Author Topic: Thoughts on Davis quality  (Read 10271 times)

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Offline coredump4

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Thoughts on Davis quality
« on: February 21, 2012, 08:02:20 AM »
Hi,
I'm thinking of getting a Davis VP2 in the near future.  However, I couldn't help but notice that there's a fair amount of negative feedback about the Davis weather stations on Amazon.  Granted, some of the feedback looks like it might be for the VP and not VP2, but still, I was surprised at how many early failures people were reporting.  And worse, people were reporting less-than-stellar customer service from Davis.  So while I'm perfectly willing to spend the money on Davis, what's the quality really like?  If anything breaks in the first 2 years, I'll be disappointed.  Even my lousy LaCrosse WS-2310 made it about 4 years.

Thoughts/comments/experiences?

thanks!

Offline Gulfcoast

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2012, 08:19:36 AM »
If you can find anything that works as well as a Davis that's in the same price range... please let me know, I want one too.
 

Offline mulveyr

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2012, 08:42:54 AM »
Hi,
I'm thinking of getting a Davis VP2 in the near future.  However, I couldn't help but notice that there's a fair amount of negative feedback about the Davis weather stations on Amazon.  Granted, some of the feedback looks like it might be for the VP and not VP2, but still, I was surprised at how many early failures people were reporting.  And worse, people were reporting less-than-stellar customer service from Davis.  So while I'm perfectly willing to spend the money on Davis, what's the quality really like?  If anything breaks in the first 2 years, I'll be disappointed.  Even my lousy LaCrosse WS-2310 made it about 4 years.

Thoughts/comments/experiences?

thanks!


Where are all of these negative reports you're seeing on Amazon?  I just went there and searched for "Davis Weather Station", and the first couple of pages all had cumulative star ratings of 4 or 5.

The VP is many years out of date, and was a very different design than the VP2.  You can't really compare them.

I've been running personal weather stations for 15 years.  I've had my VP2 for just one, but I did a ton of research before getting it.  I don't think you're likely to find anything comparable when it comes to pro-sumer stations at the $1K or below price point. 

My one and only complaint is the lack of ability to use the secondary transmitters ( like the one used for the anemometer ) to support the solar/UV sensors with the console or Envoy.  Otherwise, I have no issues at all.

Offline SlowModem

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2012, 08:57:01 AM »
I think if you polled all the Davis owners here on this forum, at least 95% of them would gleefully recommend them.  Personally, I would certainly rate their customer service very high (as compared to Oregon Scientific I would rate as very low).  I've had my VP2 about 2 years now and am very happy with it.
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline coredump4

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2012, 09:45:38 AM »
Where are all of these negative reports you're seeing on Amazon?  I just went there and searched for "Davis Weather Station", and the first couple of pages all had cumulative star ratings of 4 or 5.
True, the net ranking of the VP2 is still 4 stars.  But read the customer reviews, and there's many a complaint of failures; hence my question about quality.   Given the mixed comments, I wanted to see owner's thoughts here.

Here's a link to comments on the wireless VP2:
http://www.amazon.com/Davis-Instruments-Vantage-Weather-Wireless/product-reviews/B001AMRCDU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Offline moehoward4

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2012, 09:59:40 AM »
4.75 stars out of 5 here, I've had my VP2 up and running now for 5 years. Any thing that died, did so in the warranty period and was taken care of by Davis. Just shop around very carefully, you WILL find some excellent prices/deals on the web. I recommend www.archertradingpost.com/atp      Jack       P.S.  My 16 year old WeatherWizard III IS STILL working today, I've had to get a new anny for it after 15 years.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2012, 04:43:04 PM by moehoward4 »
3 Davis set-ups...which one ya wanna talk about? And I got ALL my manuals....

Offline d_l

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2012, 10:12:11 AM »
If someone on Amazon is complaining about Davis customer service, then I can flat out say they are lying or plain whiners.  I wish all companies I deal with had a Davis-level customer service.

