Question about Empire Technology Co.

[Slice]

Hello everyone, i'm pretty new here and about to work on a project.
From a colleague at work i heard that Andy from empiretech sells camera's (Dahua, hikvision etc...)
So i decided to buy a camera from him by mail ([email protected])

I have no trust issues since i've seen his name pop up about everywhere on this forum.
But i'm wondering how he does his business. Are there people here that recently ordered from him?
I've heard that he usually ships the package the same day it's ordered (but it was weekend)
The camera was ordered on saturday and was in stock.

Does he usually send a confirmation that the package has been sent?

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

I am in the US and have purchased from him recently. I did receive confirmation of payment receipt and tracking numbers once shipped. Items came from various locations, and I had all the pieces within 7-8 days once purchase was confirmed.

Do not hesitate to reach out to him with questions or concerns

 

[DavidW]

He'll tell you when he plans to ship it out and PayPal will email you when the tracking order has been updated to the invoice

 

[Slice]

Thanks guys. i'l have some more patience.
The reason i asked is because i felt the communication was a bit 'short'.
But maybe that's just the way he does things
He is very polite tho!

 

[mat200]

FYI - always have had great experience with Andy .. thus recommended.

 

[looney2ns]

Andy will do his best to take care of you.
Many of us here have ordered many cam's from him.
If there was an issue Andy, you'd see it on this forum.

 

[tech101]

Almost all of my cameras are from Andy. he is absolutely amazing and always cares for his customers. Always had absolutely great experience doing business with Andy.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Empire tech has it's own forum here at IPCT, look for firmware updates, etc here : EmpireTech Andy

What if he goes away? Probably the same thing we'd do if IPCT goes away <knocking on wood>. Be sad, angry, then ask google a LOT more questions.

 

[looney2ns]

Where/how does he support you guys and your cameras? Does Andy have a web site where he posts
firmware updates? What if Andy goes away and you need support?

Most of the support comes from all of us right here.
Once installed, the need for "support" goes way down.
Don't over think it.

 

[tigerwillow1]

What if Andy goes away and you need support?

In that case the only support would be from this forum community or other similar resources. The alternative is to buy from an established large company and end up with (approximations) half the camera for the same price, or the same camera for double the price.

 

[mat200]

Exactly, that's what I'm struggling with. Is it worth paying more(for big company interface) for when you need support. Or suppose the camera goes bad and need a new one.

FYI - Big Companies do not always provide good support on these.. Normally Hikvision / Dahua USA expects a 3rd party to install and support these type of cameras for customers, and do not provide customer support for the end user.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Interesting, you would think that given the growing popularity of these camera systems, that these companies would market/support directly to the end user. Perhaps too complicated for that.

If they did that, the prices would be a lot higher to cover the marketing and support costs. Andy IMO has found a niche market here at IPCT, a group of mostly tech savvy users who don't need much handholding, and when they do, it is more often than not supplied by forum members. That way, Andy can spend most of his resources on procuring and shipping the newest equipment at great prices, getting hold of the latest firmware, and providing replacements for hardware that has gone belly up. When I was working in the early days of the personal computer, my management required everybody to occasionally work the customer support line. Troubleshooting often proceeded "Is the computer plugged in?", "Is the power switch on?", etc. Financing that level of support has to be built into the product price. If you want it from the seller, you have to pay for it up front.

 

[looney2ns]

Carefully study this: Cliff Notes.
Andy provides 2 yr warranty. And has stepped up for those here that had problems.
If you want "support" (not sure that really exists anywhere anymore) then you can purchase from B&H Photo., at a much higher cost most times.
Beware, some of the better cameras that we talk about here, never make it to the US Market, thus not available from B&H.
There have been firmware issues with some of the newer cams, that Andy has been able to provide feedback to Dahua given by us, and get the bugs worked out. Then supplies the improved firmware here. Not sure how much better support you need.
The camera's he sells has shown a very very small minuet failure rate. Most of the returns he gets is from user error, nothing wrong with the camera.
Amcrest are OEM'd by Dahua, with features sometimes removed.

