Hoffman/Autoloc Billet Switch Warning

[wmhjr]

OK, here's another one. There are some kind of nice billet switches at http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autoloc/product.lasso?prodinc=billetbuttons .

From a functional (electronically) perspective, they seem fine. HOWEVER - if you need any label or etching on them, don't bother.

It turns out that the actual button freely spins after installation. So, what is supposed to be an "up arrow" will inevitably turn to a "right arrow" and then a "down arrow", etc.

Hoffman/Autoloc was completely surprised when I called to complain about it - but they quickly duplicated the issue themselves. So, they have a poor design, did not test, and neither sales nor tech support knew their product.:pat:

[Bryce]

bummer.

I bought one of the Zirgo fans and the plastic brackets were cheap and broke when i test fit them. so i made some out of aluminum. Took another 10 hours to install a fan, but I like my design much better.

is there any remedy to modify your switch? pin it from rotating?

[wmhjr]

I don't think there's a way to modify it. I'm not going to worry about it at the moment, but I'll get to it in a few weeks. We'll see. I'm really surprised at the total lack of competence and/or product knowledge at the Hoffman Group/Autoloc. Being in business myself, it's just hard to imagine knowing so little about your own products.

[DarkoNova]

Not to bash them, but it's probably because they're not the ones that make them. I've seen those switches/buttons all over the web. Everyone and their mom claims they're the original company to make them.

Just saying.

Matt

[Adam@Autoloc]

Here is what happened on our end. When we brought out the billet buttons we were asked if we can etch the buttons. We have the capability so we etched them. the momentary's in most cases will not spin around but if you push it in and twist your finger they will turn. The latching buttons do not suffer from this problem.
And by the way. the guy that WMHJR spoke to sits next to me. When he answered the phone it was his third day on the job. Sorry for any confusion.

[Rod]

Thanks for the support Adam and the answers is there a fix for the spinning buttons any time soon?

[wmhjr]

Just to be clear from my perspective, I do not agree whatsoever with the above description of the situation.

The buttons easily rotate without being touched. Simple vibration causes the buttons to rotate. The statement "the momentary's in most cases will not spin around but if you push it in and twist your finger they will turn" is simply not accurate - at least with both buttons I received brand new directly from this vendor.

Some more contrast. The "guy who sits next to me" was NOT the only person who was not aware of this design defect. NOBODY was aware - until I brought it to their attention. At least, that is the story I received from more than one person at that company. If necessary I can provide the names and dates of individuals I spoke with who could/would not confirm this issue and who claimed surprise. So, either they were surprised and did not know, or they DID know and were deceptive to me and were fully aware of a defect in their product but were continuing to sell it anyway.

I just want to be clear here and take great exception to how this has been handled. I am not happy with the product, and am not happy whatsoever with the service from this vendor. I am now in a position that I will need to execute on some potentially destructive work on a very indepth build as a result of this, and the responses I have received have been neither timely nor acceptable.

Those of you on this forum know that I typically hand out my thanks FAR more frequently than criticisms. In this case, I have no choice but to continue to criticize this vendor and am disappointed in what I believe are less than accurate responses from Adam. Sorry, Adam but I have to be honest.