Sad story on Rotel service

**Eliav** · 25 March 2006, 18:47 Saturday

Miguel
I am kind of in the same boat .
I had my DVD 1060 ( 8 months old ) sent for repair through my dealer after it had stopped reading DVD's.
Yes I did get a loaner, however, after spending about 20K on my system you'd expect the dealer to "treat you" with the same level or a better palyer don't you ? wrong, got a cheap model demo player , no remote (!), It's been already two weeks - so far nothing. Called to see what's up - the dealer did not even remember what was/is the problem with the player, he tried to improvise a trouble that has never existed in order to sound "familiar" with my player's problem.and yes, they are waiting on Rotel's schedule which is around 14 business days , not including shipment from dealership, shipment back to dealership , and shipment back to me.
I have no complaints against Rotel ( except for a broken 8 months old player), they're doing their part in a reasonable timeframe, the sad part is the dealership way of handling their " valued" customers and the net time and spending you have to make to get your gear fixed.
Cheer up though at least you know with whom not to make business in the future !!
Eliav

**Kevin D** · 25 March 2006, 19:46 Saturday

If you have the serial number handy, you are welcome to call Rotel direct and see what they say. There's no set rules on how the dealer should handle warranty claims, just that they should handle it. At this point in time both of you seem to have problems with service from your dealer. Yes a lot of people get loaners, a lot of people don't. A lot of dealers aren't setup to have a lot of stuff ready to loan. Especially mid to high end stuff. As soon as it goes out, it's not new anymore. That could add up in lost profits.

Granted, Eliav should have gotten a remote with his loaner, but I don't think an equivalent or better player is necessary. Not getting a loaner from a dealer you don't have a relationship with shouldn't be something to get worked up over. Sure it would be really nice bonus, but not a strike against that dealer.

Like I said, if there's ever any questions about a repair and your dealer can't give you adequate answers, call Rotel. A problem like Miguel's could take extra time to diagnose since it's not constant.

Good luck to both of you,

Kevin D.

**shades** · 25 March 2006, 19:52 Saturday

Sorry to here that.

My dealer is the best, fortunately i had no problems with my rotel gear, but i did have a problem with my B&W 805S. When i called him up, he told me to bring them in right away and gave me a pair of 804S until my speakers where fixed and i'm now the proud owners of these 804S.

Being a new customer he should have known the potential of new business. If i was you, after all is said and done, i'd tell him you lost yourself a customer due to the poor service you received from him, and make sure it's on the weekend and lots of potential customers overhear your conversation.

Peter

**Eliav** · 25 March 2006, 21:25 Saturday

Granted, Eliav should have gotten a remote with his loaner, but I don't think an equivalent or better player is necessary. Not getting a loaner from a dealer you don't have a relationship with shouldn't be something to get worked up over. Sure it would be really nice bonus, but not a strike against that dealer.

Kevin D.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip Kevin, I sure will call Rotel directly.
I agree, a higher level loaner gear is a bonus, it would have been a courtesy act toward an old customer who keeps upgrading and doing business with the same dealership.
Eliav

**Elvis** · 25 March 2006, 23:56 Saturday

I'll was all ready to give support but I would expect exactly what happened to happen.I have 3 set ups but can still understand it would suck to be without a set up for several weeks.If you had a good relationship w/the dealer then maybe he'd give you a loaner but that's still a toss up.All one can do is either be upset the product failed or be upset that Rotel takes(if they do) excessive time to repair.

In other words if my gear fails I would expect about the same treatment,possible loaner but not nothin' fancy.Now,if Rotel doesn't repair it properly after all that then I'll jump on your band wagon quick.Good luck.

**shadow** · 26 March 2006, 10:10 Sunday

I think many small dealers, which usually includes Rotel dealers, are on very slim profit margins which do not allow the luxury of loaner equipment to anyone other than his best customers. My local dealer has one 1056 and no 1067 receiver on display. A new customer wants to hear the 1056, not be told its out on loan. Dealers need to get every sale they can to survive. I sympathize with the OP, but competition including internet direct has taken a huge toll on customer service over the past ten years.

**miner** · 26 March 2006, 16:19 Sunday

The repair of my RB-1070 took 25 days door-to-ddor. It was at Rotel 5 days before they could look at it - just required replacing two blown fuses.

**Andrew M Ward** · 27 March 2006, 00:53 Monday

Originally posted by miner

The repair of my RB-1070 took 25 days door-to-ddor. It was at Rotel 5 days before they could look at it - just required replacing two blown fuses.

First of all, I think this post (string) should be called "Sad Dealer Sevice..." Because what would happen at this same dealer if you came back in with a Denon reciever?

how would the experience have been different?

