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Roland takes another step... backwards


AnotherScott

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It may be hard to fathom, but Roland customer support has gotten worse.

 

From: http://www.rolandus.com/company/contact_us/

 

If you need operational assistance, you can contact our Product Support department at (323) 890-3740. Product Support is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time.

 

Yup, you can only call them 12 hours a week.

 

It used to be Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm.

 

And of course, unlike most of their competition, they were already unreachable in any online forum.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Another reqson why i chose the Yamaha Motif. They have the best user supported website i have ever seen. Check it out: www.motifator.com

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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It may be hard to fathom, but Roland customer support has gotten worse.

 

From: http://www.rolandus.com/company/contact_us/

 

If you need operational assistance, you can contact our Product Support department at (323) 890-3740. Product Support is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time.

 

Yup, you can only call them 12 hours a week.

 

It used to be Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm.

 

And of course, unlike most of their competition, they were already unreachable in any online forum.

 

Roland has lots of red ink:

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=7944:JP

 

Cost cutting in customer service is a bad idea in this consumer driven economy.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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I notice that is just operational assistance. Tech support is still 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM 5 days a week.

 

Uh no it's not. Operational/tech support is the same thing. The website is clear. You can only call for operational support (their word for tech support) between 9-1. 830-5 is only for this:

 

"order parts, literature, or for repair issues" There's nothing in that sentence about tech support.

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Another reqson why i chose the Yamaha Motif. They have the best user supported website i have ever seen. Check it out: www.motifator.com

 

Yep. that site has been awesome since I got my MOX. Bad_Mister (Phil Clendeninn) is one cool dude and very helpful. He's walked me through some complex setup programming.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Yep - Bad_Mister knows his stuff and has always been helpful to me. That being said, I tend to need "operational assistance" more on my MOX because it's just not as intuitive as my JP-80 or Fantom.
Roland Jupiter 80, Roland FA-08, Yamaha MOXF6, Nektar Impact LX61, Macbook Air
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I've owned many keyboards from many manufacturers over the years and have never had occasion to require operational or otherwise technical support outside of buying replacement parts. What kind of stuff are you guys needing to call somebody about?

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I've owned many keyboards from many manufacturers over the years and have never had occasion to require operational or otherwise technical support outside of buying replacement parts. What kind of stuff are you guys needing to call somebody about?

+1

 

And besides, KC technical support is open 24/7/365. :idea::thu:

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I've owned many keyboards from many manufacturers over the years and have never had occasion to require operational or otherwise technical support outside of buying replacement parts. What kind of stuff are you guys needing to call somebody about?

+1

 

And besides, KC technical support is open 24/7/365. :idea::thu:

 

I was going to post the same things.

 

Staff cuts or not, no company would do this without making sure their support calls were going down, not up. When there's so much tech info available online, why go to the manufacturer unless you want a replacement?

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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Yep - Bad_Mister knows his stuff and has always been helpful to me. That being said, I tend to need "operational assistance" more on my MOX because it's just not as intuitive as my JP-80 or Fantom.

I have to agree. The reason Yamaha user support is so good is because it has to be. That being said, Bad_Mister is the man!

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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I own a lot of Roland gear. This fall I had an operational problem I couldn't figure out with the manual. I e-mailed Roland in the afternoon, and got a response via e-mail later that night, in time to get my gear ready for the evening's show.

 

That was pretty cool; thank you Roland.

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I'd say Ensoniq handled more technical issues than any of its counterparts due to early design flaws and quality issues. That being said, we also worked diligently to serve customers even during the 1989 VFX factory recall. The result was that most customers stuck with us because they sensed that we cared.

 

The service department has long been incorrectly perceived as a cost center, while I have learned that it can be a profit center when you factor in the benefits of customer retention and customer referrals. Both factors served us well... that is until we squandered the benefits on other initiatives and took our eye off the ball.

 

In 1984, when I arrived at Ensoniq, a business article entitled, "Raiders Of The Lost ARP" was mandatory reading. It detailed ARP's rise and fall. Everyone at Ensoniq said, "we'll never do that." Live and learn.

 

Here is the ARP article link. It's good reading:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=arp

 

Steve Coscia

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Yep - Bad_Mister knows his stuff and has always been helpful to me. That being said, I tend to need "operational assistance" more on my MOX because it's just not as intuitive as my JP-80 or Fantom.

