Why didn’t you repair my equipment?

There could be a few reasons, depending on the circumstances associated with you and your equipment.

For example:

  1. Did you ask me to repair it, or service it?
  2. Was your budget large enough to allow for the repair?
  3. Did I say I had repaired it?
  4. Was the equipment viable to repair, etc…

Technical

We focus on complex and often ‘unrepairable’ hi-fi equipment, with challenging technical faults that various other repairers have often failed to repair. We fix almost all of it, which is highly significant, because:

  • Much of it is older equipment, lacking any service data
  • Much of it has visited others who could not effect repair
  • It requires a technically-focused component-level approach that many do not offer
  • Much of it has been tinkered with by all the wrong people before I get to see it, accumulating a range of damage along the way.

Let me put it this way: If the sorts of repairs that we routinely effect were easy, do you think I’d have multiple enquiries from around the world each week..?! If this stuff were easy, there’d be no demand for our services, yet we are almost always fully booked and are known to solve the tough jobs that others cannot.

Viability

There will naturally be circumstances where repairs aren’t viable, though. There are intermittent faults that can be challenging to resolve and may require additional work to eliminate. These challenges of working with complex electronic equipment need to be understood.

In cases where repair costs are likely to exceed equipment value or customer budget, we may deem the work non-viable. We consider the condition, faults, value and work needed to properly repair a piece of equipment and even the customer when making this call. Let’s look at some examples:

  • A customer doesn’t want or cannot afford to have the equipment properly repaired
  • Critical parts and/or substitutes are no longer available
  • A repair is unlikely to be viable or reliable for technical reasons
  • A repair is not worth pursuing due to equipment condition, value, or customer issues

To avoid disappointment and maximise the likelihood of satisfaction, it’s vitally important to understand that we are not responsible for equipment condition, faults or repair viability. We offer our expertise to assist customers and their equipment, but we assume no responsibility for any issues it may have.

Example

I was contacted by the owner of an old amplifier, in very poor condition, with various issues. The owner had emptied a can of WD-40 into it, it had been modified, tinkered with, and was damaged, filthy and not well cared for. It was brought to me too late, something I explained to him and which he seemed to understand, until he didn’t. I should have rejected this job, because my attempts to help saw me blamed for all the issues.

After working through issues with the unit, I concluded that further work was not viable due to its poor condition and problems beyond our control. Despite only charging our minimum, I was ‘blamed’ for not fixing the amplifier, as though all of its problems were now my responsibility! Whilst convenient for the owner, this is of course a ridiculous position. I’d never touched his unit until it was brought to me. I never received thanks or an apology.

That customer is now blacklisted, and an example of why I screen equipment and customers. We’re here for reasonable people, not all people!

Expectations

Again, we are not responsible for the condition and faults of equipment presented to us, often after decades of abuse, poor or absent service history, tinkering, etc. We will, of course, do our best to assist people, but this does not mean we magically become responsible for the condition of the equipment!


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