I havn't posted lately on this forum. I suppose I've been licking my wounds and feeling very sorry for myself; and so alone.

You see, I am one of the unfortunates who buogut a PA2X PRO that subsequently had 19 blown LEDs. To complicate matters, I prchased it from an individual, and eventhough it was NEW IN THE BOX, Korg USA said they would not honor the warranty.

I didn't see anyone else posting about blown LEDs so I thought I was the only one. Then I saw the post from Midin (Dennis) on this forum. After checking out the links in his post I knew I wasn't alone. I had plenty of company eventhough they were mostly in Europe.

So I started with Korg USA again with the same results. "NO WARRANTY."

By this time total frustration had set in so on November 16, 2008 on another forum I wrote this:

Korg PA2X PRO
Purchased: 2/5/2008
S/N: 9000867

I bonght this board NEW IN THE BOX but I bought it from an individual.
KORG USA REFUSES TO HONOR THE WARRANTY.

Currently I have 15 or 20 blown LEDs.

NO MORE KORG!! NEVER AGAIN!!!

Don P
Lufkin, Texas USA

At this time I received some very useful and timely help from Lee (leeboy). He provided me with contact info for the right people at Korg USA. He also made phone calls on my behalf.

When I finally reached the right person, in a less combative mode, I presented this arguement:

"If it proves to be a factory defect, I cannot understand how Korg USA, in good conscience, could repair, or recall, or replace some boards and not others. It would seem to me that it has to be an all or nothing situation. If a DEFECT exists, is a NEW board purchased from an individual any less defective than a NEW board purchased from an authorized dealer??"

Then on November 21, 2008

jerrythek wrote: (Korg USA product manager)

This has been brought to our attention and we will be helping you. Sorry for the confusion.

Jerry

Then I received a phone call from the customer service supervisor at KORG USA on November 25, 2008. She said she was sending me a return lable for UPS and a RMA number and when Korg USA received my PA2X PRO, they would send me a replacement.

My board arrived at Korg USA on Dec. 2, 2008, and the NEW PA2X PRO replacement arrived at my home today, Dec. 9, 2008.

Can you believe it?? After the ball got rolling it only took 1 week to receive my replacement. They also paid shipping both ways.

A BRAND NEW KORG PA2X PRO, with a 2 year warrantY!!! What a deal!!

I am overwhelmed!! WHAT FANTASTIC CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT!!

Thanks to the GREAT team at KORG USA!!!

A special thanks to Lee for pointing me in the right direction.

Bottom Line, it all depends on who you talk to.

Don P
Lufkin, Texas

Great service. A pity that they had to be publicly shamed into it.

Technically they did not have to do anything for donpatt. It is rare to find a comapany that will go beyond the fine print and honor the warranty. But, thank god we have these forums that give the consumer a little bit of power over the manufacturer.

Did you guys ever wonder why the manufacturers don't offer official forums within their website?


[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 12-10-2008).]

Don P

That is super news. It would be comforting to know exactly what is at fault with the LED's. I have not seen any issues at all with my board.

Al

That's great to hear Korg sent you a replacement. I do however, agree with hitman. Korg really had no obligation to honor any such warranty as it wasn't purchased through an authorized dealer. So in all fairness to Korg.., I don't think it's right to speak ill of the company if they decided not to honor the warranty. It's good they did honor it though.., and getting a new factory model must be nice. Keep in mind Korg's position too. You honor a warranty for someone who bought a keyboard from a private party.., then the requests will start flooding in..

Hope I didn't sound unappreciative!!

I think KORG USA was very generous in my situation. Above and beyound there obligation.

I do agree with hitman and squak_D, KORG USA didn't have to do it. However, I think the fact that the PA2X, when I started having problems, was less than a year old
as they all are. I don't think they would do it six months from now!!

Another thing to consider is the fact that I had 19 blown LEDs. I don't think anyone else reported having that many. Mostly 2, 4 or maybe 5.



[This message has been edited by donpatt (edited 12-10-2008).]

I think Jerry at Korg USA is a standup man...he realizes a VERY few PA2 owners have this LED issue...and he has taken care of all of them that I know of!

This is the way to run a company...it's also the way I run my small operation here.

You take care of your customers...even if it means going beyond requirements sometimes...they come back to you again.

Way too many large companies get high ego's and don't realize how important top notch support really is, especially on hardware issues.

By the way I have had no hardware issues at all on my PA2XPRO.

Lee

hitman are you referring to all (most) companies in the Music business or just keyboard Companies?
(Genuine question)

I would think several Official Forums exist for several music manufacturers - the Bose Forum for one...

Squeak,

I disagree, if a product has a two year warranty that warranty should be good for two years regardless of who owns it. It originally had to have been made by Korg didn't it?

Tom

Hellboy44,

I was refering to the big 3 keyboard manufacturers. I haven't seen one "official" discussion board with representatives who actively participate in the same. I think as the economy is sinking, we will see some more initiative from the big 3 to get our dollars. Furthermore, most other companies in related industries are improving their customer relationship management dept's, so hopefully some of that will rub of on these guys.

Tom.., you can't rightfully expect a company to honor a warranty (even if it's a two year warranty) to the second-hand buyer. No company should be obligated to honor a warranty to a second hand buyer (unless it's listed as a transferable warranty and is company policy).