I have to agree. The reason Yamaha user support is so good is because it has to be. That being said, Bad_Mister is the man!

 

+1.

 

To add, some of the keys under my S70XS are starting to stick again, and Yamaha Canada is going to repair the board on their dime.

Can't complain about that, it's 2 years out of warranty.

Kudos to Yammie.

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

 

MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg.

https://www.abandoned-film.com

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I'd say Ensoniq handled more technical issues than any of its counterparts due to early design flaws and quality issues. That being said, we also worked diligently to serve customers even during the 1989 VFX factory recall. The result was that most customers stuck with us because they sensed that we cared.

 

The service department has long been incorrectly perceived as a cost center, while I have learned that it can be a profit center when you factor in the benefits of customer retention and customer referrals. Both factors served us well... that is until we squandered the benefits on other initiatives and took our eye off the ball.

 

In 1984, when I arrived at Ensoniq, a business article entitled, "Raiders Of The Lost ARP" was mandatory reading. It detailed ARP's rise and fall. Everyone at Ensoniq said, "we'll never do that." Live and learn.

 

Here is the ARP article link. It's good reading:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=arp

 

Interesting read, thanks for sharing.

 

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I notice that is just operational assistance. Tech support is still 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM 5 days a week.

 

Uh no it's not. Operational/tech support is the same thing. The website is clear. You can only call for operational support (their word for tech support) between 9-1. 830-5 is only for this:

 

"order parts, literature, or for repair issues" There's nothing in that sentence about tech support.

 

There are no clear definitions of tech support, operational support and customer support. From my experience with tech companies over the past 20 years...

 

Tech support - parts, repairs, bugs, etc...

Customer support - Don't know how to..., cannot be bothered to read the manual..., forgot my password..., I closed the program while it was compiling a large check run, ...

Operational support - Need to purchase training or add on features.

 

JMHO. It's all just buzz words. Anyway, Motifator is a great place and always seemed necessary when trying to dig in deep with a Motif. I never felt a need for a similar forum for the Roland or Korg workstations. The menus and OS for for those were always very easy to navigate. I wonder if this decision was based on low call volume?

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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I've owned many keyboards from many manufacturers over the years and have never had occasion to require operational or otherwise technical support outside of buying replacement parts. What kind of stuff are you guys needing to call somebody about?

The number of people on this and similar forums is a very tiny percentage of those who own Roland keyboards. Sometimes people need help in figuring out how to do something, understanding how some feature works, or maybe they may want to know whether or not it is possible for the board to perform some particular function they have in mind. Roland's interfaces and manuals are, to understate it, not always the most straight-forward. Having a support number to call can be useful, especially for new owners. Sometimes people have dealers who can actually help, other times not (especially if they bought used).

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I've owned many keyboards from many manufacturers over the years and have never had occasion to require operational or otherwise technical support outside of buying replacement parts. What kind of stuff are you guys needing to call somebody about?

The number of people on this and similar forums is a very tiny percentage of those who own Roland keyboards. Sometimes people need help in figuring out how to do something, understanding how some feature works, or maybe they may want to know whether or not it is possible for the board to perform some particular function they have in mind. Roland's interfaces and manuals are, to understate it, not always the most straight-forward. Having a support number to call can be useful, especially for new owners. Sometimes people have dealers who can actually help, other times not (especially if they bought used).

 

100% agree. And to state the obvious, it is more productive to talk to an experienced person on the phone. Its more accurate and likely quicker, than going back and forth on a music/keyboard forum, where the new user could be lost and cannot clearly state/type what they are trying to achieve/what the issue is. On the phone, support can ask specific questions to identify the problem clearly.

 

And Roland promises support in their literature, I bet. Since its limited, they should disclose that, so the potential new customer understands the service limitation.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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I'd say Ensoniq handled more technical issues than any of its counterparts due to early design flaws and quality issues. That being said, we also worked diligently to serve customers even during the 1989 VFX factory recall. The result was that most customers stuck with us because they sensed that we cared.

 

The service department has long been incorrectly perceived as a cost center, while I have learned that it can be a profit center when you factor in the benefits of customer retention and customer referrals. Both factors served us well... that is until we squandered the benefits on other initiatives and took our eye off the ball.

 

In 1984, when I arrived at Ensoniq, a business article entitled, "Raiders Of The Lost ARP" was mandatory reading. It detailed ARP's rise and fall. Everyone at Ensoniq said, "we'll never do that." Live and learn.

