HELP! RED...get me out of the Dog House

[Jeffrey Hamlin]

So...I officially became "persona non grata" at my workplace today. Did I make a pass at the bosses wife or throw eggs on his car. NO. I placed an order for the RED. (Crickets chirping followed by the bosses face turning red and purple.)

I am the faculty in charge of re-designing our colleges digital cinema program. I am relatively young and do not have a historic tie to the "business of old." You know... ordering all of our gear from "traditional vendors" that mark up the cost by 20%. NO, I went out on a limb and tried to invigorate the digital cinema program with a camera that can shoot 4K and actually has the kids excited. I did my research and bored you guys to tears with a plethora of questions. I have no doubt that I made the right decision. I also purchased a bunch of HVX 200's (but lets stick to the RED for now.)

Ok, so I went out on a limb. I have the college "powers that be" shaking in their dark suits. Now I need RED's help. Please, please, please do not hang your supporters/customers out to dry. While I dig the "non traditional" approach to your camera design and overall mindset...please realize that some of us actually work with dark and disturbed "suits" that don't get it. They are used to dealing with other dark and disturbed "suits." They expect to make a phone call and get someone at the other end. They expect a full customer service dept to handle their dark suited questions.

My experience in communicating with RED has not been the best thus far. It is almost as if they are relying on this site as a substitute for staffing their business with competent service personal. Again, in the world I live in...the dark and disturbed "suits" need to be able to speak to a LIVE person between the hours of 8-5. When they can't do that...I get run up the flag pole.

I have contacted RED via email several times. On every occasion it has taken more a day for a response. It two occasions, I have not received a reply. If I were trying to get in touch with an old girlfriend it would not matter. Business on the other hand matters.

Ok, I think you get the point. RED - please find a way to better communicate with those that are contacting you. Find a way to appease those of us in the institutional madness that is "higher ed." When the "suits" are finally gone from this earth, we can all play hackey sack and smoke clove cigarettes. Until then, find a way to play it just a little bit straighter and communicate, communicate, communicate.

Thanks for your help.

(ps. - if you never hear from me again you know that the "suits" have read this thread and have done away with me.)

[Stuart English]

in the world I live in...the dark and disturbed "suits" need to be able to speak to a LIVE person between the hours of 8-5. When they can't do that...I get run up the flag pole. Find a way to appease those of us in the institutional madness that is "higher ed." When the "suits" are finally gone from this earth, we can all play hackey sack and smoke clove cigarettes. Until then, find a way to play it just a little bit straighter and communicate, communicate, communicate.

Thanks for your help

You can send the dark suits my way Jeffrey... meanwhile the RED Bomb Squad are here to help you....

[Zakaree Sandberg]

One thing you have to understand...
Sony and panasonic have THOUSANDS of employees... HUNDREDS that are there to answer questions all day long..
RED on the other hand has maybe 60 employees now...
10-15 of which are there to help customers out. There are Thousands of people asking questions and the squad can only get back so fast.
Give it some time. all your questions will be answered.:)

sorry to head about the bigwigs breathing fire over your wise decision...

[Mark B.]

Why doesn't Red hire more people to handle the customers then? It makes no sense to take pride in under-staffing a customer service center. I don't want companies to tell me they're working hard, I want them to tell me that they're fixing the problem of overworked employees by the simple solution of adding more manpower.

I have had some questionable turnaround times when it comes to email communication (normally several days, occasionally taking over a week). The shipping/tracking support center especially needs more people, as I've had several days of waiting for most tracking number requests. My RedOne shipped and arrived without me ever knowing about it until the day after it arrived; my house mates had to take it off the porch for me, because I didn't know to be there when it was dropped off by FedEx. That's frustrating.

If your workers are really busy (which they seem to be), if they're working really hard (again, this seems to be the case), then you should reward them by hiring some extra people to help ease their burden. Those extra workers can also provide replacement coverage for those times when a few of your workers need to take time off.

[Brent@RED]

Who says we are not bringing on more staff? I will say we are pretty darn picky about who we bring into RED as an employee. We rather have a tight staff who is passionate about our product, the industry, and our customers than just hire every person who walks in off of the street. Quality is going to beat out quantity every day of the week.

BC

[Bang WOW Bang]

You can send the dark suits my way Jeffrey... meanwhile the RED Bomb Squad are here to help you....


Stuart mate,
Brent is reacting too SLOW to me though.
Sorry I am a Hongkonger and please fogive me I am doing things fast and accurate in REAL time no Limits.

Stuart, remembered your days with me in HKG. ABekas ....AH AH laughs...:w00t:

Cheers mate.

Stewart
Gardener - Post production in ASIA from 4K to anything
WOW Holdings
HKG
CHINA
Thailand

[Jeffrey Hamlin]

Brent...I have managed to elude the dark suits, at least for now :)

Without getting into staffing issues, I wonder if you might be willing to look into RED's communication process. I am not asking that you even discuss it on this board. An internal look at how you process incoming/outgoing communication might lead to better overall customer service.

My first post may have been sarcastic in nature...but the concern is very real. Not everyone purchasing your camera is a free loving indy filmmaker or kid with money to blow. Some of us work for institutions that, at least for now, do business in a slightly different manner. Improved communication should be a primary focus of your company and its overall business plan.

Who knows...by adapting a slightly more responsive communication system, you might be able to increase your overall sales to the dark and despised institutions of business and academia.

Thanks for your help with this matter.

[Brent@RED]

I wonder if you might be willing to look into RED's communication process.

We look at it daily, rest assured. I can say that pretty safely since I am the one looking at it :)

BC

[Bang WOW Bang]

We look at it daily, rest assured. I can say that pretty safely since I am the one looking at it :)

BC

Just looking is not the way to solve the problems Brent, and youo need to make a little movement on your shoulder ...to react us from your Keyboard.

WE 're all expecting responses from SWAT@RED.

Stewart

[Jeffrey Hamlin]

Thanks. That's all we can ask.

Thanks also for bending the stiff and otherwise uncreative minds of the dark and despised "suits." RED has really thrown them for a collective loop. Boy did they have it coming :)

Viva la RED Revolucion!!

[Brent@RED]

No, thanks to you guys for understanding we hear every concern on REDUSER (and via PM, email, phone call) and we are striving to get better each day.

BC