New GPX 4500 Owner


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Posted

I just bought a new GPX 4500 from Doc and had a few questions to current and past owners.

What settings seem to work for you in the mojave desert around randsburg?

I'am going from a gp3000 to a gpx 4500 and trying to get a feel for the machine.

Also what have owners that went from a gpx 4500 to a 5000 Do you see a vast

improvement in handling hot rocks or anything else that the 4500 can't do.

Thank You

Posted

Maybe you should have bought from Rob. Then you would not be asking these questions, because Rob would have taken you out into the field and showed you everything you could ever ask about your new 4500. I'm glad I did. Without him showing me, I'd still be trying to figure it out. And for slow learners like me, he's always there to answer my dumb questions. You are going to love that 4500. Wishing you the best of luck. Hope to see you post your first 4500 nugget soon.

Posted

Dear Al,

Your comments are not appreciated, and ill informed. This customer has a training session with me coming to him when he comes to Las Vegas. Until this time, I told him he could call my 800 number if he had any questions. Apparently, I made a very bad mistake in telling him he could also visit Rob's forum because there are a lot of friendly people there who will be more than willing to answer any questions, as well.

If you had bothered to ask this customer any questions you would have found out that I sold him this NEW machine at below my dealer cost. I held the machine for him for weeks while he faithfully made payments. I had many other calls offering immediate payment, (and 1 person offered more money) but I informed those folks, that I already had a deposit on the machine, and it was no longer for sale. Once the machine was shipped and tracking indicated he had received it, I called to make sure everything arrived in good order, and to inquire whether he had any questions or if there was anything else I could do for him at that moment.

I then further followed up with him by sending him Jonathan Porter's write up on an overview of the GPX4500, and a little cheat sheet I had made up of quick settings so he could get up and running.

So this is the kind of customer service I give to a customer from whom I lost over $400 on the sale.

A couple of weeks back I had two of my customers ready to go out for their field training. The day before I had a third gentleman who lives in town call me. He also had a Minelab he purchased from another out of state dealer and he had not found any gold with it. I told him I was taking two people out for training the next day, and invited him to come along. He wanted to know how much it would cost. I said nothing. I also asked him if turkey sandwiches from Subway were OK with him because I was bringing lunch. He showed up, and was trained just like he had purchased the machine from me.

Frankly, I am surprised, disappointed and hurt, by your comments. I've been a Minelab dealer for almost 20 years. Have you ever heard one negative comment about the way I do business or the customer service I give?

I have a toll free 800 number, I average 53 phone calls a day. At least 5 of those calls are from people I have never met, who own Minelab machines purchased from other dealers. They call me because they know I will answer their questions and the phone call is free to them. So far, today, I spent 27 minutes on a call from a person who purchased a second hand GP3000. I spent 47 minutes on a call from a gentleman who purchased a Xterra 705 Gold, who couldn't get his machine to quiet down. Of course he never used noise cancel, he was not running in Auto Ground Balance and he had his sensitivity way too high. Neither of these machines were purchased from me. But I was happy to help these gentlemen with their questions.

I am happy to have Rob as one of my best dealers. Many times I have customers call and say, "Hey I want to purchase an item I saw on Rob's forum." I tell them, "I would appreciate it if you called Rob and placed the order through him." Several times I have gotten the response that they have tried to call Rob but he had not gotten back to them, as of yet, (usually this was when Rob was out of town on work.) No problem I take the customer's order, and ship the item so the customer does not have to wait and the information on the customer and his credit card information is sent to Rob, so he doesn't lose a sale. So I don't know what more I can do to be more customer service oriented.

Doc

Maybe you should have bought from Rob. Then you would not be asking these questions, because Rob would have taken you out into the field and showed you everything you could ever ask about your new 4500. I'm glad I did. Without him showing me, I'd still be trying to figure it out. And for slow learners like me, he's always there to answer my dumb questions. You are going to love that 4500. Wishing you the best of luck.

Posted

Dear Al,

Your comments are not appreciated, and ill informed. This customer has a training session with me coming to him when he comes to Las Vegas. Until this time, I told him he could call my 800 number if he had any questions. Apparently, I made a very bad mistake in telling him he could also visit Rob's forum because there are a lot of friendly people there who will be more than willing to answer any questions, as well.

