Tascam Service and Repair is a joke!

[Jeff Valenta]

I returned my less than a year old DR-40 directly to Teac for repair. The unit has been in a steady decline for the last few months freezing on occassion until it finally would not power up anymore. The unit since being less than a year old is still under a "parts" warranty. After 2 weeks, I heard nothing from them about either receiving the unit or what the problem was so I called. I was told that the unit needed a new gathering panel which may have been bad at manufacture and was covered under the "parts" warranty but that to replace it would be $90 labor. What a joke! That's more than half of what I paid for the unit. So I said forget it, I'd rather buy a new unit and most probably a competitive unit being that I feel they are ripping me off on the labor. So I asked for the return of the unit at which point I was told there would be a $60 diagnostic labor charge before they would return the unit to me. Can you believe it? So if they are charging me $90 to fix it then $60 of that must be the diagnostic so the real labor cost on the repair should be $30 right? A more than reasonable charge. If a unit is under warranty why is there even a charge for diagnostic at all? So bottom line, I refused to pay the diagnostic and demanded the return of the broken unit which they agreed to do if I paid the return shipping charge. When I asked what that would be, they told me they would have to get back to me. That was about 2 hours ago and I'm still waiting. When I shipped it to them it cost me about $5. I won't be surprised if they quote me in the $20 range. Unbelievable!

 

[Gravity Jim]

That sounds like the experience anyone might have returning an under-200-dollar unit to the manufacturer, no matter who the manufacturer might be. Did you talk to the retailer where you bought it? That should have probably been the first line. And why did you wait months before reporting the problem?

I know you're frustrated, and I would be, too. But this rant could have just as easily been directed at Zoom or Sony or anyone.

 

[Jeff Valenta]

Thank you Gravity Jim for setting me straight. I guess it is unreasonable to assume that something that costs so little should perform as advertised. Silly of me to expect that a product a company believes will last at least a year and is willing to warrant it for that long should last longer than 9 months. Really, I should be happy with that, I'm embarrassed. And thank you for mentioning contacting the retailer where I bought it, that makes sense - even to me which is why not only did I contact them before I sent the unit back, I should apologize to Teac for pestering them by making 4 calls to their support when the problem was developing. It wasn't their fault they got it wrong when they suggested the memory card and or the batteries might be bad. I guess I should have given them another chance and called them a fifth time. Maybe that call would have done the trick! I'm ashamed. By the way Gravity Jim, kudos to you for being in a position where $200 doesn't seem to be a lot of money. You obviously have worked hard to put yourself in a position where that kind of money is disposable. Maybe you would consider donating the cost of repair or a new unit to my personal charity. It's called "Working stiff who works hard for his money and values a dollar". I'll be happy to send you a link.

 

[Arjan P]

Great job on the sarcasm! Was there anything you needed from any of us? Hope you're feeling better now..

 

[cmaffia]

Nice! A perfect score on the "Knob" meter!

Either pay a little less than half to fix your purchase or move along and spend another $200 elsewhere knowing that you could have the same exact experience... like Jim was kindly pointing out.

Tascam's warranty and conditions should not have been a surprise. Had you done research on the product you spent your hard earned money on, you would have found on Tascam's website (or your user manual) their limited warranty terms and conditions.

http://tascam.com/support/warranty/

It explicitly says parts and labor are covered up to 90 days. I'd see cause for your tantrum if the unit died within 90 days and Tascam didn't honor their warranty. This is why companies protect themselves with legal mumbo jumbo so that there's no grey area. However if you are now saying that the problem was "developing" earlier and IF it was within the 90 day period, then you only have yourself to blame for not being more aggressive and returning it back where it came from or sending it in for repair during the full warranty time period. Your unit died after 9 months.

 

[Gravity Jim]

Dude, not only are you pissed, you have a hard time reading. I said I understand your frustration, and I would be frustrated too.... But imagining you'd get better from Zoom or Sony or whatever is an incorrect image.

The retailer you bought it from stinks. If I called anybody I buy from within 90 days and said, "This unit is flaky," they would have replaced it and let Tascam worry about why it didn't work. I'm not saying $200 is nothing, I'm saying that a $200 unit should be an insta-replacement for a good retailer. I don't know where y bight it, but I'd shop around for a better place to get your new Zoom.

