I feel for you. I had my Classé 5300 stop working suddenly and it was a nightmare getting it fixed. My dealer was helpful in getting it sent into B&W but it took nearly 5 months to get it back. It was frustrating because I could not get any information of the status during this time. I have it back now but I worry constantly that I might have a problem again. I tried to ask them what might have caused the problem but could never get an answer. Everything is good for now........
Bowers Wilkins/Classe - Anyone had service from them as horrible as me?
I have a Classe CA-2300 power amp....or rather I HAD ONE, until I sent it to Classe/B&W for repair FOUR MONTHS AGO.
It's a 100 pound amp, so at first, I wanted to have it fixed by a local, well regarded electrical engineer (I'm in the Bay Area). I took it to his shop and he said the power supply was dead. He spent days trying to get a schematic from Classe and they wouldn't give him even the smallest bit of information. They told me I had to send it in to them. I was hesitant to send a 100lb, $6500 amp across the continent, but I did it anyway.
That was 4 months ago.
I've spoken with them on the phone maybe 5 times, now, and every time they assure me that they are just about to get working on my amp. B&W now owns Classe, so B&W is in charge of it. I had an issue tracking code and I used to be able to enter it on their website to check the repair status. For 3 months, it said "in queue, awaiting diagnosis", now, however, when I put in my code, it says "Item cannot be found".
At this point, I'm basically saying that B&W have stolen a $6500 amplifier from me after spending a bunch of time purposely blocking a local technician from fixing it. I'm furious.
Has anyone else here had a successful or unsuccessful experiences with B&W/Classe service recently? This is insane. What do I do?
thanks!
Hogarth de la Plante
Oakland, CA
It's a 100 pound amp, so at first, I wanted to have it fixed by a local, well regarded electrical engineer (I'm in the Bay Area). I took it to his shop and he said the power supply was dead. He spent days trying to get a schematic from Classe and they wouldn't give him even the smallest bit of information. They told me I had to send it in to them. I was hesitant to send a 100lb, $6500 amp across the continent, but I did it anyway.
That was 4 months ago.
I've spoken with them on the phone maybe 5 times, now, and every time they assure me that they are just about to get working on my amp. B&W now owns Classe, so B&W is in charge of it. I had an issue tracking code and I used to be able to enter it on their website to check the repair status. For 3 months, it said "in queue, awaiting diagnosis", now, however, when I put in my code, it says "Item cannot be found".
At this point, I'm basically saying that B&W have stolen a $6500 amplifier from me after spending a bunch of time purposely blocking a local technician from fixing it. I'm furious.
Has anyone else here had a successful or unsuccessful experiences with B&W/Classe service recently? This is insane. What do I do?
thanks!
Hogarth de la Plante
Oakland, CA