No loaner and weeks in transition? (that point has been made already (im sure)

**Miguel** · 27 March 2006, 02:31 Monday

Well - it's a combination, I guess. It was the dealer who didn't offer a loaner (or try to make the situation better in any other way), but the fact that it takes 3 full weeks to diagnose/repair my receiver -- that's definitely Rotel!

Originally posted by shades

When i called him up, he told me to bring them in right away and gave me a pair of 804S until my speakers where fixed and i'm now the proud owners of these 804S.

Exactly. In my dreams, the dealer would have sent me home with a 1068/1075 combo, offered to take my repaired 1055 as a trade-in and billed me the difference. Then again, he wasn't creative enough to propose such a thing.

**PiDD** · 27 March 2006, 18:21 Monday

Sounds like you are dealing with a Jr staff member. He doesnt have the smarts or authority to make a decision from the question you asked. I always try to deal with the mgr. If that was the mgr you were talking to ... I hope your repair comes back before he goes out of biz!

**peterS** · 29 March 2006, 00:40 Wednesday

Originally posted by Miguel

Hi everyone,

This email is a combination of a request for moral support and a question...

Here's my story... I've owned a RSX-1055 for about 3 years now, and I'm very happy with it. Fantastic gear. Great sound. Until one day, it started to make some weird noises through the right surround channel. Very annoying loud hisses, crakling noises, usually on power-up (ie coming out of standby mode). The whole thing would last a few minutes and then eventually stop, making me think that the problem was related to the amp warming up. On very "bad days", the receiver would shut itself off while making the noises.

Anyway, my first strategy was to just leave it on permanently, and that took care of it for a while. But then it started to get worse, the noises would happen in the middle of a movie or while listening to music, making everybody jump! Very bad. I tried disabling the surround speakers on the setup menu -- didn't work. I was fearing that it could harm my speaker, so I disconnected it... of course I wasn't hearing the noises any more that way, but every once in a while the receiver would shut down in the middle of things, so the problem was still happening.

Eventually I had to face it -- I had to have it repaired. Being without the receiver seemed like a nightmare, but it wasn't possible to put up with the problem any more either.

First surprise - my original dealer was out of business. So I had to find another one in my area, which I did through the Rotel web site (not sure if I can mention their name here, so I won't). I called and took the receiver. They said that they would take a look at it, but warned me that most probably they couldn't repair it themselves and it would need to be shipped to Rotel. It's still under warranty, but that wouldn't cover the shipping and handling (of course!). And it could take...

After recovering from the shock, and fearing the answer, I risked "is there anything you could loan, or even rent to me, in the meantime?"

Silence. I was thinking, ok, if this guy is smart at all, he will offer *something*, right? After all, I wasn't even their customer to begin with, so he had the chance right there to win a new customer -- upsell me to newer gear, offer me a solution! Ship the thing overnight! Show me something! Convert me to a delighted customer for life! Be creative, I'm standing here in front of you and I'm very vulnerable now!

Nothing. Just a blank stare.

So I said, "Well -- I guess I don't have a choice, huh?" His reply (believe it or not!): "No, you don't.... here's you claim check".

Ok, bye.

Sad story. It's been 2 weeks already, no music, no movies. Watching DVDs on my computer. I can't believe I still have 3 weeks to go. I called the dealer on Friday just in case, talked to the same guy, he didn't even remember me, looked up the file and went over the same math with me on the phone. Yep. 3 more weeks to go. Loaner? Oh, no. We don't do that. Ok, bye.

I recognize this is a long message. If you're still with me, thanks, that's the moral support I was seeking!

My question is -- I've read stories in this forum in which people had good experiences with Rotel support, like gear being repaired in 2 days and shipped back. Is that the norm? Is it really reasonable that my unit takes 2-3 weeks to repair?

And, of course any suggestions on strategies for surviving without my HT for 3 more weeks, will be more than welcome.

Miguel

so you expected a company to cover shiping and give you something to use in the meantime, although you have never done any buisness with them?
life must be good if this constitutes a bad day for you

:

**shadow** · 30 March 2006, 19:00 Thursday

Good point.

**ds22030** · 30 March 2006, 19:01 Thursday

you have got to be kidding....... :roll: :roll:

**PiDD** · 30 March 2006, 20:22 Thursday

In hopes for new biz ... I would sure hope so. Sounds like a small shop to me if they didnt. Rotel has a pretty loyal following and if a company can get a new customer it may have that customer for life. Paying for shipping is a small investment.

**DrJRapp** · 30 March 2006, 20:37 Thursday

Originally posted by peterS

so you expected a company to cover shiping and give you something to use in the meantime, although you have never done any buisness with them?
life must be good if this constitutes a bad day for you

:

Small note....one Rotel dealer earned my business when they came to my aide during a crisis by taking in my defective piece of gear at a very high trade in price and selling me a new one at a very deep discount.. While this isn't quite the same as providing a loaner or paying for shipping, I'm sure that initial transaction cost them something...but it earned my business and lots of referrals.