If you had bothered to ask this customer any questions you would have found out that I sold him this NEW machine at below my dealer cost. I held the machine for him for weeks while he faithfully made payments. I had many other calls offering immediate payment, (and 1 person offered more money) but I informed those folks, that I already had a deposit on the machine, and it was no longer for sale. Once the machine was shipped and tracking indicated he had received it, I called to make sure everything arrived in good order, and to inquire whether he had any questions or if there was anything else I could do for him at that moment.

I then further followed up with him by sending him Jonathan Porter's write up on an overview of the GPX4500, and a little cheat sheet I had made up of quick settings so he could get up and running.

So this is the kind of customer service I give to a customer from whom I lost over $400 on the sale.

A couple of weeks back I had two of my customers ready to go out for their field training. The day before I had a third gentleman who lives in town call me. He also had a Minelab he purchased from another out of state dealer and he had not found any gold with it. I told him I was taking two people out for training the next day, and invited him to come along. He wanted to know how much it would cost. I said nothing. I also asked him if turkey sandwiches from Subway were OK with him because I was bringing lunch. He showed up, and was trained just like he had purchased the machine from me.

Frankly, I am surprised, disappointed and hurt, by your comments. I've been a Minelab dealer for almost 20 years. Have you ever heard one negative comment about the way I do business or the customer service I give?

I have a toll free 800 number, I average 53 phone calls a day. At least 5 of those calls are from people I have never met, who own Minelab machines purchased from other dealers. They call me because they know I will answer their questions and the phone call is free to them. So far, today, I spent 27 minutes on a call from a person who purchased a second hand GP3000. I spent 47 minutes on a call from a gentleman who purchased a Xterra 705 Gold, who couldn't get his machine to quiet down. Of course he never used noise cancel, he was not running in Auto Ground Balance and he had his sensitivity way too high. Neither of these machines were purchased from me. But I was happy to help these gentlemen with their questions.

I am happy to have Rob as one of my best dealers. Many times I have customers call and say, "Hey I want to purchase an item I saw on Rob's forum." I tell them, "I would appreciate it if you called Rob and placed the order through him." Several times I have gotten the response that they have tried to call Rob but he had not gotten back to them, as of yet, (usually this was when Rob was out of town on work.) No problem I take the customer's order, and ship the item so the customer does not have to wait and the information on the customer and his credit card information is sent to Rob, so he doesn't lose a sale. So I don't know what more I can do to be more customer service oriented.

Doc

Hey Doc.

Eaaaasy.three deep breaths.......I think his post was just worded wrong. Sometimes when I reread mine they dont sound like what I was trying to convey. Your a good dealer to work with as I have some of your products, through Rob.

Keep up the good service and thanks.

Tom H.

  • Admin
Posted

Hey Guys,

Both Al and Doc are great friends. The last time Al and I were out hunting, some conversation was brought up about dealers and how they take care of customers. Unfortunatly, some dealers promise things the customers never receive, so I'm sure Al was just suggesting off the top of his head he should of gotten field instructions.

I'm sure most of the major dealers offer field instructions, but that doesn't mean the customer takes them. I gotten some slack about a year ago when a dealer said I didn't take my customer out and he did. The customer never called, even though I mentioned to him several times about they can be taken whenever. The other dealer ran into this customer and found out he never took instructions, but then used it against me when he gave my customer about 10 minutes of instructions at a local outing. No dealer can force someone to take them, just offer and hope they do.

I believe Al was satified with his field instructions when he purchased the unit from me and later came back for like a re-cap and nugget hunt. I think Al felt he was treated right and tossed it out on the forums in the form of "should of gotten it from Rob," but not meaning any other dealer wasn't worth a crap.

We all know Doc takes care of his customers, like most dealers should.

I personally do my best to make sure the customer understands the unit and settings before he leaves that day. Most of my customers end up finding a nugget or two, but that is not the main focus of instructions. I want the customer to understand, not just pick up and nugget and a week later he is clueless on how to operate the unit.

