Redknife Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 My six month old PC3A6 was suddenly taking a long time to boot and after boot it was locked up. I did various basic troubleshooting. The "boot loader" has various diagnostic programs but that wouldn't load when triggered at startup per manual. So, I called the major online retailer where I purchase the unit. They offer free tech support and tout this tech support as value added when purchasing through them. I won't go through all the details, but in summary I received blatantly inaccurate information, hair pulling discourse (me- 'it is still locked up', them- 'it's working perfectly fine'; me'I can't run boot loader', them 'in order to run boot loader you have to remove the expansion ROMs plus you don't need that feature', me-sticks fork in eye for relief of pain . They finally offered to have me send it to them and we ended our phone conversation without agreement on much of anything and keyboard still not working. Just to make sure that I received every nuance of their ineptitude, they closed with "you can send it in but it will just get sent right back". I then contacted Kurzweil, and sanity returned to the lands. They gave me a bunch of things to start checking before getting back to them. All of which were perfectly reasonable and had specificity based on the presenting symptoms and their knowledge of the keyboard processes. So, it occurred to me that I never should have bothered calling the major retailer technical support. I should have contacted Kurzweil first. It got me thinking- do any of you find those major retailer free technical support services useful? Maybe I just had a bad egg? I viewed it as a path to either fix the problem or get the board to them for warranty service. Now I realize that the path to warranty service need not go through them. (I don't want this to be a retailer bashing thread, just want a sense of who y'all contact with technical problems.) Chris Main gear: Yamaha C7, Kronos 2 88, Moog Sub 37, CK61, Kurzweil PC2x, Pearl epro, Mac/Logic/AUs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I've tended to buy boutique gear in the last few years, which means I have a pretty close relationship to the manufacturer. I go straight to them. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane hugo Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Reading the opening post reminded me why I don't deal with the major retailers. Y'all who do have my sympathy. http://blip.fm/invite/WorkRelease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Wade Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Unless I know the retailer has some really sharp techs, I always deal with the manufacturer, because unfortunately nowadays, I usually know more about the products than the retailers staff do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 For Kurz I would pm Dave Weiser here on our forum first; he may be familiar with the issue. Similar for the other members here that work for or represent a particular manufacturer. I believe these folks are always happy to steer you to the right place if they don't have the answer themselves. Otherwise I always go directly with tech support at the manufacturer. Always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Manufacturer or here. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Apple has been exemplary. Camel Audio likewise. Focusrite and CME have made things run smoothly. Sweetwater has been very much on the ball at several key points when I needed help. Sequential behaved like real champs and DSI has held to that over time. The MOTU staff have always been very helpful and quick to respond in many cases. G-Media made buying M-Tron Pro painless. One day, I'm going to give double plasma and buy Omnisphere, partly because its Eric Persing at the helm and partly because its OMNISPHERE, amen. An evangelist came to town who was so good, even Huck Finn was saved until Tuesday. ~ "Tom Sawyer" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 I try to only buy brands where my tech is an authorize service center. He is authorized for Roland, Yamaha, Korg and Nord. For Hammond I deal directly with Addison. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Casio were excellent when my keyboard went wrong and needed an "operation." "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill bosco Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 well i guess i'm about to find out about tech support , my 2 1/2 month old moxf 61 is now intermitently shutting itself off after 20 minutes or so . when i power it off and then back on it comes back to life only to shut down again sometime later . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 I use a well known mid-western retailer and they are always there to discuss a problem. Often they point me to a manufacturer resource for any actual service. At other times they offer hassle-free replacement or other alternatives. I would usually consider myself more intimately knowledgable than the retailer about a specific product issue, since I do my own some trouble-shooting. However the retailer has a big picture set of connections and resources, which complements what I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I use a well known mid-western retailer and they are always there to discuss a problem. Often they point me to a manufacturer resource for any actual service. +1 I'm sure we're both talking about the same retailer. Excellent support before and after the sale. They helped me out when I bought my Alesis Ion many years ago... when I had a question that Alesis tech support couldn't answer. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I bought my Kronos from the well known Mid Western (Indiana) retailer. (There is a well known retailer from outside of Milwaukee that started out as a small MIDI shop years ago that is pretty good to deal with also. When negociating price, my man Joe is always bragging on their support in Indiana that I have never used. My thing with out of state support and repair services is that if something goes down I need it to be fixed now. That is why I try to only buy brands that my tech in Champaign is authorized for. Well .... I my early days with the Kronos I found file management when rolling your own samples to be a bitch so I call their famous support. LOL. They were no help I was told they really don't teach how to use the instruments. I told that's OK I will figure it out somehow. I just wanted to see how good Joe's famous support was. I CCd Joe. At the end of the day when shopping online iit comes down to price. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 The best technical support is often Keyboard Corner. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 The best technical support is often Keyboard Corner. +1 For software KVR is also good. Lost of VSTi developers have forums there and are quite responsive. This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Why are people avoiding mentioning the names of retailers? Especially when they are praising them? What harm can it do to identify them? "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Why are people avoiding mentioning the names of retailers? Especially when they are praising them? What harm can it do to identify them? From the Forum Policies Discussing specific pricing/talking about specific retailers We request that members not post about any specific retailer in regards to pricing of gear/great deals they got, etc. Here's why: in the early days of the forum, music store sales guys would come on here trolling for sales...some of them would even stoop so low as to pretend to be just another end user who just wanted to share the news about this cool store they bought their gear at, or some wonderful salesguy that they thought all of us should know about... Consequently, we try and keep info about specific pricing/retailers off the boards. "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I see. Thanks Joe. Clearly a good & (regrettably) necessary policy. "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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