Egnater Customer Service (lack thereof...)

[gtr31]

this probably ruins my chances of getting any other parts, but at this point, it's a wash anyways.

A wash? Your ahead of me. I paid $650 plus tax, then $50 to ship a defective amp. (2nd one!!)

I'm $700 plus in the hole. And have no amp.

Any further in the process of getting this resolved ???

 

[Anonymous]

might as well post how shitty nate is to deal with.....and, from what i understand, he's overworked.

Give me a break. He works in customer service for a guitar amplification company. I can think of about a gazillion professions that would work a hell of a lot harder than this guy.

Just sayin'.

trying to word things delicately isnt my strong suit, but i was trying to be respectful to bruce. i was told nate is the ONLY person doing repairs, and handling CS there (this was before they hired 2 previous guys), now, i guess he's alone again?

either way, he can be shitty to deal with, for whatever reasons

 

[happyhack62]

this probably ruins my chances of getting any other parts, but at this point, it's a wash anyways.

A wash? Your ahead of me. I paid $650 plus tax, then $50 to ship a defective amp. (2nd one!!)

I'm $700 plus in the hole. And have no amp.

Any further in the process of getting this resolved ???

No. Nothing.

 

[rlord1974]

might as well post how shitty nate is to deal with.....and, from what i understand, he's overworked.

Give me a break. He works in customer service for a guitar amplification company. I can think of about a gazillion professions that would work a hell of a lot harder than this guy.

Just sayin'.

trying to word things delicately isnt my strong suit, but i was trying to be respectful to bruce. i was told nate is the ONLY person doing repairs, and handling CS there (this was before they hired 2 previous guys), now, i guess he's alone again?

either way, he can be shitty to deal with, for whatever reasons

Whoa. Are you saying he is the only person doing the actual amp repairs AND answering the phones/emails? If that's true, I could see how he could be overworked. However, I was under the impression that he was NOT doing the repair work but instead just dealing with customer issues?

 

[Buckeyedog]

Whatever the case, it really is unacceptable and Bruce should be aware of this. Hope he reads and chimes in. Good luck to you.......has to be so frustrating.

 

[Anonymous]

might as well post how shitty nate is to deal with.....and, from what i understand, he's overworked.

Give me a break. He works in customer service for a guitar amplification company. I can think of about a gazillion professions that would work a hell of a lot harder than this guy.

Just sayin'.

trying to word things delicately isnt my strong suit, but i was trying to be respectful to bruce. i was told nate is the ONLY person doing repairs, and handling CS there (this was before they hired 2 previous guys), now, i guess he's alone again?

either way, he can be shitty to deal with, for whatever reasons

Whoa. Are you saying he is the only person doing the actual amp repairs AND answering the phones/emails? If that's true, I could see how he could be overworked. However, I was under the impression that he was NOT doing the repair work but instead just dealing with customer issues?

yeah man....

and, as we all know, there's been a lot of repairs and issues with the overseas line of amps.

 

[Bucksears]

I'm quite glad that I didn't pursue a Tourmaster more than I did. I was THIS close to pulling the trigger a couple of times.

Aside from the feedback from users on this forum, there is nothing coming from the manufacturer to address this or future plans. As I've said before, even a quarterly 'state of the union' thread would at least shed some light on things.

IMO, they need to ditch the Chinese stuff YESTERDAY and I mean COMPLETELY pull everything off the shelves NOW. The Egnater brand is going to have a hard time recovering with this kind of damage done. They will need some serious PR when(if) they try to make the Rebel/Renegade/Tourmasters in the USA. It's been clear for a while now that their current support model (not just one person, the whole process) needs replacing and definitely won't be sufficient for a higher-priced line of amps.

 

[happyhack62]

Update....

"We will be out of the office until Sept 30th in observance of the Jewish holidays."

I started the month with that, looks like I'm ending the month with that.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm quite glad that I didn't pursue a Tourmaster more than I did. I was THIS close to pulling the trigger a couple of times...............

i know of a few people that got 2nd run (factory modded to M specs with tighter low end and gain and the NEWER output tranny) and have had NO issues. like anything, the issues on the internet are magnified 1,000,000 times by people who have NO clue what they're talking about. they're build ROCK fuckin solid. if it had fortin or mesa or randall on the front of it, you (not YOU, generally, you) would still be salivating. dont let the "made in china" fool you..they're assembling an amp designed by bruce with components chosen by egnater company....some of those components failed. i still haven't been able to figure out what the output tranny problem was on the first run, but oh well, they replaced mine, and no issues since. now if they would just man up and admit the reverb trannies had issues too.....we'd be good. as far as the amp itself, the tone...it's phenomenal. i've read a lot of reviews on the net too "messed with it in guitar center, it sux"...that's par for the course. i will still defend the amp tonally, i love it. it's REALLY versatile....has a great clean channel, a broken up type, fantastic overdrives, the power grid works well, and presence and depth are setup nicely, and it cuts through a band mix nicely..... if i see one for cheap, i will grab it, especially now that i know my way around them a bit circuitry wise.