I also have a "Open Door" policy where you can always call, email or catch me here on the forums for more help.

That being said, No dealer will get all the sales, so I just focus on my "business integrity," doing what I promote and promise.

Take care,

Rob Allison

Posted

Now don't be picking on Doc...liberals have very tender feelings...sorry Doc...I have a demon in me...

Doc has helped many more people than we ever hear from...but, I think Al was jst trying to express his thankfulness to Rob...the written word is so unforgiving...

Now Doc, as for proving you provide great service how about sending me a Minelab 5000...and I won't even ask for lessons....just teasing because I can...

and so you don't go away mad at me...I love the Swingy Thingy for my beach hunting...the detector never touches the sand, anymore!!!

best wishes

fred

  • Admin
Posted

Hey Fred,

I believe that is exactly what Al was doing. I couldn't count how many times I have written a post on the run (quickly) and then going back and re-reading it, I realized it wasn't written correctly or sounded wrong.

Ok, lets hunt some nugget! :wub:

Rob Allison

Posted

Doc, I'm sorry you took my good intentions the wrong way. The last thing on my mind was to down play any dealer. I have gotten things from you over the last few years and have always been happy with them and your service. I only wanted to show my appreciation to Rob for the way he helped me after the sale. Sorry. I can not expect you or any other dealer to read what was on my mind. My bad. For those that were offended, I'm sorry. I meant no harm.

Posted

Sorry Al,

I must have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning. It just struck me wrong. I have hung my ass out a mile for a lot of people on this forum. From Jennifer Bond, who did not buy her Minelab from me, but when she had issues with getting hers repaired correctly, (like three times) I went to bat for her with Minelab and they came through and gave her a brand new machine, to the stud muffin twins who accidently blew up their SD2100 by plugging it into a 12 volt battery... Don't ask. They didn't get that machine from me either, but I hooked them up with a new one. To the guy who got his Minelab stolen from his truck and the insurance company only gave him 70% of what it was worth, so I didn't charge him anymore than that so he would have no out of pocket expense.

I've been married 42 years, I don't get any appreciation around my house either, I should be getting use to it.

Doc

Doc, I'm sorry you took my good intentions the wrong way. The last thing on my mind was to down play any dealer. I have gotten things from you over the last few years and have always been happy with them and your service. I only wanted to show my appreciation to Rob for the way he helped me after the sale. Sorry. I can not expect you or any other dealer to read what was on my mind. My bad. For those that were offended, I'm sorry. I meant no harm.

Posted

Thanks Chris,

Doc

There is another side of Doc that most folks are not aware of.

His outstanding commitment to supporting his dealers.

Thanks Doc!

Posted

Liberal? Oh yeah, I'm very liberal. NOT! :blink:

Doc

Now don't be picking on Doc...liberals have very tender feelings...sorry Doc...I have a demon in me...

Doc has helped many more people than we ever hear from...but, I think Al was jst trying to express his thankfulness to Rob...the written word is so unforgiving...

Now Doc, as for proving you provide great service how about sending me a Minelab 5000...and I won't even ask for lessons....just teasing because I can...

and so you don't go away mad at me...I love the Swingy Thingy for my beach hunting...the detector never touches the sand, anymore!!!

best wishes

fred

Posted

I'am very happy with my gpx 4500 purchase from doc. I was hoping that others would like to share there experiences

with the 4500, what settings seemed to work for them in the randsburg area and what differences that they notice

upgrading to the gpx 5000.

Posted

I'am very happy with my gpx 4500 purchase from doc. I was hoping that others would like to share there experiences

with the 4500, what settings seemed to work for them in the randsburg area and what differences that they notice

upgrading to the gpx 5000.

The main differences between the units are, improved Enhance timings on the 5000, the new Fine Gold timings (absolutely brilliant) and others like Coin/Relic (more for very quiet zero mineralisation soils). Probably the biggest thing with the GPX 5000 is its overall smoothness of operation both in efficiency of achieving a good ground balance but also in the way it sounds to the ear. Having said all that the 4500 is still a brilliant detector which has proven itself to be very popular throughout the world.

