Well, it has been 3 and a half weeks already and my new 2000 remains at the repair shop awaiting repair on the disc drive. When I brought it in, I was told it might take as long as 3 weeks. Now I'm being told up to another 3 weeks. I am beside myself. I have shows coming up and no vocal harmonizer. I have a singer with me too, and I can sing a little harmony myself, so it isn't absolutely critical for me to have one, but it is a nice touch and would save the crowd from hearing my voice all night. The store lent me their PSR1000 display model as a replacement, but there is no vocal harmonizer in a 1000, and I never bothered geting the one for the PA80 because I had heard that it wasn't up to par with the one on the 2000. I was told by the keyboard mangaer today that if I pay 35 dollars that my 2000 could be bumped up on the priority list. It's not that I can't afford 35 dollars, but there is a principle here. Besides, what the hell does " bumped up on the priority list " mean anyway ? Would I get it back by Friday?. The store rep can't answer that question accurately. What a way to do business....I had the board exactly 86 days when the disc drive when kaput. At any rate, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.

Korg AJ

Hello Korg AJ ,
I want you to know that if that was a keyboard that I had sold you ...........
I would have replaced it !
No questions asked .
That is one thing that I like about working for Guitar Center . I very good return policy , even past 30 days ! dano

Thanks Dan for the reply, but I try to buy locally where I play and try the boards out. I have spent many hours at Alto music demoing different equipment. Still, I might have to rethink that philosophy because although they gave me what they have to use ( they say don't have any 2000s in stock and there weren't any on display ), less than 4 months after after spending my hard earned money I am basically caught between a rock and a hard place here. None of this of course helps me out NOW when I NEED my board, but it certainly gives me something to think about for future purchases. I am aggravated because of the turn over time for this repair. The last time I sent a Yamaha product out for repair ( when I had my 740 ), I waited 11 weeks for it to be returned to me. I doubt that most other businesses could survive like that. I know for me, when I had my home improvement business, I wouldn't DARE tell a customer that had just paid me for a service that they'd have to wait six weeks for me to return to replace a defective product or installation. It wouldn't fly at all. Fortunately, I rarely ever had any situations like that.

You and I spoke about why I don't order from my local Guitar Center Dan. They couldn't deliver a soundcard to me because of my address of all things. How dumb is that? I live in a very rural area where it is virtually impossible to get local mail delivery. It's a long story involving some incredibly ridiculous red tape, ( Rural carriers in this area will not deliver if they can't reach the mailbox from a vehicle ..I think I'd have a court case but that's for another forum ). UPS will deliver right to my door however. At any rate, I must pick up my regular mail at my PO box. I have to include my PO box as part of my address for all of my mail. When I tried to order, I expalined the whole thing to the guy at Guitar Center. He insisted that UPS doesn't deliver to PO boxes ( no kidding .. ). we went round and round. I told him that I HAVE to use the PO box for credit card purposes but that they could omit it from the UPS package. He quoted me GC policy that states that the UPS addy and the credit card addy have to match exactly, and he stated that they could not send me the item any other way. Finally a manager interviened and said he'd take care of it and would ship the item. A week went by... then a few more days. I called to find out what happened. They never shipped the thing, so on my next trip to NY city I stopped at Sam Ash and purchased my soundcard.... By the way, Sam Ash took my MZ2000 back after 3 months for almost full value when I got my PA80 from them.

No other company has ever given me a hard time delivering anything to me because of the aformentioned problem ( I've had PLENTY of things delivered here by UPS before )

The bottom line here is I NEED my 2000 by Saturday and I'm not sure of any action I can take right now that can put one in my hands by then, short of buying another one ( which ain't happening )


Korg AJ




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-05-2002).]

I feel your pain bluesplayer! I hate it when I get stuck in such situations where I am helpess. I hope you get your keyboard back soon. By the way, who is it you are dealing with so that me may learn. Also are you the same Ketron AJ?

Thanks

Hi Mosiqaar.


Nope, I'm "Korg" AJ. the reason I use the moniker "Korg" is so folks don't confuse me with "Ketron AJ "..lol

At any rate, Alto Music sent it to a repair place in NJ. I don't have the name here at my desk at the moment, but both places will certainly be getting calls from me until this is resolved.

