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Crumbtrail TV Forums: TV Equipment: Big Screen TV:
are we doomed ?

 
 


vcrdr12
New User

Mar 12, 2006, 3:24 AM

Post #1 of 7 (4095 views)
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are we doomed ? Can't Post
As service techs we have to take a look at our futures.

Parts unavailable after a 2 yr production run with only nte part's

and other generic junk if we are lucky.

The service industry has gone from they need us /to paying for schematics and part's only to possibly be re-paid if we slash all the t's and dot all the i's.

Then there's the customer base ,

Are we to work for free ? i fixed a 35 in zenith struck by a surge i had to re-build the bridge and hot circuit gave the cust a est of 90 bucks he had the nerve to say he could replace the set for said repairShocked

I had to ask him where he shopped as i would shop there myselfSly



I appreciate the value of a site like this but i ponder what possible

danger we put these (home hobbys't) in giving them just enough info

to either get the heck shocked out of them or worse yet get hospitalized.

Well that's my vent i await tech's reply



TV Pro
New User

Mar 12, 2006, 6:13 AM

Post #2 of 7 (4088 views)
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Re: [vcrdr12] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
I hope it will not bother you my answer but i has been a TV tech for more years that i want & in fact the tv repair industry is going dificult but I solve those problems with a good atitude in front of the customer, i gave my Estimate in advance & i make them sign before i do any rapair if they do not agree (& some times i try to discorage them to denny) I just check hands & go to the next.

what good does it do to me, when in the top of my expenses on the trip I get upset?

Good luck & be happyWink


shadetree
Veteran

Mar 30, 2008, 2:02 AM

Post #3 of 7 (3636 views)
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Re: [TV Pro] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
I give them a estimate
then they say ok and never pick it up no way to stay in business


techchris
Veteran

Mar 30, 2008, 12:44 PM

Post #4 of 7 (3629 views)
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Re: [vcrdr12] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
Just hang on till the Chinese have made enough money t o buy all the weapons they need and then decide to cut off the western worlds supply of electricals,toys, clothes,etc etc and people will be queuing at your door to get things repaired. By that time I will be retired to Hawaii or Spain so I wont care!! in the meantime take cash deposits off everyone before you estimate or repair anything.that way you wont get stung.BTW you can make three times as much money painting and decorating peoples houses which is what I do now and have no grief or hassle anymore


MOtvGuy
User

Apr 9, 2008, 11:10 AM

Post #5 of 7 (3360 views)
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Re: [vcrdr12] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
As service techs we have to take a look at our futures.

Parts unavailable after a 2 yr production run with only nte part's

and other generic junk if we are lucky.

The service industry has gone from they need us /to paying for schematics and part's only to possibly be re-paid if we slash all the t's and dot all the i's.

Then there's the customer base ,

Are we to work for free ? i fixed a 35 in zenith struck by a surge i had to re-build the bridge and hot circuit gave the cust a est of 90 bucks he had the nerve to say he could replace the set for said repairShocked

I had to ask him where he shopped as i would shop there myselfSly



I appreciate the value of a site like this but i ponder what possible

danger we put these (home hobbys't) in giving them just enough info

to either get the heck shocked out of them or worse yet get hospitalized.

Well that's my vent i await tech's reply
I can tell you haven't been in this business that long.

This field has been dying since the late 80's and into the 90's. When I got into this business over 30 years ago there were 12 pages of TV repair shops in the Yellow pages. Now there's barely 1/2 page.

The business went from consumers purchasing the 2nd or third most expensive thing they could buy (house first, then a car, then the TV) to a throw away, disposable based industry.

Wages for techs stagnated in the 90's. Lots of guys got out of it and moved onto other fields. The training grounds for young techs, the small shops, went belly up because they were unable to turn a profit fixing $150 27" color TV's. The large shops run by the likes of Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City lose money by the handfuls. Their only purpose is to act as a selling point for the retail side.
When I got into this business, Service paid all the bills, selling TV's was the cream (pure profit) and set you up for service after the sale down the road.

