATA onto it, rather than uncoil each new one.

Now is it the POWER ADAPTER itself that is making the humming, or the ATA, or which? Electronics though, do get rocked and rolled in transit, and these days with gamma ray/x-ray etc and all the other security crap, you really never know WHAT the hell you are gonna end up with!

I wish you the best of luck dealing with Grandstream -- hopefully they won't give you the run-around too badly!

[lauren]

Did you purchase this ATA from FPL? And you say it is brand new? There must be some kind of wiring issue to be causing the buzz. I have heard of a similar occurrence with another customer who had received the same buzzing sound. From what I understood, the issue was with the power cord itself and not the ATA adapter. Perhaps you could try a different power cable going to the ATA to see if that will prevent this buzzing sound?

[nounofchoice]

Did you purchase this ATA from FPL? And you say it is brand new? There must be some kind of wiring issue to be causing the buzz. I have heard of a similar occurrence with another customer who had received the same buzzing sound. From what I understood, the issue was with the power cord itself and not the ATA adapter. Perhaps you could try a different power cable going to the ATA to see if that will prevent this buzzing sound?

The ATA was purchased from FPL, as what I hope was a brand new unit.

Not to misunderstand your post, but the ATA adapter is the one that came with the ATA, and the power cord is my home electrical outlet. I don't have extra power cables laying around with the same volt and amp specs as the Grandstream.

I plugged the ATA into multiple outlets in my house and the buzzing from the ATA's adapter was consistant, so unless my entire home is wired incorrectly, it is a problem with the ATA's adapters.

So far I am very disappointed and frustrated in FPL's customer service, so I am sorry if my post comes off as dick-ish. After contacting Grandstream for the warranty replacement, as I was instructed to do so from the FPL tech support, they informed me it is FPL's responsibility to replace a defective unit. After a long call to FPL tech support I finally was told FPL would replace my ATA.I was given a ticket number, and told I would be contacted again in 24 hours when the new unit was shipped. 24 hours came and went. Frustrated, I picked up a linksys ATA from a local computer store and it worked flawlessly.

[TheHardy]

Wow! Sounds like a huge hassle. I was sort of afraid of that, from your original post. It is a good thing that SOMEONE finally admitted they would be responsible, but it is too bad that in the end you got frustrated and got stuck buying a new one.

Curious tho: I never did get an answer -- is it the ATA itself that makes the buzzing noise, or the power adapter? I understand about the power CORD etc, but am not familiar with the Grandstream set up -- is it like MOST computer peripherals, where there is a cord that goes from the outlet to the peripheral (which is separate and has a usually proprietary power connector)?? If this is the case, then as I said, when FPL tested/configged, they most likely used their own power cord on YOUR ATA. If it is a ONE PIECE thing, where the power cord does NOT detach from the ATA, then I am baffled.

Also, which Linksys did you pick up? What are your plans once the replacement one ships to you, or are you going to bother with that? Craigslist? Spare?

Make sure that you follow up one way or another with FPL (maybe via Lauren) - at the very least, FPL should pick up the return shipping on your defective unit when all of this is said and done (especially if the new one works, or it turns out to be a detachable power supply that was hooped all along).

In the end, it DOES sound like FPL is attempting to do the right thing by you, but you wanted your stuff up and running sooner ... nothing wrong with that. Your story does NOT come across as DICKish, but rather frustrated -- which I find completely understandable, btw.

Sorry for your hassle, good luck and let us know if you are all up and running, and more over, how you like the service once you are up&running.

[Jake]

I don't understand why FPL has given you so much trouble over something so trivial as a PSU. You bought something from them, it's faulty, they have to replace it. It should be simple - shouldn't it? Surely a PSU is only a couple of bucks, why risk pushing a customer elsewhere?

Maybe there is more to this than I am seeing, but I think FPL may have shot themselves in the foot a bit here. You can bet there are a lot of people reading this and thinking twice about where they buy their ATAs from. I know this will stay on my mind if this is how problems are dealt with at FPL towers. This is the first black mark I can put against FPL, I hope this will be the only one.

[TheHardy]

Fair words, Jake. As you know from being a regular, sometimes it is just getting a CS rep that 'blows' a situation -- we have several examples of that in various threads, where once escalated a step (usually only one, or via our own 'built-in-Steve") the situation is QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY sorted out.