It's been clear for a while now that their current support model (not just one person, the whole process) needs replacing and definitely won't be sufficient for a higher-priced line of amps.

the support model IS the problem. there are TONS of amps made overseas...you just dont hear the town crier approach on the forums regarding those companies cause they just handle business in a non-shitshow type fashion.....

i had TWO digitech 2101s...both had problems (overheating, clock times were fucked, unexplainable tube noise) back in the 90's...and contacted digitech about both...they not only paid the postage to and from, they upgraded them both for FREE.....

i had issues with a few marshalll pedals i bought....NO hesitation "send them here, and we'll replace them". so what, 4 bux to ship a pedal....no biggie.

boss..same thing...replaced, no issues. morley, mosvalve, mesa, etc....all great experiences with those companies customer service departments....

egnater, honestly has been the first one that i've seen ran this way.

 

[happyhack62]

Yeti,
Similar positive customer service with Chinese manufactured products. Egnater is my first experience at ABSOLUTE failure. And that was with a real fucking long leash.........

That said, I don't know that I have the same confidence you do in the actual product and components.

 

[Anonymous]

dude, i've ran mine hard since replacing the output tranny...funny, before that, i ran it lower than gig volumes when it went kaput.

the ONLY thing im pissy about currently, is the reverb tranny issue, but i haven't been able to get in there and troubleshoot the circuit now that i know a bit about what im doing, and see if something's failed in the component section. thing is, the 2nd reverb tranny i put in it worked for a bit, then shit out, but sounded more faint than the first stock one.

anyways, if you've ever opened yours you'd see that the pcb is thick, and everything is in there nice and neat....fuck, these days most components ARE from china anyways, so whats it matter where it's assembled, as long as the q&a is up to snuff!

bruce admitted that the Output tranny issue was wayyy out of left field and unforseen, and beyond his control....
as was the issue with some of the TM series amps having failing output tubes...

it doesn't help at ALL that theres NO tourmaster schematic that you can get anywhere....AND to top that off, the first valve diagram they put out was wrong!!!

 

[gtr31]

dude, i've ran mine hard since replacing the output tranny...funny, before that, i ran it lower than gig volumes when it went kaput.

the ONLY thing im pissy about currently, is the reverb tranny issue, but i haven't been able to get in there and troubleshoot the circuit now that i know a bit about what im doing, and see if something's failed in the component section. thing is, the 2nd reverb tranny i put in it worked for a bit, then shit out, but sounded more faint than the first stock one.

anyways, if you've ever opened yours you'd see that the pcb is thick, and everything is in there nice and neat....fuck, these days most components ARE from china anyways, so whats it matter where it's assembled, as long as the q&a is up to snuff!

bruce admitted that the Output tranny issue was wayyy out of left field and unforseen, and beyond his control....
as was the issue with some of the TM series amps having failing output tubes...

it doesn't help at ALL that theres NO tourmaster schematic that you can get anywhere....AND to top that off, the first valve diagram they put out was wrong!!!

But if they had a Transformer issue that is out of left field but becomes a KNOWN issue ,would you not stop shipping and try to fix it .
but even not talking about the TM the whole entire organization is a sinking ship ,and no one seems to give a crap.
You can post on message boards till you are blue in the face .

The only silver lining maybe is that Egnater is bringing it all back to USA next year ,but If they do not hire some customer service people with some strong communication skills we will be reading the same story .
Nothing changes if nothing changes

 

[Anonymous]

again, i wouldnt blame the overseas construction.

it's the company. the tourmaster deal was with GC. i suspect that a shit ton of them were made and shipped to GC's everywhere, and several were in the hands of consumers before the issues were even known. realistically, that happens.
on a consumer level, it sucks. IMHO, they should HONOR every customer purchase of a TM that has a first run serial # that requires a new power tranny. no questions asked.

personally, i had no issue getting it replaced, it just took a long time, and they didn't pack it to protect it, and the connector clip was smashed when i got it. no biggie, i hard soldered it on.

yes, i agree...there are CS issues within. i'd gladly volunteer to be the east coast Egnater rep or CS guy. i have experience and technical knowledge. i'd love to see them get back to the respected entity they were regarded as....the tourmaster escapade i think has hurt them, but not beyond repair. bruce is a good guy. they make GREAT products. every company has issues. hell, plug your marshall SLP into a mismatched ohm/cab rating and watch it go.

