Hi guys!
I’m about to upgrade my unit and wanted to run by you here, since you’re known as having a very low tolerance for bs. Currently I work with an Apilus Senior 2 and loving it. Now the time for Synchro has arrived and I was wondering; should I go for the xCell pro or should I save my money and go for the Platinum with the synchro plug? What do you think? Is the fluff worth the money?
thank you all for being here for us!
I upgraded from the Platinum to the xcell Pro. It is not fluff to me because I use most of the features. I like the choices offered and I like to THINK and maneuver (play) with the energy levels to give more customized treatments.
The Platinum and Purés are being phased out, so that’s a good reason to take the leap up to the xCell.
Some people have had complaints about the xCell’s performance. I have been highly satisfied with my unit for the five years I have owned it. They have recently improved the probe holders which is a plus and shows their responsiveness to their customers.
Another plus is, Dectro is not a one man or one woman owned company. We all found out last year that if a person dies, their fabulous product may die with them. We lost Mike Roy, a very dear and brilliant man. There was no one to carry on to continue to make his fabulous Laurier IBP probes. Very unfortunate. Small, family based businesses fade away when there are no daughters or sons interested in taking the baton. There are enough people at Dectro to keep the ball rolling for a long time and they are responsive if problems arise.
Owners will tell you it is worth every penny and it very well might be. The xCell has many options. Bear in mind that Dectro flagship machines are not known for reliability. Service and support eventually disappears for a given model. Not sure about the time frame on that. On the flip side, you can buy three Instantron Elite Spectrums for the price of one xCell. The Instantron is more reliable but a more basic machine. Quite a few electrologists have and rave about both. Instantron has been around since 1880. I don’t think they are going anywhere.
no, in my opinion, the Xcell and the Platinum are on par with both failures and reliability. I’ve worked with each of them The Xcell cost $12460 CDN when we bought it, and we’ve seen a steady decrease in the functionality of the thermolysis in that time, resulting in the unit being sent in for “hardware revision” last week. I’ve been operating with a loaner since friday.This is a near identical experience to that we had with the platinum I worked with in a previous office, which had to be replaced twice in a year and eventually sold by the owner of the business because she didnt want to deal with the issues any longer. In troubleshooting the Xcell the dectro technician was sure to inform me NOT to update the firmware I have had sitting in email for months, as they have seen no end of problems with the current 4.8 version software.
My business is in Ottawa, and close to Dectro’'s service depot in Montreal, but had we been any further ( as many of you are) it would not have been possible to get a loaner or get this one in for service as efficiently or quickly and would have lead to the inability of one of our electrologists from woring at all, for several weeks, and many XCel/Platinum owners have had to pay up for insured international shipping to Dectro when things go wrong, which does indeed seem to happen frequently regardless of whether you buy your device new, or as a used unit. With this decreased reliability over the last 10 years with Dectro product, I unfortunately cannot recommend an upgrade to an Xcell or platinum and would recommend you seriously consider going with an Instantron Spectrum Elite, which has a excellent reputation for reliability and quality of service from the firms owner Skip Mahler.
Dectro in Montreal does not repair the machine. They only verify the functionality and calibrate them. If there is a problem they send the machine to Dectro in Quebec city for repair, which also take time. For me the most important is the reliability of the machine, everything else is secondary.
Thank you all for your good advises.
I certainly don’t live close by to any of Dectro’s offices, so i’ll have to take my next step accordingly.
I really don’t know what to do. I’m so tempted to go for the xCell but with no access to service I might as well give up.
It never occurred to me to check for reliability… My Senior 2 is as great as the day I bought it (knock on wood tpu tpu) so my (modest) experience with Dectro has been excellent. I know of an electrologist that stopped working with the xCell and now I think it could be because of hardware issues?
I am very sorry to hear about Mike Roy. I wish his family well and to not know any more sorrow.
The reliability issue with Dectro machines seems to be primarily associated with their 27 Mhz units. The Senior and other 13.56 Mhz machines appear to be quite reliable.
