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Hartke UK Distribution


Orphius75

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Hi everyone,

just wondered if anyone here has dealt with the UK Hartke Distributors Hal Leonard?

im trying to get a replacement 15” driver for a 215XL. 

Initially it took a while and a few phone calls and emails to get through to the  service dept, then another couple of weeks to check parts and price in the US, then I was able to place an order and was told it would be 4-6 weeks.

Its now been 8 weeks and no-one is answering my emails.

ive tried contacting Samson US but getting nowhere- it’s not very inspiring considering this is my first bass rig, it’s old and I’d be in a position to upgrade to a newer one should the bands gigging schedule increase. At the moment I’m not inclined to look at Hartke purely on the service side of things should there ever be a problem.

Please can someone put me right and say wonderful things about the UK distribution and how they’ll get it sorted in the end!!!!!!.....

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Contact Larry Hartke direct on Facebook. He used to publish his mobile number and would take calls from anyone and everyone. If you can find it online anywhere he even said the other day he’d still take the calls!

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That’s brilliant!!

i did use Hartke’s FB messenger to send a message and about a day later I got a courtesy email yesterday from Hal Leonard Europe apologising for it taking longer than initially quoted and they’d get onto the sales team to find out what is happening. (No apology for not emailing me back!!)

i took to opportunity to explain that I don’t mind if they tell me it’s going to take a bit longer......as long as they tell me!!!

ill give it another week or so and if I get no more contact I’ll get onto Larry.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have now had single email from Hal Leonard Europe saying they will contact their sales dept to find out why this order is taking longer than quoted.

this was two weeks ago....how big must their offices be!!!!!!!?????

Next stop Larry directly!

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  • 7 months later...

I had an absolute nightmare with a hartke kilo which I documented on here a few years back when Samson/ korg were doing distribution and repairs. I contacted Larry Hartke direct but he didn't want to know. It turns out Hartke knew that the Kilo had a design fault and didn't want to do the right thing. The repairs done by the Samson damaged the amp further but they were almost impossible to deal with. Ultimately they took £800 off me and left me with a useless piece of junk.

I would absolutely 100% advise against buying anything from Hartke. Larry Hartke claims to be mr approachable but in reality it's just for show.

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I don't think Larry Hartke has anything to do with Hartke anymore actually.  I think he has a title like 'Honorary President' but I think he sold the company a few years ago to Samson who are now in charge of all operations.

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I had pretty much same experience as mrtcat, I bought a Kilo when they launched it, within 8hrs of light use it was f****d and the then distributor, not the current one I would add for clarity, and Hartke themselves were worse than useless, full of sh^t would be putting it politely.

In the end after over 2 months of crap the retailer did the right thing.

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On 08/01/2020 at 16:16, lownote12 said:

Why bother with Hartke (very average IMHO) when Ashdown service is the polar opposite - brilliant! Just saying like.

Ah thanks, sad to read in all honesty though, we hope you get sorted. If not maybe we can help you source something that would do the job, unless it’s one of those weird half metal speakers as we have no idea about those...Aloominum? Always here to help. 

Edited by Ashdown Engineering
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12 hours ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

Ah thanks, sad to read in all honesty though, we hope you get sorted. If not maybe we can help you source something that would do the job, unless it’s one of those weird half metal speakers as we have no idea about those...Aloominum? Always here to help. 

Feel this thread is a bit of a shame. Seems a previously respected brand slowly being eroded with bad service and declining quality. As soon as something like this pops up on a respected forum, that's really it for reputation, like forever!

Personally I have 4 Hartke cabs with the weird half metal speakers. I really rate them (had no issues whatsoever) and they sound pretty epic with your amps @Ashdown 😂

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