Basis Audio - Exhorbitant servicing evaluation cost

Wow Dodnbav, that would have been a lovely business lecture to someone who is complaining about the general high price of service, which I was not. And I got some opinions from a number of people who have had direct experience with basis and testified to their great service. but no one seemed to know about how the fixed price evaluation fees, which seem out of whack, are supposed to work (EG does the cost of evaluation apply to repair costs). And earlier in the thread I said I will call them. I had emailed Basis with my question and they didn't respond, so I thought I would ask on the forum to see if anyone knew the answer to my question. No one did, including you. No worries, though, as I will call them this week. 

Thanks everyone.

That's outrageous and absurd and I wouldn't spend a dime on their products. 

There is an interesting parallel to SOTA. When Kirk Bodinet passed, in 2015, Donna had to take the reins at SOTA, and then, in 2016, A.J. Conti passed too early as well and Jolanta was thrust into a business that she was not all that conversant with. Since then, the two companies have traveled different paths, but both have remained viable in difficult times and both have their champions, which says a lot about the respective owners. 

I owned a couple of Sapphires and Star, but the Bodinets made the decision that they did not want their service manuals and data posted on Vinyl Engine and had them taken down. To this day, there is no literature listed and SOTA is not listed in the turntable data section either. That was enough for me as I interpreted it as being anti-hobbyist, as I prefer to do my own service when possible,  so I sold my SOTAs and have never ventured back, but owners make decisions every day and some are bound to alienate certain customers. YMMV.

Agree about the parallel, viridian. but I have owned three sota turntables and Donna has been nothing but extremely helpful when I have any sort of problems. And as I noted early in this thread, SOTA has begun to teach hobbyist how to make repairs in the field. I think it's a great solution for a product that is difficult and risky to ship. So I have to defend SOTA ... they are one of the least commercialized (i.e. advertised) but highest quality product and service companies I've dealt with. as well as being an amazing value. I would put their sound quality versus price up against any turntable manufacturer. 

And this is not to take anything away from Basis. they obviously have an equally loyal following in fantastic products.