Emotiva Customer Service is Horrible!

[ImcLoud]

I just showed them a picture of my deck and got great service... But my wife hates when I send pictures of my deck out on the internet, she always says, "no more deck pics" and "stop sending my mother pics of your deck"...

 

[herbu]

Interesting and typical comments here. Customer Service is one element of a business just like Manufacturing or Procurement or Sales are elements. None will be perfect, no matter how much time and expense is applied. Consider the space shuttle that had literally years of testing on each unit.

There is a balance between profit and perfection, and each company decides where they want their balance point within each business element, including Customer Service. Maybe it is 95% defect free... maybe 98%... maybe 99.99%. Each business element is measured, tracked and addressed regularly. That is what the seeming eternity of meetings within a business are all about... performance, measurement techniques, improvements, etc.

Unless an element is perfect, and none are, there will always be horror stories from the customers who suffered within the defect area. My old company, and many companies today, measure their defects in Parts Per Million. The transition from Percentage was made a number of years ago because all the decimal points, (ie 0.000451%), became confusing to present and understand. Yet every week we still heard horror stories from the folks who got one of the defects. It will always be so.

Customer Service is not just a person on a phone. It is an organization w/ several levels that begins with the person on the phone. Problems are judged, fixed over the phone if possible, passed up to the next level if necessary. Each level has a higher technical expertise, with the highest level being buffered from all but the most challenging technical issues. Intermittent and technically weird stuff require the most handoffs to a higher level analysis, and take the most time to identify and resolve. (An intermittent short in the headphone jack would seem to fall under the weird stuff.) Communication back to the customer through all the handoffs and analysis is an area that can typically fall through the cracks, and it sounds like that's what happened this time.

One more thing... The amount of purchases that seem like a lot to the customer, (ex $15,000), is not a lot to the company. Think about it. How many decimal points would it take to quantify $15k as a percent of total annual sales? It is not enough to give that customer any particular influence over the company's business decisions. The customer may be a personal friend, but $15k won't buy you preferential treatment.

I, for one, am happy to see the OP's issue resolved. I have not seen any evidence to suggest Emotiva doesn't care as a company, and I will not hesitate to buy or recommend their products and company.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I, for one, am happy to see the OP's issue resolved. I have not seen any evidence to suggest Emotiva doesn't care as a company, and I will not hesitate to buy or recommend their products and company.

What if the issue had NOT been resolved for the OP?

Would you still recommend EMO?

I sure would NOT.

 

[herbu]

The explanation/understanding above does not make it any easier to take if you're the one falling through the cracks. It is understandable if the OP decides not to buy from Emotiva again. It is fair to lament his experience, but unreasonable to condemn the whole company because of it. OTOH, if the problem had not ultimately been resolved, it might be an indication of something entirely different. I say "might" because we have only heard his perspective. There is usually another side to a coin.

If there were numerous and ongoing stories of no resolution, I would be inclined to wonder if it was indeed a pattern that was not being addressed by the company.

 

[cpp]

I bad experience by a seller usually leads to few if any future purchases.

 

[psbfan9]

I, for one, am happy to see the OP's issue resolved. I have not seen any evidence to suggest Emotiva doesn't care as a company, and I will not hesitate to buy or recommend their products and company.

As I said before, I am happy for the OP that things worked out, but it should have never come to this. It seems that EMO only 'made things right' when this thread was brought to their attention. If they do care about CS, they would have taken care of the OP from the beginning and also would have read here about the problems Adam had and would be working to make that right as well.


I have not purchased anything from Emotiva, but, I have spoken to them and decided from that conversation they are not a company I would do business with.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The explanation/understanding above does not make it any easier to take if you're the one falling through the cracks. It is understandable if the OP decides not to buy from Emotiva again. It is fair to lament his experience, but unreasonable to condemn the whole company because of it. OTOH, if the problem had not ultimately been resolved, it might be an indication of something entirely different. I say "might" because we have only heard his perspective. There is usually another side to a coin.

If there were numerous and ongoing stories of no resolution, I would be inclined to wonder if it was indeed a pattern that was not being addressed by the company.

What are you saying? That a few unresolved complaints is not too bad?

It's only bad or true if there were "numerous" ongoing unresolved complaints?

But if only a single person like Adam had unresolved complaints, it's not too bad?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

All I can say is, since EMO resolved the OP's issues, I am not going to bad mouth them. Bad things happened. They fixed it. Good.

But if EMO had not resolve the OP's issues, I would be vivisecting EMO on AH and AVS forever.

 

[RichB]

All I can say is, since EMO resolved the OP's issues, I am not going to bad mouth them. Bad things happened. They fixed it. Good.

But if EMO had not resolve the OP's issues, I would be vivisecting EMO on AH and AVS forever.

Which is why we all try to stay on your good side.
I kid, I think Emotiva took their licks on this one.

Personally, I am proactive about support issues so they do not go more than a several days without an update request.
Even Parasound and ATI got gentle reminders to keep the ball rolling.