I am of a similar mind -- if FPL was the retailer, and the product was defective OOB (out of the box), they THEY are the point of contact to deal with the return/exchange. Same thing as if you bought it at FutureShop/BestBuy/Source -- you don't go back to the manufacturer if it is defective OOB! As you say, weird.

I lean towards someone having dropped the ball, rather than a precedent of bad customer service; that is one of the reasons that I would like to see how this one shakes out once Steve (or Kris) have had a chance to view and weigh in on it.

To that end, 'nounofchoice', might I suggest that you capsulate your problems and the steps you took, and fire it off as a PM to FPL-Steve? No slight to FPL-Lauren, but Steve seems to have the clout to either deal with it himself (man he must have a lot on his plate) or at least escalate it right to whom-ever's feet need to be held to the fire.

[nounofchoice]

Curious tho: I never did get an answer -- is it the ATA itself that makes the buzzing noise, or the power adapter?

The power adapter is making the buzzing noise at the power outlet in the wall. Funny thing is, if I pick up the phone to make or answer a call the buzzing would stop.

I understand about the power CORD etc, but am not familiar with the Grandstream set up -- is it like MOST computer peripherals, where there is a cord that goes from the outlet to the peripheral (which is separate and has a usually proprietary power connector)?? If this is the case, then as I said, when FPL tested/configged, they most likely used their own power cord on YOUR ATA. If it is a ONE PIECE thing, where the power cord does NOT detach from the ATA, then I am baffled.

The power cord on the HT-286 is separate from the ATA.

Also, which Linksys did you pick up? What are your plans once the replacement one ships to you, or are you going to bother with that? Craigslist? Spare?

I picked up the PAP2T-NA. With the help of the device config pdf on the forums I had it up and running in 10 min. FYI the build quality of the linksys feels much more robust than the Grandstream.

If and when I receive the replacement HT-286, I will most likely be selling it. The 2 week return policy at my computer store will likely expire before I get the replacement ATA from FPL.

In the end, it DOES sound like FPL is attempting to do the right thing by you, but you wanted your stuff up and running sooner ... nothing wrong with that. Your story does NOT come across as DICKish, but rather frustrated -- which I find completely understandable, btw.

Sorry for your hassle, good luck and let us know if you are all up and running, and more over, how you like the service once you are up&running.

I got my number ported from Rogers. Once the port was complete, I no longer had access to phone service via Rogers, so I had to get the FPL up and running (I use my home phone for all my important calling). Thus, getting it up and running was priority, hence the linksys purchase. So far I am very pleased with the FPL. I would say the call quality is better than my Rogers home phone.

[TheHardy]

The power adapter is making the buzzing noise at the power outlet in the wall. Funny thing is, if I pick up the phone to make or answer a call the buzzing would stop.

Okay, that makes sense. When you are making a call or go off-hook, there is a voltage change. I am not technically skilled in this, but it does reinforce that "something just ain't right". In one way, it points to it being the ATA, yet in another it points at the power supply. In either case, not good, but the fact that the on/off-hook condition causes it to change it's behavior is tell-tale.

I picked up the PAP2T-NA. With the help of the device config pdf on the forums I had it up and running in 10 min. FYI the build quality of the linksys feels much more robust than the Grandstream.

If and when I receive the replacement HT-286, I will most likely be selling it. The 2 week return policy at my computer store will likely expire before I get the replacement ATA from FPL.

A good choice, and as you saw, there is a ton of support here. Glad it was a pain-free setup and successful. The description of the products also helps someone like me, who does not have an ATA yet -- I will likely take that leap down the road at some time, so the 1st hand feedback and direct comparision, as well as the endorsement of the config here are very welcome. (thanks for being a guinea pig! )

so I had to get the FPL up and running (I use my home phone for all my important calling). Thus, getting it up and running was priority, hence the linksys purchase. So far I am very pleased with the FPL. I would say the call quality is better than my Rogers home phone.

Good endorsement! I can see the priority of it when put this way. Good lesson for others too though, even with FPL being reliable: "make sure the new setup works before tossing the old setup". Not always as feasible as it sounds, but a good 'take-away' in any case.

As I posted, I would follow up with FPL in any case, as it sounds like a "made on a Monday morning/made on a Friday afternoon" piece of hardware slipped out of their system.

