2. misc-audio
  3. 195257-163317

Denafrips offer to replace my faulty Pontus 15th, for a replacement fee?

My Pontus 15th has developed an issue with the right channel output so I reached out to Denafrips to hopefully get it sent to be looked at/fixed (still under warranty)

However, they don’t have anyone here in the UK to look at it; instead they’ve offered to replace my current Pontus with a brand new replacement for a replacement fee of 400 USD but free shipping.

I would have to pay for shipping my Pontus, back to China which I don’t have a problem with.

I can’t decide in my mind whether this is a good offer or not, considering my Pontus is just over a year old and within warranty.

On the one hand, I can see this is as a decent compromise by Denafrips and a show of good will, as they will send me a new unit without verification of the fault, but on the other hand, is the replacement fee a little unreasonable considering the circumstances/the issue with my unit, and valid warranty?

I’m unsure if I’m honest; if I’d recently bought the unit and were sending it back because I didn’t like it, I’d understand a fee, but returning due to a fault, I’m having difficulty coming to terms with the fee.

Is this a generous offer and I’m being unreasonable, or is the fee unreasonable?

 

painter24
rushfan71's avatar
rushfan71
299 posts
 

If they were a reputable company I would expect them to email me shipping label to return it at their cost, and if they can't fix it I would expect them to ship me a brand new one free of charge seeing how it is under warranty. However Im not sure why the manufacturer wouldn't be able to fix it having all the parts that went in to it on hand.

Sounds like a company I wouldn't do business with if that option wasn't offered.

Paying to return ship the unit to China and pay $400 for them to send you a new one doesn't sound like decent compromise

 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,202 posts
 

I got a lot of heat on this forum and others  regarding this brand.     Turns out they are a POS company after all...   Same is true for Eversolo.   They treat customers the same way and will do anything to avoid after sale support / warranty repair or replacement.  

Gotta watch out for brands like these.  

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,692 posts
 

@painter24 

I would attempt to bargain that deal down to not paying anything except shipping your old unit to them. But your decision to get a replacement DAC and sell it makes sense. It just shouldn’t cost you additional $400. That’s a pretty bad move by Denafrips.

I never owned any of their DACs and most likely never will. There are plenty of similarly priced DACs out there that sound at least as good from companies that offer solid customer service. 

painter24's avatar
painter24 OP
319 posts
 

@audphile1 I've thought about it over the last few days, taking into consideration comments left on the thread, and I feel your take would be the "right thing" for Denafrips to do. I will be responding to them today to see what arrangement we can come to

Moving forward, I won't make this kind of purchase again, due to the lack of repair and maintenance facility within the UK/Europe area. 

sns
4,054 posts
 

I'd think one may be better off with a replacement unit. You all seem to think repairs are a simple and quick thing. Do you know the waiting time for techs these days? Techs are dying out, retiring, too few, long wait times. Will it be repaired correctly another issue. So new Pontus around $2k,  OP pays $400 for brand new unit which he plans to sell. His total investment assuming he paid $2k for his original is $2400, he can probably sell this brand new Pontus, assuming it's warrantied and transferable for I'd guess around $1600, so a net expenditure of $800. Seems reasonable way to go for me. 

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