motu hardware repairs taking too long?

[rumble]

i have a 2408 mk3 that finally stopped passing analog signals.

finally got through to tech support (after 3 or 4 days)

they said what they do is - for a flat $80 fee they swap it out for another unit.

i got an rma # and sent the unit down there (i'm only about 1 1/2 hrs from mass)

this was in the beginning of dec.

now all i've been getting is the polite corporate runaround about getting the unit back to me (try next week, the repairs are backlogged, etc.)

it's been 3 weeks now and i can't really get a straight answer out of them.

has anyone run into this before?


at the time i was under the impression it would be a simple swap.
they never said anything about units being backlogged or whatever.
now i'm dead in the water. can't get any work done and have 3 projects in the can that clients are screaming at me about.

is this typical for motu?

[BobK]

Unfortunately, I have to say 'yes' - I've gotten the run-around before. I think it was when I sent my 1224 back a couple of years ago. The transformer noise coming from the unit was so bad I had to put it in a closet. (It had been making this noise since I bought it new in late 2000, but as a newbie I initially thought it was normal).

Sweetwater handled the communication with MOTU, since I'd bought it from them. They told me MOTU was familiar with this problem, and it would take a day or two at most to ship the replacement once they received mine. I figured they'd just ship out one that was already prepped and tested.

It took five full working days before they shipped the replacement - not as bad as 3 weeks, but longer than they'd said. Somewhere along the way I called MOTU and they told me it had shipped when in fact it had not. Eventually MOTU said they needed the extra time to check the units and make sure the one they sent was quieter. A new story - not a good sign.

The replacement unit was just as noisy as the one I'd sent. When I told Sweetwater, they contacted MOTU and the MOTU guy said the replacement was 'much quieter', which was infuriating. Eventually my Sweetwater salesman stopped returning my calls and emails. I sent a letter to the president, and eventually his VP contacted me. They refunded my $49.95, but I was soured by the whole thing. I'd been without the unit for two and a half weeks.

This year when I started shopping for another interface, I told Dave Roberts at MOTU about my experience, and how it soured me about buying another MOTU product. He seemed genuinely eager to try to right the situation, and put me in touch with someone there who could check the unit. The tech said they could even have it repaired if they don't have a quieter replacement.

Since an important project has dragged on, I haven't been able to send my 1224 back - but I plan to try again. I'm hopeful I can finally get a 1224 that doens't buzz like the tranformers on those old toy electric trains, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Royal Tee]

I'm in the middle of this exact issue right now!

• -No return E-mail's.
  -No Phone calls.
  -Their # is ALWAYS Busy.

A post like this was the Last thing I wanted to find.
Ironically, they gave me a BS line about getting a quick turnaround time....

Yah, ok

[Jidis]

Eventually my Sweetwater salesman stopped returning my calls and emails. I sent a letter to the president, and eventually his VP contacted me.

That's hilarious, years ago I did the exact same thing after a decent sized rack sampler purchase along with a small 50 or 100 dollar software utility, which didn't work as my salesman had told me, and he became suspiciously difficult to get hold of at that point. The initial phone call had "locked" me to this particular salesman, and the receptionist refused to let me talk to anyone else with tech questions. I wrote Chuck and specifically said that I didn't want any trouble, I merely wanted to switch to someone else, and I never heard from him or any VP. My previously appointed permanent salesman ended up calling me back at work about the letter, and I was worse off than I started. Now I usually get my support and info from folks online, and make most of my purchases either from reputable local or mail order chain stores, or occasionally Washington Music (an hour by car).

-George