Uber expensive repair at United Radio

OP:

  you did ask the question on price.
and those amazing amps , I can see the price this high. 


 Here is a response from classé from AA.


Thank you for calling in about your M-700 amplifiers. As you noted in your voicemail, there has been significant changes to Classé operations in the past few months, which include moving all service and support from Montreal to Boston, closing the Classé building in Cananda, and just now within the past couple weeks Classé has been acquired by United Radio.

During the transfer from the Montreal repair facility to the Boston facility attempts were made to bring down as many parts as we could for repairs. However there were certain parts we could not collect, mainly for pre Delta 2 series or legacy unit including the M-700. As a result we can only recommend contacting a reputable nearby audio electronics repair shop to ask if they can diagnose and possibly repair the unit.

We realize that this is not a favorable suggestion, but at this time it is the only one I can provide.

I apologize for this inconvenience. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Ken Bunker | Technical Support
Bowers & Wilkins - North America"







   Such good components, it’s a shame they have gone this route!

  I feel your pain...
my grail speakers have been bought and discontinued, never to be made again!!  Also, my amp will someday have an issue, not looking forward to this when it happens. 
  No one is getting any younger!




ANYWAY.......you have your fixed amplifiers? How do they sound?
  Any problems as of late? All is well?


   If it were me,...I would keep on them with emails and phone calls, and some hand written letters to them. 
I had a similar experience with my Rotel rb-1090  one of the best amps I’ve owned, I miss her! Only had maybe 200 hrs of enjoyment, when a 8 am power on, resulted in the dreaded pop, then a white flash, followed by a few white lightning bolts circulating around for about 1.5 seconds, , followed by a small ploom of smoke. Then the red light came on, then my breaker popped.

  Keep on them.

 

Let's look at this situation without involving emotions.
The business did you a favor by providing you with an option, where there was none (according to you).
You agreed to the deal.
They delivered as promised.
Now you talk bad behind their backs.
That is just bad manners.

Your argument here is further eroded by the simple fact that they are in business and as evidenced by business still in operation, they know what they are doing to stay in business.
You are not in the audio repair business. Any opinions that you have about what things should cost or what they should do, are just that, without any evidence that you know what you are talking about.

It is like saying, "Everyone should do what I wish was true"

snratio

cleeds, ya obviously don’t have much electronics experience or business experience.

Once again: You don’t know what you are talking about. That seems to be the case with many of your posts. But you’re here to argue - not to talk about audio or music - so I realize this is all working out just swell for you. It's odd that you keep doing this only to be banned from the group again and again.

arcticdeth  I agree about these cars, but not just the expense.  My BMW's and Alfa's were beyond spending a fortune to keep them functioning properly.  They were just too much trouble to bother with.  I had the best audio repairman ever.  He designed his product, made it, repaired it, and always answered the phone.  He even told me how to unplug a power transistor laden heat sink to sent it to him and save shipping costs.  We all miss you, Julius.

@vladedelman

United Radio (UR) was the only option provided as a service center from Classé Audio. What other options are you talking about? UR is the sole authorized repair center for Classé Audio in NA...I would never send my gear elsewhere than the authorized manufacturer's service center. They normally would have access to schematics, components and engineering support.

True that I agreed  to the deal and the amp is now working fine. I am only expressing my opinion relative to the actual cost of the repair. FYI, I had my two previous Krell FPB350 MCX monoblock amps recapped at the Krell factory. My total upgrade cost was $1,500 ($750/amp). So this is kind of my repair cost reference point. Call it bad manners if you want, but I do feel the repair cost was out of proportion, compared to my Krell repair experience and don't feel ashamed of calling it out.

Not sure if you read the whole post, when you are indicating that I don't know what I am talking about servicing equipment. I did own a telecommunications equipment repair shop + managed directly/indirectly 2 other electronic repair shops during my career. I am very familiar with all the Capex/Opex costs involved in operating an service repair department.