Peluso support for european customers: beware!

[astral_car]

Hi,

I am writing this to warn everybody in Europe about Peluso support.
I live in northern Italy, love recording and was a proud Peluso 2247LE
owner until the following happened to me.

My 2247LE started producing a strange high frequency noise
last autumn. I wrote to John Peluso, describing the problem.
It took one month to have an answer on how to proceed with the repair.
I then sent the mic to Peluso at the end of december (12/30/2009). I spent more than 100 euros for the fastest delivery possible since I needed the mic back asap to do recordings for my band. Peluso received the package in good shape on 01/06/2010.

I waited one week, then wrote to ask about the mic: got no answer.
So I waited another week, wrote another mail and got no answer.

Let me clarify that I usually ask to be notified when the receiver actually read the email, and the emails I sent were read by Peluso, but still remained unanswered. I got the impression of being ignored (not a nice feeling), so I put some money on my skype account and phoned Peluso.

He answered that the mic had a problem at the valve, that the repair
would be covered by warranty and that the mic would have shipped back
to Italy very soon.

Great! I waited another week. No feedback from Peluso, no tracking number, no warning about the delay of the delivery, nothing.

So I started calling once a week. Every time I called Mr Peluso told me that
it wasn't possible to ship the mic due to terrible weather conditions (their offices are up in the mountains), but that the weather was getting better and that the package was going to ship very soon. This was the situation until the end of february, when I called (monday 02/22/2010) and Mr. Peluso was positive that on wed. 02/24/2010 the mic would have shipped to Italy.
By Friday 02/26/2010 I hadn't receive any tracking number, I was really
upset so I wrote mr Peluso again asking If I would ever see the mic again
or if I was supposed to take a plane to US to have my mic back. I complained
that I actually deserved at least to be informed if there were any delays
on the shipping.

He answered my email the day after:

"Sorry for the delay getting back to you. The weather has caused power, telephone and internet outages so we were without the ability to contact you. Shipping should be able to be made on Monday. We discovered that your microphone is out of* Warranty Warranty was good until 10/01/ 2009 so we sent you an invoice for the new valve and return shipping."

Surprise! Now the repair is not covered by warranty anymore. Now I'm really shocked, and I write back that when the problem showed up (september 2009)
the mic was still under warranty. As a proof I have the email that I sent
to Mr Peluso to ask about the repair. It's not a problem for me to pay,
I write, but with all the delays etc.. I think that you are really pushing things in order to lose a customer.
Mr Peluso answers then (on 02/27/2010)

"Of course we will not charge you. This was just an accounting error. We will ship on Monday."

Great!
However now is 03/05/2010 and I still did not receive any email, tracking number or whatever from Peluso. Of course I wrote again, but got no answer.

Will I ever get my mic back?

So, long story short: European Peluso customers, beware!
My mic is out since the end of last year and after three months I still don't know when I will have it back in my little studio.
When you are buying a microphone, also consider if it will be possible
to have it serviced near to you, in case something goes wrong. Or you
will possibly end up waiting months and spending real money just
to send it around the globe for repair.

[Fletcher]

While this has nothing to do with your struggle, I am proud to announce that TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik is working towards having an EU warranty [and out of warranty] repair center setup by July of 2010.

It will either be in Munich or Stuttgart [which if you spell it wrong --Stutgart -- doesn't have the "emoticon"]... but will still only be a couple of days away via ground transit.

[astral_car]

unfortunately I've read in another thread in this same forum that a guy had to wait two years to get a couple of mics back from Peluso,
as written in this thread:
Do Peluso treat customers badly? (Thread Revived)

Hope this is not the case for my 2247 LE...

I mean, is there something a guy can do if support takes too long and you're without your mic for an unreasonable amount of time?

[Sounds Great]

Monday was March 1st, so I wouldn't think it would have arrived in Italy yet. I'm sure you will see it shortly.

I agree though the service sounds poor, your case should have been a priority. After shipping, you should have been contacted with a tracking number right away and estimated shipping time.

[kafka]

I can't say anything about Peluso's responsiveness, but the snow in the area for this winter was the worst on record. I know that I had some packages that were horribly delayed throughout all of February, and I'm not anywhere near as remote as he is. So, yeah, I can see things might have gotten backed up for him. Hope it all works out for you.

[astral_car]

Originally Posted by kafka

I can't say anything about Peluso's responsiveness, but the snow in the area for this winter was the worst on record. I know that I had some packages that were horribly delayed throughout all of February, and I'm not anywhere near as remote as he is.

I completely understand that the weather conditions were exceptional, however I think that if there were delays for any reasons the offices could send out warnings, or at least answer the emails I sent to get updates about the shipping.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by astral_car

however I think that if there were delays for any reasons the offices could send out warnings, or at least answer the emails I sent to get updates about the shipping.

Agreed, and I think those issues speak for themselves.

[lowfreq33]

Well, he did say the phones and internet was out, so how could he contact you? I don't doubt he's telling the truth, check the weather for February.

[grantlandau]

john's responsiveness has been top notch for me. i've received a couple of no-charge tuneups.

sounds like you just need to re-seat your tube. had the same problem and corrected it myself by just removing the tube, brushing the contacts with a brillo pad and putting the tube back in.

[PelusoMicrophone]

To put things in Perspective, The RMA was issued on 19 October 2009 the microphone was sent on 31 December 2009. It arrived in the middle of the worst series of blizzards on record. In the mountains of SW Virginia everything shut down Roads were closed for weeks and power and internet was out more than it was on. This is the only year we have ever had when we did not have regular UPS, FedEx and Mail deliveries and pickups. We were trying to get his microphone repaired and returned quickly but the weather did not allow this. It is our policy to make all repairs in a timely manner. All microphones sold by our European Distributors are serviced in Europe, this does not apply to microphones that are bought in the US which have to come back to the US. Andrea's microphone is on the way back to him by UPS Tracking #1ZY985VC36756667650

John Peluso

[astral_car]

Originally Posted by PelusoMicrophone

We were trying to get his microphone repaired and returned quickly but the weather did not allow this. It is our policy to make all repairs in a timely manner. All microphones sold by our European Distributors are serviced in Europe, this does not apply to microphones that are bought in the US which have to come back to the US. Andrea's microphone is on the way back to him by UPS Tracking #1ZY985VC36756667650

John Peluso

I'm really happy to know this!

And I wasn't really complaining about the time it took to get the mic serviced, but by the lack of news and the poor responsiveness to my emails. Even when there were thunderstorms, it was always possible to
get in touch with you either by phone or email (at least, I succeded every time I tried)...

Anyway, the mic is repaired and is coming back to italy so.. problem solved!

Cheers,
A.

[astral_car]

Unfortunately, it seems the problem is not solved at all :

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-...so-2247le.html

[Makinithappen]

Just wanted to chime in and say that Pelusos support for my 2247LE was among the best I have ever received from any company.... And I am a pretty demanding customer....thumbsup

Just didn't want anyone else looking at Peluso threads to see nothing but negative experiences.