Dension gateway - don't do it !!

[ChillOut]

Passat B5 Diesel Gamma radio.

Bought a Dension GW100. Dreadful whistling going up through the rev range. Dreadful e-mail only service through IPODCARKIT DIRECT - after several weeks frustrating "dialogue" and a refusal to deal by phone, and (wrong) advice to re-route earths, they finally accepted it needed replacing.

The replacement was not whistling, but I had issues with mode and track selection, so returned it for a GW Lite which has reduced function but should be easier to work. Oh dear, that too whistles like the first.

Now they say they cannot offer me a solution which works and to return it - ***?

They of course blame the car, but consider this:-

The lead carrying your precious music signal from the Gateway to the radio is unscreened wire.
A car is about the most electrically noisy environment you can get (even without faults), so a unit should be screened against it.
The OE 6-disc player has a screened lead and does not suffer ANY interference. I rest my case.

Take your chance, but in my opinion, they are not fit for purpose. No doubt they work in many installations, but the basic design is flawed from a screening perspective so you take pot luck.

DICE are cheaper now anyway.

[RobWithey]

Take your chance, but in my opinion, they are not fit for purpose.

I completely agree. I've had many problems, and Dension's tech support is an absolute joke. This is what mine sounds like : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpR0NNv4F70
I definately won't be touching Dension again.

[ickd.co.uk]

Hi Phil,

Its Nick from iPod Car Kit Direct Here (Where you purchased the Dension unit from).

Got to say were a little disappointed with your post here which another customer just informed us about. Especially considering we went out to try to get the kit (various Kits) working for you, at our cost not yours. Not once during the communication were we unreasonable or refuse to offer a refund and we understand it can be frustrating when something is going wrong. But we were also frustrated by some of your responses and the barriers you put up. We were always trying to help but when asked specific questions the responses you provided ignored the questions and instead seemed intent on giving us a "bashing". This was seen as early as your second response into the ticket - Long before we were given a chance to find the route of the problem.

Were not going to say our Support system is perfect however it is necessary and has worked very well for many years, as explained several times. Basically for a full history of the conversation & suggestions made to improve the kit's performance or to getting it to work. On Top of this our sales & support team did spend a considerable amount of time trying to resolve the problem on the phone as you preferred not to use the ticketing system. Anyway were not trying to discredit you here.....

You are entitled to your own opinion however there are several points you mentioned on here that are inaccurate. Obviously you had a problem somewhere in the system, we are very confident that it is not with the Dension units provided.

All the kits that were sent out were fully tested when received back and worked perfectly when we bench tested and tested in a vehicle. We have videos of your Gateway units received (Including Serial Numbers clearly showing) being installed into several vehicles and working without interference or problems, If anybody wishes to view them we can post them on-line.

Regarding the Wrong advice about the earth. As far as were concerned it looked like an earthing issue. An Insufficient earthing point will cause all the problems that you suggested above and in your tickets. If you ask any auto-electrician they would arrive at the same conclusion, Especially without access the vehicle to check the installation. The Kit in question has been installed into several vehicles without any of the problems you encountered.

Again were not trying to discredit you Phil, we fully understand where you are coming from. Obviously we would have preferred the kit to work for you first time as well, it would have cost us a lot less in shipment fees, man hours and the loss of three working kits (which now have to be sold second hand at a loss). We would obviously preferred for you not to try and discredit us or Dension considering the kits we received back are fully operational as discussed in your ticket.

Its a shame this problem has occurred but it is important to point out that since Dension products came to the UK back in 2002 we have sold literally 1000's of VW specific units of which 99% have worked perfectly fine with no issues. With any electronics you will get faulty items. It does happen, but not in this case. Obviously people are very quick to be negative about a problem but you don't tend to hear about it when everything is working correctly.

Regarding the thread reply, Dension now have a UK based office which deals with support directly over the phone or via email. Before, all support was dealt with in Hungary. Densions new tech team are second to none in our opinion, and resolve nearly every problem that can be resolved.

We are proud of our service and are happy that we did everything possible to resolve the issue including the full product refund provided. Your welcome to pop down to our HQ for us to check the vehicle & installation of any product, we are happy to provide this service for you and any of our customers, However we understand you are having a VW kit installed professionally. We hope it works out well for you.

[RobWithey]

Regarding the thread reply, Dension now have a UK based office which deals with support directly over the phone or via email. Before, all support was dealt with in Hungary. Densions new tech team are second to none in our opinion, and resolve nearly every problem that can be resolved.

Ok, the facts about my open support thread. I shall leave it to readers to decide if it is second to none, or just nearly none. My support ticket was opened through the cerberus helpdesk linked from www.dension.com:

Ticket ID : AIV-35726-428
Opened : Sun Apr 25 2010 06:29PM
Due : Wed Apr 28 2010 06:29PM

ME : Sun Apr 25 2010 06:29PM : First message reporting issue
No reply from Dension, due date passes...
ME : Sun May 02 2010 07:35PM : Second message with more info
Still no reply from Dension.
ME : Sat May 08 2010 06:25PM : Third message
Still no reply from Dension.
ME : Tue May 11 2010 11:30PM : Fourth message with link to youtube video.
Finally Dension woke up...! I wonder why...! ;-)
DENSION : Wed May 12 2010 12:32PM : Asked for clarication on details already provided.
ME : Wed May 12 2010 01:47PM : Clarified details.
DENSION : Fri May 14 2010 08:13PM : Asked for sample music file.
ME : Sat May 15 2010 11:49AM : Sample music file provided.
No reply from Dension.
ME : Sat May 29 2010 04:30PM : Pinging issue for reply.
DENSION : Mon May 31 2010 09:17PM : Described planned tests, and promised to get back to me following test.

