Mac6700

[j3brow]

I can understand Kevin's frustration.

It's always a bummer when a piece of our gear malfunctions. It's inevitable that it happens at some point, to some of us, probably most of us given enough time. No matter the brand or how much or how little we pay for it. I have had a few hiccups myself over the past 12 years.

However, I do see ANY problem with McIntosh's position. The unit is under warranty. They will make it right but it's our responsibility to get the piece to them.

That's on our dime if we choose to ship or drive to a service center. Simple fact of life in my book.

In this case, it may be as simple as a firmware refresh or update. Who knows. Would be a shame to ship half way across the country and back for a 5 minute fix.

I have bought many many pieces of McIntosh gear and never was I told or have in writing that in the unlikely event it went belly up during the warranty period that they would provide a prepaid shipping label.

This gear is heavy and ships in big boxes. Not cheap to ship and insure. We can't expect McIntosh to pay shipping for every repair under warranty.

The 3 times I had to ship gear back for repairs (C500 Audio Classics, KLAudio, and Musical Fidelity repair shop) I paid for shipping. Why wouldn't I?? 2 of those 3 times my gear was in fact under warranty and repaired for free.

I'm glad Kevin's dealer stepped up even though he dropped McIntosh. He did the right thing. He needs to preserve his one on one relationship with his customer.

Regarding Magnolia, all I can say is that is a shame to get the run around. Keeping your gear for 2 weeks is crazy. They should know within 1 day where to ship the unit for repair and the cost to do so, and charge customer but they handle the arrangements via a proper dealer network. Not a chance they pay out of their pockets for shipping, especially when it wasn't purchased there. But waiting 2 weeks to say we can't touch this piece simply because we didn't sell it is short sided and poor business decision.

I bought my D1100 and MCT450 from Magnolia. I bought my C1100 BNIB but from a member here. When I bought the D1100, I now needed the C1100 firmware update to allow control of the D1100. I asked a local McIntosh dealer if he could handle the update for me for a fee of course .... he said he would look into it, I called back couple weeks later and he said he didn't trust firmware updates and recommended not to do it. Whatever. Point is a lot of dealers are not comfortable messing with these units.

Much to my local Magnolia's credit, they were extremely accommodating and updated my C1100 to the latest firmware without question. It was 1st update they had done for the C1100 so had to call Chuck, have the files emailed etc. To top it all, the Magnolia tech came in on his Saturday off to handle the install. Commendable service from my Magnolia team!

[Randy Myers]

I 100% disagree that a customer with an expensive purchase should have to pay hundreds ($700 in this case) to get his equipment repaired under warranty. That is crappy poor business that will guarantee loosing the customer and virtually every other person he tells.

It is not his fault that McIntosh does not have a qualified service network across the country. During the first call he should have been told to take it to XYZ location near you and we will 100% make sure that they take care of it for you. Where he bought it is irrelevant and I know back when I managed a medium to high end audio store many years ago, part of our dealership agreement was that we would service any piece of their gear that was brought to our store.... PERIOD.

Use the car analogy from earlier; it does not matter what dealership you bought from any Mercedes dealer can service my car, in warranty or out.

I even use another analogy; I had a Dyson vacuum break. The first call to Dyson they told me to take the unit to a local Sears store, they gave me the address of the local store and they will take the unit in and ship it to Dyson for repair. They call Sears and gave them a service number and told them I will be dropping it off. They did not ask me where I bought it, they said we will make sure all is arranged for you and we are very sorry you have had an issue with your unit. I do not believe that is too much to ask of McIntosh.

[scirica]

Sorry Randy, but I disagree. McIntosh, our any manufacturer for that matter has no responsibility to pay for shipping unless stated in the warranty agreement. You can vote with your wallet and that is your prerogative, but it doesn't change the facts. I would hope that my dealer (with whom I've built a relationship with) would help out, but that would cut into his profits.

