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Original thread:
Post 1 made on Wednesday August 1, 2012 at 18:14
chuch jr
Active Member
Joined:
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August 2005
500
Just got the "shock of the year" when taking to Request Media about an amplifier I pull out of a customer's home today.

About 4 years ago; I assisted another dealer, from out of the area, install a Request Media system at nice home in the Hamptons. Request product gave dealer a lot of issues when 1st installed & he turn customer over to me about 6 months after system was put in because it was costing way too much for him to handle the customer service from 150 miles away. Initial issues included software & firmware bugs that were fixed via updates & remote access. Then a touch screen went bad. Then the IQ amp went bad when the system was a few months old.

When the amp failed we sent it to Request for warranty repair & they were not able to do so because model was being discontinued due to a high rate of failure. They instead sent a newer model to replace it along with more firmware updates to be downloaded off their site. That was when the other dealer walked away & turned customer over to our company.

We have been maintaining this system since with only minor issues to solve. 2 days ago, customer contacted us to state no sound. During the service call, I verified the server was playing & outputting music to the amp but amp had no output. I had an old 12 channel Sonance amp laying around which I installed in place of the IQ amp & was able to get music. Unfortunately it was at full volume because the server controls the level on each channel of the IQ amp (thru an RS232 cable connected between amp & server) but obviously is not able to control the output on my Sonance. I left the Sonance connected w/ a 2 way table top volume control & showed the customer how to at least get audio in the Lvrm & Kitchen. Believing the IQ amp has failed again, I pulled it from the house to bring back to shop for possible local repair or send to Request for repair.

I called Request, talked to customer service & tech support. They helped me verify that issue is definately the amp. Not the server control of the amp.

HERE'S THE REAL KICKER: AMP IS OUT OF WARRANTY & NOT REPAIRABLE BECAUSE CHINESSE MANUFACTURER NO LONGER HAS PARTS AVAILABLE. MUST BUY NEW AMPS TO REPLACE IT @ APROX $3K COMBINED TOTAL; INCL SHIPPING! That's with a discount for being a dealer!! CATCH THIS: Customer's amp is an 8 channel amp. New amps available are only 6 channel. Thus, customer must buy 2 amps along with a data cable that links them, in order to get all 8 channels working again.

Planned obsolesants at its best.

Any one have another solution/idea to get this system working again at alot less money? Can anyone verify if there are any federal laws on the books that require an electronics manufacturer to keep parts & or repairs available for a certain # of years after the product was sold? When I worked at our family's TV repair shop many many years ago, my uncle kept telling us that the manufactures had make parts available to allow for repairs for up to 7 years.


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