If they down rate the Davis product based on initial use or the set up period, then I would suspect a significant percentage of operator error.  Remember Davis doesn't restrict sales to just those who can RTFM.  There are a few ways to screw the set up that reading the manual avoids.  Then there have been a few product bugs when the Vue and the VP2 were first introduced that some have encountered.  Davis customer support has handled those satisfactorily

If people have down rated the Davis product after a number of years use, then I think they have unrealistic expectations about the endurance and reliability of a product at this price point that is continuously exposed to temperature extremes, UV radiation, salt corrosion, humidity extremes, dust conditions, and/or insect/bird pests.

--Dave--

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Offline SLOweather

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2012, 11:11:40 AM »

Thoughts/comments/experiences?

thanks!


Thoughts/comments... In my experience, people are far more apt to post negative experiences/feedback than positive.

Experiences...

I've had Davis stations for 12 years or more, starting with a WMII, then on to a wired VP2, and now a wireless VP2 Plus. All of those were upgrades, as my weather interest increased. Also, Davis stations are the only ones our WeatherElement project supports. To date, we have 11 stations on-line, with 5 more lined up waiting on PGE power installation to get them on-line.

Davis support is US based, and their warranty and repair policies are very fair and liberal. Davis documentation/app notes/protocol specs are also really good.

I also like that Davis offers the ability to receive up to 7 other wireless stations of various sorts on one console.


 

Offline Stetson1

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2012, 11:15:38 AM »
So basically there are two types of Davis users: The smart ones like you and the ignorant, stupid, incompetent ones. What you've indicated below is that there is no reason to ever give anything less than five stars, and if you do it is all your fault because you are a complete moron.

Wow, I wish all companies could classify their customers that way, sure would make their support lives easier.


If someone on Amazon is complaining about Davis customer service, then I can flat out say they are lying or plain whiners.  I wish all companies I deal with had a Davis-level customer service.

If they down rate the Davis product based on initial use or the set up period, then I would suspect a significant percentage of operator error.  Remember Davis doesn't restrict sales to just those who can RTFM.  There are a few ways to screw the set up that reading the manual avoids.  Then there have been a few product bugs when the Vue and the VP2 were first introduced that some have encountered.  Davis customer support has handled those satisfactorily

If people have down rated the Davis product after a number of years use, then I think they have unrealistic expectations about the endurance and reliability of a product at this price point that is continuously exposed to temperature extremes, UV radiation, salt corrosion, humidity extremes, dust conditions, and/or insect/bird pests.



Offline coredump4

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2012, 11:45:23 AM »
Thanks, everyone, for all the comments.

Offline Bushman

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2012, 11:55:10 AM »
If you look around, you will find a few things in the current lineup that seem to have caused the most grief:  Vue batter contacts (solved AFAIK), the wireless Supercap failure issue (not solved) and a few silly limitations like no temps below -40 and temps to whole degrees only in the remote temp and temp/hum stations.  But other than that, the kit is first rate with top quality materials and for the most part excellent support.

Would *I* buy one again?  I dunno - I think I would but but I would also look at the much  higher cost  RM Young and Vaisala units.
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Offline SlowModem

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2012, 12:00:08 PM »
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline Skywatch

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2012, 12:20:25 PM »
One thing I've found, There will always be complainers. There will always be the type who are never satisfyed what so ever. They're out there. When reading reviews you really have to be carefull. Feedback coming from the general public tends to have many sides the negative and possitive and the in between. Now that's not saying the complaints aren't true. But 4.5 out of 5 is like 80-95% happy customers.


My personal experience with my Vantage Pro2. I love it. The station is easy to setup and use. Made from high quality componets and materials. Love the accuracy on it. The transmitters are far more superior to other stations just like it. The console is really fun to use. Never had an issue with it.
I live in an apartment and for the moment am not a home weather watcher.

I am a storm chaser.

Offline xykotik

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #13 on: February 21, 2012, 01:24:40 PM »
My personal expansion on two of the points here...

1.  Davis customer service/support.  While YMMV, my personal experience with their CS is 5-stars.  I recently contacted them about if they offered a repair/exchange program for a defective logger that was just outside of warranty or would I need to purchase a retail replacement.  They sent me a new one, no charge!  (Returned the old one, of course.)