As for DOC, well actions speak far louder than words, I've lost count of the number of times I've gone to the post office and found a parcel from DOC with something for the kids or Frieda enclosed, last time it was a pair of detecting boots for me which I don't have the heart to wear detecting because it will muss them up. :blush:

JP

Posted

Good Lord mate, you still haven't worn those boots I gave you? What ya' waiting for? You want to save them to be buried in?

BCOT!

Doc

The main differences between the units are, improved Enhance timings on the 5000, the new Fine Gold timings (absolutely brilliant) and others like Coin/Relic (more for very quiet zero mineralisation soils). Probably the biggest thing with the GPX 5000 is its overall smoothness of operation both in efficiency of achieving a good ground balance but also in the way it sounds to the ear. Having said all that the 4500 is still a brilliant detector which has proven itself to be very popular throughout the world.

As for DOC, well actions speak far louder than words, I've lost count of the number of times I've gone to the post office and found a parcel from DOC with something for the kids or Frieda enclosed, last time it was a pair of detecting boots for me which I don't have the heart to wear detecting because it will muss them up. :blush:

JP

Posted

I've had email misunderstandings/hard feelings with long-time friends so it's understandable it can happen amongst those less acquainted.

Doc went above & beyond for me on an item that is Top Secret so don't even ask me about it cuz I won't tell.

Al, if this happens again, just do what I do: fix your original post so it looks like the person responding is messed up in the head :P

Posted

GOOD

everyone gets to the point that one thing said one way took another way on the wrong day and BOOM

and after all said and done nobody really meant to offend anyone it's call frusation of something completely different

now everyone is friends

sorrys are over with

lets have fun until the next time someone has a short fuse for who knows what reason VENTING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhh

LIFE'S GOOD

hope I said this right

Roger

Posted

I just bought a new GPX 4500 from Doc and had a few questions to current and past owners.

What settings seem to work for you in the mojave desert around randsburg?

I'am going from a gp3000 to a gpx 4500 and trying to get a feel for the machine.

Also what have owners that went from a gpx 4500 to a 5000 Do you see a vast

improvement in handling hot rocks or anything else that the 4500 can't do.

Thank You

Hi:

Im using a 5000...I have no experience with a 4500

I am working some really hot ground and the 5G handles it well.

I still get some woowees from hot rocks, hot bedrock and black sand but have learned to tell whats what. I usually scrape the surface with my foot and go back over to see what it sounds like. I have been fooled from some deep black sand, thinking its a target.

I run the 5G in FINE GOLD, gain at 11, tracking, mono coil, search mode general,motion very slow, stabilizer at 10, audio normal, tracking slow.

Hope this helps as I know some of the settings are different on the 45.

Tom H.

  • Admin
Posted

Hello JulianMines,

I have to agree with Jonathan Porter, pretty much dead on what he said.

The GPX-5000 has more accurate or improved electronics, which ultimately means better depth, better sensitivity to smaller gold and better ground balancing results.

With the GPX-5000 you also get two searchcoils (11-inch Round Mono and DD), with the GPX-4500 you get just the 11-inch DD.

There are more timings, 8 total on the GPX-5000, only 6 on the GPX-4500. The new timings, Fine Gold and Coin/Relic are being used with much success in the goldfields and coin/relic sites such as the beach, old battlefields and other places you might finds valuable coins and relics.

The Salt/Gold timing is also a revision of the GPX-4500's Salt/Coarse, which was used on larger nuggets in salt affected areas. The newer Salt/Gold is good for both smaller and larger gold mineralized salt lakes and even black sand beaches. I've actually used this timing several times on faint targets on moderate to hot ground (without salt mineralization) and gotten a better response.

Without a doubt, the Enhance soil timing has been revised. It's now much more immune and quieter than the GPX-4500. I used the Enhance timing nearly half of the time working very mineralized locations and noticed the new Enhance is better and more stable on the GPX-5000.

One last thing is the RX Gain adjustment. On the GPX-5000 you have more range of control from 1-20, the GPX-4500 has 1-15.

There's no doubt the GPX-5000 in my opinion is more stable and worth the investment, but if you own a GPX-4500 (also a great detector) you will have to make that determination.

Hope this helps a bit,

Rob Allison

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