Looknsee Photography wrote:
Well, it is soon after a long weekend.

Many modern companies economize by reducing / eliminating full-time support staff.  Nowadays, many use e-mail support and/or community support forums.  See if you can find these.

That is understood, but I been trying to reach them actually for a little over a week...and several times.  Never had a trouble reaching them before.  Secondly, they seem to have change there number  and location..... interesting!

Jake

AJ_In_Atlanta wrote:
I still have some originals, never needed support - what happened?

Just had some questions about the last firmware upgrade and firing remote camera's from the main camera.  Can't seem to get in touch with anyone, this never happen before.  They were always good about picking up!  This is not a good sign!

Jake

American Glamour wrote:
Minolta sold Pocket Wizard a while back when they spun off their photo business.  My experience is that the new company is more difficult to deal with than the old company.  Tech support is harder to reach.  They have also become much less liberal about their repair and warranty policies.

That having been said, I have never had any real problems with them.  Now that I understand their policies, I am still quite happy to deal with them.

I like you, love the products...No doubt!  But as of late, they just can't seem to be reached and that is also including sales! I don't think I will be making any additional purchases anytime soon, until someone pick up either sales or support.  As of right now, no one is!

Jake

Steinberg Photo wrote:
I'll presume your calling the Burlington, VT number. One wonders if they might have taken time off during the holiday? If they had, it would have been nice if they changed the VM message. Know anyone that lives in Burlington? Maybe they could knock on the door for you.

Your kind of questions might get answered by a local retail camera store that sell PW's, if you still have one of those in your area.  If not, Perhaps a local camera club, Meetup.com photography group or an on line photography discussion forum could help.

Thanks for your help and suggestions, one of my questions is for firing from a remote camera setup.  Using multiple camera's and also a couple question about the last firmware upgrade.  The closest store/dealer is about 1 1/2 hours and they don't offer that kind of support.

You are right, I do wish I knew someone in that area, to ask to go knock on the door...lol.  But also it do look like the numbers have change from the last time I talk to there tech support.  Seems like somethings up....but what???

Jake

AVD AlphaDuctions wrote:
instead of waiting for a reply to voice mail have you tried e-mailing them ?
or using the contact form on their web page?
http://www.pocketwizard.com/contact/inquiry/

I never get call backs from my hydro utility so I just e-mail them and eventually I get an answer back.  its usually the wrong answer but at least I get an answer. and my utility is probably 1,000 times bigger than this company.

Actually, Pocket Wizard had always be very good a picking up, we have a lot invested in the TT5's, TT1's and AC 3's.  And yes, we have tried emailing and calling other numbers as well.

Jake

photoimager wrote:
OP, the thing that has puzzled me most with this thread is your reluctance to actually use this forum in the useful way that it can be used. You have not really shared with us the issues you have been having so PW users, like myself, have not been able to try to help solve your problem. When I first used a remote camera release it took me a while to realise that I really needed to swap AF activation from AF-On ( back button ) back to the shutter release.

I am sorry if you misunderstood, all I wanted to know if anyone else other than myself have had any difficulty reaching pocket wizard, I well understood my issue and needed to speak with pocket wizard.

But thanks for ringing in!

Jake

Vision Images by Jake wrote:

I am sorry if you misunderstood, all I wanted to know if anyone else other than myself have had any difficulty reaching pocket wizard, I well understood my issue and needed to speak with pocket wizard.

But thanks for ringing in!

Jake

Glad your issue was finally resolved, but I have to agree with the other posters that your problem seemed linked to your reluctance to use other forms of contact (email, forms) to make the initial inquiry. You could have left your phone number for them to call back, or asked for a direct number to someone in support of your questions. Many companies are cutting back on support dealing with phone questions that are easily answered in text/FAQ. They wish to sort the unique problems from the common ones. Saves a ton of money, and for PW customers, that is a good thing.

As I read this thread, I also was wondering if you considered the changes in time zones between California and Vermont. If you called in the afternoon, they might have already gone home for the day.

photo212grapher wrote:

Glad your issue was finally resolved, but I have to agree with the other posters that your problem seemed linked to your reluctance to use other forms of contact (email, forms) to make the initial inquiry. You could have left your phone number for them to call back, or asked for a direct number to someone in support of your questions. Many companies are cutting back on support dealing with phone questions that are easily answered in text/FAQ. They wish to sort the unique problems from the common ones. Saves a ton of money, and for PW customers, that is a good thing.

As I read this thread, I also was wondering if you considered the changes in time zones between California and Vermont. If you called in the afternoon, they might have already gone home for the day.

Again, I say the say thing.  Sorry if you as well miss understood, I said I left voicemsg's with my phone numbers, cell & business and when they finally responded back, it was indeed to a email that I had sent, which was a slow response as well.  But in that email, I got the info I needed.The only thing I did not go into detail was my detail reason why I needed to speak with them.

All I really ask, was is anyone else have any difficulty contacting pocket wizard these days!  If you read this thread like you said, you did not completely read my response.  But to you as well, thanks for ringing in!

