Mackie gripes

[Meriphew]

You should send an email to their head of customer service containing a link to this thread. Then they can see the results of their inability to stand behind their products. Perhaps they might even correct the situation.

[Jay Kahrs]

It's soooo done. I actually hit the Mackie "support" on their website and emailed the link to this thread about 20 seconds after I posted it.

I wish I could view this as an isolated incident but I know it's not. The club I have a house gig at has been through hell with their 32x8 power supply plus I know another studio that's had lots of problems with it's D8B and it's had to go back to Wackie for service each time it crashed and burned because the CPU and most of the parts on the console aren't field serviceable. That ain't too professional IMHO.

When I spoke to John Holme on Friday afternoon he said he'd call a bunch of service centers and find a woofer for me. I never heard from him so I called back this afternoon, maybe 2pm EST and left a message asking him to call me back and let me know either way. I never heard from him and he has the studio number, my cell and the email address.

Ah well...I'm off to post this on PSW.

[Remoteness]

sMackie...

"Cause you got to schmack yourself for using one.

I sMackie now and then.

Do you sMackie?

[Drumsound]

That company has changed in so many ways. About fours ago when I was pimping their shit they'd bend over backwards to help customers. The let me pull half of the innards out of a 24.4 to put into a customer board and then send they floor model back as warranty service. Now they can't even get a pro a woofer. That's recoculous!

[hollywood_steve]

Just goes to show that a "guitar store" level manufacturer can pretend to be a pro audio company and maybe even fool a few people for a couple of years, but that doesn't make them a pro audio company. How long do you think it would take JBL, Tannoy or Genelec to supply a woofer? 24hrs or maybe 48hrs on a bad week. (I'm comparing Mackie to other large companies with monitors at a wide range of prices, comparing them to some boutique monitor manufacturer is pointless.) I was always surprised when folks started snapping up Mackie monitors and hard disk recorders; this is a company that made its name by supplying garage bands with cheap but functional (if unrepairable) rehearsal room mixers. I don't care what kind of reviews they may have receieved in the trade rags, but there is no way that I would consider them as a supplier for any of my studio equipment. I don't know why anyone ever expected anything better from Mackie...... Until I can afford to buy some exotic "boutique" monitors, I'll rely on Tannoy or some other proven monitor supplier, and I follow that concept across the board with all my gear.

[Tim L]

Even for a Git-Mart company there's no excuse for this kinda shit! Mr Holme should've at least had the decency to arrange for you to use a "demo" 824 until your part comes in.

I know this isn't exactly what you want to hear at the moment but perhaps this is a sign from 'on high' to pull those things out of service altogether. If it was me, I'd be sorely tempted to go for one of the monitor upgrades you mentioned (Adam's, yum yum) and shift the 'new room' back in the master plan a bit. Hope this all works out for ya!

[CV7]

Word!

[Midlandmorgan]

Maybe he should be hung...

wait...wrong John Holme...

Anyway, I really think there are other Mackie people who will jump at the chance to serve your needs...I cannot believe Mackie, or anyone else in the world, would tell you to wait until january...

[Tim L]

Originally posted by Randall
" John Holme " isn't that an appropiate name for a service rep....

I wasn't gonna touch it... that(?)...... uhhh ... never mind...

[Mind-Over-Midi]

Originally posted by hollywood_steve
How long do you think it would take JBL, Tannoy or Genelec to supply a woofer? 24hrs or maybe 48hrs on a bad week. (I'm comparing Mackie to other large companies with monitors at a wide range of prices, comparing them to some boutique monitor manufacturer is pointless.)

Well I can tell you this, when I blew my KRK Expose 8 woofer about four weeks ago, they told me it was out of stock, and they would have it in a week. Ok. One week later it was still out of stock, but they would have in a week this time for sure. Ok. One week later the truck with the woofers was in front of their warehouse, give them a few days to unload the truck, call back at the end of the week. ****!

I have my woofer now, and my KRK's are back on line, but I'd say that Mackie is on par with the "Pro" companies. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't KRK, and JBL affiliated in some way?

[blackcatdigi]

Originally posted by Mind-Over-Midi
And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't KRK, and JBL affiliated in some way?

JBL is a Harmon owned company; KRK was purchased by Stanton.

[Jason A]

Jay,

I know this doesn't make up for Mackie's lack of support but I live in KC where the Musician's Friend clearance warehouse is located. They have whole section of equipment that is horribly junked by shipping. Every time I have been in there they have had multiple 824's that have broken cases, etc. I could swing by there and see what they want for a hammered 824 if you want. They make no guarantees of this stuff working but it is cheap.

Let me know.

Jason A.

[JohnL]

Originally posted by Mind-Over-Midi


I have my woofer now, and my KRK's are back on line, but I'd say that Mackie is on par with the "Pro" companies. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't KRK, and JBL affiliated in some way?

Hmmm... I had a woofer in an ADAM s2a that was rubbing slightly - I bought the speakers from Mercenary, and sent them an email. Within an hour, Dave Bryce was calling my cell phone, wondering where I wanted the woofer shipped, and how fast (on his dime). Service is out there... but I'm not telling you all something you don't already know.

