Testo 550 Reliability?

[hvaclover]

Until they get the stuff right I wish they give us a better idea of what we are buying and change the name on the tool from Testo to Supco.
Blowing smoke is one thing but that yellow substance coming down don't look or smell like rain.

Owtch!

[hvaclover]

The hell with this digital crap. I'm sticking with my analogs.
damn, if i can't get it right with a good stem thermometer and my sling pyschrometer and 30 in years service I should be put out to stud.

Where my little blue pills?

[itsiceman]

.

[acguytx]

The hell with this digital crap. I'm sticking with my analogs.
damn, if i can't get it right with a good stem thermometer and my sling pyschrometer and 30 in years service I should be put out to stud.

yea i might do that as well, im sick of constantly messing with all the digi tools and hope they are working correctly and accurately from job to job!

update Testo stepped up had my 550s for a few days and decided to send me a brand new pair so only without them two weeks total with shipping. i should get my brand new pair middle to end of next week.. they didnt tell me what happened with them but they are replacing them for free, well $11.95 counting shipping to them :P

[itsiceman]

yea i might do that as well, im sick of constantly messing with all the digi tools and hope they are working correctly and accurately from job to job!

Are you kidding?

I'd buy a bunch of backup 550's before I'd go back to analog if they were my only choice !!!!!

[kiwireeferman]

My 550 has now developed stress cracks on the display window. Perhaps the result of a poor choice of materials for the case.

But, on the plus side my hook hasn't broken and the temperature sensors are still OK.

[Doug at Testo]

My 550 has now developed stress cracks on the display window. Perhaps the result of a poor choice of materials for the case.

But, on the plus side my hook hasn't broken and the temperature sensors are still OK.

We will replace the glass No charge. Need to send it to our service dept.

[Doug at Testo]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Samas, I have the exact same story!

Had an apprentice that was top of his class and went on to the apprentice competition!
Got him some 550s!
had more problems than you can shake a stick at!
While I was returning them there was another guy in there returning his! He was just returning them because the hook!
anyhow!
Jim, you have lost some serious credibility here on htalk with this statement; " The number of problems versus the number of units in the field was and still is insignificant at the product introduction and now. "
We are smarter than that and we have friends!

Well now this takes the cake. Legit complaints are always welcome. And I like to think we try and address them fairly, but everyone has opinions. But to question Jim Bergmann's credibilty? You cannot be serious. All this guy does is fight for you guys from all angles. Product development, best practices, teaching, certification on down the line. You couldn't ask for a better supporter for you and this forum than Jim. You say his statement isn't credible. Based on what? This forum? This is a great forum but lets be real here. It represents the top 2% of the marketplace in the US. Forget world, this is a US forum.
I've read your stuff and you are usually spot on, even if I don't like it. But this is one I couldn't let pass. Jim's been too good a friend to this forum, and you techs, to let you question his credibility. He wouldn't lie to maybe make a few $$. I hope you remember that with the anonymity this forum allows, there are still people on the other end of the wire. And Jim is one guy who puts it all out there to help make this trade a more professional business.
He is fact based.

[Stamas]

Doug,
I hope that is directed at Super and not me. I present issues I've had with my Testo tools and those weren't addressed other than for Jim, who I don't deal with, to say they are rock solid. Which I don't agree with.
You have to deal with the fact that we are for the most part field tech looking for a field tool. While I am still a tech it is more in a supervisory and tech assist role. My Testo tools are not subjected to the day to day of the other techs we have but I still have problems with them, mainly in the durability area. I want the techs to have accurate instruments to diagnose with and looked to you guys to provide them. If they aren't up to that kind of use then we let others know just as we do with other brands of tools that do stand up to field use.
I have a variety of Testo tools so it's not like I am out to get Testo. I am not. I want these tools to be more durable and for them to have better instructions provided. Is that asking too much?

[hvaclover]

Gotta say the nosiest wheel gets oiled first.

Like I said. I don't own a set of digital gauges. I haven't been a fan of digitals

since TIF's brought out the very first set so many years ago. They were a fiasco.