Jake

Brooklyn Bridge Images wrote:
PW has been dropped by MAC group and fired half their staff
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/20 … istributor

Looks like they are in big trouble
I dont see them making it in today’s cheap Chinese flooded market

PW does not deserve to be in the business.  They were lucky and provided a good overpriced product, becasue they were in the right place at the right time.  While PW were enjoying their success, they sat on their butt for years without any new products and improvement.  They were so out of touch thinking that the Chinese would never be able to make the quality products.  Not until many mature quality products came into the market, they tried to catch up.  Ir was too little too late. 

As now they are totally replaceable with better price, better quality and innovation products from oversea.    Oh yeah, the new comers are made in China.  PW have no one to blame except themselves.  When communist turns to capitalist, watch out, because they are hungry.

I love capitalism. 

Robb Mann wrote:
So many strobe makers are now incorporating a multifunction RF remote into their system that the available market share for a dedicated third-party trigger makers is most certainly shrinking. Then when sell at a premium price that's well above your competition...

I'm still amazed by what $280 bought me in Yongbuno flashes. Three 560 III speedlights, one master 560 commander that controls power and zoom for 8 channels, and a backup trigger/2 transceiver set that also has a remote camera trigger. All for the price of a single pocket wizard.

Yep all the above is something to consider,  I realize something did not look good when I was trying to reach them, never took  so long before.   It do make me somewhat nervous, I have a pretty decent investment into pocket wizards, but it is ..... what it is!!!

JGC Photography wrote:
They are in trouble because Phottix is a cohesive slightly higher quality and much lower priced product...And the Mac group picked up Phottix...I think I hear the death march

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the MAC group? - Is this the MAC group that you got when telephoning  Profoto support?

J O H N  A L L A N wrote:
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the MAC group? - Is this the MAC group that you got when telephoning  Profoto support?

PocketWizard was developed and Designed by LPA Design of South Burlington, VT

USA Sales and support used to be handled by Mamiya America Corporation, now known as the MAC Group.  The MAC Group web site no longer lists PocketWizard as a brand they represent.

The PocketWizard web site now refers USA PocketWizard customers directly to LPA Design for service.

It appears that PocketWizard and MAC Group only recently parted company.  As of this writing, there are still references to MAC Group on the PocektWizard web site.  For instance on the Where to Buy -> Students page, it currently says: "This educator/student program is managed by PocketWizard's US Distributor, MAC Group and is for US photo educators and students only."



EDIT:   Yes, The MAC Group used to handle Profoto support in the US.

Robb Mann wrote:
I'm still amazed by what $280 bought me in Yongbuno flashes. Three 560 III speedlights, one master 560 commander that controls power and zoom for 8 channels, and a backup trigger/2 transceiver set that also has a remote camera trigger. All for the price of a single pocket wizard.

I just bought two more 560 IV speedlights and with the commander, they work just awesome. VERY powerful, easy to use, durable, and respond quickly. For my Paul C Buff lights, I use a Cyber Commander and it too works magnificently at a fraction of the price of  PW. I just don't seem to understand their pricing. I'm sure there are some very advanced features in there but for someone who just needs to remotely adjust their lights and make them go FLASH, I can't justify the price on those at all.

Shot By Adam wrote:
I just bought two more 560 IV speedlights and with the commander, they work just awesome. VERY powerful, easy to use, durable, and respond quickly. For my Paul C Buff lights, I use a Cyber Commander and it too works magnificently at a fraction of the price of  PW. I just don't seem to understand their pricing. I'm sure there are some very advanced features in there but for someone who just needs to remotely adjust their lights and make them go FLASH, I can't justify the price on those at all.

They're overpriced no question - but it comes down to reliability primarily I think.
I'm assuming (based on their overpriced retail), that one of their big mistakes was that they charged excessive licensing fees for companies that were incorporating pocket wizard functionality into their products (like Profoto packs for instance). So companies stopped and went else where for their embedded technology licenses (or developed it in-house).

The result is that they lose their cache as "the standard".

J O H N  A L L A N wrote:

They're overpriced no question - but it comes down to reliability primarily I think.
I'm assuming (based on their overpriced retail), that one of their big mistakes was that they charged excessive licensing fees for companies that were incorporating pocket wizard functionality into their products (like Profoto packs for instance). So companies stopped and went else where for their embedded technology licenses (or developed it in-house).

The result is that they lose their cache as "the standard".

Although, they were the industry standard, I wouldn't call them "reliable".  For the older models, if you forgot to turn them off after a shoot they tended to die.  If they were out of warranty it was an expensive repair.

They fixed this in later models by adding an auto-shutoff feature.



For something that was an "industry standard", only four channels was an inconvenient choice.  If there were other photographers shooting nearby, it was a pain coordinating channels.

J O H N  A L L A N wrote:

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the MAC group? - Is this the MAC group that you got when telephoning  Profoto support?

The Mac group is the largest photography wholesale distributor.