Chord Electronics Warranty Claims

[Audio_ELF]

Multiple emails , no response . Posting on their Facebook page and sending direct emails is going direct .

 

Based on these comments, I'll pass on Chord .

I'm sorry... But you've not "contacted" a company (in my book) until you speak to someone.

 

99% of emails via websites and Facebook etc get overlooked in my experience.

 

If it's important you speak to someone directly.

[Jimmypowder]

I'm sorry... But you've not "contacted" a company until you speak to someone.

 

99% of emails via websites and Facebook etc get overlooked in my experience.

 

In this date and age of voicemail , it has been my experience that your are more likely to get someone

Via email than calling them . In fact , many employees use voicemail as a screening mechanism and rarely pick up

I despise voicemail but if I had a problem I would send an email .

 

How often do you get someone to pick up the phone? It's rare anymore .

[Audio_ELF]

In this date and age of voicemail , it has been my experience that your are more likely to get someone

Via email than calling them . In fact , many employees use voicemail as a screening mechanism and rarely pick up

I despise voicemail but if I had a problem I would send an email .

 

How often do you get someone to pick up the phone? It's rare anymore .

If you have a direct email address I would agree ... But sending an email via a generic address on a website or social media is not likely to get a quick response.

 

I hazard that with most companies if you visit their website; you are 9 times out of 10 going to get a more satisfactory response picking the phone up during office hours in the companies home country (for Chord that is between 9am and 5pm GMT; 4am and 12noon Eastern time) than sending a message to any email address you find there.

 

Eloise

[rwwjr44]

If he can afford $48K speakers, surely he can afford an overseas call. Too often I find Americans incapable of making a long distance call, as they think one call will be their financial ruin!

 

You want your problem fixed? PICK UP THE PHONE and go direct.

 

I tend to agree that the USB connector was flimsy and that Chord would do the right thing when alerted to a particular problem.

 

Not only Americans. There are lots of cheap people of all nationalities. BUT if you market and sell a product in a country (any country), you should have an adequate and/or responsive support system. I have been in Europe and been victimized by American countries and in America and victimized by manufacturers in other countries. Major companies in each instance.

[maelob]

I am not going to blame anybody but i think it is important for companies to really think about establishing a quality service network or service the units themselves. and not just for warranty but out of warranty items. I had issues with my 8 yr old benchmark dac1. contacted them, they told me to send it, later they told me what the issue was and repaired at a reasonable price. thats how things should work. I can see how things can get more complicated with overseas companies. but totally agree, email should be followed by a call - repeat a few more times and any responsible company should respond.

[Audio_ELF]

One of the issues (may) be the different in responsibilities between the retailers / dealers and manufacturers / distributors in Europe and USA (as I have observed them).

 

In the USA it (appears to me) the first port of call is the manufacturer or distributor when you have issues under warranty.

 

In Europe; the primary responsibility is the dealer. Usually a manufacturer will only get involved when the retailer is unable to help due to no longer being in business or general disinterest. This is a legal responsibility in the UK and (I think) the rest of Europe.

 

Eloise

 

PS this is just an observation and may be incorrect interpretation of USA.

[smalwells]

You're telling us that a dealer that knew you were going to spend $48k on speakers blew off the Chord issue and only wanted to sell you a new Hugo? LOL

 

I did not tell the dealer and had no reason too. Raidho D2 was the purchase.

 

As for phone call. I did not have international calling on my cell phone plan. I did attempt to call and could not get through. That sounds lame and I admit it is. I just should have upgraded the service for a month, but the shit hit the fan so quickly.

 

Chord said they usually do not respond to emails, they forward the messages to the local distributer. The distributer then did nothing.

[smalwells]

One of the issues (may) be the different in responsibilities between the retailers / dealers and manufacturers / distributors in Europe and USA (as I have observed them).

 

In the USA it (appears to me) the first port of call is the manufacturer or distributor when you have issues under warranty.

