mike257 Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Just thought I'd share it with BC - I bought myself an Ashdown Hyperdrive about two years ago, which almost instantly developed a faulty footswitch. After a bit of waiting about, I got a replacement from the shop, but then in the meantime I somehow ended up in a country band, so the Hyperdrive stayed in the box. Fast forward to now, I'm getting a new noisy-arse rock band together, and get my Hyperdrive out, only to find the exact same fault as my first one!! After a couple of very helpful emails back and forth, I tell Ashdown's service department that it's probably not worth the cost of shipping it back and forth, and ask them to confirm the type of switch I need to buy to do a DIY repair. Two days later, and there's one dropping through my door, free of charge! Nice to see they'll go out of their way for a customer who's warranty expired 18 months ago! Top blokes, full marks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 [quote name='mike257' post='1040853' date='Nov 29 2010, 09:49 AM']Just thought I'd share it with BC - I bought myself an Ashdown Hyperdrive about two years ago, which almost instantly developed a faulty footswitch. After a bit of waiting about, I got a replacement from the shop, but then in the meantime I somehow ended up in a country band, so the Hyperdrive stayed in the box. Fast forward to now, I'm getting a new noisy-arse rock band together, and get my Hyperdrive out, only to find the exact same fault as my first one!! After a couple of very helpful emails back and forth, I tell Ashdown's service department that it's probably not worth the cost of shipping it back and forth, and ask them to confirm the type of switch I need to buy to do a DIY repair. Two days later, and there's one dropping through my door, free of charge! Nice to see they'll go out of their way for a customer who's warranty expired 18 months ago! Top blokes, full marks![/quote] Yet they told me they can't send out parts for pedals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 Really? What did you need? The part they sent me is probably only about a quid's worth mind you (if that!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Bought my 8x10" last year when the weather was really bad. The shop that I was buying from couldn't get a courier to collect so they contacted Ashdown who were able to get a courier. Ended up getting one of the first of the Evo II cabs, in fact probably the first one. After a week or so the grill was taken off to reveal big splits in the front between a few of the speakers. A quick email to the shop I bought the cab from and they had Ashdown send me out one immediately and since I had already got rid of the box they actually waited until I had taken the new one out and put the damaged one in before arranging collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 [quote name='mike257' post='1041125' date='Nov 29 2010, 01:33 PM']Really? What did you need? The part they sent me is probably only about a quid's worth mind you (if that!).[/quote] The battery clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingerz Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 I've had good experience with their customer services too. Really good support when my old amp head went funny. Good to see it's a common experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 [quote name='bartelby' post='1041180' date='Nov 29 2010, 02:10 PM']The battery clip.[/quote] Crikey! That's a bit tight then. Shame not everyone has had the same experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Perhaps the 'battery clip' person was having a bad day - not an excuse though. Coincidentally, I had a run-in with dabs.com today after having bought an external hard drive caddy. Anyway, the first one arrived fautly. No problem, they arranged a courier to collect it and sent me another. Unfortunately, the second one was also faulty, so I phoned them to arrange a collection and a refund. The woman I spoke to said I couldn't have a returns number until I'd got a 'fault code' from the manufacturer. I said that's not my problem, dabs is the supplier and I shouldn't have to go chasing the manufacturer. Poor girl was obviously readin g from a script and tried to give me the manufacturers number to call, but I said that wasn't acceptable. I asked if I could speak to her manager and she said no! I asked why not and she would only give me an email address. After another five minutes of arguing and getting nowhere I took the manufacturers number and rang off. When I called the manufacturers number I just got an unobtainable tone. Was I livid! So I called dabs again and a different woman answered the phone. I explained that I wanted to return a faulty item and she said 'certainly sir'. She asked about the fault, which I described and she wrote down, and then issued a returns number. She then asked if I'd like a courier to collect the item tomorrow whereupon they would issue a refund. Simple, easy, perfect. Companies really are at the mercy of their front-line staff. I've used dabs a lot over the years and always had good service, yet that first woman would have left me ranting and telling people how hopeless they are and to never use them again. Ten minutes later, the second woman was a model of helpfulness, apologised profusely for the inconvenience and did everything possible to make things easy for me to get a refund, so I guess I'll use them again. Things go wrong with stuff, it's unfortunate but it's a fact of life. It's the way that companies react when things do go wrong that is the real indicator of how serious they are about customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 [quote name='flyfisher' post='1041299' date='Nov 29 2010, 03:55 PM']Perhaps the 'battery clip' person was having a bad day - not an excuse though.[/quote] Quite possibly, as the email I had was very abrupt. Something along the lines of: "We do not carry any parts for our pedals so sending a spare is not possible." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 I've a feeling that such a thing isn't even legal. Something about durability of goods requiring manufacturers to be able to service their products for a fairly long period of time. 10+ years rings a bell. Unless they were not the original manufacturer perhaps? Even so, just saying 'we can't help' to a customer is not very inspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 MB1. + Twelvety! Just spoke to Guy today regarding parts for an older model combo and as usual he was extremely helpful, Many Thanks! "All The Best to all the Ashdown Crew in 2011" . Many Thanks! Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsmith Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Ashdown have always been helpful to me if I've needed parts or assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tino Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 [quote name='mike257' post='1040853' date='Nov 29 2010, 09:49 AM']Just thought I'd share it with BC - I bought myself an Ashdown Hyperdrive about two years ago, which almost instantly developed a faulty footswitch. After a bit of waiting about, I got a replacement from the shop, but then in the meantime I somehow ended up in a country band, so the Hyperdrive stayed in the box. Fast forward to now, I'm getting a new noisy-arse rock band together, and get my Hyperdrive out, only to find the exact same fault as my first one!! After a couple of very helpful emails back and forth, I tell Ashdown's service department that it's probably not worth the cost of shipping it back and forth, and ask them to confirm the type of switch I need to buy to do a DIY repair. Two days later, and there's one dropping through my door, free of charge! Nice to see they'll go out of their way for a customer who's warranty expired 18 months ago! Top blokes, full marks![/quote] +1 I have always found them extremely helpful...the tech guys are superb no problem seems to big and all info and advice has been freely given Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 [quote name='tino' post='1077610' date='Jan 4 2011, 06:16 PM']+1 I have always found them extremely helpful...the tech guys are superb no problem seems to big and all info and advice has been freely given[/quote] Indeed. I have to agree with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benh Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I contacted Ashdown a couple of years ago about my MAG300 2x10 combo having a blown transformer. Bear in mind this was in the warranty period. It took them a month to sort out a courier to pick it up, then I didn't see it for 9 months despite numerous phone calls. Then to top it all off it eventually came back and it had an intermittent fault where it lost power every 30 seconds. I drove to Electro Music in Doncaster the next day and bought an SWR setup - NOT an Ashdown!! Hopefully this was just my bad experience and the customer support has improved since then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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