John

[jbuntz]

In reference to quality of their products, I had one of their boards have an entire channel in the master section go out, along with some very very sticky faders that cut out quite frequently which is embarrassing and problematic if you are tracking in the CR. The headphone jack does not work altogether.

I like my UAD-1 okay with the exception that you can't run a large amount of plugs on it. But I don't think mackie developed it though.

One of the mackies HDR824's I use has a limiter that sometimes works, sometime doesn't.

[Meriphew]

I have one of their MDR24/96 units that I like a lot, but I'd be raging pissed if I was put into Jay's situation.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Mind-Over-Midi
Well I can tell you this, when I blew my KRK Expose 8 woofer about four weeks ago, they told me it was out of stock, and they would have it in a week. Ok. One week later it was still out of stock, but they would have in a week this time for sure. Ok. One week later the truck with the woofers was in front of their warehouse, give them a few days to unload the truck, call back at the end of the week. ****!

Four weeks isn't as bad as 10 or more. Plus I was told that they were out of them for at least 3-4 weeks BEFORE my order got placed. Even worse is that they took all of the last shipment and built new monitors, not keeping any around for stuff like this or even warrenty repairs.

[SLS]

I've had some Mackie gear I liked, except that for the most part I never had to call support. But, I had a pair of the triamped SR1530 PA speakers that were damaged and needed repair, and after countless calls to the store I bought them from and to Mackie, they told me that the parts could not be replaced?! It was basically some grill damage and replacing a woofer.

Anyway, I have become quite dismayed at the overall lack of service and support in a lot of companies these days tutt

[patrox247]

Support is one of the most important factors I consider when purchasing for my studio. Thanks for the heads up I'll spread the word in Orange County California about this issue. Word spreads fast in the audio community.

[SLS]

Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to learn the hard way

[Beezoboy]

Jay,

No offense man, but don't you think making this thread a sticky is a bit slanderous? I mean you are using your "power" to completely slam a company.

I completely agree about Mackie. My first Uad-1 was DOA. It took nearly a month to get it all straightened out. It is so bad that a lot of retailers won't take returns on the UAD-1 at all. This is all due to Mackie too. Customer support is a joke too. They didn't even ask for my cards serial number or my name!!

Warranted or not, this is still not the behavior I would NOT expect from a Moderator.

Beez

[littledog]

What used to really bother me about Mackie is they would never authorize local repair places to do most of their warranty work. Instead of shipping me or an authorized tech a small part, I would have to ship an entire board back to Mackie, thus losing the use of the whole unit for weeks so that a minor flaw could be repaired.

I think the real key to insuring great support is to share the responsibility betwen the manufacturer and the dealer. I almost never buy anything (unless it's used on e-bay, etc.) unless it is from a dealer that i know will back up the product even if the manufacturer won't.

If you buy from any of the usual high reputation pro dealers, chances are THEY would have given you a loaner replacement for your Mackie while it was being fixed, regardless of what Mackie did or didn't do. Who did you buy the speaker from? Have you gone back to them for a loaner unit?

I'll give you a good example. I bought a Tube tech MP1a on e-bay a couple of years ago. It died on me recently, and I sent it to their California facility for repair. They have a reasonably decent deal, where for about $250 (I can't remember the exact quoted price) they go through the unit, clean everything up, and fix whatever they can find that is wrong. (In this case, the input transformer was dead.) Fine - no problem. Except that they now tell me the input transformer has to come from Denmark, ahd they won't have one for FOUR WEEKS.

Am I pissed? Not at all.

Why? Because when I told one of my local pro dealers that I was having trouble with my Tube Tech he volunteered to lend me his floor model VIPRE until i could get mine fixed. Remember, I didn't even buy the Tube Tech from him - it was from E-bay!!!

So, yeah, I understand you are pissed. But with all the stuff you buy, you must have SOME sort of a relationship with a real dealer or two. Why haven't you turned to them for help? That would have been the very first thing I would have done.

[chessparov]

Beez, IMHO Jay has the right to express himself.
He gave them am opportunity to right things, and they declined.

This is also why I think it's extra important to buy from companies like Studio Projects, or retailers like Mercenary, that do give a damn, and offer A-1 service AFTER the sale.

Chris

[nbutter]

i have two mackie boards and they're both screwed up - blown channels & bleeding. so i ain't recommending the boards to anyone. and i don't use the monittors so can't comment there.

but i have to put in a plug for one mackie product -- the SRM450 active speaker. i use them for a live DJ pa setup and they are absolutely great.

i have run these things in 100 degree heat, in rain, and in duststorms, in addition to numerous sketchy new york venues, and they are ROCK solid. i haven't even managed to dent the front grilles despite numerous drops, kicks, etc from the lovely crowds. if you're overheating they just shut down automatically - turn em back on in 2 minutes and they're good to go.

out of 4 units i had a problem with one, once, and mackie fixed it quickly. go figger.