Take note. I have gotten the best service on warrantee work dealing directly with Rotel and shipping it to them myself.

**wkhanna** · 30 March 2006, 22:13 Thursday

13 years ago, when I bought my first Rotel gear, (two RB-980BX’s), 3 days later my pre-amp/receiver took the long ride on the ‘little’ bus. Status: I had two brand new amps, two new $ speakers, NO music and a maxed out credit account. I called the dealer and asked if I could return the amps and start over with a somewhat less ‘optimistic’ plan for my system.

He had a SoundCraftsmen pre-amp/receiver demo and said, ‘stop over and take this home; see if you like it. If you do, keep it, and give me $150 when you can, installments are fine’. It had a phono section so I could still use my T/T, and it ended up serving me so well, I just replaced it last month when I got my RSP-1066. It had a MSRP of over $400 (that's in 1993 $'s).

When I have been looking for audio gear after that, where do think I go first?

Yes, I know I had just dropped some ‘bling’, and he was trying keep a sale (profit), but it was a deal he did not have to make, and he made less profit overall than if he had sold the amps and demo separately.

I just bought a new RB-1050 from the same shop last week. And, even though the owner knows I often get a quote from him before I start shopping for used equipment he was still willing to give me 25% off.

Sad part is, he has decided to drop Rotel and B&W, but I will go there first to shop, regardless of what specific ‘Brand’ of component I’m looking for.

I have said before in another post, a good dealer is like a ‘Best’ friend, they are too far and few, but when you do find one, consider yourself lucky.

**Miguel** · 16 April 2006, 16:17 Sunday

Hey guys,

I thought I'd give you all an update on my odyssey. This past Monday I got a call from the dealer to let me know that my 1055 was back from Rotel and ready to be picked up. Exactly one full month after drop-off (March 11 - April 10).

Drove down, picked it up, payed ($40) for the shipping costs, brought it home and hooked it up. Good, no strange noises any more. And, as a bonus, they'd flashed the eprom with the latest firmware. Life is good again. Until...

On Friday evening, I tried for the first time to listen to a multi-channel source (SACD) through the Multi inputs. Surprise! The front left channel sounded totally distorted and very low in volume. I made some tests to rule out a problem in the source... it's not the player or the connectors. Something is definitely wrong with the multi input. And it's a new problem, too... I'm positive that the problem wasn't there when I sent the unit for repair in the first place.

Fortunately the sound is OK when playing from the digital inputs, which is what I use most of the time.

I just sent an email to Rotel. I definitely don't want to spend another full month without my system. So let's see what they suggest. I'm hoping they'll allow me to "cut the middleman" and ship the unit directly to them, and somehow prioritize its repair. After all, in all likelihood (although of course it can't be proved) the problem was introduced by them during the repair process...

Wish me luck!

M.

**Adz** · 16 April 2006, 16:47 Sunday

Miguel,

While Rotel gear has definitely had its documented problems over the last few years, your frustration is definitely exacerbated by dealers that won't go the extra mile with current or new customers. You could try talking to the owner of the dealership. If that doesn't work, one thing to keep in mind for the future is to try talking to the owner of the dealership before you ever buy anything to make sure you are on the same page.

When I first took the step into separates I bought my 1066/1095/1080 combo from a local dealer (in Northern NJ) that also sells Halo and Lexicon. When the Rotel amps soon thereafter blew channels and fuses, they refused to offer me a loaner Rotel amp or receiver, even though they had a 1080, 1095 and several diff receivers including Rotel displayed in one of the racks. I even told them I would just take it for the weekend and return it on Monday. They said no. I sold my stuff out of frustration and moved on to another dealer. This time I spoke to the owner before buying anything (this one in CT.) and he promised me he would provide me with top notch customer service including speaker loaners, subwoofer loaners, amps, etc. Well, my first subwoofer I bought from him didn't work out of the box (Supercube Reference). So, he gave me a loaner until my new one came in. He also let me demo some speakers in my house during a weekday. Would he have done all that if I didn't talk to him beforehand? Probably not, since a buddy of mine had some problems with them later on.

**Marlboroman** · 17 April 2006, 16:00 Monday

Is 3 weeks an extremely long time for repair turn around in this industry? I just thought that 4 to 6 weeks was the norm. I kind of feel bad for the Rotel service guys because if they get backed up think how hard it must be to try and not only keep up but recover any ground. I know the last time I spoke with them they said that basically they had a time where a lot of the repair techs were sick and got backed up by like 2 weeks longer than normal. How do you recover that lost time with the same amount of techs? Just curious about a different side of this string.

Sad story on Rotel service

Sad story on Rotel service

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