[j3brow]

Respectfully, I don't see it that way at all. Just my opinion. It's an expensive hobby. We are niche consumers. If something breaks under warranty, we can expect to get it repaired or replaced without a service charge. There is a network of service centers to try and make it as convenient as possible ... I wager Texas has at least a handful to choose from. Betcha out of pocket cost to ship in state is less than $200. Small potatoes IMHO with respect to investment in a hi-end audio system. Doesn't warrant the vitriol towards McIntosh IMO. I am a fan of McIntosh gear ... been using it for 9 years now. The sound quality, prestige, aesthetics, re-sale value, American made all resonate with and many others. I highly doubt too many potential customers would walk away from point of sale if they inquired ... if it breaks, will I have to pay to ship it back. Again, I don't see the problem. Sounds like the Amazon effect.

[nicoff]

If under warranty, paying shipping one way to a service center is not unusual. The manufacturer pays for shipping it back.
The issue that I would have a problem with is having to ship the unit or pay a technician to come to my house just for a simple firmware update that most modern equipment allow you to do via the internet. To me, THAT would be a factor in deciding where to spend my money.

[62caddy]

I have one final observation and it will be the last:

The OP's unit is a massive receiver with firmware. It is really more of a McIntosh power amplifier that happens to have maybe 5 lbs worth of preamplifier & tuner circuitry built in which is probably on the generous side.

If firmware is going to be necessary part of life in front end electronics, I submit it should only be used in lighter signal equipment for which transport & shipping is far less problematic and costly - ie preamps, tuners and such - at least until we have come to the point where firmware no longer has the reliability issues it has now.

This is also a departure from McIntosh's "wait and see before jumping on new technology" policy had been in the past.

[Randy Myers]

The one final observation I have is about the firmware. Yes, once in a blue moon firmware may need to be updated on equipment. Extremely rare and almost never either difficult or costly. Also, most any I have ever heard of from other companies are easy enough that any service person (and most end users) can accomplish it with ease.

Honestly, the only company that appears to be having all of these firmware issues is McIntosh. I hear of very rare occasions of any other company having an issue, and it is usually resolved very quickly. However I have never heard of another company causing such issues with customers over such simply things. Very odd, and very disconcerting.

[ejr1953]

Originally Posted by Randy Myers

The one final observation I have is about the firmware. Yes, once in a blue moon firmware may need to be updated on equipment. Extremely rare and almost never either difficult or costly. Also, most any I have ever heard of from other companies are easy enough that any service person (and most end users) can accomplish it with ease.

Honestly, the only company that appears to be having all of these firmware issues is McIntosh. I hear of very rare occasions of any other company having an issue, and it is usually resolved very quickly. However I have never heard of another company causing such issues with customers over such simply things. Very odd, and very disconcerting.

I couldn't agree more. Firmware updates for most products I own are "user applied", with the ability to download both the firmware and an application to do its update (if needed).

I just don't understand why McIntosh designed the access & update of that firmware to be done only by authorized service personnel.

[miner]

Since there is a somewhat local service center (which I have used in the past for another brand of equipment - was not impressed with techs) then shipping is a moot point but if I did need to send to another locale then the out of pocket expense would not be cheap (I can understand user paying to ship and vendor paying to return). My main gripe in this thread is the way Magnolia handled the situation. Thank you to everyone who expressed their opinion. And, hats off to my dealer (Modia) who stepped up to take care of the issue. It is my understanding that McIntosh was not going to allow him to handle the warranty repair since he is no longer a Mc Auth. Dealer. Shameful.

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by miner

Since there is a somewhat local service center (which I have used in the past for another brand of equipment - was not impressed with techs) then shipping is a moot point but if I did need to send to another locale then the out of pocket expense would not be cheap (I can understand user paying to ship and vendor paying to return). My main gripe in this thread is the way Magnolia handled the situation. Thank you to everyone who expressed their opinion. And, hats off to my dealer (Modia) who stepped up to take care of the issue. It is my understanding that McIntosh was not going to allow him to handle the warranty repair since he is no longer a Mc Auth. Dealer. Shameful.

Shipping = just money (MasterCard)
Handling =arranging for shipment + unplugging unit + disconnecting unit from system +packing + taking unit to shipping facility + waiting weeks without music waiting to get unit back + unpacking + connecting back to system + plugging =
= a priceless pain in the *ss