2.  It is very true that unless put on the spot (and sometimes even then) customers are more likely to give negative feedback or none at all, the expectation being that things SHOULD be acceptable or good.  My company puts customers on the spot (3rd-party phone survey or focus-group) and then uses a "net promoter score" to come up with a slightly more objective measure.  (1-5 = detracter, 6-8 = neutral/unscored, 9-10 = promoter)

Have you ever done this?  Take down the number of a random service vehicle and call the "HOW AM I DRIVING" line.  Tell them how awesome their driver is, that he stops for old ladies crossing the street and waves-in merging traffic in construction zones, etc.  The operator will likely assume it must be a prank, because NOBODY calls with compliments.  (Yes, I have done this.)


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Offline d_l

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2012, 01:39:34 PM »
So basically there are two types of Davis users: The smart ones like you and the ignorant, stupid, incompetent ones. What you've indicated below is that there is no reason to ever give anything less than five stars, and if you do it is all your fault because you are a complete moron.

Wow, I wish all companies could classify their customers that way, sure would make their support lives easier.

Clearly there are those customers that read the manuals (all of them) and those that don't bother.  I see it all the time in my dealings with Davis customer support.  Inevitably their support email replies will re-hash basic diagnostic procedures and tests that are listed in the manuals when my email questions address problems that are beyond the manual's troubleshooting coverage.  I can only conclude that they routinely have to deal with customers that aren't as smart as you or I and haven't bothered to read the manuals in detail. So Davis tech support has to constantly rehash the troubleshooting tips in the manual. I'll bet some of those failure complaints on Amazon could have been cured by RTFM.

Most of those complaints of the expensive of sensor failures could have been fixed more cheaply by the standard $72, $82, or $100 repair service charge.  Apparently the complainers failed to inquire about that service which is listed on the Davis web site!  Their failure to do so strikes me as stupid.

Any complaints about hitting the -40 F temperature limit are pretty stupid as well.  That limit is listed in the Davis spec literature.  If that limit is a problem for the expected environmental conditions, then buy a different station.

BTW, I've inadvertently found several novel ways to kill data loggers that Davis had never seen before, nor warned against in their manuals, but for which they promptly provided a warranty exchange.  That is customer service.
--Dave--

Wireless VP2 w/ solar, 24hr FARS, Heater, (Envoy-WLIP)*3-Meteohub, plus custom VP2 @ 26', WL 6.0.4, WU & W4U=KNVRENO37 NetcamXL

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Offline mulveyr

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #15 on: February 21, 2012, 04:20:00 PM »
Here's a link to comments on the wireless VP2:
http://www.amazon.com/Davis-Instruments-Vantage-Weather-Wireless/product-reviews/B001AMRCDU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I read most of the comments.  Read them if you need a good laugh!   UU

Yeah, some of them are just... bizarre.  Like the one complaining that the Forecast isn't 100% accurate.

I would have thought that it would be abundantly clear that a forecast generated by a microcontroller is not exactly going to have the same level of detail and accuracy as one produced by banks of supercomputers running exotic meteorological models...but, well, clearly some people think that the console is a magic box.

Offline mulveyr

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2012, 04:29:34 PM »
So basically there are two types of Davis users: The smart ones like you and the ignorant, stupid, incompetent ones. What you've indicated below is that there is no reason to ever give anything less than five stars, and if you do it is all your fault because you are a complete moron.

Wow, I wish all companies could classify their customers that way, sure would make their support lives easier.


I don't see that he's saying that all. 

Based on installations I've seen, and reviews I've read, there are clearly people who really don't understand what they're doing.  I can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen ISS's on chimney mounts directly above the hot exhaust.  ( Hello?  Corrosive gases?  Significant heat output?  )  Or anemometers in the wind shadow of a gable when there are clearly far more superior spots on same roof.  And so on.