- Rich

 

[herbu]

What are you saying? That a few unresolved complaints is not too bad?

It's only bad or true if there were "numerous" ongoing unresolved complaints?

But if only a single person like Adam had unresolved complaints, it's not too bad?

No, not at all.
Every customer complaint is a black eye, but they are unavoidable as no product is perfect. And, just as no product is perfect, no Customer Resolution process, or any other process is perfect.

From the customer perspective, one bad experience is likely all it takes to sour him against that company.
But it is the company perspective I tried to explain.
Let's say you owned the company. You ship 99.99% defect free product, but 1/10,000 has some kind of defect.
You could have a policy of simply replacing the unit for every customer complaint phone call.
You could establish a call center to resolve the "I don't have an 'any' key on my keyboard", calls... and a repair center for the real repairs.
If you go with the call/repair centers, you'll need processes to move difficult repairs up the technical chain, processes to track each system, processes to communicate status back to the customer, and processes to measure the effectiveness of each of those processes.

All these steps and processes require headcount to run and expertise to develop.
As the business owner, how much money out of your pocket do you spend on these people/equipment/facilities to handle the 1/10,000 defects you ship? And when a customer/system inevitably slips through the cracks, how much do you increase your spending to prevent recurrence? How do you determine how much the dissatisfaction of a customer will cost you in future business?

From a business perspective, while a single experience like the OP or Adam is bad, it will not drive company policy. These cases will exist, the loss of a customer is regrettable, but business decisions are based on far larger numbers and trends. For Emotiva, I do not see a trend of non-support, or a trend of horror stories indicating the company does not care. Isolated instances, sure... but you cannot name a single company that sells or even gives away anything that does not have cases where someone is dissatisfied.

Please don't misunderstand. I feel for the OP and Adam and anyone who has a sour experience with customer support for anything. I've had my share. (Waiting on the washing machine repairman for the 3rd time now.) And when you're the injured party, the company perspective means squat to you. It's just that I learned a couple things working 37 years in Quality Assurance. One of them is that a single incident of Customer Sat should not usually define a company.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

No, not at all.
Every customer complaint is a black eye, but they are unavoidable as no product is perfect. And, just as no product is perfect, no Customer Resolution process, or any other process is perfect.

From the customer perspective, one bad experience is likely all it takes to sour him against that company.
But it is the company perspective I tried to explain.
Let's say you owned the company. You ship 99.99% defect free product, but 1/10,000 has some kind of defect.
You could have a policy of simply replacing the unit for every customer complaint phone call.
You could establish a call center to resolve the "I don't have an 'any' key on my keyboard", calls... and a repair center for the real repairs.
If you go with the call/repair centers, you'll need processes to move difficult repairs up the technical chain, processes to track each system, processes to communicate status back to the customer, and processes to measure the effectiveness of each of those processes.

All these steps and processes require headcount to run and expertise to develop.
As the business owner, how much money out of your pocket do you spend on these people/equipment/facilities to handle the 1/10,000 defects you ship? And when a customer/system inevitably slips through the cracks, how much do you increase your spending to prevent recurrence? How do you determine how much the dissatisfaction of a customer will cost you in future business?

From a business perspective, while a single experience like the OP or Adam is bad, it will not drive company policy. These cases will exist, the loss of a customer is regrettable, but business decisions are based on far larger numbers and trends. For Emotiva, I do not see a trend of non-support, or a trend of horror stories indicating the company does not care. Isolated instances, sure... but you cannot name a single company that sells or even gives away anything that does not have cases where someone is dissatisfied.

Please don't misunderstand. I feel for the OP and Adam and anyone who has a sour experience with customer support for anything. I've had my share. (Waiting on the washing machine repairman for the 3rd time now.) And when you're the injured party, the company perspective means squat to you. It's just that I learned a couple things working 37 years in Quality Assurance. One of them is that a single incident of Customer Sat should not usually define a company.

I can agree with that. Nothing is perfect. The key is to resolve that 1%. In this case, it took longer than expected. But at least it got resolved in the end.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Which is why we all try to stay on your good side.
I kid, I think Emotiva took their licks on this one.

Personally, I am proactive about support issues so they do not go more than a several days without an update request.
Even Parasound and ATI got gentle reminders to keep the ball rolling.

- Rich

Why................. You................

I am definitely not a quiet or patient customer.

 

[sharkman]

I concur.

This also says there are some customers that they kind of shrug their shoulders at. And some others who get preferential treatment over them because they started a thread. All customers should be treated the same, end of story. There are too many threads like this for there not to be a problem.

I think this is the bottom line. There are some warranty situations that Emotiva will resolve only if they become aware of a bad thread. All customers should be treated the same, regardless if they have access to audio forums or not.

 

[herbu]

All customers should be treated the same, regardless if they have access to audio forums or not.

Absolutely agree!!!

I can agree with that. Nothing is perfect. The key is to resolve that 1%. In this case, it took longer than expected. But at least it got resolved in the end.

Agreed. Whew!!! I hate it when I'm vivisected!