 

[happyhack62]

Egnater will not refund money. "Tech" spoke with "CEO". "CEO" said amp was purchased from Guitar Center, not Egnater. I could take it up with Guitar Center, it's not Egater's responsibility to refund any money on an amp they didn't sell. It was mentioned that if amp was purchased from "Egnater", things might be different.
Really?? Why do I think nothing at all would be different?
I'm now told that my amp ( 2nd one..sent to them for warranty service 90 days ago...) was never actually lost. It was always there. It was "fixed", and they were just having all of the guitar players at the shop play through it to to make sure it worked correctly.........................

?

Short of a legal pissing match, how does one fight this absolute, inept, absurdity?
Tech said he would ship out my amp Friday at noon. I then sent Nate an e-mail saying:
If you are sending the original amp back, the same one a Tech said back in August "was a mess, I'll just send out a new one..."
Answer 2 questions:
1. What specifically was wrong with the amp?
2. What specifically did you do to fix it?

This is beyond any specific person, department, place of manufacture, or components.....

Nate couldn't answer due to the office shutting down till the 30th.

 

[gtr31]

Egnater will not refund money. "Tech" spoke with "CEO". "CEO" said amp was purchased from Guitar Center, not Egnater. I could take it up with Guitar Center, it's not Egater's responsibility to refund any money on an amp they didn't sell. It was mentioned that if amp was purchased from "Egnater", things might be different.
Really?? Why do I think nothing at all would be different?
I'm now told that my amp ( 2nd one..sent to them for warranty service 90 days ago...) was never actually lost. It was always there. It was "fixed", and they were just having all of the guitar players at the shop play through it to to make sure it worked correctly.........................

?

Short of a legal pissing match, how does one fight this absolute, inept, absurdity?
Tech said he would ship out my amp Friday at noon. I then sent Nate an e-mail saying:
If you are sending the original amp back, the same one a Tech said back in August "was a mess, I'll just send out a new one..."
Answer 2 questions:
1. What specifically was wrong with the amp?
2. What specifically did you do to fix it?

This is beyond any specific person, department, place of manufacture, or components.....

Nate couldn't answer due to the office shutting down till the 30th.

Thats crazy ,Egnater does not sell direct so essentially any amp sold will be by dealers.
Probably a reason why our dealer up here dropped them.

He told me they were impossible to deal with ,could never get them on phone ,waited months and months for his orders no answers.
He went Blackstar and Engl ,which he says is built much better.
The Blackstar 100 ht is almost half price of Armageddon and he said for tone ,build quality it smokes it .
Obviously GC is not selling a bunch as they have the 1899 Armageddon (that took 4 years to bring to stores) on blowout at 999.
Perhaps they are tired on being on the hook for Egnaters QC and product issues .

I don't know what else can be said .it sucks

 

[happyhack62]

Sold a Blackstar 5 Watt Head and matching 10" Cab, to "upgrade" to a more versatile and powerful Tweaker, and the the 12" speaker cab.

Look at me now....

To be fair, the Tweaker Cab seems nice. Well built, easy to speaker swap. Just hasn't seen much use.

Without naming names, or specifics, I can state that at least one Guitar Center in my area is not thrilled with the Egnater product line. In comparison, the GC staff considered the low watt Blackstar amp heads to be more like a "pedal", as opposed to amp heads. And given any problems, tech's were not eager to mess with them do to this characteristic. ?

It appears that Guitar Center and Musicians Friend do not post negative on-line reviews....

 

[stringydan]

I have not had any difficulty getting answers from customer service. I purchased a renegade head in '09 from GC. I noticed that my amp ran a little hot. I emailed egnater and Nate answered and asked if my fan was working. It was not and he told me how to fix it. I also purchased a used renegade combo that was missing a handle cap. I emailed Nate and he sent me one. I have no complaints.

 

[tom310]