Often warranties cover the initial buyer. It's not right to expect any company to pass on that warranty to the next buyer. Buying something second hand (regardless of whether it's new or not) does not and should not give you the full privilages (as it relates to the product warranty) that are afforded to the "original buyer".

That's unreasonable IMO. It's bad enough we're a nation of "Getting our cake and eating it too", but now we want the cake, the right to eat it.., and the right to take some of the cake from the guy next to us. Greedy, Greedy, Greedy.

Look at it like this. Let's say you purchase a keyboard from the original buyer. The keyboard has a two year warranty. The original owner has had the keyboard for one year and six months. Perhaps he used it for gigs, but it's in MINT condition. He then sells the board to you. You've had the board for 2 months and now it breaks down..., should the company be liable to fix it for you under warranty? ABSOLUTELY NOT! That company should NOT be obligated to fix that board considering it's now in the hands of the second owner. It lasted for a year and a half without any problems from the original owner. Two months in your hands it now breaks.., and in the hands of the second owner.

Put yourself in the companies position. Perhaps it broke because your playing style, and treatment of the keyboard may be a tad more aggressive than the original owner (the name Bert Smorenburg comes to mind.., when considering a more aggressive user).

That keyboard may have broken down because of how you use and how you physically treat it (although you may not think your playing style or usage is more aggressive than the average guy). I can only imagine if every other keyboard player out there was a Bert Smorenburg...., companies would probably see their warranty repairs double

Companies should not be obligated to that second owner unless they have a written policy for it. What happends if within that 2 years the keyboard is on its 4th owner and it breaks down.... Why in the hell should a company still be liable after 4 different people with 4 different playing styles and 4 different ways of physically handling and treating the thing be held liable to then fix it....?????

Hell..., this forum is an EXCELLENT example. When you really look at it... how many times do you think a particular keyboard has changed hands between members here (all within the warranty period)? Geez.., some boards here are on the 3rd owner by the time the warranty expires! That's 3 different owners, multiple trips through UPS, FEDEX and their employees... Based on what goes on here with transactions should these keyboard makers still be held liable to fix these products????




[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 12-11-2008).]

Squeak,

We will have to disagree on this one. To me two years is two years regardless.

Tom

Yes..., you can say that because YOU don't own the company. Perhaps if you owned the company then found yourself swarmed with warranty returns from products that have gone through multiple owners.., perhaps then you may see it differently.

IMO I think you're asking a bit much of the company at this point. Again.., goes back to how greedy we're becoming and unreasonable our expectations are getting for business owners.

It was a very kind move on Korg's end to honor that warranty. However, they had NO obligation to do it. It does go to show that Korg is a good company though, and they knew the risks they were taking by honoring it...

Think about it for a minute.... When you buy that keyboard (a portion of the cost to you) is (unforseeable warranty repair). A portion of your purchase, the next guy, and so on will go towards this. If companies start extending these warranties to 2nd, 3rd and 4th party ownership NO DOUBT within several years you'll see that translate into an increased cost to YOU the consumer when you buy their next and greatest arranger.

This is s common and OLD business practice. The Pharm/Drug companies are a great example. While they rake in the profits they set aside millions upon millions of dollars for any "possible" lawsuits that may arise from their products. A lot goes into figuring the cost of a product.., and unforseeable warranty repairs are part of that cost to the consumer. We all pay a little bit on it with each purchase.

Would you want be the high seat at that board meeting when the company execs show you the numbers in increased costs for these extended warranty repairs....???



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 12-11-2008).]

If I buy a car, the remaining warranty is honored...why not keyboards?

Your remaining warranty is honored on a vehicle because the company has this WRITTEN IN POLICY. You get extended "transferable warranties" on autos because the auto maker has made the decision to pass it on. Sure it's great for future business.., but you can't force a company to provide this type of warranty.

Transferable Auto Warranties wasn't because the company is being nice.., it was a business decision made due to low sales and profit loss. Extending that warranty is good for business (it also helps in that possible buyers might change to another brand of car maker). However, companies are not obligated to provide these types of warranties. Just because the auto maker does it doesn't mean everyone has to do it...



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 12-11-2008).]

Then keyboard manufacturer's should follow suit and have a transferable warranty.

I would like to see it, and I'm sure there are many more here who feel the same way.

Hey..., I personally would love to see keyboard makers offer transferable warranties. However, we can't force them to do this.

Understand that (again using the auto makers as an example) often these transferable warranties are a result of a company who is hurting financially and looking for ways to help increase sales.

Will we see Korg, Roland, and Yamaha offer these types of warrranties..??? It's hard to really say..., but until we see the CEO's of the big three keyboard makers pleading before their countries congress for a government financial bail-out..., we can't really expect much.

The way I hear it, most European countries have MUCH better warranty policies by law in their countries.

It is, of course, only in the USA that the consumer gets the shaft as much.

Long live corporate profits! The hell with those pesky consumers!

(And before the 'fair and balanced' far right chimes in, ask yourself why these corporations are willing and eager to do business in those countries where they ARE forced to provide better warranty support... If it's good enough for Europe, why isn't it good enough for the lowly US citizen? Oh, that's right... SCREW US! Profit, profit, profit! )