*edit: of course i don't think there's anything wrong with jay's hitting mackie hard - expressing legitimate opinions is (in theory) what these boards are for! (i say in theory cuz, well, ok, sometimes they get used for other things. but not by jay).

and actually, the situation he describes really is unpardonable. these are hugely popular monitors and not to stock the most basic part is outrageous.

this reminds me of the apple ipod scam - there's a video on the web about it. the battery runs out after a year and the charge to replace it is almost as much as a new ipod. so it's effectively a disposable, 1-year lifetime, $500 product.

[SLS]

I really don't have anything against Mackie. I have had a couple of run-ins with them, but all in all, I think some of the things they make are quite good...customer service aside

I too have had around 8 of the SRM-450's, and they all have been great. Even had one fall 6 feet when a drunk audience member knocked over the speaker stand! Had a minor crack up the side but worked great. The others have been flawless for several years. I also really like the HR-824 monitors.

Chessparov is right, and I think forums like these are for people to freely post their experience, grievances, and thoughts.

[Jay Kahrs]

I've been out doing the family thing for the last few days.

Jax, Mytek and Cranesong are both small companies. I have more people living in my house then they have employes so things are gonna take longer to get done. I'm not saying that it doesn't suck to have an ADC out for a 3 month repair but to compare them to Smackie is stretching. I know that Cranesong has sent people new knobs when the little white dot fell out. If you still have problems call them up and talk to Scott. He's a great guy and will do his best to make it right for you.

Beez, there's nothing slanderous here. I'm stating and reporting facts as they were relayed to me by John Holme at Smackie and the NY metro area Smackie rep. The only reason I made it a sticky is so that other people are aware of how Wackie treats it's end users. If you don't like it you don't have to read it.

Littledog, I did order the woofer through my regular local dealer and there was an odd clusterfuk of events that wasn't their fault. Anyway, they've offered to take care of me on whatever I'd like to purchase as a replacement.

[littledog]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs

Littledog, I did order the woofer through my regular local dealer and there was an odd clusterfuk of events that wasn't their fault. Anyway, they've offered to take care of me on whatever I'd like to purchase as a replacement.

Jay, one of the more compelling aspects of your complaint is that Mackie's policies could end up putting your studio down for a month or two. This implies that your dealer was not willing or able to loan you a pair of monitors.

My dealer would have given me a pair of loaner monitors if the situation happened to me. If they didn't have a pair of Mackie's in stock, they would have loaned me some Genelecs, Dynaudios, or something that was at least equivalent in quality.

Usually they're smart enough to lend me something that's actually a lot better, because they know I'll fall in love with them and end up buying them. Dummies they ain't! As a matter of fact, they're always trying to get me to borrow gear for that very reason, whether something's broken or not. ("Hey, LD, are you SURE you don't want to borrow our Telefunken ELAM for a couple of weeks...?")

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally posted by littledog
...This implies that your dealer was not willing or able to loan you a pair of monitors....

Littledog is right, your dealer is WRONG no matter what happened. They are supposed to STOCK replacement parts and give you a loaner that is at least as good if they are out of stock for ANY reason. This is what dealers get paid for.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by littledog
Jay, one of the more compelling aspects of your complaint is that Mackie's policies could end up putting your studio down for a month or two. This implies that your dealer was not willing or able to loan you a pair of monitors.

For starters the studio isn't down, there are other monitors here which are still working fine. I probably could've asked my dealer for a loner 824 but I'd feel weird about it since my 824's are almost three years old. They're an MI store with a decently stocked audio department (Quested and Emperical Labs are on the shelf and in stock) but they don't normally stock replacement drivers for anything and order them on as needed basis. Anyway, the dealer has let me borrow other gear before including a pair of DA-88's when I needed to do a transfer for a client. They've offered me a pretty deep discount on whatever I need or want to purchase from them.

Maybe I'm way off base here but I wouldn't expect any dealer to give me a 2-3 month loner out of their stock for anything that's been in daily use for almost three years. If the monitors were only 30-90 days old I'm sure they'd have offered me a loner before I could even ask for one.

[littledog]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs
Well guess what? For a shop that relies on it’s transducers everyday to make recordings translate from a control room out to Jimmy’s bitchin’ Camaro 8 weeks might as well be 8 years and now I need to go monitor shopping.

I interpreted your original post as saying you were extremely pissed because your lack of monitors meant you couldn't work. That's why a good dealer would have stepped in and lent you some replacements. Three years old? My dealer lent me a replacement for a TubeTech MP1A that i didn't even buy from them, that was who knows how many years old (I bought it on e-bay.) Since you feel pretty strongly that your dealer wouldn't do the same (to the point that you are afraid to even ask) perhaps the best advice would be to start looking for a new dealer.

Your plight was far more sympathetic when you were saying that the equipment failure resulted in your being unable to work, which was why we questioned the fact that you hadn't gone to your dealer for some kind of relief. Now it seems the original statement was hyperbole, that you don't really need the Mackies after all, and that you're just pissed on general principles. Which is still deserving of sympathy, but not as much as the way you originally portrayed it.

Three year old stuff that is used constantly breaks down all the time. From even the best manufacturers. Ideally, we have a certain level of redundancy in our setups that lets us survive without any one particular piece of gear, and for those indispensable items we have supportive dealerships willing to back us up.