Equipment failure from manufacturer's viewpoint

[dboomer]

I don't wanna single anybody out so a new thread might be the best way to go.

 

First, all brands have failures. You may have not had a failure with 10 other brands you've used for 10 years that doesn't mean that those brands have any more or less like hood of eventually failing. The industry rate for Pro Mi gear ( essentially anything you could buy at GC) is about 1-2% over the course of the warranty period. I don't have any evidence but I'd guess that the way users treat their gear is a contributing factor here too.

 

If you've owner enough gear ( like hundreds of pieces) then you've probably had something dead out of a box or die in the first dozen hours. That's the way it's gonna be until,you are willing to pay NASA prices for consumer gear.

 

The other thing is that in my experience while working with 2 major manufacturers is that about half ( I was gonna say even higher but I thought no one would believe me except those that have worked for repair facilities) of the gear sent in can not have the problem reported duplicated in the shop. In simple terms, it ain't broke. It's probably hooked up wrong or mis-operated.

 

Manufacturers will bend over backwards to help you through your problem ... So be nice to that poor customer service rep when you call them

 

 

 

 

 

[Koopdaddy]

I have worked on that side of  things before and I can't tell you how many times we would issue an RMA for a problem only to never duplicate the problem once we got it back. Sometimes the returned items performed better than the new off the shelf items.

 

 

[ChiroVette]

Yeah I am absolutely a firm believer in first exhausting all the phone tech support help options before taking the time and energy out of my day to either ship it or bring something into a service center. Don't get me wrong, someone like Agedhorse will know within seconds if something needs an actual repair, but I wouldn't. And I think you are bringing up a great point about first going through as many steps as necessary to determine if something isn't wrong on your end as a consumer.

[guitarman3001]

One thing I can tell you about problems that are hard to replicate in a shop is that many problems are intermittent and don't always occur under all conditions.  Just because you can't replicate the problem in the shop in those conditions doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist.  

[JV90]

The thing is what the owner could do to be protected against any failure on the gear that you use? For me 90% its the way we treat our gear, having it on carryng gig bags, cases and so on, the other 10% its on the hardware by itself; of course if you treat your gear with caution expect them to last years, but if you dont have the care on them dont expect it to last long, thats the thing over here; i think that it would be necesary to insert a new sticky notes on what to use(in handle and care of course)n not to use the orange or yellow ac cables, manage to get quad boxes even if you made them, proper gear handle on basic things such as cables, and always to have an stable ac current for the gear, dont use that basic ac strips and so on; the other point is the knowledge that you have to operate them, thats another thing, even some adapters would have to be on gig bags or cases; if you cant afford to buy gig bags or cases to protect your gear use your imaginations to create some unique cases to the gear; over here just a bag for a speaker its around $25 dollars each, and doesnt protect them at all only for scratches or dent, so i grab some luggage that i found over the market on my place and glue on the interior a 4"foam, in the back, front, lateral sides and use the original foam that came with the box over the top and botton, previously change that funny wheels that it came with them, after that the cases that my speakers rolls are some customs ones that i adapted to them and they really protect whats on the interior (the speaker cabinet) and on the outside of it each comes with a set of pockets were on each of them goes the ac cable on one, and the monitor kit feet in the other;

 

 

[Vito Corleone]

I can't believe they charged you a restocking fee for THEIR error.