Because anything else involves guesswork based on incomplete information and there is no place for this in a technical field like electronics.

Guesswork

I’m immensely proud of our reputation and the trust people have for Liquid Audio, but it’s not by accident. Diagnosing exactly 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. Sight-unseen estimates are rarely possible due to the inherent uncertainties involved.

Your amplifier won’t turn on for example. Is it a blown fuse or blown output devices? There is simply no way to know without inspecting the equipment. The repair costs are hugely different too, so this isn’t something you’d want to get wrong. How about your turntable needs service. Does it need a new idler wheel or belt? How about the suspension or stylus? Are they worn?

None of these elements can be known without assessing them first-hand. How would you feel if you threw away a perfectly repairable piece of equipment because of someone’s bad guess? This has happened so many times to customers I’ve worked with and they’ve all expressed disappointment with those who gave such bad advice.

This Marantz CD-52 I recently repaired was said to be unrepairable and should be thrown away. It was actually a very quick and easy repair, saving the player entirely. Do you want advice from someone who thinks guessing is a good idea?

Common Sense

Nobody can know what your particular equipment needs or precisely how long unknown work will take, any more than they can tell you why your car runs roughly or your fridge won’t stay cold without inspecting it. Each thing is unique, no two examples of the same model have the same service history, condition, modifications or fault presentation.

What faults are present? What are their causes? Does it contain work like this? Has it been regularly serviced or previously repaired? These and other details can only be ascertained through hands-on examination, and this is the only way to generate an accurate estimate of the work needed and final costs.

‘Quotes’

There is an unrealistic expectation amongst some that quotes should be provided before someone has even seen or assessed a complex piece of electronics. This is partly driven by the mistaken view that the lowest quote is the most important element when selecting a repairer. There are, of course, far more important considerations.

Some businesses provide guesstimates dressed up as quotes because it gets work through the door where customers expect them. Perhaps they need the work more than I do, but this is effectively a ruse to accrue work and only fuels this unrealistic expectation.

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.

Service and routine maintenance are different and there is some scope for pre-inspection estimates in these cases.

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