[mythtv-users] apc backup

[Mike Thomas]

On Sun, 20 Mar 2016 21:16:55 -0400
Stephen P Villano <stephen.p.villano at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> On 3/20/2016 9:10 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> > On Sun, Mar 20, 2016 at 11:03 PM, Mike Thomas <mt3 at pfw.demon.co.uk>
> > wrote: .....
> >> Like you I bought APC UPSes for home/office use. APC are a toy
> >> manufacturer. Nobody relies upon them for anything but home use,
> >> or at least I hope they don't. You get what you pay for.
> > I will point out that APC has many different lines of UPS,
> > from those targeted at the "cheap" customer that goes
> > for whatever is lowest cost at the local consumer
> > electronics store, to systems capable of supporting
> > a significant (small) data center load.  That is not unique
> > to APC (as you note).  It is not surprising that those
> > that purchase cheap get cheap, and should expect
> > the equipment (and the users who purchase them)
> > to be considered disposable.
> >
> > As with all else, even the best manufacturer has
> > had specific variants of their devices that are both
> > well below, and well above, the "average" for that
> > product line, and the environment you are running
> > it in always matters.  When one wants to actually
> > provide useful guidance to someone else, one must
> > specify the exact model one purchased, and what
> > environment one is running it in.  This is true if
> > the device is a disk drive (believe it or not, not all
> > deskstars are deathstars), or a UPS (a BackUPS
> > running at 95% of rated load and always needing
> > to buck/boost line voltage in a 35C closet is far
> > different than a SmartUPS running at 5% of rated
> > load with no need to adjust the line voltage in a
> > 20C basement).
> >
> Or even an APC Symmetra, which is a far cry from a BackUPS unit. The
> old adage is a truism, you get what you pay for.

Dear Mr. Burhmaster,

I thought my message would stir up a bit of fun.

The precise model number involved in that telephone call is not material
but for the record it is SU1400RM12U. My point is that APC annulled
their reputation at a stroke. Had they not instructed their staff to
start by brushing off all enquiries by blaming the customer they might
have seen a genuine fault. We have all come across this attitude in
"technical support" departments. It smacks of a company that doesn't
give a shit about its customers. Well guess what? I don't give a shit
about them. At best they are second-hand car salesmen.

What I didn't report was what happened next: they had the brass neck to
try to sell me another one of their units. Do they really think their
customers are that stupid? They just told me that it would break if I
took it out of the box and then they wanted me to spend another six
hundred or so pounds. Where did they think I would put it? On the
mantelpiece? You might like to know their slogan is "Legendary
Reliability". A legend is something which isn't true.

I have a few other APC products including an SU1000INET and a large
Matrix 5000 stack. Some have been binned and some are unused.
Understandably I have not bought anything from APC since, although I
have been given two units. When they go wrong I just accept that it's a
pile of crap and I seek to replace them with a decent model from a
reputable manufacturer. Having said that, once the batteries are
removed from the "cooker" they are perfectly satisfactory for
non-critical use. I put one in the back of my car as a portable
"generator".

Ho, ho, ho.

Mike.