VTL Service ??

Just picked a used pair of MB-185 Sig. mono's, and they both went dead simultaneously within 3 hours after working in the last owner's system with no problems for a year. Since last weekend, I've left 2 messages for Luke with no response. I've talked to Bea twice, but she can't help a lot with technical issues. I think it must be the B+ fuses, because the heaters still light up, but what could make these blow at the same time? These amps had the tetrode/triode switch removed by the first owner, which I would like to restore, but Bea is not giving me any help with this issue other than to suggest I ship the amps to VTL, at a $300 cost plus $120 for new cartons, not including the repairs. Why she couldn't just sell me the switches and send a schematic for a local tech to do the work, I don't know, but she won't. I'm disappointed that the only person in the company who can talk to me about tech issues is the owner/president, because he obviously hasn't got enough time for this kind of stuff. Most companies I've dealt with have people on staff to handle this kind of thing.

I was going to buy a VTL amp. Matter of fact it's the only negative review i have here after the auction. I was told by the seller about a hum. I called VTL 3 times and only talked to some lady. She told me that it was a transformer hum and it would cost more to fix it then it was worth and that some of their older models did that. She told me some people just put them in a closet so they didn't hear it. My wife called, because it was difficult for me to understand her English, and she told her to fix that type of problem was similar to removing the engine from an automobile. I had a hard time believing that and wanted to talk to someone else about it, but after four phone calls and never being able to talk to anyone but her, I decided it was in my best interest to back out of the auction, which I know is wrong, but at the same time, the hum was never mentioned in the ad. I've dealt with many companies such as Audio Research, Rogue, B & K, ect. and all these companies had excellent customer service, especially Leonard at Audio Research. You want a part and the scematics of a product, boom he sends it to you. Not saying VTL is a bad company, I know they make some very good products, but I had an overall bad experience with the customer service end of it. I believe if I was able to talk to someone with working knowledge of the amp my questions may have been answered, and possibly I would have bought the amp. Who knows. I personally don't think VTL has very good personal service, but this is only my experience. Hope this helps.

I was interested in VTL also, but I could not get any information about their products upon inquiring directly to VTL. I later listened to their equipment at a audio dealer. I continued to attempt to contact VTL directly, but they would not respond to any of my inquiries. At about the same time I had a friend who was attempting to get a VTL amp serviced. But he could not get Luke at VTL to return his calls, or his e-mails.

Eventually I sent VTL a e-mail advising them that their lack of response to my inquiries lost them and their dealer a sale. I also advised the VTL dealer the reason I Wasn't buying the VTL product. To this day neither of them have contacted me to offer any explanation for the lack of customer service.

I also have a friend who once sold VTL who told me to stay as far away from VTL as I could.

Just my experience, Good luck!

I've gotten my response from Luke, and it is the same story. He doesn't want to speak by phone, or help me to fix the switches or get the fuse issue diagnosed without sending everything back to the factory. They will not consider selling parts or schematics that would make this easier. In fact, he even declined my invitation to describe to me upgrades they might be able to do if I ship them to the factory, saying he would talk about that if and when the amps arrived. And he also wouldn't comment on my asking for any recommendations about whether to use the balanced inputs, or aftermarket AC cords, saying if I had a dealer, I should ask them. He did, however, scold me for buying his amps used. I replied that this is diametrically opposed to the attitude they should be taking, and indeed to the one that most manufacturers I've dealt take. I'll try to get the amps running again on my own, because I need to audition them at length before making a commitment to spend over $1,000 on service at this point. Wish me luck!

I have listened to the VTL MB-450 amps and they sounded very
good indeed, so I added them to my list of possible new amps. The favourable reviews and attitudes by TAS,
made me feel even more convinced, that the VTL MB-450´s were
a strong alternative.
But after reading these postings about bad customer service, I changed my mind.
I find that we, the consumers,have gained much more power, with the Web.
According to the liberal economical theory,the market:i.e.
the sum of all individual customers,will award companies
which have and get customers who are contented with their purcases;the product, its price,the service provided before
and after the purcase and even the company´s reputation or goodwill,all this has to be just right,for a company to survive in the long run.Naturally, the marktet will, in the long run, punish companies that fails to meet the above criteria.
In short, with our money we vote which companies are the best to us.
But before the Internet,we were much more restricted in sharing our findings.The Hi-fi magazines (seen as a group)e.g.are too dependent on the manufacturers, to tolerate a free debate.A monopoly of information even in the western countries where money was the paramount key, in a way resembled that of totalitarian states.That was a paradox that had to be be solved by the open society!Remarkable, the money that was put into military research, forced by the Cold War to escalate,provided, -among other things,the root to the Internet as we use it right now.This has provided relief in , but obviously not a total freedom from monopoly or oligopoly tendencies in media.
By reporting good, as well as bad experieces with a certain company, you make us a great favour, in our coming buying decisions.Thank you! Thanks also to Audiogon for publishing
this information!
Sharing information and knowledge about Audio,is the most important way for us to develop as audiophiles.
A free debate,hopefully, may also put an end to, or deminish
the influence of some false myths and ignorance about audio, that has been taken for granted for too long.
I will return to that, soon.
Regards
Håkan
(Sweden)