I'm new to the forum and admit I joined with the specific intent of getting somebody at Egnater Amplification's attention. The traditional channels of customer service have not worked. AT ALL. A little internet research seemed to indicate that a Bruce and Ian Egnater actually respond to inquiries on the forum. Well ok then, lets air it out in a public forum. You certainly can't say I didn't go to great lengths of patience and futility with Joshua and Nate........Which by the way, is a direct reflection on Bruce, Ian and the Egnater brand.
I purchased a Tweaker 15 watt Head and Cab from Guitar Center on March 13th. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Could not have been happier. Then, an annoying buzz developed. Tube issue? Tested, rotated, swapped, no help. The buzz continued to get worse. It seemed to be a grounding issue. (?) No big deal. Shit happens. GC has a 30 day return policy. So I return it. But, they are out of stock. Can't seem to source one from another store or the GC Warehouse. They say they have a backorder with Egnater, it's going to be 2 to 3 weeks. Not thrilled, but, so be it. 3 weeks later, I go to GC an pick up my replacement Tweaker.
Just as before, happy, happy, happy. Then about a month in, a phantom buzz appears, sort of like before. I can't seem to identify the source. But, it's getting worse by the day. I'm past my 30 day return at GC, and now in the hands of an Egnater Warranty and their Customer Service Dept. I contact Joshua, and he seems convinced it's a tube issue. I don't think it is, but decide to by new tubes anyway. Approximately $50 plus shipping. It not only doesn't fix the problem, but new problems seem to be creeping in. In the process, I also buy a power conditioner. No help. Then, in addition to the annoying background buzz/hum, I now have a sound similar to that of frying bacon coming thru the amp. Sometimes so loud it's almost funny. Except that you paid $650 plus new tubes and a power conditioner to listen to bacon fry. I know enough to know it's not tube related but likely a capacitor or something. I contact Joshua, request an RA#. We start the return process. I send the amp out on July 2nd. And I pay the shipping. I determine that I'm 0 for 2 with the Tweaker, and there is no reason to believe the third will be any better. In addition, I've spent a lot of my own money trying to "fix" it, and then paid to ship it. I would like my money back. Joshua informs me that Egnater will not refund money, but will fix the amp. I said under no conditions do I want that amp. I want my money back. I'm done with Egnater. I then get a phone call from some "tech" person the first week of August. He is very apologetic, says he turned the amp on, and instantly got the frying bacon sound. He said he would send out a brand new amp. I mentioned a lack of trust in anything Egnater. He said he would personally "burn in" the amp and tubes, an give it a through workout before shipping it out. I said ok. Reasonable. What else was there to do....
First week of Sept. I send out a casual e-mail to Joshua, whats up? Wheres the amp? I get a response that Joshua doesn't work there any more. I'm forwarded an a contact named Nate at Egnater. Oh boy...
Send Nate an email, describing what has transpired. He responds that he has no record. No RA#. No defective amp. At this point, I'm ready to kick some fucking heads. Then a "Tech" calls me, and says the same thing, no record, no amp head, no nothing. He then tells me it was probably just a tube anyway. At this point I've had enough. I want my money. He says he will let the "CEO" (?) know my story, but doesn't think I can get a refund. He tells me that a "CEO" (?) will call me after the Jewish Holidays.
No one has called. No one has emailed. No one has responded. No one has done a fucking thing, and I'm fucking pissed off. I email Nate once or twice a week, with a courteous "what's up, any resolution?" I've got one response. The "CEO" will contact you.
2 months after I returned the 2nd straight defective Tweaker, no response, no resolution.
Since my original purchase in March, I've had about 1 month of trouble free playing time. Since July 2nd, I've had no amp.
Who the the fuck is this CEO ? Does he have a phone? Can he call me?
Does this Bruce or Ian guy know who this "CEO" guy is who doesn't want to refund my money, or give a courteous explanation of what happened or what they might do to make an EXTREMELY patient customer happy?

All these posts on here and still no response from Bruce Egnater. I've seen him respond to posts on here before. BRUCE, WHERE ARE YOU? From what I've heard about their customer service, I'm also done with Egnater. The Tweaker I have now will definitely be the last Egnater amp I buy. Nobody needs to be treated like that, and it reflects on the attitude coming down from the top of the organization.

 

[bruce egnater]

I guess I am little hesitant to walk into the lion's cage. At this point, I don't know who still has issues to resolve. Please tell me what you would like from me and I will see what I can do.

 

[the rossness]

Egnater will not refund money. "Tech" spoke with "CEO". "CEO" said amp was purchased from Guitar Center, not Egnater. I could take it up with Guitar Center, it's not Egater's responsibility to refund any money on an amp they didn't sell. It was mentioned that if amp was purchased from "Egnater", things might be different.
Really?? Why do I think nothing at all would be different?
I'm now told that my amp ( 2nd one..sent to them for warranty service 90 days ago...) was never actually lost. It was always there. It was "fixed", and they were just having all of the guitar players at the shop play through it to to make sure it worked correctly.........................

?

Short of a legal pissing match, how does one fight this absolute, inept, absurdity?
Tech said he would ship out my amp Friday at noon. I then sent Nate an e-mail saying:
If you are sending the original amp back, the same one a Tech said back in August "was a mess, I'll just send out a new one..."
Answer 2 questions:
1. What specifically was wrong with the amp?
2. What specifically did you do to fix it?

This is beyond any specific person, department, place of manufacture, or components.....

Nate couldn't answer due to the office shutting down till the 30th.

Thats crazy ,Egnater does not sell direct so essentially any amp sold will be by dealers.

They sell the M4 and modules directly.