This month we take a break
from the more technical stuff
and begin a three part series about
what to expect when you bring a piece
of electronic musical equipment to
a repair center. For those of you
who don't know, I have run the repair
department at Sam Ash Music In Margate
for the last sixteen years. In my
twenty plus years in the repair business
I've seen many misconceptions by
customers concerning the repair process.This
month I will discuss checking in
your equipment for repair. Next month
we will cover the repair
process itself and two months
from now will be a discussion
of warranty and extended warranty
repairs.
CHECKING IN EQUIPMENT FOR REPAIR
Much
of the time checking equipment
into the service center is
an easy process. We encounter
many friendly, intelligent
people who come to us asking
for help. They listen carefully
when we explain service center
policies and fees. They are
prepared to state their needs
and are able to provide a
clear explanation of what
is wrong with the equipment
they need repaired.
We have
plenty of these type of customers
and many of them loyally
come back whenever they have
equipment to be serviced.
But there is also a dark
side to the service business
of people who don't quite
fit the above customer description.
Below I list the many issues
we repeatedly see in the
hope of educating people
who are not clear on working
with a service facility. |
|
1-The
most frustrating thing to the repair
center staff can be the customer's
attitude.
Many customers arrive
at the service counter frustrated
and angry because their piece of
gear stopped working. Maybe it stopped
in the middle of an important performance
or they had to drive a long distance
to the repair center. Certainly they
know it is going to cost money to
fix and maybe they are suspicious
they will be taken
advantage of and charged for
work that is not done. It is
important to realize that the
technicians in the service
center, did not design or manufacture
your broken equipment. We also
did not break it. We are here
to get it back in working order
so you can continue to use
it, so it will help if we do
not have to take the brunt
of your misplaced anger.
2-Those
with the egotistical attitude
of "I
am an artist, I don't need to know
how to operate my equipment or understand
anything- just fix it". These
people are leaving them selves
open to the unscrupulous tech
who will see this as an opportunity
to charge as much as he can.
3-"Can
I get a professional musician
discount?"
Can I
get a discount for the church?" I
do offer those discounts.
The discount rate is 0%.
4-I've
got a lot of gear I can
bring for repair- can you
do better on the price?"
My
answer to this is bring all that
gear in for repair and then we can
talk.
5-"This
broke a couple of weeks ago.
I have a gig tomorrow, can
it be ready?"
Do
people really think we are sitting
there idly, waiting for equipment
to come in to work on? Especially
for those who earn their living from
using a piece of equipment, they
need to have a backup plan. Even
an inexpensive substitute for a keyboard
etc is way better than nothing. There
is a huge difference between no sound
at all and sound that is not as good.
6- "I
could fix it myself, but
my tools are in storage"
"I could fix it
myself but I don't have the time".
What purpose is served
by saying this? If you
are bringing something
in for repair you are
the same as anybody else
irregardless of whether
or not you could fix
it.
7
-"I
watched a video on the Internet on
how to fix it." Again,
why does this matter?
Although
sometimes it matters
in the service center's
favor. We had one
guy who watched a
video on You Tube
on how to change
a broken key on a
Korg Triton. He did
really well changing the key, but
when he turned the unit back on after
reassembly, it wouldn't start. He
brought it to us to see what had
happened. He had managed to pinch
one of the wiring harnesses in the
keyboard between the key bed assembly
and the bottom panel of the unit
causing a direct short to ground.
This caused major destruction to
the circuitry on the unit's main
board requiring it to be replaced.
This went from a
minor repair to a
$1000.00 plus nightmare.
8- "I'm
sure it just a
fuse or something
simple."
A fuse
is a protective device only. It is
in the unit to prevent further damage
or fire when something else in the
unit is not right. It is not very
often that replacing a fuse without
other repair service will fix a unit.
And why are you sure it is something
simple? Do you have any factual evidence
to support that or are you just saying
it because you are hoping for an
inexpensive repair bill?
9-" The
problem is
A
capacitor(
resistor,transformer
or the name
of that one
electronic
component
you know
the name
of)." I
had one guy
that while
checking
in his keyboard
for repair
told me the
problem was
a capacitor
in the power
supply. I
thought I
was getting
some information
that would
help the
repair go
faster, so
I asked him
how he knew
that. He
replied he
didn't, that
he was just
guessing.
Surprising
how often
this happens.
10- "I
read on
an Internet
forum.......
."
Internet
forums
are groups
of people
who for
the most
part
have
no technical
hardware
repair
knowledge.
From
a software
standpoint
I see
a lot
of useful
info
out there.
But it
is rare
that
I see
any posts
that
have
a clue
when
it comes
to hardware/circuitry
failure.
There
are a
lot of
posts
that
are guesses,
but these
posters
don't
have
even
the most
basic
electronic
troubleshooting
skills,
therefore
a lot
of misinformation
is out
there.
I once
called
the national
service
manager
of Korg
to ask
him a
question
about
a resolution
to an
amplifier
problem
that
was posted
on the
Internet
as a
common
failure
and solution
to that
amplifier
model.
He started
laughing
pretty
hard.
I asked
him why
he was
laughing
and he
replied. "It's
on the Internet so you know it must
be true." Turns
out it
wasn't.
11-
This applies to the tube amp crowd
who read stuff on the Internet
About
their amps and come to me to
modify their amplifiers. Their
is a proliferation of self proclaimed Tube Amp "Gurus" on
the Internet. Many of them will steer
you in a very bad direction of expensive
modifications that yield little results.
Many of them also have
self serving interests to steer
you into buying their transformers
speakers etc. If you are not
schooled in electronics even
a little electronic explanation
sounds impressive, so how can
you really know this guy knows
what he is talking about?
