
Originally Posted by
Nick Gardner
One time I needed a new steadicam gimbal, my old one died after too many movies with BL4s. I called MKV in the UK and said I needed one soon. I gave them my credit card number, and an address. 2 days later it showed up (In the US from the UK). In plenty of time for the movie I needed it for. A month later, I got a phone call from them explaining that my credit card had been denied, at the time of purchase, and that we needed to settle the tab. I said, " You sent me a $5k thing overnight via fedex, when the credit card company said it was no good?" They said, " You said you needed it, and we figured we'd work it out. " That's how customer service works.
I was in Cairo Egypt. We did shot with an arri SR at 75 fps. After that shot, the mirror stopped half open. I called Arri Blauvelt, and explained my problem. They put me on the phone with a tech. I took the camera apart, reset the timing on the belt, as per the guys instructions (that's why you should always have good tools) and shot for another 4 weeks. When the guy told me to take the front of the camera off (the part with the lens mount), I said, " Can't I fuck up the flange focal distance?" He said, " Only if you are a complete asshole."
I once had a CP GZMO that I had converted to super 16. I got it back the day before the shoot. I put a battery in it and turned it on. Blew the fuse. I had another one. Same thing. Now I am out of fuses and I have to shoot in the AM. Cinema products is out of business. I called Clairmont. I explained what was going on. They said they would call me back. They put me on the phone with the guy who designed the electronics for that camera, and he walked me through completely dissembling the camera till I found the short.
That, is what we want. A guy at Red who will talk me through how to swap out boards on my working epic, and the one that got hit by gama rays, to make sure I get the sunris4 over the temple of the sun at Tiwanaku in Bolivia after our 3 day trek.
I love this company, I really do. That's the level of customer service we need, and if we are old pro's (or at least old hacks), that's what we expect.
Disclamer, I just worked like a jilion Hours on a peice of shit cable show, and I may not be n my right mind.
Cheers, and thanks,
Nick
That, is customer service. I think the original idea of the bomb squad was this kind of stuff, but it became overwhelmed with idiots asking where the auto focus button is or why they can't shoot 3d with no additional AKS.