I recently had a situation with my Markbass head that I planned to share with you all once it was resolved. The story ended on a very positive note.
Here's my story.
Saturday Sept 24
Two weeks ago, I was getting ready to do the second of two nights in a club in Geneva. When we do double headers, I usually leave the cab behind and take home my Markbass Little Mark head, my pedal board, bass. So, twenty minutes before we start, I plugged in the head and turned it on. The power light lit up. The clipping light lit up and stayed on. No sound. I tried running my Sadowsky floor preamp into effects return incase the preamp was screwed up. Nothing.
Monday Sept 26th,
I called the dealer that I bought the head from in March of this year. He told me that since I bought the head on sale, there was no guarantee or warranty. Nothing. He said my only option was to take it to a repair shop and pay out of pocket. Well, in these parts, they charge you $150 just to open stuff, before fixing anything. This just didn't seem right. Every manufacturer has at least a one year warranty.
Tuesday Sept 27th
No knowing any Swiss dealers, I emailed Dave at Club Bass in Toronto and told him my story. Dave wrote me back in 20-25 minutes saying the dealer was wrong and to email Peter, the Canadian distributor and ask him what to do. I emailed Peter.
Wednesday Sept 28th
Here is what he wrote, copying Marco (of Markbass), the German distributor and the newly appointed Swiss distributor:
QUOTE
We are indeed interested in keeping our customers happy. That being said, Markbass gear is incredibly reliable and we hear very few stories like yours. Our component failure rate is currently 0.06%.I trust you've tried using different instrument and speaker cables, cables, power cables, power sources, instruments. Please make sure you've gone through all of these possibilities. As I say, Markbass amps are extremely reliable and I've never heard of one just die like you say yours did. On my end I will inform Markbass head office and our Swiss distributor about this and see what they say.
UNQUOTE
thursday, Sept 29th
The following day, I got an email from the distributor in Germany at Smile Music. Here is what they said:
QUOTE
As Peter told you MARKBASS is very serious about customer service and after 3 years of distribution, I agree with Peter that MARKBASS has less problems than every other Bass Equipment company I know or have been distributed
before. Please send the LITTLE MARK to AUDIO TECH to fix the problem immediately.
UNQUOTE
Saturday, October 1st
Went to the post office and mailed the head across Switzerland. Swiss post is incredible. Mail anything by 3 in the afternoon and it gets delivered by 9. Never fails. I mailed it to Audio Tech, the Swiss distributor.
Monday, October 3rd
I emailed the distributor to tell him the head was on its way. Knowing the Swiss post, he should receive it on Monday. Here is what Thomas, the Swiss distributor had to say:
QUOTE
Thanks for your e-mail which had my highest attention. As soon as we get the amp we'll treat it as a high priority. Thanks for trusting MarkBass.
UNQUOTE
Thursday, October 6th
I went home at lunch to let the dog out. Sitting on the front porch was my Markbass head. For it to have arrived on Thursday, it would have been shipped on Wednesday. That means they got it Monday and turned it around in 2 days. I tried it out and it works perfectly. No charge. No delays. No questions.
I sent an email yesterday to Marco, Dirk, Peter, Thomas thanking them for seemingly dropping everything to make me happy. I was stunned and still am stunned by this.
Friday, October 7th
Just got an email from Marco de Virgiliis, designer and owner of Markbass. Here are Marco's comments:
QUOTE
Dear Brian,
we try our best to follow our musician, and so we try to have a very good collaboration with all our distributors, dealers.
Marco
UNQUOTE
Within 2 weeks, the guys supporting this product line in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were all over me like a cheap suit. They:
1. Answered each email within a day.
2. Repeated a mantra of customer focus and fast turnaround.
3. Over delivered on customer service.
Very impressive response.
Dave, Peter, Dirk, Thomas and of course Marco .THANKS.
Here's my story.
Saturday Sept 24
Two weeks ago, I was getting ready to do the second of two nights in a club in Geneva. When we do double headers, I usually leave the cab behind and take home my Markbass Little Mark head, my pedal board, bass. So, twenty minutes before we start, I plugged in the head and turned it on. The power light lit up. The clipping light lit up and stayed on. No sound. I tried running my Sadowsky floor preamp into effects return incase the preamp was screwed up. Nothing.
Monday Sept 26th,
I called the dealer that I bought the head from in March of this year. He told me that since I bought the head on sale, there was no guarantee or warranty. Nothing. He said my only option was to take it to a repair shop and pay out of pocket. Well, in these parts, they charge you $150 just to open stuff, before fixing anything. This just didn't seem right. Every manufacturer has at least a one year warranty.
Tuesday Sept 27th
No knowing any Swiss dealers, I emailed Dave at Club Bass in Toronto and told him my story. Dave wrote me back in 20-25 minutes saying the dealer was wrong and to email Peter, the Canadian distributor and ask him what to do. I emailed Peter.
Wednesday Sept 28th
Here is what he wrote, copying Marco (of Markbass), the German distributor and the newly appointed Swiss distributor:
QUOTE
We are indeed interested in keeping our customers happy. That being said, Markbass gear is incredibly reliable and we hear very few stories like yours. Our component failure rate is currently 0.06%.I trust you've tried using different instrument and speaker cables, cables, power cables, power sources, instruments. Please make sure you've gone through all of these possibilities. As I say, Markbass amps are extremely reliable and I've never heard of one just die like you say yours did. On my end I will inform Markbass head office and our Swiss distributor about this and see what they say.
UNQUOTE
thursday, Sept 29th
The following day, I got an email from the distributor in Germany at Smile Music. Here is what they said:
QUOTE
As Peter told you MARKBASS is very serious about customer service and after 3 years of distribution, I agree with Peter that MARKBASS has less problems than every other Bass Equipment company I know or have been distributed
before. Please send the LITTLE MARK to AUDIO TECH to fix the problem immediately.
UNQUOTE
Saturday, October 1st
Went to the post office and mailed the head across Switzerland. Swiss post is incredible. Mail anything by 3 in the afternoon and it gets delivered by 9. Never fails. I mailed it to Audio Tech, the Swiss distributor.
Monday, October 3rd
I emailed the distributor to tell him the head was on its way. Knowing the Swiss post, he should receive it on Monday. Here is what Thomas, the Swiss distributor had to say:
QUOTE
Thanks for your e-mail which had my highest attention. As soon as we get the amp we'll treat it as a high priority. Thanks for trusting MarkBass.
UNQUOTE
Thursday, October 6th
I went home at lunch to let the dog out. Sitting on the front porch was my Markbass head. For it to have arrived on Thursday, it would have been shipped on Wednesday. That means they got it Monday and turned it around in 2 days. I tried it out and it works perfectly. No charge. No delays. No questions.
I sent an email yesterday to Marco, Dirk, Peter, Thomas thanking them for seemingly dropping everything to make me happy. I was stunned and still am stunned by this.
Friday, October 7th
Just got an email from Marco de Virgiliis, designer and owner of Markbass. Here are Marco's comments:
QUOTE
Dear Brian,
we try our best to follow our musician, and so we try to have a very good collaboration with all our distributors, dealers.
Marco
UNQUOTE
Within 2 weeks, the guys supporting this product line in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were all over me like a cheap suit. They:
1. Answered each email within a day.
2. Repeated a mantra of customer focus and fast turnaround.
3. Over delivered on customer service.
Very impressive response.
Dave, Peter, Dirk, Thomas and of course Marco .THANKS.
