Because anything else involves guesswork based on incomplete information.

Guesswork

I’m proud of our reputation and the trust people have for Liquid Audio, but it’s not by accident. Diagnosing what a piece of equipment needs is part of our repair process, and guesswork plays no part in it. Everything is determined by careful, hands-on assessment, testing and measurement.

Say your amplifier won’t turn on. Why not? There is no way to know without inspecting it. The repair costs vary enormously depending on the failure mode so this isn’t something you’d want to guess about either. What if your turntable isn’t turning? Does it need a new idler wheel, belt or repair to the drive circuit? Who knows, but I know this – nobody can know without seeing it, that is a 100% guarantee.

How would you feel if you threw away a perfectly repairable piece of equipment because of a bad guess? This has happened many times to customers I’ve later worked with and they’ve all expressed disappointment about those who offered them such bad advice.

This Marantz CD-52 I recently repaired was said to be unrepairable and should be thrown away, by a technician who recently changed his business name – a miracle! It was a very quick and easy repair, saving the player entirely. Do you want advice from someone who thinks guessing is a good idea? Nobody can know what your particular equipment needs or precisely how long remedial work will take without inspecting it.

Quotes vs Estimates

Some folks have an unrealistic expectation that quotes should be provided before a technician has seen or assessed a complex piece of electronics. I provide this information on behalf of all my professional colleagues who deal with this as I do, partly fuelled by people choosing repairers based only on an upfront price. There are, of course, far more important considerations.

Some businesses provide these guesstimates dressed up as quotes because it gets work through the door. Some like to stockpile work and some perhaps need work. I never need work and I’m never afraid to explain this concept to people. Providing sight-unseen quotes only fuels this unrealistic expectation and I’ll take no part in that. Estimates are different and can sometimes be provided in advance. Common sense stuff.

Delivering what must by definition be the lowest ‘quotes’ or the customer goes elsewhere leads to corner-cutting, poor workmanship and poor results. Our honest, transparent approach may lose us the occasional job, but most people respect and value it.

More…

Find out more with these repair-related FAQs:

• How much will my repair cost?
• The six steps to fault finding and repair
• Why some equipment shouldn’t be repaired
• Why we are often fully booked