It's not like a TV - you can't just plunk the equipment down anywhere you have a cable connection and it works fine.  There's a certain amount of thought and knowledge that needs to be taken into account.   While Davis gadgets are awesomely easy to install and maintain ( especially after more than a decade of using 1-wire weather hardware ), they're clearly also susceptible to significant problems from what a neophyte might consider to be minor installation choices.

Offline PaulMy

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2012, 04:37:49 PM »
My Davis support experience yesterday and today,
Like a number of other users I only run Weatherlink occassionally to keep my .wlk data up to date as I use Cumulus full time.  When it was time to run WL before the datalogger would start to overwrite I tried to start WL but it wouldn`t run.  Tried a number of things even an uninstall but without success.  Finally yesterday, during our Family Day holiday here I called Davis and got a voice message that just asked to leave a message and nothing else.  I patiently waited during the day until later on I realized that was also Presidens Day in USA and also a holiday for Davis staff.  This morning I had to go out for a while and Davis did call back.  When I returned home I called Davis back and immediately got support.  They asked a few questions about my system, walked me through a few things and helped me get Weatherlink up and running again, hooray!  Not sure what caused the problem but it was a software issue only and the station kept on running just fine.

In all the times I`ve called Davis for support or help I have been totally satisfied, second to none :!:

Paul
« Last Edit: February 21, 2012, 04:41:12 PM by PaulMy »

Offline north of 60

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2012, 06:12:43 PM »
some of you f**kers on here don't like some posts i guess,  deleting ones you don't like posted,  some f**kin democracy this is,  yeah yeah you'll say my words were unappropriate  blah blah blah,  it's a democracy,  grow up

Offline belfryboy

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2012, 06:16:59 PM »
some of you f**kers on here don't like some posts i guess,  deleting ones you don't like posted,  some f**kin democracy this is,  yeah yeah you'll say my words were unappropriate  blah blah blah,  it's a democracy,  grow up

erm, this is a forum, not a democracy.  #-o

Offline Bushman

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #20 on: February 21, 2012, 06:19:49 PM »
some of you f**kers on here don't like some posts i guess,  deleting ones you don't like posted,  some f**kin democracy this is,  yeah yeah you'll say my words were unappropriate  blah blah blah,  it's a democracy,  grow up

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Offline NoQuitters

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #21 on: February 21, 2012, 06:23:33 PM »
some of you f**kers on here don't like some posts i guess,  deleting ones you don't like posted,  some f**kin democracy this is,  yeah yeah you'll say my words were unappropriate  blah blah blah,  it's a democracy,  grow up


I'd be happy to ban you and remove all your posts if you like. Democracy or not, however you want to view it, being abusive is not needed and won't be tolerated.

Online saratogaWX

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #22 on: February 21, 2012, 06:26:34 PM »
Ummm, no, we don't delete posts we don't like (and really never had done so).  We prefer to leave them as examples of bad behavior that is not encouraged.  The auto-word-censor in SMF has done the transformation on your post to G-rated :)

We (the admins) did receive multiple report-this-post notifications on your mini-outburst.  It's quite ok for you to have opinions that are your own, and based on your previous postings along this line, you prefer Campbell to Davis .. that's fine too.  Citing factual differences that led you to that conclusion are definitely helpful.  If you've never owned Davis equipment, then I'd have a bit of trouble understanding why you feel the way you do.

I've had a Davis VP1+ (cabled, FARS) running since 2004 with no issues to speak of.  I have contacted Davis tech support over the years and been quite satisfied with their prompt and useful responses.
 
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Offline capeweather

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #23 on: February 21, 2012, 06:28:17 PM »
I will be happy to do it as well. You've been warned.
some of you f**kers on here don't like some posts i guess,  deleting ones you don't like posted,  some f**kin democracy this is,  yeah yeah you'll say my words were unappropriate  blah blah blah,  it's a democracy,  grow up


I'd be happy to ban you and remove all your posts if you like. Democracy or not, however you want to view it, being abusive is not needed and won't be tolerated.

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Offline north of 60

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Re: Thoughts on Davis quality
« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2012, 06:13:25 PM »
Most of you guys are so f**ked in the head you can never be changed.

 

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