Arcam repair times

NifkinFZ6

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Hello,

I recently purchased a brand new Arcam A29 from Nintronics: it was an 'Arcam-found-some-left-over-at-the-back-of-their-warehouse' deal, so got it for a bargain price. However, despite the SQ being generally excellent, both channels were prone to crackles ans drop-outs. On investigation, I found a thread here that pointed to a number of A29 owners having a similar problem. Subsequently, as Nintronics didn't have another copy of the amp to swap me, I've had to send it off to Arcam for repair, after only two weeks of ownership! My question is: does anyone know how long Arcam take to turn around repairs such as this? I'm well aware that things may be slower due to the current crisis, but they've had the amp for 10 days now and I've not heard a word.

Any views would be helpful!

Cheers
 
Because of the current Covid-19 situation it is likely that they are running with reduced staff so the best way to get an answer that is relevant is to ask Nintronics to find out from Arcam how long it might take. I cannot see how asking about repair times when there wasn't Covid-19 screwing things up would be relevant to your situation now.
 
....maybe I've asked because getting an idea of BAU repair times will give as good a guide as any of what to expect once allowance is made for the current crisis? And as you've said yourself, you don't know how the current situation is impacting on Arcam ("it is likely that they are running reduced staff"): there are a lot of business who have re-organised their workstreams so as not to impact parts of their business. Are you absolutely sure that no-one here has made a warranty return to Arcam since lockdown began?

Also, I'm interested to hear from others generally what their customer experience of Arcam is like: I did just purchase a brand new product of theirs that's faulty, after all.
 
Surely Nintronics as an Arcam dealer should have been able top advise you of BAU warranty repair times.
 
My Arcam AVR took about 3 weeks to repair, but that was over 3 years ago now. It would definitely be best to ask your dealer to get the estimated return date.
 
I've asked Nintronics but they haven't responded. That's why I asked here.
 
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My Arcam AVR took about 3 weeks to repair, but that was over 3 years ago now. It would definitely be best to ask your dealer to get the estimated return date.
Thanks. That's useful info. So I imagine that the soonest I'll hear anything will be after 3 weeks 👍
 
Sad to see such disappointing quality for an Arcam.
 
Sad to see such disappointing quality for an Arcam.
Yes: and I'm sure they were aware of the issue, as a number of others had flagged it to them, but they were still happy to have the left over batch my copy came from distributed to customers, for customers to then be lumbered with being out of pocket and ampless before they're we're willing to enact a repair. A product recall when the issue first came to light would've been more appropriate.

To be frank, I think Arcam have had issues with their Class G implementation: this issue seems to have come up with a few models, including the SA30.
 
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Yes: and I'm sure they were aware of the issue, as a number of others had flagged it to them, but they were still happy to have the left over batch my copy came from distributed to customers, for customers to then be lumbered with being out of pocket and ampless before they're we're willing to enact a repair. A product recall when the issue first came to light would've been more appropriate.

To be frank, I think Arcam have had issues with their Class G implementation: this issue seems to have come up with a few models, including the SA30.

I understand that there are always potential issues with any product, but the way they handle it is questionable and does not give consumers confidence. Based on the similar failure mode, it is definitely "repeatable" and there is no way it can be covered up when everything is easily shared on the internet.
 
I understand that there are always potential issues with any product, but the way they handle it is questionable and does not give consumers confidence. Based on the similar failure mode, it is definitely "repeatable" and there is no way it can be covered up when everything is easily shared on the internet.
Very true: I've found multiple references to problems like this affecting their class G products. I completely acknowledge that on balance plenty of their products work, but, by using serial numbers, etc, they could've isolated the copies affected by the problem and done more to sort it out: as a matter of fact the serial number for my copy was at the lower end of the range, so must've been amongst the early batches and just happened to have been warehoused until recently.
 
My Arcam P7 power amp has gone back to Arcam three times at least. The first time, one of the channels was faulty. Luckily it was still under warranty. On the other occassions, I had to pay for the repair and waited roughly three weeks for it to come back (before the Covid 19 lockdown). My dealer said that if there was a similiar fault with in one year of the repair, then the repair would be free but this never happened.
 
I too have had the same issue with my A29 where the speaker relay started to fail after a couple of years. Whether this is due to an inherent design flaw or just a bad batch of relays used in the manufacturing process I don't know but it does seem to be affecting a large number or users - some of whom have had several repairs to fix the same issue. With impeccable timing I dropped my amplifier into the dealers for repair at Arcam on 17th March on the understanding that it would take around 3 weeks to be returned. As of today I still haven't heard anything back ...
 
I too have had the same issue with my A29 where the speaker relay started to fail after a couple of years. Whether this is due to an inherent design flaw or just a bad batch of relays used in the manufacturing process I don't know but it does seem to be affecting a large number or users - some of whom have had several repairs to fix the same issue. With impeccable timing I dropped my amplifier into the dealers for repair at Arcam on 17th March on the understanding that it would take around 3 weeks to be returned. As of today I still haven't heard anything back ...