12- "I
have owned this for fifteen years
and have never had a problem.
I
can't understand why it is
not working." My
answer to This is to put on a real
serious look and ask "Do you know
why"? They get all excited waiting
for my answer which is "because it
is broken". Why do
people assume equipment can
be manufactured that will never
break. If that was true why
do they need to put redundant
backup systems on airliners.
If fail safe equipment is possible
it certainly would be on an
airplane. If Boeing or NASA
can't do it do you really think
Fender can?
13-"What
is your hourly rate?"
This
is a question we sometimes
get. People are used to
automobile repair where
there are specific labor
times for repairs. There
is not much component level
troubleshooting going on
in auto repair. If your
car's air conditioning
control module is blown
you are getting a new one
even if it is only one
blown resistor. They don't
know how to figure that
out. But they do know that
to put in a new module
takes X hours so they bill
you for that plus the part.
In electronic musical repair
we need to troubleshoot
where possible at the component
level which can be an untold
amount of time spent. Otherwise
you will be billed for
$1200.00 to put a main
board in your Yamaha Motif
when actually you had only
one connection to be re
soldered. This is where
the problem lies with the
hourly rate .There are
techs around with varying
degrees of ability. Would
you rather pay $90.00 to
a tech who can fix it right
in half an hour or $35.00
an hour to someone who
will take five hours and
not fix it correctly. Basically
labor charges become a
flat rate based upon a
formula that each shop
develops.
14- "Why
do I need to pay a diagnostic
charge?"
Most
professional repair centers require
you to leave a diagnostic charge
in advance when you check in your
equipment. It is applied against
the final repair cost if the item
is repaired. The reason for this
charge is the service center must
spend time to diagnose the problem.
It is possible that due to parts
unavailability or if the repair cost
will exceed the value of the unit,
the customer may elect not to repair
the unit. When this happens the repair
center needs to be compensated for
time spent diagnosing the feasibility
of repair. How long could I stay
in business if I repeatedly have
to diagnose things for free? It is
also amazing how many people ask
if the diagnostic charge will be
refunded if the unit is not fixable.
15- "I
won't leave my equipment
unless I can talk to
the technician.
Many
larger shops employ
customer service
personnel trained
to handle the check
in and out of repairs.
We do so at my
shop. Our service
administrator PJ
is also a highly
competent guitar
repair and electronics technician,
well qualified to discuss the repair
process. But there are many customers
who get nasty with him and demand
that I stop what I am doing to talk
with them. It never ceases to amaze
me that I have to say the exact
same things that PJ tells them in
order to satisfy them and this also
subjects me to listening to all the
irrelevant minutiae these people
have to say. In the words of a former
service manager for Marshall, "Excuse
me while I put you on hold so I can
find a razor blade to slit my wrists
while I listen to you tell me what
song you were playing when your amp
died". I
instantly lose
respect for this
type of customer.
If you are bringing
me something to
fix and have the
confidence that
I can fix it then
respect my business
practices as to
how I operate my
service center.
This seems to be
a problem only
with musical instrument
service. I can't
remember ever being
at the Chevy dealer
and seeing someone
demand to talk
to the mechanic
who will work on
their car. Or try
calling up your
doctor and ask
to speak directly
to him. I can't
even get the girl
who cuts my hair
to come to the
phone at the salon
I go to. I am flattered
that people want
to talk to me and
love to educate
people but I do
not always have
time. This is one
of the reasons
I write these articles.
16-
Rush Charges
On
occasion there
are customers
who must have
their equipment
repaired right
away. If they
want to pay
a Rush Charge
we will move
them to the
top of the
list. We don't
recommend this
for two reasons.
First of all
if needed parts
are not in
stock there
will be rush
shipping charges
in addition
to the rush
labor charge.
Secondly, a
rush charge
does not guarantee
we will fix
the unit right
away. It means
we will look
at it right
away and see
if we can fix
it. If we can't finish
the repair right away due to part
back orders etc, you will still be
billed for rush service possibly
weeks later when the repair is completed.
As I mentioned before, having a backup
plan takes
a lot of pressure
off by substituting
another piece
of gear while
the main one
is being fixed.
To me that
is the true
definition
of a professional.
It can not
be the service
center's problem
that your gear
is not working,
you need it
right away
and have no
backup plan.
17- " I
had this
here for
repair recently
and it is
still doing
the same
thing.
Usually
accompanied
by "I never tried it
until yesterday." While
it is entirely
possible
that this
is true
I find
that a
lot of
the time
it is not.
We maintain
an extensive
database
of our
repairs
with meticulous
information
of when
and what
was done
to a specific
unit. The
customer's
perception
is that
they paid
to have
it fixed
and it
is not
working
now implying
that we
didn't
fix it
correctly
. We had
a person
the other
day who
brought
his keyboard
in and
claimed
the same
three keys
we replaced
less than
a year
ago were
not working.
Looking
it up in
the database
showed
it was
three different
keys over
three years
ago. But
the best
I ever
encountered
was a guy
who claimed
he had
just recently
had something
repaired
and it
was still
doing the
same thing.
We looked
it up and
the repair
was ten
years and
two weeks
old.Even
if I had
a ten year
warranty
on my repairs
he was
out of
luck. And
saying
that it
was fixed
a while
ago and
you never
tried it
until now,
well you
are out
of luck.
It is your
responsibility
to check
the operation
of your
repaired
equipment
during
our warranty
period.
That's all
for this month. Let me say again
we do love our customers who are
friendly,provide a clear description
of the problem and are not demanding
about pricing or how long the repair
will take. Next month I will discuss
the repair process that occurs once
the equipment is checked in and also
the completed and post repair processes.