I got tired of the warranty returns, turn in one set get a new one with a different st of problems.

I have been gun shy of digitals ever since.

Supertek is not alone in his concerns. All we have been seeing are post of guys dissatisfied with the products performance (failure).

You mention all that Jim has done for the guys in training and so on.

But TIF did the same thing for guys in our industry also. And those of us who swore by TIF abandon them after the digital gauge fiasco. We lost faith.

I am no statistician by any means, but I understand what they do.
Basically if there is a vocal number in a group who are dissatisfied with a product or service they make them self known to the manufacturer or service provider in no uncertain terms using very strong language.

Conversely there is usually a larger number of people who would quietly give up on the manufacture or service provider after suffering thru too many warranty returns or bad service.

I think that is what Supertek meant...users of the 550 are losing faith.

I trust Mr. Bergman to the fullest. But I am afraid people will give up on Testo, I hope not.

[Doug at Testo]

Gotta say the nosiest wheel gets oiled first.

Like I said. I don't own a set of digital gauges. I haven't been a fan of digitals

since TIF's brought out the very first set so many years ago. They were a fiasco.

I got tired of the warranty returns, turn in one set get a new one with a different st of problems.

I have been gun shy of digitals ever since.

Supertek is not alone in his concerns. All we have been seeing are post of guys dissatisfied with the products performance (failure).

You mention all that Jim has done for the guys in training and so on.

But TIF did the same thing for guys in our industry also. And those of us who swore by TIF abandon them after the digital gauge fiasco. We lost faith.

I am no statistician by any means, but I understand what they do.
Basically if there is a vocal number in a group who are dissatisfied with a product or service they make them self known to the manufacturer or service provider in no uncertain terms using very strong language.

Conversely there is usually a larger number of people who would quietly give up on the manufacture or service provider after suffering thru too many warranty returns or bad service.

I think that is what Supertek meant...users of the 550 are losing faith.

I trust Mr. Bergman to the fullest. But I am afraid people will give up on Testo, I hope not.

And I hear you loud and clear. We strive to make a good quality instrument that performs as designed and expected. If we have a defect, we try our best to make it right. I think you will all agree that should be the goal of anyone in business. I believe your term would be a "Call back", something you all strive to reduce/eliminate but accept as a fact of doing business. And I believe you would review your techs call backs on a percent basis, would you not? Same principle goes in the test instrument business.
My only issue was a personal one. Jim's credibility is above reproach. If you knew the numbers behind this product, I'd wager you would come away with a different view. He wouldn't say it if he didn't believe it. You can take this for what it is worth, but I wrote that not as an employee of testo, but of someone who sees the effort Jim puts in for you guys and knows a bit more of the whole story of the testo 550. While the post was meant with good intent, I felt it was uniformed and unjustified. Testo is building the product and testo is responsible to do it right. Jim was sharing his views and is a bit more informed on this subject. Perhaps too informed for his own good with this blog. Thats all. Make no mistake, I consider Jim a friend. I wouldn't care who signs my check, I still would have wrote this. I know, and based on his body of work over the years you would think you all would know, the man's credibility is above question.

[Doug at Testo]

Doug,
I hope that is directed at Super and not me. I present issues I've had with my Testo tools and those weren't addressed other than for Jim, who I don't deal with, to say they are rock solid. Which I don't agree with.
You have to deal with the fact that we are for the most part field tech looking for a field tool. While I am still a tech it is more in a supervisory and tech assist role. My Testo tools are not subjected to the day to day of the other techs we have but I still have problems with them, mainly in the durability area. I want the techs to have accurate instruments to diagnose with and looked to you guys to provide them. If they aren't up to that kind of use then we let others know just as we do with other brands of tools that do stand up to field use.
I have a variety of Testo tools so it's not like I am out to get Testo. I am not. I want these tools to be more durable and for them to have better instructions provided. Is that asking too much?

