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.
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."
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.
I do not know who was at fault, I truly do not, but I would expect if I shipped a product, insured, and it arrived damaged that the receiver would be obligated to notify me BEFORE doing work on it.
But again, I have no idea in what order things occurred.
I had great support from c-j, in fact shortly after buying my Classic 2 SE I emailed them on a Friday night regarding a suspected faulty tube....Saturday morning I received an email from Lew Johnson , he is a class act. They sent a new tube out and fortunately everything's been fine. I love this pre and would definitely buy another Conrad Johnson product.
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