 

In Europe; the primary responsibility is the dealer. Usually a manufacturer will only get involved when the retailer is unable to help due to no longer being in business or general disinterest. This is a legal responsibility in the UK and (I think) the rest of Europe.

 

Eloise

 

PS this is just an observation and may be incorrect interpretation of USA.

 

 

Correct I always dealt with the manufacturer on warranty issues, never the dealer.

[smalwells]

I'm sorry... But you've not "contacted" a company (in my book) until you speak to someone.

 

99% of emails via websites and Facebook etc get overlooked in my experience.

 

If it's important you speak to someone directly.

 

In this day and age 99% of all communication is email or text. Call a company and you get a machine.

[rwwjr44]

One of the issues (may) be the different in responsibilities between the retailers / dealers and manufacturers / distributors in Europe and USA (as I have observed them).

 

In the USA it (appears to me) the first port of call is the manufacturer or distributor when you have issues under warranty.

 

In Europe; the primary responsibility is the dealer. Usually a manufacturer will only get involved when the retailer is unable to help due to no longer being in business or general disinterest. This is a legal responsibility in the UK and (I think) the rest of Europe.

 

Eloise

 

PS this is just an observation and may be incorrect interpretation of USA.

 

What has happened over here (U.S.) is that the dealer network is no longer robust in smaller communities. Most dealers are clustered near the larger cities or affluent areas. Off shore manufacturers often have limited dealers so the distributor is often the receiver of the complaints.

 

For instance, Cyrus has only one dealer/distributor in North America and they service lots of brands. Do the smaller brands (or less popular ones) get less attention and support? I think so.

 

Also many people buy online through the grey market (foolish for high cost items) then demand support.

[Audio_ELF]

In this day and age 99% of all communication is email or text. Call a company and you get a machine.

As I said above... Once you have a contact I agree, but on a general "sales"; "information" or "support" email adress published on a website then 99% that ends up there is likely spam - that's just the nature of email addresses published online.

 

We can't have anything nice ... There's always someone who spoils things for everyone else :-)

[pawel8]

DCS answers calls ,e-mails and any social media in timely and professional manner.

They are in U.K. as well.

I have a dealer friend who did not sign up for Chord Co.for several reasons : for one relatively unimpressive sound and high prices with questionable support.

[ecwl]

This thread is getting more interesting, with more and more unanswered questions in my mind.

 

dCS products are all in the 5-figure price range while most of Chord's products are in the 4-figure price range. And both companies are probably similar in size so product and service comparisons are probably challenging. That said, good manufacturer support is good manufacturer support.

 

I'm still not sure whether people participating in the forum feel that when something relatively new is defective, whether it is the manufacturer, distributor, or dealer's fault to get it fixed. Also not clear if most people feel local dealer or original dealer should be responsible for the repair. What OP and I seem to agree on for sure is that the distributor Bluebird has not been very helpful.

 

For me, the even more fascinating question is how the interaction between OP and local dealer went down. I mean, if OP sat down, checked out the Raidho D2 in an audition, I think it's crazy for the local dealer not to offer to take the broken Hugo in trade, up sell a pricier DAC at least if not selling the D2 too. If OP checked out the D2 elsewhere and just walked in expecting the local Chord dealer to be a repair shop, well...

[maelob]

what i dont get is thatIf something is within warranty why is so hard for any delaer to send it back to the distributor or the company. What was so difficult. What does the term Authorized dealer means? wow I believe the dealer at the least should give some guidance on who to contact and how to proceed. Also this teaches us to study the warranty information of equipment and do some homework about service network. i see some great products from "far away" places but unless the company has a reputation or a local sevice network makes me think twice about buying such product.

[PhilW]

I wanted to clarify with Chord Electronics about the transferable warranty as it is a likely question to arise with me at some stage anyhow and this was the official response.

 

""Chord Electronics prides itself on its comprehensive product warranty is transferrable. As with any product warranty, however, certain conditions need to be met in order for us to be able to provide our customers with such an in-depth guarantee.