So, yeah, hope your little conniption fit made you feel better. This forum is for help and discussion, and there's nothing we can do, so why tell us?

 

[cmaffia]

You're right Jim. My Playstation 4 has a 90 day warranty on parts and labor as well. After that it's the same deal.

 

[Jeff Valenta]

Being from Queens NY cmaffia I guess your accustomed to ineffectiveness and rudeness. Probably due to the fact you can't get your daily dose of salt or soda there. Here in the mid-west we expect a certain level of customer service. And I guess when you have to spend a couple of grand for a spacious efficiency apartment like you probably do, $200 is a drop in the bucket. And for the record, the unit functioned properly for 90 days so I guess that makes it alright? And as far as having a conniption fit Gravity Jim, yes I feel better, thank you for your concern. What would make me feel even better would be for the return of my unit. It's now gone on 24 hours and I haven't heard anything yet. My whole purpose with my rant is to get attention to the situation which obviously I have so in that regard it's been successful. Maybe, just maybe, you all will benefit if Teac mans up and supports their product better. It wouldn't have taken much to make me happy. I would have gladly paid a reasonable price for a repair but why should I when the Teac support rep told me they know of a problem with that particular board?

 

[cmaffia]

Wow.. now here's a classic example of hypocrisy! Not only are you not even worthy of a response you don't even know that soda size was not limited (or salt) in NYC...It was deemed unconstitutional! Do some research next time before you rebuttal you sarcastic twerp. Yeah RESEARCH... like you should have done with Tascam's warranty before having your unnecessary hissy fit and pissing people off with your rude-ass self.

Good luck with your broken toy.

 

[Jeff Valenta]

Apparently I am worthy of a response. Thank you.

 

[cmaffia]

You're not worthy of being helped. At least not by me. Buh bye!

 

[Jeff Valenta]

Oh I apologize. I didn't realize. Could you tell me again how you were trying to help? I don't speak douche bag so I didn't understand.

 

[Gravity Jim]

 

[Laurent]

Horrible customer service!!!!!!!!!
TECH repair center in TEAC America, Inc.
1834 Gage Road
Montebello, CA 90640 - is a JOKE!

My Tascam failed me on a job and because of it ended up costing me money.
I mailed in my Tascam DR-70d by certified mail. TECH lost my unit in their warehouse. It took me weeks and weeks of calling and emailing to reach the "right" person. And still I never reached the right person. After many, many more weeks of being blown off, I flew into a raged...still they did nothing! When I threaten to take my complaint to social media, they suddenly called me back with in the hour to inform that they were mailing out a "new" Tascam dr-70d. It arrived as promised. However the unit they send was BROKEN...Broken in a "brand new" way. I've been a filmmaker and TV producer/DP/ director for 16 years. In that time I have owned many Tascam products and was a huge fan....But no more! I feel humiliated and mocked by this treatment. Done and Done!

 

[John Mackenzie]

I have had issues like this . Normally, by patient and polite conversation with people, things get resolved nicely. I do understand your frustration though. Modern day "service/help centres" are normally manned by underpaid people who just need a job, and often do not have any tec knowledge at all.

 

[witzendoz]

Unfortunately it's the world we now live, The throwaway society. We pay $200 for something that once would have cost $2000 to do the same thing. However what came with the higher cost was build quality and service. My studio console bought from Tascam in the 1990's cost AU$30,000, (about US$20,000 then). When it arrived it had an automation fault on 1 channel. The local Tech drove to the studio and checked it out. He found a dodgy mother board and contacted Tascam Japan, they sent a new board within days and he drove out again and installed it, problem gone. By the way I also bought a 16 track tape machine for AU$16,000, how much would it cost for a 16tack studio with mix automation now LOL.

There is no money to cover repairing a $200 unit in the original price, which is why they only offer parts for a year and 90 days full warranty.

Sorry it's the world we live in. We want cheap and we get cheap. True that the item should not have broken so soon but $200 in todays world is not a lot of money.

Alan.

 

[BazzBass]

a 90 day warranty wouldn't work in Australia. Our consumer laws state that regardless of what the manufacturer may say, ANY item sold in Australia is expected to "last the reasonably expected life span of the product".I suspect a recorder is expected to last 5 years......I suspect our retailers wear this cost, not the overseas manufacturer.