Nothing personal to anyone. See my post earlier. Jim's too good a friend to the industry and has worked too dang hard on behalf of the industry to have his credibility questioned. Really, ever read his bio?
And if you knew all about the 550 like he does, you may think differently. Is it perfect? What is? Can we build it better? Sure. Have we made improvements? Of course. Will we stand behind it? Yes.
But to toss Jim's credibilty aside like that after all he's done and without all the facts? Burned my butt is all...
I'm sure everyone on this blog has had issues/problems with products across the whole spectrum of the tool bag. And we would be stupid not to try and make it right.You guys are top percent who care about their craft. Many go home, grab a cold one, and watch tv. If we can make it right with you, the other 98% will follow. Simple stuff. And guess who told me about you guys and how important you were to the industry? Yep, Jim Bergmann.
I'm not sure you guys understand just how much of a friend you have with Jim. And I couldnt sit still on it.

[Stamas]

OK I get it. But do you. Seriously. Do you get my point? Other points? Nothing you have said makes me think you have looked any farther than the comments about your friend.

Get back on target. I like the Testo products. But I have issues with them I would like to see addressed a little more than say, send it back, we'll fix it. You used the comparison of callbacks. I, when they happen, send the tech's, installer, whoever, including me back to fix it. I don't charge them a travel charge.

There are many other tools of the trade that we use that cause us to have our standards for durability. I apologize if I hold your tools to a higher standard than you think I should.

[Doug at Testo]

OK I get it. But do you. Seriously. Do you get my point? Other points? Nothing you have said makes me think you have looked any farther than the comments about your friend.

Get back on target. I like the Testo products. But I have issues with them I would like to see addressed a little more than say, send it back, we'll fix it. You used the comparison of callbacks. I, when they happen, send the tech's, installer, whoever, including me back to fix it. I don't charge them a travel charge.

There are many other tools of the trade that we use that cause us to have our standards for durability. I apologize if I hold your tools to a higher standard than you think I should.

Oh, I hear you loud and clear. And we've been listening all along. As to standards, feel free to hold us to a higher standard. It wouldn't be any higher than the one we hold ourselves to.
As for business decisions, you may not agree with them all and we welcome your feedback. Who knows, we've changed things before.
Gotta listen to learn, right?

[hvaclover]

Doug,
I can assure I am not uninformed. I wish you had PM because there is something i would like to share with you that is not appropriate for open forum.

[Doug at Testo]

Doug,
I can assure I am not uninformed. I wish you had PM because there is something i would like to share with you that is not appropriate for open forum.

I've gto PM. Please feel free or you can call me at testo

[hvaclover]

You have no PM here.
I don't think contacting your place of employment is the right venue for issues arising from discussions here.

[Doug at Testo]

you can email me there. It gets sent to me wherever I am via smartphone.

[kiwireeferman]

We will replace the glass No charge. Need to send it to our service dept.

Thanks for the offer Doug, but as the 550 was purchased on Ebay through Johnstons, sending the thing back from New Zealand is not practical.
I note when I had a problem with my Digicool, Brenda Lockhart just posted the required part to me, (out of warranty) no questions asked.
It's not rocket science to replace to replace the front half of the case.

If the failure rate is as low as you say, from what I read on these forums your company is taking a pretty hard nosed line on failures they consider are not warranty issues.

Pretty obvious to see why Digi-cool and Doug Lockhart have the following they do.

[itsiceman]

And I believe you would review your techs call backs on a percent basis, would you not? Same principle goes in the test instrument business.
My only issue was a personal one. Jim's credibility is above reproach. If you knew the numbers behind this product, I'd wager you would come away with a different view. He wouldn't say it if he didn't believe it.

This may be a problem that hasn't been considered.
For every guy on here complaining how many are just tossing the thing in the shop or back of the garage?
The cheaper these things get the more I believe this is going to happen. You guys hear about the call backs you get and can keep track easily but I know plenty in this line of work that wouldn't even bother picking up the phone and say lesson learned.
This is no good for both ends.
It would be hard to differentiate between a No call back situation or No call back situation.

Just hope it doesn't end up being an American issue as was eluded in another post.
That would probably be harder to smooth over than being insignificant