McIntosh Service Center Question

[Mack]

Patience is a virtue. I left an amplifier with Terry for over one year. Always have a backup

[njcardave]

Just got a reply from the parts department. Sorry to say that the new glass machine is still not in operation. 1,000 pieces of glass are on back order. I hope that I don't have to wait for another year.

[Chad.Wagner]

Waiting for glass on my MA6900. Our cleaning lady dropped an iron on it.

[Poppyhome]

Waiting a year+ for parts and left hanging?

Although I love McIntosh, I think that is totally unacceptable behavior by a high end renowned manufacturer.

I wonder what Bryston would do in these situations.

Ron

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Poppyhome

...Although I love McIntosh, I think that is totally unacceptable behavior by a high end renowned manufacturer...

A sentiment shared by me experiencing my own year+ wait for service on an MX121. At this point, I have written it off as a total loss and am about to buy a Marantz unit cheaply.

[c_dk]

Try to get a face plate from any other manufacturer, even one still in production let alone for products that might be 40 years old.......sloppy shipping and packing procedures have raised the demand for replacement glass to spectacular levels. I doubt if supplying glass is a huge profit center for a manufacturer.

If you do not support your local dealer he can not afford to subsidize the money losing service center that ALL dealers have been struggling with for decades......maybe going back to the tube TV servicing days.

I can rememember decades ago sitting around the pool while down in Puerto Vallatta curtesy of B&O, while a principal of HIFI Buys out of Alanta ranting about trying to make their service departments profitable, all the while lounging on a floaty. It was quite hilarious.....Seems the only way one of their new aquired chains showed a profitable service department was only by charging the sales departments for the shortages that manufacturers would reimburse towards the actual cost of warranty repairs.

McIntosh used to demand as part of their dealer agreement that local dealers provide service.......old school dealers were used to this loss imposed on their bottom line but as their businesses failed new potential dealers refused to take on service because it was a money losing pit.

Warranty repair costs dealers money, manufactures reimburse at ridiculously low levels, how can local end users convince their local dealers to take this on?

[nicoff]

Is there any uniquely special about the glass? Does it have any msrkings, special tint, etc?
If it is just a plain glass of specific dimensions, can you just have any local glass shop cut you a glass to the required dimensions. (I am not a MC owner as I this reply may not make any sense).

[c_dk]

Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s the glass was cut by hand and each hole was drilled. This was done by a outside contractor. A water jet was purchased in the 90s to do these steps in house.

The glass then has a three screen silk screen process to create the unique backlit nomenclature.

Correlating the wait for a speciality piece of glass broken most often by shipping incompetence and the national need for hands on service personnel is riddiculas. The lack of training for new personnel and depressed wages due to lack of profitalbility is the core problem.

This has to be solved at the local level.

[njcardave]

Originally Posted by c_dk

Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s the glass was cut by hand and each hole was drilled. This was done by a outside contractor. A water jet was purchased in the 90s to do these steps in house.

The glass then has a three screen silk screen process to create the unique backlit nomenclature.

Correlating the wait for a speciality piece of glass broken most often by shipping incompetence and the national need for hands on service personnel is riddiculas. The lack of training for new personnel and depressed wages due to lack of profitalbility is the core problem.

This has to be solved at the local level.

McIntosh is not supplying the glass to me for free. I am more than happy to pay for the glass if only they would provide it. I do realize that other manufacturers do not provide parts for older equipment, but McIntosh is a very high end product. They have a new glass machine in house but have not put it into production yet. I hope that they will use the old machine to make the old glass.
1,000 pieces on back order!!!

[c_dk]

Waiting for 10 months, a year or even 18 months for a cosmetic part for a unit out of production for 8 years is not the same as a in warranty repair for a 3 year old unit.

Correcting local service problems for local repair issues is magnitudes of greater importance a than a cosmetic piece for a expensive 10 year old toy.