Very disappointed with Apex support

[Lenny_S]

<RANT>
I've been trying to get help from Apex support and their forum for days now and it's been a pretty disappointing experience so far.
The problem I'm having is that I've setup my email alert and sound alert to come on if I lose power. Pretty simple I thought, connect the PM to the accessory 12v power supply, and put that and all my network equipment on a UPS. The EB8 is plugged into the wall, no UPS. If the power goes out the statement "IF Power EB8_3 Off 000 Then ON" in my alerts virtual outlets should come on.
Well, after setting this up according to the Apex detailed user guide (2 different sections of the guide with 2 different sets of instructions), and after following their own presentation on the subject from a trade show, and asking for help on the forum.... I opened a ticket.
I put a huge amount of detail in the ticket, ant the "support rep" basically told me to try something I already put in the ticket didn't work.
Every time I reply to the ticket, it's between 1/2 and a full day or more before I get a pretty useless 1 line response.
And I've asked twice now if the EB8 itself could be defective and they will not respond to that.

Overall, I think it's a pretty good product. And the fact that the product has an issue isn't a deal breaker for me... it's a complex product that is well designed and I understand bugs/quirks/issues happen. But the customer support is very poor. And what's really aggravating about it is I explored their "Employment Opportunities" site https://www.neptunesystems.com/employment-opportunities/
not to look for a job, but just curious, and they have a position for a customer support representative. Well the description of the customer support representative is not at all the experience I'm having as a customer.
From their description....
Core Responsibilities:
• Answer incoming phone calls <I've called 6 times and have never had a person answer>
• Provide technical support via phone or email
• Manage support using HelpDesk and Knowledgebase
• Handle all warranty verifications and issues <I've asked twice if my brand new EB8 is defective>
• Respond promptly to customer inquiries and requests <Is more than a day later "Promptly">
• Detailed logging of issues data, and customer call logs for analysis
• Contribution to our online knowledge base and forums

Experience and Qualifications (Minimum Requirements):
• High School Degree
• Experience with PC/Mac configuration and home networking
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Customer empathy (can put yourself in customers shoes) <If they empathized with me then they'd be ticked too>
• Must have excellent “people-skills” even when dealing with difficult people and stressful situations <The issue isn't what would make me a "difficult" person, it's the poor support that is>
• Able to think and reason in an analytic fashion
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint
</RANT>

I do like the product because the other dozens of thins I can do with it work and it's quite nice. But service and support for Neptune..... Two thumbs down

 

[Harry_Y]

Have you tested the e-mails (test e-mails)?

For me it was a lot easier to just set it up in fusion.

 

[Lenny_S]

Yes, email works fine. The problem is the "If Power EB8_3 Off" does not evaluate as true when I unplug it from the outlet and it should. If I unplug the aquabus cable from the EB8 I get the alert, just not when I unplug the power.

 

[djbetterly]

Call them! The forum can be tough. They will take care of you by offering the option to take over your computer to show you and walk you through.

 

[acolotto]

you can not set up a power outage alarm without a ups, it will only be able to tell you when power is turned back on, but no way for something without power to send an alert

 

[ReefMadScientist]

My only issue is the app doesn't work with my Samsung Note 4, and I get phantom alarms from Apex every blue moon sent to my phone.

 

[Lenny_S]

you can not set up a power outage alarm without a ups, it will only be able to tell you when power is turned back on, but no way for something without power to send an alert

Agreed. My scenario is I have the PM module connect to a UPS with the 12v power supply. That's connected to the EB8 with the aquabus. The EB8 is powered from a standard wall outlet. I setup the alert and unplug the EB8 from the wall (power outage). The PM still has power from the 12v power supply plugged into the UPS. Alarm never triggers.

 

[Lenny_S]

Call them! The forum can be tough. They will take care of you by offering the option to take over your computer to show you and walk you through.

I've called the support number multiple times a day for days. I never get through, just the response that they are all busy and I should leave a callback request online. Did that too and 2+ days later no one has called me back.

 

[acolotto]

What ever your base unit is plugged into, which on my is the eb8, im going to assume yours is the plugged into the eb8 as well, is what needs to be plugged into the ups. Basically you need it to set up so if the power goes out your eb8 starts running off the ups. Also i dont know if you are already doing it but just set your alarm to read if the power is lost on only 1 outlet not the eb8 itself. The eb8 and the base unit need to remain powered to let you know. Basically what happens is power is lost, and the alert gets turned on, and then your ups will kick on turning the eb8 and base unit back on, then this will send the alert as the power in outlet 3 went out for longer then 0 minutes. The alarm turns on as soon as the power goes out but wont send email/text alert until power is restored. At least thats how i got it to work on mine.

 

[Lenny_S]

What ever your base unit is plugged into, which on my is the eb8, im going to assume yours is the plugged into the eb8 as well, is what needs to be plugged into the ups. Basically you need it to set up so if the power goes out your eb8 starts running off the ups. Also i dont know if you are already doing it but just set your alarm to read if the power is lost on only 1 outlet not the eb8 itself. The eb8 and the base unit need to remain powered to let you know. Basically what happens is power is lost, and the alert gets turned on, and then your ups will kick on turning the eb8 and base unit back on, then this will send the alert as the power in outlet 3 went out for longer then 0 minutes. The alarm turns on as soon as the power goes out but wont send email/text alert until power is restored. At least thats how i got it to work on mine.