[lauren]

Nounofchoice, it does entirely depend on the customer service representative that you get so please refrain from generalizing and saying all of our customer service representatives are terrible. I personally do try my best to accommodate all customers who call in, even if they are not the happiest at that time. First off, you should have been sent a replacement ATA once you had returned the faulty one you received. Secondly, we have hundreds of customers who have tickets opened every day as Freephoneline has over 100 000 customers, so we do inform our customers that it takes up to 24-48 hours for a ticket to get addressed by the right department. I do apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope you do realize that this ticket is probably still open and you will receive this new ATA. If you want this to be cancelled, please send me a personal message with your account information. Again I do apologize. When our configurations department programs and tests the ATA before shipping, it is in a loud department, so they probably could not hear this buzzing sound.

[nounofchoice]

Nounofchoice, it does entirely depend on the customer service representative that you get so please refrain from generalizing and saying all of our customer service representatives are terrible.

I am entitled to form a generalized opinion based on experiences and it's important other customers and customer reps can learn from these interactions. However, I never accused FPL customer service of being terrible.

And if my level of service/satisfaction depends on the customer service rep I get, I certainly hope FPL is doing their best to train everyone to a higher and more consistent standard. The last thing I want to hear as a paying customer is that my issues and concerns will have varying degrees of importance and will totally depend on the rep I get by chance.

I personally do try my best to accommodate all customers who call in, even if they are not the happiest at that time. First off, you should have been sent a replacement ATA once you had returned the faulty one you received.

I'll send the faulty unit back when I receive my new unit, as was agreed upon by the rep I spoke to. I hardly see why I should have to flip the shipping costs for faulty equipment. And when I receive a shipping address I will gladly ship it back. If you have access to information about my account or ticket that I do not regarding these issues, than you or someone else should be calling me from FPL.

[TheHardy]

Two issues for me to weigh in on ...

1) Customer service. It is understandable that FPL has a high number of customers (and some of them don't even pay! ) and that problems are not dealt with instantaneously. 24-48hrs for the ticket to be addressed by the proper department seems a LONG time; perhaps I am mis-interpretting what Lauren meant. If the problem is identified and a report taken by the first-tier customer support, and it cannot be solved, then is there no internal method to have the 1st tier CSR INTERNALLY try to contact the correct dept WHILE the customer is ON THE LINE to see if it is a KNOWN problem?? To my way of thinking, and from my experience in a CSR capacity, any unresolved tickets that I had at the close of my shift needed to "find a home" before I could close out my system -- I couldn't just leave them sitting around, I had to "send" them to somewhere. When the 2nd (or 3rd, depending on severity) tier gets the trouble ticket, THEN I can perhaps see a 24hr window for the ticket to be INITIALLY addressed (maybe not resolved!) Hopefully I read Lauren's response wrong, and FPL handles things a bit more like I described. If it does indeed take 24-48 hours for the tickets to find a desk to land on, then I think there may be a call for some improvements in the CSR department!

That all said, there are probably a TON of problems of all shapes and sizes that come in, and some are more serious than others. A defective piece of HARDWARE for a PORT-IN customer should be flagged with SOME sort of priority, I should think! An un-supported 3rd party hardware config issue would be much further down the line.

2) The return of the defective hardware. If indeed it was DOA right from FPL, then I agree that eating the return shipping costs on the defective one would be hard to swallow from a customer point of view. Maybe there will be a PREPAID RETURN SHIPPING LABEL enclosed (wishful thinking?) or perhaps you can get authorization to bill it back to the same account that paid for the shipping out of your replacement (depends if it comes courier or Canada Post).

Stepping back a bit more, I can see how Lauren may take slight offense at "tarring them all with the same brush", but if that indeed WAS how you FELT you were treated with the initial responses you got from FPL, then you are fully entitled to HAVE that opinion of THOSE particular reps. As you said, once you got the right person, things ticked along fairly well. And I see nothing wrong with hoping that there can be some UP-training of the CSR staff, or at the very least, be able to escalate or get timely call-backs from higher-tiered reps to address the tickets in a timely fashion (again, some are more critical than others, and perhaps the key lies in FPL 'tri-aging' their calls better!).

[nounofchoice]

Lauren may take slight offense at "tarring them all with the same brush", but if that indeed WAS how you FELT you were treated with the initial responses you got from FPL, then you are fully entitled to HAVE that opinion of THOSE particular reps.

