First off, this is a rather long story, but I want to alert others of what could happen if your keyboard needs repair. I also want to thank Gary Diamond, Dick Roberts, Dave Boyd, George Kaye, Larry Warner, and other members for their support, and advise.

OK here goes:

Oct. 31 2007: Dropped off keyboard at local music store, and paid $62 for them to look at it.

Nov 15: Called store for any updates...none

Nov 30: Receive phone call from store, saying the repair is beyond their capability, and will be sent to Yamaha for further evaluation.

Dec 15: Called store for an update...none

Jan 2 2008: Emailed store for an update...no response

Jan 14 3:00 pm : Called Harvey Casey, Yamaha Tech Manager U.S.A.
Explained dilemma with him. He calls music store for more info.

Jan 14 3:10 pm: Receive phone call from Music store...(mmm 10 minutes after Yamaha calls them). They tell me that they were just going to call me before they received Casey's call (yea right) They also tell me the computer in the keyboard is broke, and to replace the motherboard: $800.
I tell them that's crazy, and to forget it.

It's at this time, I decide to give up on the 3000. 10 weeks is frustrating.$800 is more frustrating.

However...

Today, Jan 28: I receive a phone call from someone at Yamaha USA(I'm sorry I didn't get his name, not Casey) and he asked me if I had the paper work for Yamaha. He told me there is no record of any keyboard from me to Yamaha, or from the music store to Yamaha.... In other words, the local music store may have NEVER even sent it to Yamaha.

Further the Yamaha rep told me that the price of a new motherboard does not sound correct. In fact, worse case scenario, that if the motherboard would need to be replaced, it would probably be maybe half that cost, and that many times, motherboards can be repaired at a much more reasonable cost. He also told me, that since the problem occurred while attempting an OS update, that it may not be the motherboard at all, but rather a much less expensive Flash Rom.

Bottom line... I feel the music store has deliberately misled me, in that they claim they sent the repair to Yamaha. They also misled me, that the repair from Yamaha would be $800 for a new motherboard, when if fact, I found out directly from Yamaha today, that it is about half that price, and motherboards can indeed be repaired, AND it's a good possibility, it may not be the motherboard at all!

So while it's too late in the day to call the Music Store (I STILL have not received the keyboard back from them !) Tomorrow, should bring an interesting phone call to find out exactly WHERE they sent the keyboard, and HOW they came up with a price?

I believe they flat out made up a repair price, because of pressure from Yamaha...it's evident... me finally receiving a phone call from the music store, 10 minutes after Yamaha called them. All of a sudden, they know what's wrong, and have a diagnosis?


If I had to do it over again, I would have sent the keyboard directly to Yamaha.
But then again, because this Music store was an official Yamaha dealer, I thought they would do that for me.

I know Yamaha USA, is not the main culprit here, but the Music store has a direct relationship with Yamaha. They (The music store) are an official dealer of Yamaha,and should be trusted with a repair, therefore I feel Yamaha, while being somewhat helpful should bear more responsibility

Now, I now need to make a decision on weather to pay shipment to Yamaha Calif. from here in Pa. and back. That would cost about another $100, plus the $62 for the original payment, plus the cost of repair.
I love this keyboard, and even though I can't afford another, I may just decide to 'FORGET IT'...it's all too frustrating.




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Larry
SynthZone Frapper