 

[wtimothyholman]

FYI - Big Companies do not always provide good support on these.. Normally Hikvision / Dahua USA expects a 3rd party to install and support these type of cameras for customers, and do not provide customer support for the end user.

My experience is that the people on this forum are far more knowledgeable (and can provide better support) than even most security companies. Two of my neighbors paid for two different professional security companies to install PoE cameras with NVRs. In both cases, the companies installed Dahua equipment - all well and good. But in both cases, they used the cheapest Dahua domes and turrets with 2.8 mm focal lengths that were available. Neither made any attempt to offer or install a varifocal or PTZ camera. They had a "standard" camera, and they used it everywhere.

It got worse after that. My neighbor behind me showed me the view from one of his garage cameras and asked my opinion of why the image was so bad at night. The camera was positioned such that it was partly behind a roof support beam, and the resulting IR glare from a few inches away washed out everything else. It never occurred to the guy who installed it that the glare would be a problem. On my advice my neighbor called the company up and they remounted the camera about two feet over, which eliminated the glare.

For both my neighbors, neither of the companies even bothered to configure the time server on the Dahua NVR, or to explain to them how to do it. I had to show one of them how to set it up, and the other called the security company to fix it. Yet, these are the "professionals" who are supposed to support your camera installation. Nope, not gonna happen.

I assume there are people on this forum who run security companies that do it "right", but those are few and far between, and no doubt charge appropriately for their expertise. It is much more common to encounter a company that hires people who can drill holes and pull cable, but have no clue how to properly configure or optimize a good camera. You're far better off coming to this board for help instead of paying them to screw it up.

 

[Purduephotog]

Hello everyone, i'm pretty new here and about to work on a project.
From a colleague at work i heard that Andy from empiretech sells camera's (Dahua, hikvision etc...)
So i decided to buy a camera from him by mail ([email protected])

I have no trust issues since i've seen his name pop up about everywhere on this forum.
But i'm wondering how he does his business. Are there people here that recently ordered from him?
I've heard that he usually ships the package the same day it's ordered (but it was weekend)
The camera was ordered on saturday and was in stock.

Does he usually send a confirmation that the package has been sent?

Just bought a week ago. Camera arrived 4 days later. No issues with any purchases.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I too am a IT refugee. Hired in mid 70's. Fired for not being able to keep lock-step with the 20 somethings in 2012. It's all good, I am happy.

Off topic warning. I started in the commercial world in '72. 10 or so years later started up the management ladder until I realized I had to choose between succeeding there or giving up most of my personal morals. With a lot of criticism I went back to being a plain old engineer. After climbing the engineer ladder I found myself being booked for nonstop for mostly useless meetings during normal working hours, and had to do the real work on my own time. Politics and internal conflicts got worse and in 1999 I found myself having to choose from walking away from the job or killing myself from the stress. I was 2 years short of some retirement benefits but honestly thought I'd be dead before vesting. I walked away. Difficult at the the time but no regrets whatsoever. Loved the work, couldn't stand the politics. As an aside, I worked at small and big companies. Even though earning less I was always happy at the small ones, and almost always hated being at the big ones. The catch was that the small ones always got gobbled up by the big ones, ruining the culture and usually the product in the process.

 

[Coldair]

just ordered a nice speed dome Dahua Camera from Andy just waiting on it to ship.
Andy is GTG

 

[MikeLud1]

Over the past 6 months I upgraded my cameras and bought 12 cameras from Andy. He has always responded to my questions sometimes within minutes.

 

[Coldair]

GTG?

Good To Go

 

[sebastiantombs]

Go To Guy

I've got 17 cameras, so far, from Andy. One had a problem when I received it and he sent a replacement the next day. As with everything electronic doing a burn in test "on the bench" is always a good idea and you can fool with all the settings and get to the physical reset button easily when you screw them up I'm a refugee from the IT world, too, but may years ago now. The little fish I worked for kept getting bought by the big fish who finally outsourced everything and screwed up my nicely laid plans. I guess it worked out in the end, I'm still plugging along.