The worrisome thing is that as a well known manufacturer, it should not take a FEW repairs to fix the SAME problem. Fixing the same problem multiple times means that they are not tackling the root cause, or there is really a design flaw that cannot be fixed without a major redesign. So they just patch it until it fails again. So you will naturally worry about when it will fail again after a certain time.

Really disappointing.
 
As it was in the first 30 days you are entitled to a full refund instead of a repair. I appreciate you probably want a working amp so that is the reason for the repair rather than that route.

However if it goes again, then since they have repaired it once under the Consumer rights act (new Sales of goods) you could reject it and ask for a refund. That's from the retailer and it is their liability to cover.
 
I too have had the same issue with my A29 where the speaker relay started to fail after a couple of years. Whether this is due to an inherent design flaw or just a bad batch of relays used in the manufacturing process I don't know but it does seem to be affecting a large number or users - some of whom have had several repairs to fix the same issue. With impeccable timing I dropped my amplifier into the dealers for repair at Arcam on 17th March on the understanding that it would take around 3 weeks to be returned. As of today I still haven't heard anything back ...
Wow that is sh*t and totally unacceptable! Have you tried contacting them to find out what's going on? I'm fully aware that COVID is impacting on businesses, but to take your amp in for repair and leave you in the dark for 3 months is appalling: it doesn't take much to manage a customer's expectations.

I have a good mind now to contact Nintronics and ask for a refund: I'd only had the amp a week before it started playing up. I thought the deal was too good to be true, but it seems like Arcam know that model is problematic, hence the way the price of that amp dropped like a manhole cover not long after it was released.

Thing is though, I don't know what model would be a suitable replacement: don't think I'd trust Arcam enough to give an SA20 a go... 🤔
 
As it was in the first 30 days you are entitled to a full refund instead of a repair. I appreciate you probably want a working amp so that is the reason for the repair rather than that route.

However if it goes again, then since they have repaired it once under the Consumer rights act (new Sales of goods) you could reject it and ask for a refund. That's from the retailer and it is their liability to cover.
Good points, but, tbh, I've been getting cold feet what with all I've heard about the amp having to be repaired twice. It's a royal PitA sending or back once, let alone twice! And then you have no guarantee it won't happen a third time! May just get on to the retailer and ask if they have any views on a resolution.
 
Good points, but, tbh, I've been getting cold feet what with all I've heard about the amp having to be repaired twice. It's a royal PitA sending or back once, let alone twice! And then you have no guarantee it won't happen a third time! May just get on to the retailer and ask if they have any views on a resolution.

Yep sorry I follow, you wouldn't need to send it back a second or third time. If it breaks again, especially if same fault you would be entitled to a refund.
 
Yep sorry I follow, you wouldn't need to send it back a second or third time. If it breaks again, especially if same fault you would be entitled to a refund.
I understand that, just that if it did go wrong a second time I'd be back to square one with no amp! There seems to be a bit of a gap in the market for good mid range amps. I would consider the Rega Elex-R but few places stock it.
 
Wow that is sh*t and totally unacceptable! Have you tried contacting them to find out what's going on? I'm fully aware that COVID is impacting on businesses, but to take your amp in for repair and leave you in the dark for 3 months is appalling: it doesn't take much to manage a customer's expectations.

I have a good mind now to contact Nintronics and ask for a refund: I'd only had the amp a week before it started playing up. I thought the deal was too good to be true, but it seems like Arcam know that model is problematic, hence the way the price of that amp dropped like a manhole cover not long after it was released.

Thing is though, I don't know what model would be a suitable replacement: don't think I'd trust Arcam enough to give an SA20 a go... 🤔
To be fair to Arcam they have always quoted a 3 week turnaround for repairs and with no technicians being onsite over the lockdown period then there's not a lot else they could do the expedite the situation. Fortunately, I have been able to make do with my 20 year Rotel RA971 as a substitute over the last few months which is still sounding pretty good.
 
To be fair to Arcam they have always quoted a 3 week turnaround for repairs and with no technicians being onsite over the lockdown period then there's not a lot else they could do the expedite the situation. Fortunately, I have been able to make do with my 20 year Rotel RA971 as a substitute over the last few months which is still sounding pretty good.
Yes but three months with no update? That is very poor.
 
Yes but three months with no update? That is very poor.
Arcam will only communicate with the dealer from whom the repair item has been sent. I have contacted my dealer this week who has confirmed that he will notify me as soon as there is any progress. In the current situation I don't think that's unreasonable.
 
Arcam will only communicate with the dealer from whom the repair item has been sent. I have contacted my dealer this week who has confirmed that he will notify me as soon as there is any progress. In the current situation I don't think that's unreasonable.
I've had a number of Arcam products over the past 20+ years, and I've communicated with them directly a number of times via their website (there's still a contact form on there). I still think, seeing as they're selling kit that suffers some sort of design flaw that needs repeated attention, that they could improve their customer communication. I have a friend who has worked for RS for a number of years and he agrees that Arcam aren't what they used to be, following changing hands twice in a decade.
 
Third-party Arcam repair agent, that employs ex-Arcam repair personnel...

 

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