I’ve spent the last month trying to get a replacement ribbon cable for a $100,000 switcher, from a company which shall remain nameless. Let me explain.

In June, said company sent me an upgrade kit for a switcher, to add USB flash-drive support. Part of this process involved swapping out a cable in the switcher console. The cable they included wasn’t the right length, and would not reach all of the necessary connections.

An email in late June alerted the company to the issue. A week later, having received no reply, I sent a followup. I heard back that they were investigating the issue. Again, time went by without hearing anything, so I gave a phone call. They weren’t sure how it was possible that the cable wouldn’t fit, so they asked that I send pictures of it. I complied.

More time passed and I heard nothing. I called again. I found out that they were going to send a cable. Hoorah!

A week passed. I heard nothing. I sent another email. Oh, they forgot to send the cable, but they’ll send it Real Soon Now!

More time passes.

I email again, asking for tracking information.

I never hear anything back, but a few days later receive a call from someone in another part of the state (Morris, Minnesota) informing me that they’ve received an overnight package for me. No idea how the package ended up being shipped to an entirely different city, but they forward it on to the Twin Cities. It’s the ribbon cable. It fits. Saga ended.

It took more than a month to resolve this issue. I never received any information proactively – I always had to call to poke the process along. Because the package was sent overnight, I don’t believe they actually shipped it until I called to ask for tracking information.

This is a $100,000 device. We own two of them. It should not be like pulling teeth to get a replacement for a $3 part sent. Bleh.