"Korg" AJ

Korg AJ,
As a music store owner let me tell you how this should be handled. When a customer has a problem with a keyboard and it's relatively new, I have the authority by Yamaha to replace the keyboard. If the keyboard has been brought to a authorized service center and it is not fixed in a reasonable amount of time, I would tell my customer to call me up and get me involved in the process. I would then call Yamaha service in Buena Park and talk to the head of service who would aolmost always ask for the keyboard to be returned to them. Yamaha then will issue me a call tag to pick it up from my store and it goes back to Yamaha for a credit to my account. An advanced replacement will go out to me to give it to my customer if I haven't already given him a new one from my stock. Before a customer gets frustrated, I always want to be involved. Yamaha service is really reasonable to deal with in situations where parts are taking to long or sometimes, the service provider is just so backed up that they haven't really even gotton to the keyboard at all.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda. California

Thanks George. Now THAT is something to hang my hat on. The only thing that prevented me from ordering a major item like a keyboard from you in the first place is the geographical distance and the potential of having to ship something back out to get it repaired, but in retrospect, you probably could have handled it and gotten it done faster than the process I'm involved in now. Having seen what is happening in this particular situation, I doubt that I'm going to get this kind of service from the store I'm dealing with now. I wish you'd open a Kaye's Music scene here in the Northeast though George...( maybe I could help run it for ya...LOL )

In all fairness to you Dan, I did order something from you last year and it arrived here with no trouble. I have nothing against GC at all, but the policy I mentioned in an earlier post makes it impossible for me to deal with at least the "local" one ( local as in 90 miles away ).

Korg AJ

Thanks for the clarification Bluez...

Good luck with your problem, and honestly I feel with you...I would hate for this to happen to me (similar things have...and I hated it).

Once again good luck

Bluezplayer,

For $20.00 you can buy a floppy drive at a computer store. When I was fooled by the 740 messages of 'bad disk' etc, I did install one rather quickly.

That false priority list's true name is greed.

mbl

What a drag Bluezplayer.

Well, that's interesting to know that a regular floppy drive will fit into the PSR740's bay. Then it would fit into the PSR2000's bay. That's good to know in case lightning strikes twice.

Why don't you ask your music store to get involved in this problem the way our proactive friend George Kaye would get involved? They might not be able to pull as many strings as George, but maybe they can make something happen.

I own two PSR2000s, since this is my gigging instrument of choice, I want to be protected if one goes bad. One stays in the trunk of my car and the other stays hooked up to my computer for recording and practice.

Of course I don't have the luxury of owning a PA80 like you do Bluezplayer. But for those who can afford two of the same keyboard, I recommend it if you use that keyboard heavily for gigging.

I have a friend who would keep an extra keyboard in his SUV in case one doesn't work at a gig. He has two of everything right there in his vehicle, and he never has to really worry about anything going wrong. I don't have that luxury of space with a Hyundai Sonata. But it's always good to have a backup, even at home.

I guess the PSR1000 is better than nothing, but doesn't quite cut it.

All I can say is, I hope you get that keyboard soon. I had a PSR740 in the shop for 7 weeks. It's frustrating.

The $35 for priority is not as bad as it looks in my opinion. I spoke with a Yamaha authorized repairman, who charges on top of the free warranty work, but does the work immediately. I can't remember how much he told me that Yamaha pays their service reps, but the price I was told was ridiculously low.

With airlines you get first class service and less lines when you buy a first class ticket. I guess this electronic repair place is using the same philosophy, which while unabashedly capitalistic, has some merit.

Best of luck,

Larry

Two problems for me paying the 35 dollar "priority fee". One... The *&$@#%* thing isn't 4 months old. This is a bit different for me than was the case with my 740, which was well beyond warranty, and probably suffered from my very heavy hand and constant use of the pitch wheel ( although the repair person told me mine was one of four he had to work on with the exact same pitch wheel problem ). On the 2000 I barely even USED the disc drive ( it's a mechanical problem..discs won't pop out ).

Second but most important... the "fee" STILL doesn't guarantee when I'm going to get the board back. Sorry but this is BAD business. I know, I ran one of my own for 20 years very successfully until a serious injury forced me to give it up.

The airline thing ..with 1st class service isn't really a good analogy. I don't expect I'd need any warranty work if something goes terribly wrong because there isn't much they can do when they scrape me off the ground anyway. You are purchasing a one time only service with an airline. If you're not happy with the service, at the end you walk away ( hopefully in the city you were flying to )and it's over. Not so with a keyboard. There you are purchasing an item which ( hopefully ) will be reused many many times. There was NO option to purchase a premium PSR2000 ( ok maybe a 9000 but defects are defects at any price ). Either way once you've purchased a board, it stays with you.