 

Here is the ARP article link. It's good reading:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=arp

You worked at Ensoniq? They were always 1 of my fav co's.

In all of their equip Ive owned, lets see, eps16+R, KS32, TS12, 3 asr10's and an Sampled Piano Module, I never once had a breakdown or needed to call the co. Still have an asr10 as 1 of my controllers in my studio and the SPM is still laying around here..n yea, it still works. Did have to call Yam once, they were there.

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It may be hard to fathom, but Roland customer support has gotten worse.

 

From: http://www.rolandus.com/company/contact_us/

 

If you need operational assistance, you can contact our Product Support department at (323) 890-3740. Product Support is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time.

 

Yup, you can only call them 12 hours a week.

 

It used to be Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm.

 

And of course, unlike most of their competition, they were already unreachable in any online forum.

 

Roland has lots of red ink:

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=7944:JP

 

Cost cutting in customer service is a bad idea in this consumer driven economy.

 

I just looked at the Business Week link you posted. A loss of 1.9 billion yen = 22.6 million US dollars. When a company loses money like that, they have to cut wherever they can.

I think that this is a tough time to be a music instrument manufacturer.

Yamaha Motif XF6, Yamaha AN200, Logic Pro X,  Arturia Microbrute, Behringer Model D, Yamaha UX-3 Acoustic Piano, assorted homemade synth modules

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It may be hard to fathom, but Roland customer support has gotten worse.

 

From: http://www.rolandus.com/company/contact_us/

 

If you need operational assistance, you can contact our Product Support department at (323) 890-3740. Product Support is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time.

 

Yup, you can only call them 12 hours a week.

 

It used to be Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm.

 

And of course, unlike most of their competition, they were already unreachable in any online forum.

 

Roland has lots of red ink:

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=7944:JP

 

Cost cutting in customer service is a bad idea in this consumer driven economy.

 

I just looked at the Business Week link you posted. A loss of 1.9 billion yen = 22.6 million US dollars. When a company loses money like that, they have to cut wherever they can.

I think that this is a tough time to be a music instrument manufacturer.

 

Exactly.

 

Their annual sales dropped 4%. Their net loss Tripled 2012 vs 2011.

 

Roland is selling less and losing more on what they sell.

 

3 years of declining sales and 3 years of fairly high losses. Their equity and cash on hand has also decreased so they are losing their cushion and time to solve their operational or sales problems. (might be both)

 

They have a problem and its controlling the red ink and bringing up profitable sales. They have not demonstrated they can reverse this given that 3 year history.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Reading through the recent Roland financial statements they state the need to reign in expenses to better align with the new "normal" sales volume. It comes off as a bit depressing in that you don't hear about new products on the horizon that they expect will take sales higher, rather it's more status quo, the new normal. Undoubtedly many, not just Roland, in the MI space are hurting. But Roland really needs a hit in the high-end part of their product range, IMO.

 

Busch.

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Reading through the recent Roland financial statements they state the need to reign in expenses to better align with the new "normal" sales volume. It comes off as a bit depressing in that you don't hear about new products on the horizon that they expect will take sales higher, rather it's more status quo, the new normal. Undoubtedly many, not just Roland, in the MI space are hurting. But Roland really needs a hit in the high-end part of their product range, IMO.

 

Busch.

 

if Roland tries to grow sales, they will simply lose more money and cash. So they have to shrink their structure and operation, to achieve a forecasted break even or a tiny profit .

 

1 way to quickly shrink is to sell off a money losing area or kill off product lines (that do not carry their weight). This is frequently part of ' downsizing '.

 

I worked for a well known tech co for some yrs that was wildly successful then hit a serious red ink spiral for 6 years. They finally got bought out since their prospects for a turnaround on their own were small.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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I'm not an expert, but after doing a quick comparison of financials from Roland to Yamaha and a few others, I'm am curious why Roland is being singled out here.

 

Feel free to bring them up, provide links

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Wow. Depressing. Yamaha lost $349 Million last year. Much higher sales than Roland, though. This is bad news for us hardware guys. They are selling a lot less stuff.

Yamaha Motif XF6, Yamaha AN200, Logic Pro X,  Arturia Microbrute, Behringer Model D, Yamaha UX-3 Acoustic Piano, assorted homemade synth modules

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