Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

ericswpark.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 122 posts

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#61

Post by tomrod »

Physkal wrote: post #46
tomrod wrote: post #6

So, you have proof their devices are defective, and chosen to be so. Hold on those emails, they are valuable. Also, this reminds me a lot of the urban legend regarding Van Halen and Brown M&Ms with regard to their contract.[0] If they ignore the easy stuff that is hard for most to know, what other corners might they be cutting? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen#Contract_riders

I wonder how effective is this strategy, and is there a name for it? Reminds me of people planting 20 dollar bills in their auto seats before a oil change/car repair. If the money is missing, what does that actually say about quality of the car repair? Also doesn't trust go both ways and you risk damaging the relationship with the vrndor? I'd be very reluctant to repair someone's car again or who plant judgmental tra…

There is an academic literature in game theory dealing with this topic, the key text is called "Repeated Games and Reputation." The difference from your example and the OP is that OP's experience isn't a repeated purchase (to my understanding). For Van Halen and brown M&Ms, there are elements of leverage in negotiation and other elements of reputation.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#62

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

scarface_74 wrote: post #59
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but that's Amazon, so they can just commingle inventory with a fake. Hence > I've gotten burned by Amazon too many times to trust.

I’ve ordered the sand cord on three separate occasions with no issues. It’s easy to verify that they are real.

> It’s easy to verify that they are real.

Okay, I'll bite; how?

(In all sincerity - I don't believe you, but if there really is an easy solution, that would make my life better and would be appreciated)

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#63

Post by solardev »

This will almost always be the case with cheap things with a Usb-C port, even from big brands like Sonicare (toothbrushes and water flosses).

If you don't see USB PD (Power Delivery) on it, chances are it won't work with your usual chargers. Even with PD on it, it can be hit or miss, but at least at an 80% success rate vs 0% without it.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#64

Post by mike_d »

jtriangle wrote: post #3

While I'm glad that they took the time to hold support's feet to the fire over this, doing that sort of thing is almost certainly a waste of time. Seldom will you find a support team who can understand a technical hardware problem like this, and even more seldom will you find a company that responds to this with anything other than "nothing we can do, sorry". You're not going to get the "Wow, that is our bad, we'll r…

> doing that sort of thing is almost certainly a waste of time.

A waste of time for both parties, because the author is wrong.

As Wikipedia helpfully points out: "The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be confused with the connector's specific capabilities"

From the write up it looks like he was able to get it working with the minimum 3A required by the cable spec. You don't actually have to support C-to-C cables if you choose to not to communicate with the e-marker.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#66

Post by mauvehaus »

duxup wrote: post #42
bombcar wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I really really really need it to work I buy an Apple one. Otherwise go to a real manufacturer like monoprice or a smaller company that specializes in cable. They will usually work well. You can’t get good cables for aliamazon bargain prices unless you go used/open box or similar.

I’ll second monoprice. I wanted some thin and various length hdmi cables, Amazon sold me garbage (no surprise these days). Went to monoprice and they were cheaper than Amazon and they worked. Not basement prices like some places... but I don't have a problem paying for reliability.

I'll third them. I don't buy a lot of cables, but when seemingly every USB-micro cable in the house crapped out simultaneously, I put in an order for a fistful and they were all good.

Monoprice is solid and their prices are fair. I think I got half a dozen cables shipped for about what one costs at e.g. CVS.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#67

Post by duxup »

jtriangle wrote: post #3

While I'm glad that they took the time to hold support's feet to the fire over this, doing that sort of thing is almost certainly a waste of time. Seldom will you find a support team who can understand a technical hardware problem like this, and even more seldom will you find a company that responds to this with anything other than "nothing we can do, sorry". You're not going to get the "Wow, that is our bad, we'll r…

Worked in support for a long time. Very true.

The real trick is trying to get the support guy to tell you what to do to get the right attention ... IF they know.

I used to do that all the time when I did big time networking gear support. "I, the support guy, can't just send you a new router (price like $200k+), that's just the policy, I gotta do X, Y, Z. That will take a bit of time and here is how that works ____ . But if you can get _____ to tell me to do it, I'll do it."

Now as a support guy you have to know the lay of the land before you deliver that line... but I was lucky enough to know and that org had good policies and so on.

What is AMAZING is some customers didn't realize that I just gave them the route they needed to go to get exactly what they wanted and they'd complain and whine. Like guys ... come on. I'd also tell them what to do to get closer to that goal faster without pulling strings, but that meant they had to do extra work, lotta folks didn't want to do that either.

Granted consumer support guy, probably has no tools / doesn't know the magic words / people and so on. Also probably afraid to tell you. Support personnel are most often "valued' for a short time but in reality are seen as a cost in most orgs and treated like garbage / scummy pawns. At one company I worked at the engineers would invite me over to their building when they had food catered. They knew we got jack squat (support almost never got food catered in), we had management who only knew how to prove their worth by penny pinching, and the engineers liked some of us / knew we saved them a lot of time.

Side story: I don't know if Amazon ever had human support but right now I've got something that shipped 3+ months ago and it is "On the way but running late" ... for 3+ months. In the past Amazon would just give me a refund outright... Now Amazon just sends me between two different bots that can't help me at all... The seller has a bunch of posts and feedback all the same, people not getting the product. Amazon bot don't care tells me to talk to the other bot. My review (almost the same as the other reviews now warning people about not getting product) was rejected.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#68

Post by dcdc123 »

bombcar wrote: post #38
sickofparadox wrote: post #11

Since it's somewhat related to the topic, does anyone have a recommendation for where to buy USB 3.0 or 3.1 is cords is that are relatively inexpensive? I've gotten burned by Amazon too many times to trust.

If I really really really need it to work I buy an Apple one. Otherwise go to a real manufacturer like monoprice or a smaller company that specializes in cable. They will usually work well. You can’t get good cables for aliamazon bargain prices unless you go used/open box or similar.

> a real manufacturer like monoprice

Monoprice does not manufacture anything. Also, a lot of the apple USB-C cables are power only.

Re: Exway doesn't care about USB-C conformity

#70

Post by dcdc123 »

ewoodrich wrote: post #52
qiqitori wrote: post #47

I don't care either. They'll probably fix it at some point if they themselves get annoyed by this behavior. But TBH, very few people will be inconvenienced by this at the current time. I have exactly one C to C cable in my house, and a lot of A to B or C cables. So what if it violates the USB C spec? The Nintendo Switch violates the C spec too. Perhaps they should have made the spec a little more straightforward?

My Switch charges just fine with USB-C to USB-C cables. These days all I buy are GaN chargers with 3 USB-C / 1 USB-A and they can charge my MacBook, my Lenovo laptop, my work Dell, my Galaxy phone, basically 9/10 of my electronics at their max charging speed with the same USB-C to USB-C cable. Which makes these cheap devices missing pulldown resistors that cost a penny or something extremely annoying.

The problem with Switch is really the charger. If a device pulls down the resistors it puts out 15v. It is dangerous to plug into other devices.
Post reply on HN