This also isn't the best analogy but I think it's closer. Imagine this.. It is April.. I install windows at your house. I finish the job. You like my work. You pay me. We're both happy. My work is warranteed. By June, your bedroom window which opens with a crank suddenly does not open. The crank is stripped. You call me back. I tell you it might take up to 3 weeks for me to do the actual repair. It is 90 degrees out. Your room has no AC. So that you can get some fresh air, I come by and put a manual crank on the window ( most likely a vise grip ) It is a pain in the neck to open the window, but it half assed works. You aren't happy, but you agree to wait. 3 and a half weeks go by.. You call me . I tell you ..sorry, I'm backed up.. but maybe within the next 3 weeks. Then I insult you by telling you that if you pay me an extra 35 dollars for my warranteed work, I will be able to get there sooner, but I'm still not sure when... How long before my butt is in small claims court ? Of MUCH more importance, will I ever get a job or recommendation from you again ?
It seems though that so many of today's businesses don't care if you come back after the first sale.
The reason I stayed in business, was able to command a good dollar, and was always busy up to my ears in work in spite of my competitors constantly trying to undercut my prices, was because I had a sterling reputation for always trying to please my customers. If the problem I described really happened, I'm at your house tomorrow fixing it. I don't expect the same from the KB company, but asking me to wait 6 weeks or more ? Sorry, that doesn't cut it.

As far as the extra boards.. That's a very good Idea Larry, but not feasible for me right now. I'd LOVE to be able to do that but.... using that theory I'd need..if it's just board of choice another, PA80. Hmmm if anyone can convince the wife that I need to spend 2 grand more on a board I already have when we are feeding 5 mouths here, I'll invite ya over for the best homecooked Italian dinner...LOL. I could be fine without the 2000, but I guess in reality I'd better get the harmonizer for the PA80, which from what I hear isn't as good as the one in the 2000. sigh......

I agree Larry that the store should be more proactive in this, and I've asked them to but unfortunately this doesn't seem to be happening. The proactive part will cost me 35 dollars it appears. I'm not angry that the board has a defect. We are all human and unfortunately things like that happen. I'm very dissatisfied however, with the way it's being treated.
The reality is.. the way George described it is EXACTLY how it should have been handled.

Korg AJ




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-06-2002).]

I really don't like what I see here.
My PSR2000 must go in for a vocalizer problem. Only have it about a month. Maybe I should wait till I'm closer to the 90 day warranty expiration date to have it looked at, as the shop might have it when it runs out. Don't think a 90 day full warranty is good advertisement for a product of this nature.
I'm sorry to see you are having so much trouble getting your board repaired.

I addressed the vocalizer and several other OS issues when I brought the board in. I don't know if the chips are in for the updated OS, but the point was to have my concerns documented before the 90 day expiration and then they could be addressed when the chips do arrive. After all of this stuff with a simple mechanical disc drive malfunction, it is very unlikely that my board will have an updated OS installed when it is returned, necessitating another trip to the repair shop for THAT... The saga never seems to end with this board. After my experiences with this and waiting almost a year for the PA80 to have a complete OS, my straategy is going to have to change now that I'm back into the performing end of this business. From now on I'm not purchasing the " latest and greatest " until the kinks have been worked out of them. If I ever get the 2000 squared away it's gonna be a good board for performing, along with the finally completed PA80, so I'll just hang on to them until the next generation has all of the bugs and problems ironed out, because it seems to me that a lot of new boards are released like " beta " versions, where the consumer helps the manufacturer test the thing so that the bugs can be ironed out AFTER he / she purchases it. That isn't gonna work for me when I have to depend on a board for live play.

Korg AJ

AJ

I can sympathize with you story about deliveries to your house. I live in a small unincorporated town tht is 25 miles from San Francisco. We have NO mail delivery and must pick up mail at the post office. Of course, Fed Ex, UPS and everyone else will deliver directly to my house. That is, if I can convince the merchant that my PO Box is my billing address.
I won't go on and on. But believe me, it has taken me a few years to get the whole damn thing straightened out, so that I can get sellers to ship to me. It's a huge pain in the butt that crops up over and over again.

PS: While I feel my taxes are high enough to warrant mail delivery, many "townsfolk" think this is a charming, old-fashioned and quaint feature of our town. It ain't.

Well, I guess I dished out enough griping about this issue including a good bit toward the store that I was dealing with, so now, I guess I should also throw a little praise their way. I see now that they are trying to work with me here. The offer of the loan of a harmonizer was more than adequate for me to resolve my issues for the time being. The bottom line is that I should now be able to do my gig with all the tools I'm gonna need, which is all I really ever wanted in the first place. They simply don't have another 2000 in stock, and they are coming to the conclusion that the board will have to be replaced rather than repaired, because I think the tech acknowledged that the OS needs an update in mine, and Yamaha has told them there are no replacement chips available for delivery at this time.

Tom, I think some of the folks around here also like this "quaint" setup. In reality, the PO box thing doesn't really upset me all that much most times. Only problems like not being able to get things delivered via carrier services can be frustrating. In some ways I actually kinda like picking up the mail at the post office. Both of the local postal employees are really nice people to talk to and we have had some good conversations.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-07-2002).]