Now that the industry has changed again and they're selling TV's that cost in the thousands, they need skilled techs again.
Guess what? They're not around anymore. Guys like myself are a dying breed. Many of the small shops these days are being run by incompetants who are into this now for the fast buck they know they can make on these multi-thousand dollar TV sets. I hear the horror stories all the time.

I also wouldn't worry too much about the help offered on sites like this. First, most of these people are asking assistance here because they're already balking at a trip charge for a service person to come to their home and diagnose their TV to begin with. If they want to risk their life and limb to save themselves $100-200, then so be it.


(This post was edited by MOtvGuy on Apr 9, 2008, 11:11 AM)


denonjapan
Veteran

Aug 21, 2008, 12:33 PM

Post #6 of 7 (3250 views)
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Re: [vcrdr12] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
VCRDR12>I think NONE of them answers your questions simply bec. None of them exempt themeselves in the basic of true technician> ETHICS. That's entirely up to someone like you if giving a FREE LABOR to anyone is simply your pleasure at times. However, NO One can take away that from you.
YOu said "I appreciate the value of a site like this but i ponder what possible danger we put these (home hobbys't) in giving them just enough info to either get the heck shocked out of them or worse yet get hospitalized".......Think! and if you do so, Remember to exercise and minimize the info you give.

I would like to extend this and not missed the first part of your concern being a service techs awareness as far as your future holds. That's not quite true! Parts are stated unavailable normally switched at another nos. only after 10 years. So pay attention, it's same old parts with different part numbers. Atleast that's how it works in japanese components. Generics however tends to supply the original oems in big way by saving costumers.

denonjapan
made in japan


Chrisry696
New User

Oct 15, 2008, 1:01 AM

Post #7 of 7 (3162 views)
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Re: [vcrdr12] are we doomed ? [In reply to] Can't Post
Yes, I think we are doomed!!!!! Like the other posts, I too been here for 25 years and see the disposable world as well. Small shops are doomed. Only way to make it is to do warranty work from NEW or wait to see if plasma's go by the wayside. Plasma's are not economically feasible to repair. Plus the REAL problem is the manufacturers. Some charge $89.00 for a DLP lamp while other charge $489.00!!! Same thing with light engines and various other things. Then I just love how we can't get a simple transformer for an inverter board. We have to buy the whole board, and to top it off, Some companies say You have to buy the display AND inverter board together as an assembly!!!! WE ARE DOOMED !!!!! Nothing is in balance.
To answer your question about giving advise: If they are that stupid to think they can fix a sophisticated piece of electronic eqiuptment, knowing damm well it holds a lethal charge for days, then screw them. They deserve exactly what they get!!! Sorry to be so [ use your own adj.] thinking, but here is why. We as techs, I mean the GOOD techs, took YEARS to master our craft. And we still are learning constantly,everyday. We spend more time on the computer looking up parts and where to get them than fixing the set sometimes. If you work on all brands like me, then you know that I have to learn how that circuit works, fix it, then I may never see it again. Look at the amount of training we do/need to just make enough money to survive. I know a doctor just goes in and makes a couple of slices with a scaple, then makes a couple of stiches and charges $80,000. Heck, I can dress a deer and I can sew my socks, I'm sure I could do an operation, can't be that HARD!!!!! That's how some people think, and that's why I say screw-em. I'll help a guy who knows what he's talking about. But some don't even know how to use a meter. I'm sure you guy's know what I mean. BTW, $90.00 to fix a 35" Zenith is WAY too cheap! I charge $80.00 just to look at it. Haven't had anyone complain since I raised it from $30.00 last year. Weeds out the jerks. Sounded like that Zenith guy wouldn't pay $9.00 to fix it. These are the cust/people who deserve what they get. Just venting......I'm done nowMad

 
 
 


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