nighthawkjw
Member
My company president informed me today that AB will no longer provide service/support contracts for any of the software we purchased from them. This news came after the first shock was that my humble employer was willing to shell out the $2500 for 3 years of support on 4 pieces of software. But no, AB, who was doing support contracts for their software up to last year, won't be selling any support anymore.
Why? The company I work for is a 3rd party repair center - we are AB's competition. Now think about it... we paid $6000 for the software, which they were very happy to take our money then. Gradually, they became less and less friendly regarding support for this software. First they were fine with answering questions over the phone, then they wanted us to buy a service/support contract.
I just looked on AB's website to see if they mention this anywhere -- no. I did see that they are "your single source for all of your electrical, electronic, mechanical, and servo product repairs. RepairPlus provides you comprehensive repair ser vices for over 80,000 items from 1500+ manufacturers."
I work for a little shop that repairs a bunch of stuff AB no longer supports. Some of thier PLC stuff is obsolete to the point that AB will only replace it - no repairs. We give new life to the stuff they would trash.
Oh, and they quit selling replacement parts long ago. I know that isn't so unique, but I understand they tried to sue a company for reverse-engineering a part that they would not sell and lost the lawsuit. That is the kind of support my repair industry can expect from AB.
This is kind of like Ford trying to put all 3rd party repair shops out of business so that anyone driving a Ford would have to go to a dealership repair shop. There needs to be a law against it!
So, I am sure someone will come along jumping to AB's defense and try to justify AB's position on this issue. I have said a few harsh things about this company in the past, and have nothing kind to say about them today! I welcome anyone's opinions regarding why AB should continue to squash smaller companies and make people like myself miserable.
My message is to anyone who works for one of those 1500+ manufacturers, subcontracting repairs to AB RepairPlus: Do you provide AB with support? What would happen if you stopped providing AB with support?
My message is also to anyone considering ending or not renewing a support contract with AB -- DO IT!!! You will be so glad that you did! If you are considering sending your repairs to another repair shop instead of AB -- DO IT!!!
NC PLC Tech
Why? The company I work for is a 3rd party repair center - we are AB's competition. Now think about it... we paid $6000 for the software, which they were very happy to take our money then. Gradually, they became less and less friendly regarding support for this software. First they were fine with answering questions over the phone, then they wanted us to buy a service/support contract.
I just looked on AB's website to see if they mention this anywhere -- no. I did see that they are "your single source for all of your electrical, electronic, mechanical, and servo product repairs. RepairPlus provides you comprehensive repair ser vices for over 80,000 items from 1500+ manufacturers."
I work for a little shop that repairs a bunch of stuff AB no longer supports. Some of thier PLC stuff is obsolete to the point that AB will only replace it - no repairs. We give new life to the stuff they would trash.
Oh, and they quit selling replacement parts long ago. I know that isn't so unique, but I understand they tried to sue a company for reverse-engineering a part that they would not sell and lost the lawsuit. That is the kind of support my repair industry can expect from AB.
This is kind of like Ford trying to put all 3rd party repair shops out of business so that anyone driving a Ford would have to go to a dealership repair shop. There needs to be a law against it!
So, I am sure someone will come along jumping to AB's defense and try to justify AB's position on this issue. I have said a few harsh things about this company in the past, and have nothing kind to say about them today! I welcome anyone's opinions regarding why AB should continue to squash smaller companies and make people like myself miserable.
My message is to anyone who works for one of those 1500+ manufacturers, subcontracting repairs to AB RepairPlus: Do you provide AB with support? What would happen if you stopped providing AB with support?
My message is also to anyone considering ending or not renewing a support contract with AB -- DO IT!!! You will be so glad that you did! If you are considering sending your repairs to another repair shop instead of AB -- DO IT!!!
NC PLC Tech