Agreed. And I never directed my frustrations at a particular CSR, only at FPL in general. At the end of the day they all work for the same company. It's like complaining about Rogers or Bell.

But you must admit, to see this convo continue on a public forum it a bit ridiculous. It would seem that my OP has been taken over by a customer service debate. Quite frankly I am a bit surprised at how this experience has gone. Not to knock Lauren or any other CSR on the forums, but you should be defending FPL from a customer's (me) poor customer-support-experience by providing a little extra help to outweigh the bad experience. But I digress; C'est la vie.

[TheHardy]

But you must admit, to see this convo continue on a public forum it a bit ridiculous. It would seem that my OP has been taken over by a customer service debate. Quite frankly I am a bit surprised at how this experience has gone. Not to knock Lauren or any other CSR on the forums, but you should be defending FPL from a customer's (me) poor customer-support-experience by providing a little extra help to outweigh the bad experience. But I digress; C'est la vie.

I am not trying to pour any fuel on the fire either. I have only tried to help (not that you need it) to get the CUSTOMER point of view across too. I don't feel you jumped on anyone, and Lauren did seem a little "pile-on-ish" in her reply (again, not a knock against her personally, but it was the IMPRESSION of such).

At the end of the day, the Customer is the Customer, good or bad, and when push comes to shove, the Customer pays the Employees salaries.

Right or wrong, the Customer is ALWAYS entitled to an opinion, and as long as neither the customer nor the company crosses the lines, I see no problem with making suggestions, giving observations etc. Otherwise, how will FPL know that the customers are FEELING that the CSR is substandard, or could use improvement? To quote an old favourite of mine, "I can't fix it if I don't know it's broke!".

That being said, yes, I have been offering up suggestions and my fair share of advice and what I would like to see done. I may well be out of place too, and if that is the case, a quick PM telling me so would be the best way; I am not deliberately posting here to fan the flames, and would never do so knowingly -- I am not a TROLL nor a FLAMER.

[nounofchoice]

That being said, yes, I have been offering up suggestions and my fair share of advice and what I would like to see done. I may well be out of place too, and if that is the case, a quick PM telling me so would be the best way; I am not deliberately posting here to fan the flames, and would never do so knowingly -- I am not a TROLL nor a FLAMER.

No worries! I appreciate your suggestions and advise! I can see my hardware problems will probably not be solved on here. Kudos for the help.

[TheHardy]

No worries! I appreciate your suggestions and advise! I can see my hardware problems will probably not be solved on here. Kudos for the help.

I thought that the hardware problem was all but resolved -- you are awaiting a replacement unit to be sent from FPL, and then arrangements to be made to return the DOA one, is that not the case? I assumed from your posts that: (a) you did manage to get a CSR from FPL to agree that the unit was DOA and that they were shipping you out a replacement (b) you were waiting to hear back (24 hrs notice, I think) of WHEN that shipment of the replacement unit was coming and (c) that you were still displeased concerning having to eat the return postage on the DOA unit back to FPL.

Did I miss something? I re-read, and you have a ticket number, and are now in the HOLDING pattern to hear arrival/shipping time/date/confirmation.

Your peeve there, as I read it, was the delay (more so the INITIAL one, with the buck-passing, having to contact Grandstream and then being sent BACK to FPL, where, if I read things right, the THIRD time through their CSR system), you finally got FPL to agree to a replacement, which you are now staring at the clock for....

... all the while NOT having service, which resulted in you buying your own NEW ATA out of frustration, which you DID manage to get up and running without a hitch.

Summarized correctly? Or am I in the dark on a step?

Seeing Lauren was involved somewhat here, may I suggest that you PM her your ticket number and see if she can give you an ETA on the shipment of the replacement unit, and perhaps tee-up something WRT the return of the DOA unit? Lauren then would have the ability to check the history of the ticket to see whom else was involved in this little saga and perhaps see where along the lines there could be some room for improvement going forward.

Brings up a question too, which has been lurking, of how large the CSR department is? I think that Steve has one of the corner offices around there at least, as he seems to weild a large hammer and is able to drill down in various different problems across MANY departments...

[nounofchoice]

Summarized correctly? Or am I in the dark on a step?

Summarized fairly correctly, however I am on hour 72 if you don't count the weekend with no FPL contact re the replacement ATA (email or otherwise). Which is why when Lauren told me I would have to ship the DOA ATA unit back first at my expense, I thought she must be privy to more info about the background workings of my ticket/account. Though that did contravene what I was told on the phone. FPL was to contact me when the new unit was sent out, and provide a return address for the DOA ATA, etc at no charge to me.

