WINEGARD Antenna Problem / Complaint

Richard_999 wrote:
I just received a Private Message from Winegard .
They asked me to email yet ANOTHER person in their company.

I declined !

I bought a KING CONTROLS head a few hours ago, and will never buy a Winegard ANYTHING again.

Thanks to all who made efforts to address my issue....

Richard

Richard,

I think that you made the right decision. Like Kenny Rogers says in the "Gambler" - "you gotta a know when to hold tghem, know when to fold them ..."

Now you can move on with your life rather than waste time behind a solution that seems - for some reason - elusive because the company can't gets its ducks in a row when it comes to effective customer support. Whether or not the Winegard is a superior product to the Jack is beside the point if you are not satisfied with your TV.

Good luck on the installation and enjoy watching your TV.

Winegard1 / La Mar - I appreciate your response to the customer on this public forum. Not many manufacturers would have the cojones to do that.

But you can see the frustration in Richard_999's response, and right now I agree with his viewpoint. Emails back and forth are NOT a good substitute for good customer service delivery, especially when it is clear from the first one or two emails that the situation is going south fast.

I am in a similar cesspool of frustration with my stove manufacturer who (according to the dealer) is sending one cr*p part after another to fix my oven but after 8 months it is still not fixed, and now the solution from the tech is to get a new stove. Point is between talking to the advisor and not at all to the manufacturer AND not getting anywhere, it almost seems that I should fire the stove manufacturer and get a different one. Only problem is the stove costs a lot more than the Jack replacement head.

Good luck in winning back your customer.

Not everyone gets it right every time. Winegard may not have gotten it right here but it appears they really would like to. The OP appears to be done so there is likely nothing much more that Winegard can do. I have to say that it is refreshing to see that they saw a problem, joined this forum (Winegard1 is a new member) and made an effort to directly address their customers issue. You might see it as public relations but they are big enough that they could have let it go and done no harm to their bottom line. Instead, they jumped in, willing to take the expected abuse, and tried to help. The Batwing has been shown to outperform the Jack on the VHF channels and if VHF is what you need, King Dome should have been quick to tell the OP that the Jack does not have the necessary elements to receive 2-6 properly and 7 is likely to be very weak.

You really expect Winegard to give you support for a 20 year old product?
It's old Replace it !!!!!!!

Thanks to all who responded, and while it sounds like some have had happy experiences with Winegard, others have responded to me that they have NOT !

I put the KING CONTROLS 'Jack' head on this morning, and my channels went from 30 to a whopping .... 57 !

Charlotte is 85-90 miles away from me, and I get a bunch of their stations with PERFECT clarity... same with Columbia SC , which is 90 miles away.

And that is with the antenna pointing NORTH ( Charlotte is West ... and Columbia is South ! The JACK is less critical on direction and seems to live up to that concept .

Richard

OH YES ... channels 7.1 and 7.2 were there also !

Richard

Richard_999 wrote:
OH YES ... channels 7.1 and 7.2 were there also !

Richard

I love it when people come back and follow up thereby closing the loop. Thanks Richard for doing just that.

Were 7.1 and 7.2 weak?

Bill.Satellite - what say you to his getting the much-discussed channel 7? Just wondering ... with so many channels out there who cares if 7 is missing (especially while camping) - but I know that is not really the point. ;)

I will be using my RV soon and will be also looking for this channel 7 wherever I go.

Richard_999 wrote:
Thanks to all who responded, and while it sounds like some have had happy experiences with Winegard, others have responded to me that they have NOT !

I put the KING CONTROLS 'Jack' head on this morning, and my channels went from 30 to a whopping .... 57 !

Charlotte is 85-90 miles away from me, and I get a bunch of their stations with PERFECT clarity... same with Columbia SC , which is 90 miles away.

And that is with the antenna pointing NORTH ( Charlotte is West ... and Columbia is South ! The JACK is less critical on direction and seems to live up to that concept .

Richard

So now, antenna technicalities and theory aside, and appreciating that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, that surely sounds like a good testimonial to me. Not only does the thing work but it pulls in more channels than before, all with the same equipment from the top of the mast down, and I presume in the same location - i.e. a real side-by-side test. You can't argue with results.

Glad to hear that it works for you.

Argument#1

Wouldn't the proof in the pudding would be comparing to new Winegard product and not a 20 year old unknown mystery cup???

Yama ...That is certainly a very good test, but the REAL issue here is the lack of customer support from Winegard ...at least from MY viewpoint.

I just cranked the new antenna DOWN against the roof, and facing EAST, and all of the channels were still there. I have had enough motorhomes, with Winegard antennas, to know that in a down position, and facing East ... you are NOT going to get the towers from North - South or West with any real clarity, and I replaced the Winegard head on my last motorhome.. last year .. with a new one and it NEVER worked well when down.

You will have to make up your own mind on this subject, but MINE is made up with the facts as seen by my own efforts.... and they are ...

Winegard's customer service is NOT acceptable to ME ...
email customer service is NEVER acceptable to ME ...
The King Controls unit seems FAR better to ME.

WMOSES has outlined his own cust. service issues with other companies as well.
Face it .... most companies have lousy cust. service and seldom give answers that solve the problem at hand.

Richard