Are you being treated like an idiot, when you receive broken or not up to spec test equipment?
Let me set this up. I'm slowly trying to gather what I need to teach a robotics camp. As part of this process, I've been steadily buying a number of Owon VDS1022 oscilloscopes. Before this week I had a total of 20 of them, and they've all performed flawlessly. (Actually, I have a mix of VDS1022s, VDS1022Is, and Multicomp Pro MP720017s, which are functionally equivalent to VDS1022Is.) They're not the greatest of scopes, but they'll work fine for my camp.
This week I received an order of two additional VDS1022s, which I ordered from AliExpress. I've ordered other VDS1022s from AliExpress and they've worked fine, but when I tried these new scopes, they didn't seem to work. I made an (crappy) YouTube video of what's happening with these new scopes -
- in case you want to see what I'm seeing.
When the scopes didn't work, I contacted Owon support to see if they had some new software version or something. Here's my initial message to Owon:
"Howdy!
I just received 2 VDS1022 oscilloscopes from a vendor on AliExpress. I already have a number of these scopes, and, up until now, they've worked flawlessly. Since I already have these scopes, the software is already installed and working on my Windows PC. If I run the software and then plug in the VDS1022 through its USB cable, the software seems to recognize it and goes through the "Found Device" then "Initializing" process, but when that is finished, the oscilloscope trace doesn't update on my PC's screen. This problem happens with both of the new VDS1022s that I just received. If I plug in a VDS1022 that was already working, it goes through the same process, but then the oscilloscope trace DOES update on my PC's screen.
Do you know what my problem is?
Thanks,
A.J. Lenze"
Here's the message I got back from Owon/Lilliput:
"Greetings from OWON,
Thank you for purchasing OWON product.
May I have below questions? so that I can forward your below email to my colleague who is responsible for your case.
What is the serial number?
Where you purchased it from?
Which country are you from?
The important is do you have photos or video to show the problem? it is helpful for our engineer to analysis the problem you said
Thank you for your time"
Fair enough, they have some questions. Here was my response (at this point, I hadn't created a video yet):
"The serial numbers of the two non-working units are VDS10222207012 and VDS10222207005.
I purchased them from an AliExpress store called Oscilloscope Store. Here is the link to their post:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000742476257.htmlI am in the U.S.
If you really need a video of the computer screen, I can make one for you, but it's simple to describe. Nothing happens. When I hook up a working unit, even without probes, your software displays an approximately 0 volt oscilloscope trace that moves around a bit. When I hook up one of these non-working units, no oscilloscope trace is generated and nothing on the screen moves.
Let me know if you need any more information.
A.J Lenze"
Apparently they forwarded my problem to someone else, because my next response was from Colin:
"Hello,
Is there anything wrong you did to VDS1022? such as input a high voltage etc? Both VDS1022 can't work just you received of them or you have used them for a while and then now it has problem?
It is quite impossible both scopes have the problem.
Did you install the driver correctly? see attached instruction how to install the driver, it is important.
if still failed, send a video to have a look.
Kindly Regards
Colin Lee"
Despite his "kindly regards", this is when I started to get a little peeved. Right away he accuses me of doing something wrong, either connecting them to inappropriately high voltages or installing the software incorrectly. He also essentially calls me a liar, when he states that it's "impossible" for both scopes to fail. Here is my response to him:
"I think I have all the software installed correctly because it works fine with other VDS1022s that I bought previously.
The two VDS1022s that are NOT working were received on Wednesday, April 13th, 2022 (two days ago). They never worked. And NO I didn't apply any inappropriately high voltages to them. I am very experienced with these units and have a number of them. In the past, all the units I've had have worked flawlessly. These are the first two units that I've had any problems with.
Here's a link to a video I made showing the problem.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PmDSp61wo5uhQfnoOkQsdxIkmy_MTPgh/view?usp=drive_webI first plug in one new VDS1022, then the other new VDS1022, then another older VDS1022 that I've had for a while. The first two seem to be recognized by the software, but no oscilloscope trace appears on the screen. When I plug in the older VDS1022, it's recognized by the software and an oscilloscope trace DOES appear on the screen.
Let me know if you have any questions, but please don't accuse me of mistreating these brand new devices.
A.J. Lenze"
That's as far as the conversation has gone with Owon/Lilliput, but I also contacted the seller on AliExpress with the following message:
"I received the first shipment of two Owon VDS1022 scopes on Wednesday, April 13th, 2022, but they are not working. I am communicating with Owon to see if they have a solution. I made a video showing the problem:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PmDSp61wo5uhQfnoOkQsdxIkmy_MTPgh/view?usp=drive_webm:"
And here was their response:
"I will download the video and check
And please check if you operate correctly, it should be offered power by usb"
Am I wrong to be frustrated by these responses? Are there a huge number of people with no expertise, buying oscilloscopes and using them incorrectly, not installing the software correctly, or not even understanding how to power them? This seems like what happens every time I try to get support for a product, and I don't want to specifically blame the Chinese, as I have similar experiences with American vendors.
I'm sure everything will eventually work out okay - I'll eventually get these scopes working, get replacements that work, or get a refund. But as someone with a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering, it's frustrating to be treated like an idiot when I ask for support. Plus, what I'm doing here isn't exactly rocket science - I'm simply plugging in a product and getting no response.
If you've gotten this far, thanks for putting up with my rant. I just wonder if others get this same treatment, despite their expertise, and are frustrated by it?
Thanks,
A.J.