How long will you wait to have AV receiver repaired? (1 Viewer)

[orestes]

I took my out-of-warranty Denon receiver to an authorized service center, and it has been 2 weeks waiting for it to get fixed.

Last week, I was told that it may cost me about $300 to get it fixed, and I told the owner of the repair shop that I will pay that much but nothing more.

So the question is how much longer I have to wait for a repair to be done. I spoke to someone at the shop this morning, and I was told that even though the shop is an authorized service center Denon does not support the shop very well, and it takes very long time to get parts from Denon.

BTW, I was also told to call back on Tuesday afternoon (after 2:00 p.m.) if I really wanted to know what the status of my repair service was. The person said that only the owner of the shop knew this, and any other information related to my receiver. By the way, I placed a $40 non-refundable fee toward the repair of my unit. This $40 will apply to the over all cost of the repair if I decide to go ahead with it.

So how long should I wait before I decide to take the unit without repairing it from the shop? Thanks.

Regard,
orestes

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Denon customer service. Sorry to hear about your troubles, orestes.

Unless you can find another facility that you can be absolutely assured gets adequate support from Denon, moving your receiver to another shop is only going to put you back at square one and $40 poorer.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[orestes]

Wayne:

I am giving the shop one more week, this week. If I don't have better news by Monday, March 27, 2006, I will give up on the unit and buy another receiver; I still like Denon even when my Denon lasted just six years.

I can't see any other brand that gives me 4 components inputs and 4 optical inputs on the back. Thus, Denon comes closer with 3 and 4 respectively.

I will call the owner of the shop tomorrow, and depending what he tells me I will wait one week or go there to pick up the unit and then throw it on the trash can. I don't want to give garbage to anyone. What's garbage goes in a trash can.

Thanks for reminding me how bad Denon Service is. By the way, I don't drive any more; thus, I cannot take the unit to any other place here in San Francisco.

Oh, I just wrote an email to Denon to asking them for the poor service and support to its own authorized service centers. I will post any responses here.

Regards,
orestes

 

[John Garcia]

See what it is going for used on Ebay. If that is less than the repair cost, it isn't worth it to fix it.

Don't feel bad, when my Marantz PM7000 integrated amp had one channel die, they told me 2 MONTHS because it would have to be sent back east!! My dealer is a good guy though, so he let me trade it in towards a new model.

 

[orestes]

John:

I don't know this dealer that well, and because I did not buy my Denon from him, I don't think I will get to trade in my unit for a new one plus the difference in cost. What I did hear from him was that I could possibly use my $40 inspection deposit toward the purchase of a new receiver. However, I know , for instance, that the local BB (Magnolia) sells Denon AVR-3805 for $800 whereas most other authorized dealers in San Francisco want $900 or even $1000 for the 3805. I don't know how much Harmony Audio, an authorized dealer too, wants for the 3805 though since I didn't ask. If I decide to trash my unit, then I will ask him if he has the unit in stock and how much it cost from him.

Oh, BTW, I did look at a couple of Denon AVR-3300 on ebay. It would have cost me a bit more than $300 to get them, and ship a unit home. So even if I saved $50 on an ebay deal, one would never know what one will get from an ebay purchase. So I decided to stick with a possible repair which may be less than $300 according to this shop.

This morning I went back to ebay, and I was not able to find anyone selling a 3300, but I will keep an eye for it.

Thanks for your post.

Regards,
orestes

 

[orestes]

I have yet to receive an email answer from Denon.

Regards,
orestes
P.S. It seems that dealing with Denon is pointless!

 

[Jacob C]

Its sad that a company that makes good products would have such terrible service. They just dropped way down on my list of receivers to consider.

 

[orestes]

I think I have changed my mind regarding my next receiver purchase. I am thinking about buying one of those Pioneer Elite units even though the unit that I am cosidering is a bit more expensive that I want to pay.

Oh BTW, I finally spoke to the owner of the repair shop yesterday, and he also explained to me that Denon is having a terrible time supporting his shop, an authorized service center. He mentioned that Denon is too busy with some re-orgs and whatnot to service his shop.

Regards,
orestes

 

[orestes]

I gotten a few emails from Denon USA; however, it does not seem that the person can do much for me, but his responses were very polite.

One thing he told me is that sometimes a service center request a part which Denon USA does not have, and it has to be ordered all the way from Japan. In such cases, he said, it can take "months".

I come from a country where everything takes months to get when things were broken on way or another. Here I am not willing to wait "months" to have something fix. A month seems enough time to fix my receiver. I don't wait more than that.

Anyway, I just thought I should be fair and mention the Denon USA did answer my emails.

Regards,
orestes

 

[orestes]

Wow, I got a call from the repair shop Harmony Audio Video, and I was told that it will cost me $200 to fix the problem minus my $40 inspection fee; thus, I will have to pay just $160 + tax.

He said that he got all the parts for the receiver, and told me that it should be fixed some time next week.

This is great news!

Regards,
orestes