Friday, August 25, 2006
The Blue Funk is GONE!
It came;
now, gone.
Yellow light streams into this void
objects materialize for others to judge
I move on.
How -- and why -- is mystery
...and will most likely remain so.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Not Too "Up" on CI at the Moment...
Our new Clay Boss came out of the box with a flutter. Wheel sits there fluttering and jerking, even when the pedal is at minimum. I've only heard good things about Creative Industries, so I didn't worry about it. I gave them a call.
Spoke with a helpful soul who told me about something to try. If that didn't fix it, he said, CI would send out a new controller and pedal that I could swap out and return the faulty one.
I tried his suggestion. Had to remove the cover plate and check a PC board pot for proper setting. Fair enough. Clearly, he was trying for a fix in the least amount of time and bother which would have benefitted both of us.
Unfortunately, nothing changed. A few days later, when I had time, I called back and spoke to the same person. He asked for my address and promised to have Shipping get a replacement out to me right away. That was, maybe, two weeks ago. A few days after that call I received a hand-addressed envelope from CI containing a UPS return label and nothing else. No explanation. Nothing.
Yesterday, I was about to call them to ask where my controller is when they called me. This time it was a different person who wanted to know when I was going to send them the defective controller. She said, "We'll get a replacement back to you after we receive the one you have."
This was completely at odds with what I had been told earlier, AND it meant we couldn't use the wheel for days while this whole thing worked its way back and forth between the Southeast and California where CI is located -- via UPS Ground. I protested.
"Well..." she said, or something to that effect, "We've had some trouble with people not getting parts right back to us, so we want you to send ours in first. Besides," she continued, "this is the second time we've had to replace something on your wheel, and we just need to get it back..."
At this point I was becoming a little annoyed. "In the first place, it's a new wheel." I explained. "You have never replaced anything on it."
"Oh." she said. "We haven't?..."
"No. And not only is this completely different from what I was promised earlier, it also means now we are shut down until you get around to sending the controller to us!"
"Are you a teacher, or something?" she actually asked me.
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a POTTER!"
She eventually capitulated and agreed to do as they had promised. They would send the replacement controller out first, "But try to send the other controller right back to us as soon as possible..." she admonished.
That was yesterday. We'll see how this turns out. Again, I have never heard a negative about CI, but as it turns out it is my six hundred bucks at stake here -- not theirs -- and it is my potter's wheel which has never worked properly -- and which is under their warranty -- that they want to shut down for their convenience -- certainly not mine.
Admittedly, I am annoyed at Creative Industries now, but I have no ax to grind with them whatsoever, as long as I get what I paid for. At this point, what hangs in my craw include: 1) promising one thing then renigging; 2) sending out the return label with absolutely no communication that they were changing the deal, which cost me more wheel time; 3) suggesting that if I were a teacher, then maybe they'd apply a different set of warranty rules than if I am just another Joe Blow customer; 4) shipping a faulty product in the first place. It's not as if it is difficult to find the problem. Plug it in, turn it on and the wheel starts jerking. If they had done a modicum of quality control before shipping the wheel, they would have noticed the problem.
What really worries me is this: What if they did plug it in, turn it on and notice the problem; and then ship it anyway, counting on the customer to be too boneheaded to know the difference or think anything could be done to fix it? Now, that's disturbing...
Spoke with a helpful soul who told me about something to try. If that didn't fix it, he said, CI would send out a new controller and pedal that I could swap out and return the faulty one.
I tried his suggestion. Had to remove the cover plate and check a PC board pot for proper setting. Fair enough. Clearly, he was trying for a fix in the least amount of time and bother which would have benefitted both of us.
Unfortunately, nothing changed. A few days later, when I had time, I called back and spoke to the same person. He asked for my address and promised to have Shipping get a replacement out to me right away. That was, maybe, two weeks ago. A few days after that call I received a hand-addressed envelope from CI containing a UPS return label and nothing else. No explanation. Nothing.
Yesterday, I was about to call them to ask where my controller is when they called me. This time it was a different person who wanted to know when I was going to send them the defective controller. She said, "We'll get a replacement back to you after we receive the one you have."