I’d agree with Hairadicator’s information on this, I have had a older SM-500 that wored perfectly all the years I had it, right up until the memory card battery flattened while it was stored in a corner of my office for over year. Unfortunately that was enought to cause that machine too to be irreparable, as Dectro could no longer supply the parts having ceased support. I would guess it was manufacturd sometime in the 90’s . However every single 27 mhz machine I have ever used of theirs has had issues. Every single one And usually, quite regularly. I dont have a clue how those from overseas locations have put up with these issues ( paying international insured shipping which cost them in the 1000’s of dollars for each failure, plus repair costs!) . I think in the same circumstances, i would have gone ballistic.
I have had XCell pur for 5 years, no problems. I loved the Plattinum too. I have not added the last update either. Most of my colleagues have the XCell.
I think it would be helpful to have some transparency and actual numbers presented as to how pervasive this problem really is with the 27 mhz. I never had an output problem with the Platinum or the xCell. I have been using Dectro units since 2007. My units have been reliable. How many xCells have been sold? How many complaints have been registered with Dectro? Is it really a problem for some or many? What are the numbers?
Transparency with repair statistics does not exist and it never will. To even admit one fault would be financial suicide. Why hurt sales? I doubt electrologists are pulling these stories out of thin air. It seems some units are problem free and soldier on for years without a single glitch, while others are plagued with chronic issues that never go away. Numbers? I don’t see it happening.
Please note the top ranked for Instantron is Elite Spectrum “K”.
If u r buying it without “K” I believe thermolysis energy is a bit lower & slower to extract coarse hair
You are probably right about the transparency angle, but I will tell you that without numbers on how many units have been sold verses how many complaints about no energy output, no one knows if this is a major problem. Therefore, I can’t make declarations with any sense of fairness to buy or not to buy.
I had a problem with my digital Gentronics years ago that required the owner of the company to walk me through unscrewing the back off the unit and inserting aluminum foil in a certain location. How many units needed this same “upgrade”? Two? Ten? Fifty? Only mine? The owner got the complaints, fixed it and no one was the wiser because the internet was not in full swing with the electrolysis community.
I can’t draw conclusions about anything unless I know the numbers, so I will not demonize a product/ business. If Dectro has sold 1,000 xCells internationally and there have been 25 complaints about no energy output, well I do feel badly for those 25 people, but that doesn’t constitute a major reason not to purchase an xCell. Dectro does offer good customer service if there is a problem…
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Gosh I love you Dee!
But David is right. You’ll never know the exact numbers.
True. This situation can be applied to all of us. If someone came on Hairtell and complained that Seana, Dee or David made marks all over their face, would future consumers, who seek our service, want to know how many people they have treated and how often they get complaints like this? Are we really going to post pictures of the red marks, pustules or scabs and tell the world about our side effect history? If I have had three thousand clients over a period time and a small percentage have expressed they have had a problem with my business (personality or skill related issues) do I want a group of people running away from my business just on the word of a few who are disgruntled or have other agendas? That’s why numbers and context matter to me . It’s a matter a evaluating a consumer situation, whether the company is big or small.
I am very satisfied with the xCell Pro and I have always been treated well by their customer service representatives.
When there is trouble, people come to the internet. When there are no problems, you will not hear from people that are satisfied. How many are satisfied?
Again, I like that the company is not dependent on one person. Things happen to people. We don’t go on forever. I have found that out with other family run businesses like furniture refinishers, re-upholstery experts, clothes alterations and unfortunately, probe makers that once they retire or die, one is left wondering where to go to fill the void. I want all epilator companies to be successful and to carry on well through the passing of the days into the next generation. I want fairness in judging a situation, too.
There is a one company that sells electrolysis supplies. I have had more than three bad experiences with this company and choose not patronize them anymore. It took a lot to P… me off, but I’m gone for good. We all have the right to shop where we feel respected and well served. Fortunately, Amazon filled the bill for most of my supplies, so it wasn’t painful leaving. So, too, for you Seana. You have been very patient and maybe it really is time to move over completely to the Instantron “K” epilator. It sounds wonderful and trouble-free.