Other than some helpful suggestions on the forum about possible causes of the hardware issue and some useful tips, I haven't received much FPL support online wrt getting it resolved (hence why I don't think the FPL end of buzzgate is going to be advanced though this forum). Whatever happens, I will be sure to post for future reference.

[TheHardy]

Summarized fairly correctly, however I am on hour 72 if you don't count the weekend with no FPL contact re the replacement ATA (email or otherwise). Which is why when Lauren told me I would have to ship the DOA ATA unit back first at my expense, I thought she must be privy to more info about the background workings of my ticket/account. Though that did contravene what I was told on the phone. FPL was to contact me when the new unit was sent out, and provide a return address for the DOA ATA, etc at no charge to me.

Other than some helpful suggestions on the forum about possible causes of the hardware issue and some useful tips, I haven't received much FPL support online wrt getting it resolved (hence why I don't think the FPL end of buzzgate is going to be advanced though this forum). Whatever happens, I will be sure to post for future reference.

Well, I have had dealings (albeit as a FREE user) for technical issues, where I chose JUST to deal with CSR via email. It was over 72h without a peep, then a 3/4 fix, and another 20h or so for a followup which took care of it (officially), although I did have some quasi-forum help and a stroke of luck where I got it going about 10h beforehand (but the CSR support DID hit it on the head). Not too bad overall, but it was about a 6/10 in scale of how bad the problem was on my end -- granted, it meant NO service for me, but as a softphone issue (and account too), it was not too bad -- a delay I could deal with for the price I was paying.

That said, there should be a much quicker initial turn around. 4 WORKING hours for a prelim reply to a tech support email with (a) here's your simple fix (b) need more info (c) sorry, it's been escalated, hold on and wait (d) sorry, SOL. Then after that, based on urgency/severity. For call in support, then I would go to the model I described earlier, escalating via tiers, and NEVER ever letting a customer feel that they have been left holding the bag, or without SOMEONE at least "looking into it, and we will get back to you".

WRT to your situation specifically, if it has now been 72h and no word, I would check back in on things ASAP. Seeing Lauren has stated that you have been DOWN on the support you have received so far, perhaps she could look into this matter for you and see what the roadblocks/hurdles are and apply some of her ability to solve problems (Lauren: I mean that as a compliment, as I have seen you resolve issues for others, and you are dealing with me now on some of the things that I have in my "goodie bag" -- I am not being facetious, it's a kudo!). Failing that, or if you wish to escalate, PM Steve -- as I say, be wields a large hammer that seems to knock those loose nailheads back down into the floorboards....

The one thing that you state, that I was not aware of, is that the tech that authorized the return (and gave you the ticket number, same guy?) seems to have made most of the groundwork arrangements visavis shipping/return etc --- so not to have to deal with too much of pleading and begging to get that established.

Return address? Same as the one that shipped you the defective ATA in the first place? But that is a guess... so get confirmation as planned.

A broken chunk o'hardware can't be resolved in the forum, but perhaps there an be some CSR training improvement or streamlining that can come from this... or at least lessons for the rest of us that may have to go thru these hoops and loops at some point.

I have no doubt that you shall keep us both amused and informed with the ongoing saga which has become known as FPL BuzzGate 2011

[lauren]

Hey guys,

I feel like I just read an essay, but I managed to soak in what you guys were conversing about. I was only slightly insulted by the bad customer service comments so I do apologize if it seemed a little rough. I take pride in my job, helping people, and this company has wonderful offers that most of our customers love. I am a customer and an agent here so I do try and see it from all ends of the spectrum, but we are human and people do make mistakes from time to time. I do not have ticket information or even account information to investigate this further so there is very little I can do from my end without seeing an account to fall back on. TheHardy is right, the return address would be on the original box that the faulty ATA was shipped to you. I could try and get a call tag arranged so we can pick the modem up without you having to pay any fees, but again, I would need account information in order to investigate this further. Let me know if this works for you. Again, I apologize on behalf of Freephoneline for sending you a faulty ATA.

