Innuos: A Cautionary Tale.



This post is a cautionary one in buying a Zen Mini used. I bought a four-week-old unit from a reputable seller. Unfortunately, the unit failed the first week and thus began a long and unfortunate set of events. If and this is critical one is to buy a used or second-hand unit the only way is from a dealer. Innuos customer service was next to useless and was simply dismissive. The lead designer could not connect with the unit, remotely, as the Ethernet port was the source of the problem, to reach him took multiple emails and a phone call, International,  over several days. After the unit was determined to have failed, several more emails were required to find out the next step. I was instructed, “go to the dealer you bought it from.” Hence the crux of the problem, I had no dealer to go to. I asked more than once to inform me where the unit was bought from, no response.

The seller would also not provide where he bought it from, so much for reputation. I was in an endless, time-consuming, and expensive circle. I reached out again to the lead designer, again after a clear and detailed email, explaining my dilemma, the response was clear: “send it to the dealer.” Fortunately, I was able to go through PayPal dispute the charge and receive a refund minus shipping costs.  

The unit when it worked was musical and engaging. My decision to go with another manufacturer was not a difficult one. So if one is to buy an Innuos please only go with a dealer.   Mike at Tweek Geek is a man of integrity and willingness to help.


lndryguru

Showing 3 responses by mahughes

Utterly bewildered as to why Innuos take a bashing here at all. If you buy from someone who is not an authorised dealer then caveat emptor. I don’t see why Innuos would be obliged to tell you anything legally or even morally nor, more importantly, what specific difference that would make. FWIW their customer service is both personal and outstanding. 
+3 for 2.05 on both sound quality and user interface. Incredibly, it’s free. As soon as other manufacturers realise the opportunity Roon will be a thing of the past.
Then you might want to get clued up on Innuos @tomcy6. They provide superb personalised service for anyone who owns one of their products regardless of how they came to it. I have heard numerous examples through my dealer; the dealer network and friends who have acquired them through all manner of routes. Kind of begs the question as to why exactly the “cautionary tale” of the OP stands in isolation. Why are there are no other stories of similar provenance? Why did the OP get immediate and very specific push back on here from customers who simply haven’t had that experience with Innuos? 
I agree with you that without buying/selling then high end audio would be on its knees but the likes of Innuos very much support rather than oppose that. 
You can likely lose the Ether Regen and replace with an Innuos Phoenix ethernet. The difference is immediately obvious.

Unless you’re obsessed with the over curation of Roon you likely won’t need that after moving to 2.0.6.