I dont think moving over entirely to my instantron is a solutions for 2 reasons:
1 my apprentise ( and soon graduate) uses the Instantron as her primary epilator. It takes 2 machines to keep this clinic going.
2) I actually LIKE the Xcell. The treatments ( when it works properly) are comfortable and offer me a wide range of modality choices.My clients like them too.
In general, i would say that most dectro products work very well. I’m a huge fan of the isoblend probes for example and it’s all I work with.
That said, reliability is a #1 concern for my practise. Any machine failure , now I am working a full complement of electrologists, means that until that machine is repaired or replaced, ONE of those electrologists isnt working until the issue is resolved. This isnt good for me, for my employees, or for my clientele.
I do agree with you that the numbers, giving actual statistics, is the most helpful way to determine this. However from a marketing standpoint, it’s not reasonable to expect this from Dectro in all honesty.It is in their interest to downplay the failures and do everything in their power to downplay them.
When asked about usage of the Xcell, I have almost nothing bad to say about the machines.But when it comes to reliability, in this production environment, the performance with all of the 4 Dectro machines I have worked has been hampered by reliability issues. Could it be my fault? Possibly. I’ve actually been not talking about the power issues that I have seen over the last year at all, most especially with clients, who want the best treatment possible every time.
This is very much a situation where experience is different from what was sold to us, and where it isnt in the best interest of the company to be honest about failures.We hear them everyday, and it especially affects me when I hear the horror stories of those overseas having to ship machines back costing them thousands in shipping costs, and getting them back, with the same ,or in some cases, all new technical issues.
I think the Xcell is a very complicated machine. And I ALSO have a vested interest in the success of Dectro when it comes . That said however, downplaying and not getting to the root of the problem, is in the end what is hurting their business.We all want a variety of machines to work from, with their inherent strengths and weaknesses.
Costing the electrologist thousands, and never getting to the root cause and correcting it, and costing those same electrologists thousands in lost business and productivity and shipping costs, and then turning around and having the same issues with a bunch more machines the next week, will eventually damage their reputation as a vendor, just as your view of Pres**** was hampered by your experiences there.
Of the 13.54 mhz and 3 27 mhz machines I have had fom Dectro, each has had some issue or the other, and USUALLY it’s the same issue ( diminishing thermolysis current). It does sound to me that Dectro is becoming more familiar with the root cause of that issue ( more than likely the ground circuit) but in my opinion, they need to be more proactive in resolving that issue BEFORE the electrologist is out of work for 3 weeks or more, and fixing the issue on ALL the machines they have sold. Otherwise, all we have to go on is our respective experience ( and those of others we have heard the same story from) and I would be negligent I think, if I recommended a machine to a potential buyer that I KNEW at some point in the next few years, was going to be inoperable for them for weeks at a time, and affect their businesses.
I like you Dee. You try and put a posative spin on everything.And I’m happy ( nay thrilled) you have had no issues with your machine. But unfortunately, it doesnt negate the experience of the many who have. Here’s a statistic:
3/3 machines this electrologist has worked with from Dectro that are 27 mhz machines, have all failed, in an almost identical manner. Would YOu recommend a car for someone to purchases when you bought 3 of them in the last 5 years, and each one has left you stranded on the side of the road?
Food for thought.
I hope Dectro is nailing this down. I do want to be proud of the machine I have invested so much into. It sounds like they are on the right path. But I would be lying if I said that investing in over 25 probeholders in the sending 3 machines back to them for service, and always wondering if they would come back with the same or all new problems, wasnt wearing me down, and definitely affect how likely I am to recommend such a machine to others.
All of this said, I think we should mmove this thread over to the electrologists only forum. I dont think having it visible to the general consumers here is productive or in any way desireable. Do you agree with this?
Also you seem to have more time than I do today. You typed that lengthly response when I was working ( as I have been since 10 am with no breaks between).
I spend Friday’s taking care of my mom’s needs, grandchildren or both. so yes, I have more time to type, but I do think this is important enough to spend time discussing. I’m truly puzzled by all the trouble you have had and I feel sorry for the inconveniences you have had to endure.
I’m fine with you moving this thread.