This was completely at odds with what I had been told earlier, AND it meant we couldn't use the wheel for days while this whole thing worked its way back and forth between the Southeast and California where CI is located -- via UPS Ground. I protested.
"Well..." she said, or something to that effect, "We've had some trouble with people not getting parts right back to us, so we want you to send ours in first. Besides," she continued, "this is the second time we've had to replace something on your wheel, and we just need to get it back..."
At this point I was becoming a little annoyed. "In the first place, it's a new wheel." I explained. "You have never replaced anything on it."
"Oh." she said. "We haven't?..."
"No. And not only is this completely different from what I was promised earlier, it also means now we are shut down until you get around to sending the controller to us!"
"Are you a teacher, or something?" she actually asked me.
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a POTTER!"
She eventually capitulated and agreed to do as they had promised. They would send the replacement controller out first, "But try to send the other controller right back to us as soon as possible..." she admonished.
That was yesterday. We'll see how this turns out. Again, I have never heard a negative about CI, but as it turns out it is my six hundred bucks at stake here -- not theirs -- and it is my potter's wheel which has never worked properly -- and which is under their warranty -- that they want to shut down for their convenience -- certainly not mine.
Admittedly, I am annoyed at Creative Industries now, but I have no ax to grind with them whatsoever, as long as I get what I paid for. At this point, what hangs in my craw include: 1) promising one thing then renigging; 2) sending out the return label with absolutely no communication that they were changing the deal, which cost me more wheel time; 3) suggesting that if I were a teacher, then maybe they'd apply a different set of warranty rules than if I am just another Joe Blow customer; 4) shipping a faulty product in the first place. It's not as if it is difficult to find the problem. Plug it in, turn it on and the wheel starts jerking. If they had done a modicum of quality control before shipping the wheel, they would have noticed the problem.
What really worries me is this: What if they did plug it in, turn it on and notice the problem; and then ship it anyway, counting on the customer to be too boneheaded to know the difference or think anything could be done to fix it? Now, that's disturbing...
Friday, August 18, 2006
Blue Funk
The blue funk has choked off all progress. That's why I'm writing about it instead of doing it...
The new piece is a departure from my usual. Some parts: exciting... well, interesting, at least. Inside I wonder if it's superficial.
Went to bed last night eager to get back to it. Now I'm stuck somewhere between average and mediocre. Embarassing. Everything seems bland and amateurish. The more I try, the more "lowest common denominator" I become.
Now I am the dullard at the cocktail party. Hey, wanna hear about my cruise?...
The new piece is a departure from my usual. Some parts: exciting... well, interesting, at least. Inside I wonder if it's superficial.
Went to bed last night eager to get back to it. Now I'm stuck somewhere between average and mediocre. Embarassing. Everything seems bland and amateurish. The more I try, the more "lowest common denominator" I become.
Now I am the dullard at the cocktail party. Hey, wanna hear about my cruise?...
New Wheel
My wife and I gave each other a potter's wheel for our birthdays this year. I was reluctant at first, having a concern that I might like it so much it might detract from my hand building. I am easily led.
The wheel is a Creative Industries ClayBoss. Out of the box, it had a slight flutter that would not go away -- even with the foot pedal at the minimum position. CI seems eager to correct it. First, they asked me to check the position of a potentiometer on the PC board. It was as it should be, so they are sending a replacement controller. In the interim, the wheel is useable -- just annoying.
We managed to hook up with a graduating senior ceramics major from the local college. She visited our studio and taught us the basics of centering and throwing cylinders. We have a long way to go, but at least we're now underway.
I don't see this as interfering with my hand building so much -- at least, not yet. We'll see.
The wheel is a Creative Industries ClayBoss. Out of the box, it had a slight flutter that would not go away -- even with the foot pedal at the minimum position. CI seems eager to correct it. First, they asked me to check the position of a potentiometer on the PC board. It was as it should be, so they are sending a replacement controller. In the interim, the wheel is useable -- just annoying.
We managed to hook up with a graduating senior ceramics major from the local college. She visited our studio and taught us the basics of centering and throwing cylinders. We have a long way to go, but at least we're now underway.
I don't see this as interfering with my hand building so much -- at least, not yet. We'll see.
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