An Open Letter to Onkyo, USA

[fmw]

Dear Onkyo:

Perhaps one of your employees reads these forums. I don't know. I did send the letter below by mail since fax didn't work any better than telephone or e-mail. I obviously don't expect you to answer the letter either but maybe someone will read this post.

Here's the text of the letter I sent.

When someone uses your “support” email function on your web site because he can’t get anyone to answer the telephone the following is a meaningless response to that email:

“Please don't reply to this e-mail, this is an auto reply and any e-mail that is sent to this address will not be read.
Thank you for contacting Onkyo Product Support. The following is a collection of information that may help answer your question. A Product Support Representative will be contacting you shortly to address your inquiry.
If you need assistance with System setup, please visit our Hookup Diagrams page found here: http://www.onkyousa.com/hookup
Our Frequently Asked Questions section has answers to many of the top issues for your product: http://www.onkyousa.com/faq.cfm
Again, thank you for contacting us; if you need further assistance please call our Product Support Department at the following number, 1-800-229-1687.
The Onkyo Product Support Department”


I realize you don’t want me to communicate with you and I won’t but you should find a less insulting way to respond to email support requests. Or as an option, you could answer the support telephone number referred to in the email.

 

[ErinH]

you should find a less insulting way to respond to email support requests. Or as an option, you could answer the support telephone number referred to in the email.

I don't see anything insulting about that e-mail. Seems like a generic auto reply that I get from any other company.

 

[stratman]

My friend got an 875 and the room eq program isn't working correctly, he was able to reach support, they said they'll work with him on the phone to make sure it's not a customer glitch and if found to be defective they'll replace unit.

Maybe you've been unlucky with phone support because of the time of year, how many nimrods are trying to figure out their sound systems that they received for Christmas, thus tying up the works. I'm not trying to defend Onkyo, heck I don't even own Onkyo products!

 

[masak_aer]

I don't see anything insulting about that e-mail. Seems like a generic auto reply that I get from any other company.

I think he finds it insulting since no real person is answering the phone call listed in the email.

 

[fmw]

I don't see anything insulting about that e-mail. Seems like a generic auto reply that I get from any other company.

Insulting to me for 2 reasons:

1. The internet support routine collects a lot of information, including a description of the problem I want to address. It collects the whole gamut of personal information. Ignoring all of that and sending me to the telephone with a auto email is not the kind of response one should get after all that input that they asked me for. They could have simply told me what they were going to do on the web site without putting me through all the hassle.

2. My reason for emailing was that I was unable to reach anyone by telephone - anyone at all. period. The support line put me on hold for more than 20 minutes each of 4 attempts covering a period of time of 6 hours. Every other line available when one calls the headquarters (even individual employee extensions) also gets no answer including the operator. I find it insulting that a company goes that far to avoid communicating with customers. Why publish a telephone number for the public at all?

Maybe I'm just a little sensitive.

 

[fmw]

My friend got an 875 and the room eq program isn't working correctly, he was able to reach support, they said they'll work with him on the phone to make sure it's not a customer glitch and if found to be defective they'll replace unit.

Maybe you've been unlucky with phone support because of the time of year, how many nimrods are trying to figure out their sound systems that they received for Christmas, thus tying up the works. I'm not trying to defend Onkyo, heck I don't even own Onkyo products!

It could be that they mean well and are just incompetent but most large companies bend over backward to avoid communications from customers so I really suspect that is the case. Glad your friend had better luck with them. At least I know for sure that it won't happen again to me with them. Maybe they will take my letter as advice. Who knows. I doubt it.

 

[MDS]

A Product Support Representative will be contacting you shortly to address your inquiry.

The text of the auto-reply email is simply saying that you should not reply to the auto-reply. It does not mean that nobody will read all of the information you submitted and attempt to solve the problem. They include the other links to the problem database so that you could search and see if there is already a solution to your particular problem. Nearly every company does that.