Since then I have had no more replies from Dension. Quite frankly I'm not sure I expect any.

Is that what second to none support is like? I would think that ignoring customers for weeks on end is not good support...! They were reluctant to even acknowledge I exist in the beginning, and require continual poking or they go to sleep.

[ickd.co.uk]

Ok, the facts about my open support thread. I shall leave it to readers to decide if it is second to none, or just nearly none. My support ticket was opened through the cerberus helpdesk linked from www.dension.com:

Ticket ID : AIV-35726-428
Opened : Sun Apr 25 2010 06:29PM
Due : Wed Apr 28 2010 06:29PM

ME : Sun Apr 25 2010 06:29PM : First message reporting issue
No reply from Dension, due date passes...
ME : Sun May 02 2010 07:35PM : Second message with more info
Still no reply from Dension.
ME : Sat May 08 2010 06:25PM : Third message
Still no reply from Dension.
ME : Tue May 11 2010 11:30PM : Fourth message with link to youtube video.
Finally Dension woke up...! I wonder why...! ;-)
DENSION : Wed May 12 2010 12:32PM : Asked for clarication on details already provided.
ME : Wed May 12 2010 01:47PM : Clarified details.
DENSION : Fri May 14 2010 08:13PM : Asked for sample music file.
ME : Sat May 15 2010 11:49AM : Sample music file provided.
No reply from Dension.
ME : Sat May 29 2010 04:30PM : Pinging issue for reply.
DENSION : Mon May 31 2010 09:17PM : Described planned tests, and promised to get back to me following test.

Since then I have had no more replies from Dension. Quite frankly I'm not sure I expect any.

Is that what second to none support is like? I would think that ignoring customers for weeks on end is not good support...! They were reluctant to even acknowledge I exist in the beginning, and require continual poking or they go to sleep.

Please note that all Support Tickets that are opened on Dension.com are first received by Hungary. Some tickets are passed back to the UK office, however due to the volume of tickets received on a daily basis, the UK office do not have time to answer all of them, so the Hungarians usually pick them up. From the response you have posted it would suggest that this response is being dealt with in Hungary.

For the quickest response, contact the UK office via phone. Simon and Peter cover technical support and are second to none.

We understand that the brand have, in some peoples eyes, a bad name due to the way the company has operated in the UK in the past. Now the UK office is open, the company IS changing for the better, and hopefully it will gain the recognition it deserves for creating high quality integration solutions for factory stereos.

[RobWithey]

Unfortunately Dension won't get a second chance to make a good first impression with me. Whilst I have had 2 months of poor support from them, I have just a simple assurance from you that they are improving without anything to back that up.

My opinion and decision remains the same, I won't have anything more to do with them. However (to be fair) I'd suggest other people give them the benefit of the doubt. It's good to hear that they are making an effort to improve their services. It's just too little, too late for me.

[RobWithey]

For the record, I have now published the relevant support thread: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rob_wit...t%20Center.htm

I did of course give Dension support the opportunity to raise an objection before doing so. They declined to reply.

[simon-dension]

As mentioned, the Dension online ticket system is not the way we work in the UK.

Dension is a worldwide brand and that ticket system is aimed at countries that do not have a dedicated team.

My team and I provide telephone support on the Dension brand AND as soon as you were in contact with me I was trying as hard as I could to rectify the situation. The issue here is not with our product, I my self drive a MK4 golf with Gamma head unit and have had to beef up the ground loop significantly.

As for DICE, DICE stands for "Dension In Car Electronics" and is the technology we were using 5 years ago, hence the price difference.


Take care guys.

[Incaripod]

Hi Simon,

Dice Stands for Digital In Car Electrics.

How do you know it stand for Dension In Car Electrics?

Do you have any proof


Thanks

In Car iPod

[RobWithey]

As mentioned, the Dension online ticket system is not the way we work in the UK.

Dension is a worldwide brand and that ticket system is aimed at countries that do not have a dedicated team.

My team and I provide telephone support on the Dension brand ...

So my questions to you are:

Why does www.dension.co.uk redirect to www.dension.com ? Why is there no Uk specific site?
Why are there broken links in the faq at said site, eg : http://www.dension.com/index.php?pageID=13&articleID=81
Why are there no phone numbers on said site for UK support? If there are, where are they?
Why is the only obvious support route to the ticketing solution. Surely you could geolocate my IP address and see that I am UK based when raising a ticket.

Although you say that in the UK you do telephone support, there appear to be no route to this from your website. It may as well not exist...!

I won't bother asking why the obviously linked ticket support system promises to "get answer to your questions within two working days" but then takes 2 1/2 weeks for the first reply, since you seem to have washed your hands of that.