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Lounge Audio

I feel I should warn folks who have bought a Lounge Audio product or are thinking about buying one.

I own a Lounge Audio LCR MkIII Silver Ed. and Copla. I originally bought both units new about 5 years ago.

Around 2 yrs ago I sent the LCR MkIII in to be upgraded to the Silver Ed. and have a Mono switch installed.

I got it back in good time except the Mono switch was installed but not wired. I decided not to send it back in this instance as I could live without the mono switch and I could probably repair it myself sometime.

Not long after, one of the channels in the Copla went out. I called Robert and he said that it's more than likely an LED that went out and that he's since been using better/more reliable LED's in the unit. He said to send the unit in and he would get to it as soon as he could. I decided to send both units in so he could fix that mono switch in the LCR MkIII as well.

He did warn me that it may be some time before he got to it because he was swamped with orders. Apparently, the Copla received a minor positive review in Stereophile Magazine in Feb. just before I sent it in. To be fair, he doesn't charge for repairs for the life of the unit/s. That's a nice gesture but I think I would rather pay for the repair and get it done in a reasonable amount of time rather than have wait for months to get it done for free.

I'm coming up on five months now and haven't seen my units. I called him a couple months back and he basically said he would get to them soon and he didn't say he was having supply issues like some companies were having during the pandemic period. I'm not sure what his definition of 'soon' is but it's not the same as mine is all I can say.

He also said that because of the amount of interest in Lounge Audio since the review, he hasn't been answering emails because most people were just "fishing".

I sent him some texts but haven't received any replies. I also emailed him again because that's the only Contact info provided by the Lounge Audio website. I don't know if he's not answering his calls/texts or his number is not good anymore.

I've been using a MoFi Studio phono pre in what I thought would be a temporary situation. I've since pretty much given up and bought a Sutherland Insight last week.

Thanks in advance for reading my rant.

Perhaps some folks will think I'm being unreasonable but I can't recommend Lounge Audio in good conscience to anyone who wants to buy one of their products and then may have to send it in for repairs.
IMO no one should have to wait this long.
nicktheknife
nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 

@cey, 

Thanks cey, I appreciate it.  I was getting the feeling I was in the wrong here especially over at the Hoffman Forum.

When originally created the "How Long Is too Long" thread I was basically putting out feelers for others who have dealt with audio companies both big and small felt before I revealed the company.  

I have since emailed Lounge Audio with no response and they have no listed number.  Maybe something personal or health wise is going on and hope the man is alright.  If that was the case I would hope a family member would put something on the Lounge website or Facebook page to notify past and future customers that due to personal reasons he won't be able to take any new orders, upgrade or fix gear for whatever amount of time they think is necessary.

nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 

I appreciate all the support I'm getting here not to mention the great audio advice I've gotten in the past.  

A lot of times I don't post or start a thread because I can just do a search and find my answer without having to create a new thread.  There's that much knowledge and depth on this forum. 

fertguy's avatar
fertguy
269 posts
 

How far away is the place from you? Get in the car & go get it.  Let someone else fix it.

kerrybh
92 posts
 

You are certainly not being unreasonable. You deserve a timely response and a truth one. I think most people would consider this valuable information in making buying decisions. Thanks for posting 

sgordon1
409 posts
 

You accepted his response to you, and shipped your unit, after he said "as soon as he could" for the tirn around time.  The result was: he did not provide you with a more specific time frame for the repairs AND you had only your imagination, to guess when your gear would be returned.

IF you had gently challenged his wishy-washy response right away, you could have accomplished a few things.  By "challenging" I mean saying something like, "Robert, I hear you saying you are busy, and it must be great to get all of this positive feedback on your hard work.  As a valued customer, before I send my unit back to you, can we look at the calendar and agree, more specifically, on when I will be able to enjoy it again?"

With his response, you could have either said "yes," "no," or negotiated a compromise that you thought was fair.  When you accepted his vague time frame, you gave your consent to his assigning a lower priority to your repair than you imagined, at that time.

So, today, things have continued to go south, in this matter, and who knows if, when, or in what condition your unit will be returned!  If it was me, I would weigh the cost and inconvenience of physically going to get the unit and then paying for its repair, with the anticipated sonic benefits of "everything working."  Won't you feel better, after this mess is finally resolved, one way or another?  Make it happen, and move on.

Moral of the story: when you accept "wishy-washy" from someone, in many cases it can become an uphill battle, if not an impossible task, to turn this communication into an exchange with clear, mutually agreed-on terms between two adults with sincere intentions.

It happens to all of us; "live and learn."

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