The auto-reply is just an acknowledgement that your support ticket was received. I got the same kind of auto-reply from Sony when I inquired about changes that were made to Sound Forge but a day later the tech support person sent me an email with answers to my questions.

 

[fmw]

OK, perhaps my frustration, anger and wasted time has clouded my understanding. I'll keep quiet - and even delete the post if you think it is inappropriate. We'll see what kind of response I get.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Where do you live? I think you and I should get all funny on single malt scotch and then beat that 605 to death with a sledge-hammer "office space" style!

OK, perhaps my frustration, anger and wasted time has clouded my understanding. I'll keep quiet - and even delete the post if you think it is inappropriate. We'll see what kind of response I get.

 

[majorloser]

...how many nimrods are trying to figure out their sound systems that they received for Christmas...

Let's see......

Everybody that received a sound system for Christmas

 

[Johnd]

Where do you live? I think you and I should get all funny on single malt scotch and then beat that 605 to death with a sledge-hammer "office space" style!

Wait a minute Mr. Gable. How do you know it's the famed 605...I see no mention of that model here.

 

[fmw]

Where do you live? I think you and I should get all funny on single malt scotch and then beat that 605 to death with a sledge-hammer "office space" style!

Too far away from Texas. I would be willing to do it, however, even for just a beer. I really would. I really don't want to see that thing again. After 10 hours (count 'em 10 hours) of trying to call them I did finally get a call from an employee. I left messages in every personal voice mail box I could access and one of them worked. Finally got to talk to some people. In a nutshell, no warranty work for my 6 month old piece of junk. I called the regional service center earlier and gave them my UPS account number so they could return my defective unit that isn't going to get any service. I've seen this kind of awful customer support in the computer industry but never in the CE industry. It literally blows me away.

I'll see what I can do over the coming months and years to talk people out of buying Onkyo products. I won't stop until I've prevented sales equal to 20 times what I paid for the 605. That should be enough to exceed the gross profit on one unit - reasonable payback.

I think I have a pretty good sledge hammer here that should get the job done. Or maybe I'll send it to the President of Onkyo as a gift. Anybody know his name?

 

[stratman]

Mr. Juan Valdez

 

[fmw]

Mr. Juan Valdez

I thought he was a Colombian coffee grower.

 

[annunaki]

Let me ask you this, did you purchase the unit from an Authorized Onkyo retailer? My guess is you didn't. The reason being, if you did, you could simply return it to the retailer and they take care of warranty issues for you. At least that is what I have always done for my customers regardless of brand. That, and they would have offered to repair the unit free of charge under the warranty policy.

 

[MDS]

I'll see what I can do over the coming months and years to talk people out of buying Onkyo products. I won't stop until I've prevented sales equal to 20 times what I paid for the 605. That should be enough to exceed the gross profit on one unit - reasonable payback.

I understand your frustration but that really isn't worth your time, not to mention that it won't do one bit of good. All manufacturers have issues from time to time but I've been buying Onkyo receivers for over 10 years and never had one single problem.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I have enough AA mileage to fly to your house so lets beat it to death!

 

[mtrycrafts]

... but I've been buying Onkyo receivers for over 10 years and never had one single problem.

How many have you been buying? LOL

 

[MDS]

How many have you been buying? LOL

I'm not a serial ugprader like many on this site but every few years I get the itch to get something new. The 502 I currently own was supposed to be a temporary hold over until I could go back to the 7xx series but it has been over three years now. I am getting the itch to buy the 705 now that it includes all of the features I want even though I definitely don't 'need' it.

My friends and family love me because I gift my mint condition audio gear to them for free. What else am I going to do - sell it on craigslist for $50?

 

[fmw]

Let me ask you this, did you purchase the unit from an Authorized Onkyo retailer? My guess is you didn't. The reason being, if you did, you could simply return it to the retailer and they take care of warranty issues for you. At least that is what I have always done for my customers regardless of brand. That, and they would have offered to repair the unit free of charge under the warranty policy.

I don't know. I bought it at Circuit City. They had no interest in helping me with it. They just referred me to Onkyo.