[TheHardy]

I feel like I just read an essay, but I managed to soak in what you guys were conversing about. I was only slightly insulted by the bad customer service comments so I do apologize if it seemed a little rough. I take pride in my job, helping people, and this company has wonderful offers that most of our customers love. I am a customer and an agent here so I do try and see it from all ends of the spectrum, but we are human and people do make mistakes from time to time. I do not have ticket information or even account information to investigate this further so there is very little I can do from my end without seeing an account to fall back on. TheHardy is right, the return address would be on the original box that the faulty ATA was shipped to you. I could try and get a call tag arranged so we can pick the modem up without you having to pay any fees, but again, I would need account information in order to investigate this further. Let me know if this works for you. Again, I apologize on behalf of Freephoneline for sending you a faulty ATA.

Hey Lauren -- we're getting close to wandering a little bit off topic, but I will keep one of my feet inside the line at least! As it relates back to the customer service regarding this issue, I think that it is fair to say that "noun"'s first go-round with FPL CSR where he was directed to call Grandstream and so on is what lead him down the road of discontent, right out of the box, so to speak. I know it is not every day that something is OOB DOA, and that may have played a part in it. I also don't know (nor claim to) the two sides of the conversation that took place -- that would have to come from either "noun" or FPL's CSR that handled it. In any case, the LAST FPL CSR that "noun" dealt with did manage to get the issue 'more or less' resolved insofar as getting ready to get a replacement shipped out. Either it took quite a while, or maybe the ball was dropped between departments, but in any case, "noun" felt that it was taking excessively long and then wanted to take further action.

If this were ME, I too would feel a bit jaded, and perhaps even complain about the level of service from FPL at that point. And I think that is one of the reasons why I have been weighing in on this matter. In some cases, it is almost WORSE to do a half-assed job of customer service than to ignore the problem altogether -- and I say that from a customer point of view -- you feel almost elated that you are getting somewhere, and then you hit yet ANOTHER brick wall and feel even more let down and frustrated than if you had been ignored from the get go! Does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, I hate having an issue of mine IGNORED too, but getting a half-assed answer or resolution tends to inflame the situation even more.

And this is where you stepped in, and of course, where "noun" and I were debating it back and forth. Sorry for the essay approach. Hopefully there is some "take away" on this and it can even be used as a "TEACHING MOMENT". I see a few places where there could be improvement, from a CSR point of view (again, as a third party):
a) better understanding of the situation - DOA hardware right out of the box
b) appropriate resolution once initial trouble shooting confirmed DOA h/w
c) timely resolution and follow through/follow up of the solution

I think that finishes that part. In msgs back and forth with "noun" (because as he rightly stated, nothing will really get DONE in the forum), he decided to proceed by PM'ing Steve with the particulars of this situation. I think, all things being equal, that was the best course of action in this case. I imagine that if he had PM'd you with the particulars, then you would have been able to assist in a more direct manner. As for taking pride in your work, and wanting to defend your co-workers, I see nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Maybe just a little less enthusiastically; I did not see anything that "noun" posted as being a direct attack against anyone associated with FPL, rather he was just giving his grading on the entire situation -- and I think that is fair, and is his right to do so. He is correct (might have been in a PM), but if you DID take exception to his views, doing so in private rather than in the forum would likely have been a better course of action for you to take as well. Now then, I think THIS part of the topic is flogged to death (poor horsey!) -- at least in public. Anything further WRT perceptions should probably be done in email/PM -- you know I will reply if you wish me to!

Now then (and assuming that the PM to Steve also met with a resolution to the shipping issue, albeit thanks for the offer to resolve it!) -- if the returned ATA is proven to be defective, and if the defect proves to be the POWER SUPPLY and/or NOT the ATA, may I be so bold as to suggest that the tech department that configures and tests these have a quick review? It was mentioned that the 'lab' can be noisy, and as I previously opined, if they are simply config'ing the ATA the probably don't even use the supplied power cord, rather just one already 'on the bench'; might need to review a procedure or two if there is room for improvement.

I think that all in all, it will end up as a learning lesson for all involved. Poor "noun" has the headache of it all, but does have a working ATA (not the one from FPL so far) and has a few more hoops and loops to jump through. Hopefully things go well with that. Any improvement on FPL's part is always a good thing, and as I have said before, it is hard to fix something when you don't know it is broken!

End of essay, part VII ...

[FONGO_steve]

This thread has gotten way too far off topic.

If the original poster can please PM lauren to carry on further correspondence on this matter, that would be great. I am locking the public thread now.