 

[Nomo]

About the time this thread began my UMC-200 bricked on me. On start-up I got the loading.......... message.
I kept quiet about it; didn't post here or on emo's site. I called tech support at Emo and after just a few minutes of waiting, and explaining the issue, was given an RMA number. I did need to check back with them later in the day, as I had not yet received the Email explaining the return terms. Lonnie himself actually answered the phone. In my conversations, the people I talked to were polite, but obviously busy, and maybe a bit stressed.
On Wednesday of last week I sent it back. They received it on Friday. On Tuesday afternoon of this week I called to check on the progress and was told "they are working on it now".
Of course I thought, sure they are.
On Wednesday morning I got an Email requesting confirmation of my return address.
The unit was shipped out that day, and I received it today, Friday. I just now got it up and running.
Not bad customer service IMO. Total down time: 10 days
Compared with companies like Sony, Yamaha, Denon, etc; Emotiva is a mom and pop shop. They certainly don't have the R&D budget of the big boys. You get great product, albeit with the possibility of issues, at a good price.
For me; the issues (well documented on Emo's own site) vs the cost and quality of the final product... pfft... no brainer.
Call me a fanboy. I'm sold on Emotiva.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here.

 

[jgaspo]

Bad Emo Customer service

About the time this thread began my UMC-200 bricked on me. On start-up I got the loading.......... message.
I kept quiet about it; didn't post here or on emo's site. I called tech support at Emo and after just a few minutes of waiting, and explaining the issue, was given an RMA number. I did need to check back with them later in the day, as I had not yet received the Email explaining the return terms. Lonnie himself actually answered the phone. In my conversations, the people I talked to were polite, but obviously busy, and maybe a bit stressed.
On Wednesday of last week I sent it back. They received it on Friday. On Tuesday afternoon of this week I called to check on the progress and was told "they are working on it now".
Of course I thought, sure they are.
On Wednesday morning I got an Email requesting confirmation of my return address.
The unit was shipped out that day, and I received it today, Friday. I just now got it up and running.
Not bad customer service IMO. Total down time: 10 days
Compared with companies like Sony, Yamaha, Denon, etc; Emotiva is a mom and pop shop. They certainly don't have the R&D budget of the big boys. You get great product, albeit with the possibility of issues, at a good price.
For me; the issues (well documented on Emo's own site) vs the cost and quality of the final product... pfft... no brainer.
Call me a fanboy. I'm sold on Emotiva.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here.

Here is my Christmas Eve Emotiva cust service story. I called Monday Dec 23 at 1pm CST to see if I could still order a XDA 2 DAC and get it shipped. Was told I missed the cut off by 1 hour and if I ordered it they would ship it Tuesday. I reminded Janna(I think that's her name)that it was Christmas eve. I was told it would ship FED EX no problem. Instead of taking my order she told me to order it on line?? So I did and chose FEDEX ground as the shipper(the only option available). I get an email Tuesday that the DAC will ship Thursday via UPS. So I call and speak to the same woman as the day before asking why Thursday and why UPS. I'm told they switched to UPS and they are not shipping anything on Christmas Eve even though she told me the day before that it would ship. My account was billed the cost of the DAC Monday. She basically told me tough sh**. When I asked her why she lied about it shipping Tuesday she had no answer. At that point I cancelled the order and I will NEVER buy anything from Emotiva

 

[sawzalot]

Here is my Christmas Eve Emotiva cust service story. I called Monday Dec 23 at 1pm CST to see if I could still order a XDA 2 DAC and get it shipped. Was told I missed the cut off by 1 hour and if I ordered it they would ship it Tuesday. I reminded Janna(I think that's her name)that it was Christmas eve. I was told it would ship FED EX no problem. Instead of taking my order she told me to order it on line?? So I did and chose FEDEX ground as the shipper(the only option available). I get an email Tuesday that the DAC will ship Thursday via UPS. So I call and speak to the same woman as the day before asking why Thursday and why UPS. I'm told they switched to UPS and they are not shipping anything on Christmas Eve even though she told me the day before that it would ship. My account was billed the cost of the DAC Monday. She basically told me tough sh**. When I asked her why she lied about it shipping Tuesday she had no answer. At that point I cancelled the order and I will NEVER buy anything from Emotiva

Really, because you had to wait an extra day or two you became so distraught that you felt the need to cancel and post here about it, as they say in the NFL, come on man.
any one that ordered any thing any where one or two days before Christmas should expect a chance of some delays.I doubt very much that the person you called lied to make a sale she probably thought overnight would be possible and that was not the case.

 

[anamorphic96]

+1 to sawzalot.

 

[Alex2507]

I will NEVER buy anything from Emotiva

I will let them know. They will be crushed.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have to agree with the guys here, how much of a hurry where you in, it's the holidays, wouldn't you try to order it before? Why wait? You should have just ordered it here and choose next day, it would have been faster.. Amazon.com: Emotiva XDA-2 | USB DAC, Digital Preamp and Headphone Amp: Electronics