 

In the first instance, if a product is returned to us or one of our distributors and/or their approved service agents, we will inspect the product, asses its warranty status and advise accordingly. Warranties are transferable to new owners, providing we have the original product registration and proof of new ownership is provided to us."

[Boris75]

I seriously considered buying a Hugo. Reading this thread convinces me that I am lucky I didn't.

 

Poor USB connectors on a $2500 piece of kit? This can happen only in audiophilia.

[jtwrace]

I seriously considered buying a Hugo. Reading this thread convinces me that I am lucky I didn't.

 

Poor USB connectors on a $2500 piece of kit? This can happen only in audiophilia.

 

What did you get instead?

[Boris75]

What did you get instead?

 

I was close to selling my Benchmark DAC2 and getting the Chord Hugo. In the end, I stayed with the DAC2.

[jtwrace]

I was close to selling my Benchmark DAC2 and getting the Chord Hugo. In the end, I stayed with the DAC2.

 

Gotcha. I'd like something small and portable that sounds great. iFi seems like a possible solution.

[maelob]

By the way Benchmark provides outsanding service- nothing but great things to say. Too bad i sold my Dac 1 to get a Geek Pulse- i hust hope their upcoming producst are reliable and designed to last.

[ted_b]

I seriously considered buying a Hugo. Reading this thread convinces me that I am lucky I didn't.

 

Poor USB connectors on a $2500 piece of kit? This can happen only in audiophilia.

 

The microUSB connector issue was uncovered by user feedback and fixed/resolved by Chord. That is what I expect of a company of Chord's stature. They put out a unique portable device (a category they were entering for the first time) that pushed the envelope on sound within that category, and have actually rectified the issues that caused most user complaints. I'd much rather invest in these kinds of companies (Modwright, Chord, exaSound, Sonore, to name a few) that stand behind their products than the multitude that don't seem to care, or those that, to quote Neil Young, "tried to their best but they could not".

 

I'm understand you backed away from the Hugo, but IMHO your concerns about Chord are based on not enough real facts.

[Ned Kelly]

Finally, a little sanity - thanks, ted_b. Gotta love the 'I cant believe this thing costs 2500 bucks !' rants - the backlash against the Hugo has been nothing if not concerted. It's an inanimate object, people, and no-one at Chord put a gun to anyone's head - get over it and move on.

[Boris75]

Finally, a little sanity - thanks, ted_b. Gotta love the 'I cant believe this thing costs 2500 bucks !' rants - the backlash against the Hugo has been nothing if not concerted. It's an inanimate object, people, and no-one at Chord put a gun to anyone's head - get over it and move on.

 

To me, it's the stubborn defense of a $2500 piece of kit with a loose connector that looks very much concerted, or should I write remunerated rather than concerted?

[wisnon]

Boris,

 

I dont like the SQ of the Hugo very much, BUT Chord has good support. I have contacted them by phone, email and PM at their FB site and they are fairly responsive. I think their upcoming QBD will be much better than the Hugo due to better PSU, but that is conjecture on my part. Rob Watts is dedicated to his improvement path and his passion is palpable.

 

I summary, Chord is fine and I see no reason to ambush the online like the OP did, when all he had to do was escalate his problem without going full thermo-nuclear. The nuclear option should only be used when all else failed.

[Boris75]

Boris,

 

I dont like the SQ of the Hugo very much, BUT Chord has good support. I have contacted them by phone, email and PM at their FB site and they are fairly responsive. I think their upcoming QBD will be much better than the Hugo due to better PSU, but that is conjecture on my part. Rob Watts is dedicated to his improvement path and his passion is palpable.

 

I summary, Chord is fine and I see no reason to ambush the online like the OP did, when all he had to do was escalate his problem without going full thermo-nuclear. The nuclear option should only be used when all else failed.

 

I very much agree with you that forums should be used for this kind of purposes only after contacting customer support. I

 

Your point about the QBD is interesting: this model probably looks more suited to my use as part of my main rig. The Hugo looks like the king of mobile DACs, but that's not what I need.