2. amps-preamps
  3. 185125-96030

How Long Is Too Long?

I know this forum has tons of experience with all things audio. 

My question to the members is when you send a piece of gear to the manufacturer for repair; what is a reasonable turnaround time? 

I will leave the "company" out for now because I don't want to potentially hurt their business if it's not warranted.

I sent my phono pre and step up device in for repairs four months ago.  It's a small one man operation in California.  Around the time I sent them in, one of his products got a small positive review in Stereophile magazine and he said that since then he's been swamped with orders.  Understandable I guess and good for him.  Not so good for me though.

As I said, I haven't seen my equipment in four months.  Is this considered reasonable?  I called him about a month ago and talked to him directly and he assured me that he would get to my equipment soon.  So far, nothing.  I guess I should have asked what his definition of "soon" is.

I'm happy that he's selling units and business has picked up for him but with his new found success it appears like us early supporters are being left out in the cold. 

I know my hands are tied at this point and I do have a back up phono pre of lower cost and quality so I haven't been without the ability to play records.  

I appreciate any thoughts or advice.  

Thanks, 

Nick

nicktheknife

Showing 1 response by alvinnir2

alvinnir2's avatar
alvinnir2
103 posts
 

That is appalling. 4 months is way too long to wait for service.

Sounds like he does not have the business sense to recognize the fact that servicing a previous customer is at least as important as profits from new sales.

Personally, I would move on,,, what will you do if it requires service again? I’m in this hobby for enjoyment, not frustration.

We are lucky we have options...there are lots of wonderful phono stages out there. Buy yourself a new one and when this finally gets fixed and sent back to you, sell it. If there is lots of demand now because of a positive review, it should be easy to sell. If it were me, I’d have no qualms with posting the company name on this forum. Could help forum members contemplating a purchase. Might even speed up the repair if the company owner gets wind of the bad service review.

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