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Conrad Johnson Repair Issues

The Post I Never Dreamed I’d Write
About two weeks ago I sent my beloved Conrad Johnson Premier-17 back to
the Conrad Johnson factory for repair because it stopped making any sound whatsoever. It apparently blew some internal component.
I soon received an email acknowledging receipt of the unit and an estimated bill
of about $523.00 not including parts.
On 10/14/2016 I got a phone message telling me the preamp was fixed & total charges were $579.00.
I called a few days ago to give my credit card info to pay for the repairs. The CJ
employee told me that “we also need to tell you that the unit was damaged during
shipping & the damages are not repairable because it involves damage to the structure of the unit & those metal parts are no longer available." The damage was not mentioned until that point.
Photos showed the actual frame of the preamp was twisted & bent. It looked like it had been dropped off a two story building without the box.
The repair manager felt it would be pointless to file an insurance claim because
they would automatically deny any claim where the box was not damaged & refused to assist me with any insurance issues.
The CJ phone rep assured me that Mr. Johnson, the owner, would call me that afternoon but he never did.
I did get a call from the repair employee who said they just want to
get my payment information & send my preamp to me.
I shipped U.S. Post Office & insured for $2000.00.
I’m shocked to have this happen with this company. I've had several pieces of equipment repaired by them with great service.
I would appreciate any advice. I'm a little shaken & confused.
I’m really shocked that this would happen with a company of this stature.
I've stayed with this brand over the years because of their reliability & reputation for integrity.
It really doesn’t look like shipping damage to me.Shouldn’t they at least be willing to
assist with insurance issues?
This is one of the more unpleasant customer service experiences I've had in a while.

128x128pereza
michaela
314 posts
 
I would have to echo this comment from Jetter: "It does not seem ok to me that the owner of a major company has to become involved, and only after a public airing of what appears to be egregious behavior of one of his employees, if we are to believe the OP, in order to have the situation resolved".

It just seems to me like bad business for CJ not to resolve this situation right away. The resolution is fair but it should have been offered right away, not after it got to this point. I am more than a little disappointed in CJ.
dchang1981
66 posts
 
ummm the OP states that he hung up when they stated that there was damage done, then refused to respond to multiple phone calls and emails...then followed up with calling them and emailing them multiple times?  kind of curious the language used in these emails and calls.  i still don't feel like we are getting a true representation of the story but thats just me.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
My personal experiences with c-j service went so well, that I would add that to the plus column for future purchase considerations.
"All's well that end well."

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,601 posts
 
It is still an odd situation?
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
I 've given this thread a lot of thought.  I have had many units sent out for repair or modification over the years and have never had an experience as the one described by the OP.  I did notify CJ of this thread last month as I was concerned that their reputation was being damaged by the perception of audiophiles reading this thread.  I did receive timely responses from CJ each time I engaged in a dialog with them.

 There are extenuating circumstances in this particular case (shipping a high end preamp with USPS!!! Who does that?  Second, apparently the dense foam protective side panels that CJ ships their gear with were not properly affixed.) I'd hope we would all agree that it is incumbent upon us to properly pack our items to ship and that they not be sent via USPS.  This is not USPS bash time.  Shipping sensitive audiophile gear is not their gig.

So...IMHO conrad johnson design has treated a careless? customer in a very reasonable fashion.  I am a current owner of a CJ preamp and will continue to consider future purchases of their fine equipment.



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