Could you send me your program? I'm using the "If Power" statement and the only 2 values it will let me use is "If Power Apex" or "If Power EB8_3"

 

[trahelyk]

Just echoing your frustration with Apex customer support. I had a defective I/O breakout box, and I spent two weeks troubleshooting with them by e-mail. Took a full 24 hours or more for them to respond to each e-mail, so it was a very slow conversation. After a while, it definitely felt like they were just trying to get the requisite one message per day out to me to keep the ball out of their court. I also asked them early on if the breakout box might be defective, and they said that almost never happens. When I finally got fed up and returned it two weeks later and informed them that it was defective, they never replied. I would have thought at least an acknowledgement was in order. And, of course, having said all that, the Apex itself is just awesome, so I remain happy as long as I don't need tech support.

 

[Lenny_S]

Just echoing your frustration with Apex customer support. I had a defective I/O breakout box, and I spent two weeks troubleshooting with them by e-mail. Took a full 24 hours or more for them to respond to each e-mail, so it was a very slow conversation. After a while, it definitely felt like they were just trying to get the requisite one message per day out to me to keep the ball out of their court. I also asked them early on if the breakout box might be defective, and they said that almost never happens. When I finally got fed up and returned it two weeks later and informed them that it was defective, they never replied. I would have thought at least an acknowledgement was in order. And, of course, having said all that, the Apex itself is just awesome, so I remain happy as long as I don't need tech support.

Sorry for your trouble. At least I know it's not just me.

 

[watchguy123]

Sorry repeat post. My base unit must be acting up again

 

[watchguy123]

I had similar problem with apex support. They don't answer the phone lines (assuming they are just unmanned) and they take forever to respond by email. Not really what I expected.

And I've never understood why updates can not be done by apex wirelessly. They say fusion updates automatically but not the base unit!!! Have to hard wire Ethernet connections is just nuts

 

[jasonandsarah]

Have you tried posting in the Neptune apex sponsors section? I'm not saying it's a good excuse but they have a lot going on there and if there searching for a customer service/tech support person then they're probably short staffed.
I'm only saying this because I've called Neptune in the past and it's always been a smooth, simple and very helpful experience for me.

 

[acolotto]

Could you send me your program? I'm using the "If Power" statement and the only 2 values it will let me use is "If Power Apex" or "If Power EB8_3"

http://forum.neptunesystems.com/sho...nd-Management-presentation-given-at-MACNA2013

Here is a good quick power point on how to set it up, you want to follow to Advacne Scenario - Done Right on to set it up. Also i stated wrong about the doing one outlet, I have two eb8 bars so this really only works if you have two energy bars and one running of ups and other off wall power. As my base unit and main energy bar are kept running by the ups but the power is lost in the second energy bar thats plugged into the wall but since the main unit still running it notifies me that the second energy bar has no juice. Also you need the ac power adapter for the base unit so it can be plugged directly into the wall. So what happens is power is lost, your base unit turns off, the ups keeps the energy bar running and this then switches the base unit to run off the eb8 instead of wall power, and in that period where the base unit switches from running off the wall outlet to the energy bar, is when itll notify you.


What you want to monitor is your apex base unit. So the code should be
IF Power Apex Off 000 Then On

This will only work if you have it set up same as the referenced slide.

Please someone if notice anything not stated correctly please correct me.

 

[acolotto]

also if you just want it to notify you you can run the apex base unit off the ups and the energy bar from the wall, the slide "Scenario - Intermediate" shows how this would be set up. This keeps the base unit running but not any of the energy bar outlets, so youd be able to know the powers out but no pumps would be able to be kept running by the ups

If you set it up this way the programming would be
IF Power EB8_3 Off 000 Then On

either way you need the ac adapter for the base unit, hope this helps

 

[Lenny_S]

That was one of my sources of information to start with. I followed the instructions in the presentation and I'm trying to do the intermediate scenario on slide 8

 

[acolotto]

yea the If power EB8_3 off 000 then On should be working, When you unplug your energy bar does the base unit stay on? Like does the status light stay lit? Also do you have any other alerts with your power alert? Like a temp or ph alarm?

Just to make sure this is the unit you have plugged into ac adapter and ac adapter into the ups correct?
https://www.neptunesystems.com/product/apex-base-unit/

 

[Lenny_S]

yea the If power EB8_3 off 000 then On should be working, When you unplug your energy bar does the base unit stay on? Like does the status light stay lit? Also do you have any other alerts with your power alert? Like a temp or ph alarm?

Yes the base unit stays on when I unplug the EB8 (followed the slide exactly) and I do have other alerts and can trigger them easily (like dipped my temp probe in hot water and got that alert fine). I even put the power statement in the SndAlm virtual outlet in addition to the Email virtual outlet... Nada!
There are only 2 scenarios where I do get the alert.
1) if I use the module configure to update the firmware in the EB8, likely because it does a power cycle as part of the update
2) if I unplug the aquabus cable from the EB8
But neither of those help me know if I lose power. I live in the Northeast, we lose power frequently. I have a backup generator, but I need to hook it up and start it manually. Ergo this is pretty important.