What's odd about this saga - other than the fact the manufacturer remains a mystery - is that it's about an amplifier. Those are among these easiest components to repair for a competent technician. Any good tech, given access to decent schematics, should be able to troubleshoot it readily. I can't imagine why it would need to be shipped overseas for repair, where it will be subject to potential damage on return.
Amp Warranty Repair - What's an acceptable timescale for turnaround?
Hi
My amplifier failed at the end of January of this year. I contacted the retailer who advised me it was still under warranty and he undertook to contact the distributor. At this stage I assumed that its repair would entail a trip to a highly regarded technician whose workshop is a 2 hour drive from my home!
The dealer got back to me and said that he had spoken with the distributor who said that the amp could not be repaired locally and would have to be returned to the manufacturer.
I left the Amp with the dealer on the 1st February 23. As returning it to the manufacturer required an overseas journey I did not expect the turnaround to be a quick one!
I last spoke with the dealer on 30th March. He said he was trying to chase things up with the distributer but did not know anything else about the Amp as they had not updated him about it.
The conversation ended with me asking him to try and contact the distributer for an update and to see if he could get an approximate date for its return to me! The Dealer said he would try, and to be fair to him he has, on 2 occasions, offered to loan me an amp, He also said he felt awkward as he didn't know what to tell me, and added that he had to go via the distributer as he could not contact the manufacturer himself (politics I guess!).
Now I don't expect miracles, but am I unreasonable in thinking that this lack of communication from the distributer is an example of appallingly poor customer services! I would also add that they have my details as the product was registered with them!
Any thoughts would be welcome as I am not sure what the best way forwards is!
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I have Bel Canto amp that developed an issue in one channel. I contacted Bel Canto, got a RMA and sent it in. It arrived on Thursday. They sent an email that day confirming the issue. The tech suggested during the repair he could upgrade the input stages for both channels for a modest cost, which I agreed to. The amp was on its way back completely repaired on Monday. Outstanding service. I also recently sent my Soundsmith cartridge in for complete refurbishment. When I called to get the RMA they said it would be 4-6 weeks for the work. It took less than 1 week, again outstanding service. They are both USA manufacturers. |
@bazb Just so you know, the supply side shortage thing is still going on. Depending on what your item needed in terms of repair the lead time might not be something anyone can say with any accuracy. Just to give you an idea, we placed an order for some high end resistors last July; they came in last week. Before the shortages that vendor was tupically 10 weeks. The last order we placed with them in December is quoted for shipment this coming November. |
I wrote a while ago about my experience with Carver. Briefly on a Sunday I had a problem, I emailed them, Bob called me at 730 pm est that day and worked with me about 1/2 hr, we couldn’t fix the problem. Shipped it on Monday and received it back with tech notes the following Monday. Carver pays to back ship,(no 2 way shipping for the customer) under warr so no charge and perfectly fixed. Do business with USA companies that’s all I can say. Some like me love Carver, some don’t but you can’t beat their follow up when you buy one of their products. Mine is a Crimson 350 btw.. OP it might have been better even under warr for you get the tech 2 hrs away and pay for his bench time. Small problem pay for it yourself, huge problem maybe not but manufactures out of country that don't have US service centers can be a problem as you've seen. Sorry for your amp problems. |
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