GK MB 212 II Rant. Not Happy

[pbass2]

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Washington DC metro area and our music stores, Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center is (or at least used to be - I haven't been there in a while) a monster operation. When local music stores would get a box or two of something, Chuck's got train car loads. Every top brand could be found there and you had your choice of picking from a huge stock room of almost any product you can imagine. If you came in looking for a Fender Jazz Bass you could try out 20 or 30 and pick the one you liked. That's what adds to making this such a sad and hard to believe story. Chuck's was a music icon for decades.

And they had not just the usual suspects, but gear you wouldn't easily find on the rack elsewhere. I remember in about '84, finding a late 70's fretless Precision, never owned, original case with all the tags, etc. there. Had been "in the basement" or something along those lines--was literally brand new. Going to Chuck's was like going to a giant candy shop!

 

[StudioGC]

Unless I read something wrong, sounds like more of an issue with the repair shop than actually GK.

My issue with GK is the reply I received from them (two months into the repair) when the said "the local repair facility (Protech) is independently owned and operated. They are simply a GK authorized repair facility we supply parts to."

In my mind, the proper response would be "Holy Cow! You've been waiting how long for your amp? Let me call them ASAP and see what's going on!"

 

[chrose1201]

Man, when I was growing up in the DC area Chuck's was THE place to go--they took care of you, even if you were a noob. Bummer.

Got my first guitar and amp from them. A WMC les Paul copy (man I wish i had it back a friend who it was lent to lent it to someone who sold it) anyhoo there were a couple of decent sales guys there and Chuck and his wife were always there but I always felt it was more about the money than concern for joe average customer. I liked Venemans much better!

 

[chrose1201]

Got my first guitar and amp from them. A WMC les Paul copy (man I wish i had it back a friend who it was lent to lent it to someone who sold it) anyhoo there were a couple of decent sales guys there and Chuck and his wife were always there but I always felt it was more about the money than concern for joe average customer. I liked Venemans much better!

Sorry though, that was digressing from the op....

 

[pcake]

My issue with GK is the reply I received from them (two months into the repair) when the said "the local repair facility (Protech) is independently owned and operated. They are simply a GK authorized repair facility we supply parts to."

In my mind, the proper response would be "Holy Cow! You been waiting how long for your amp? Let me call them ASAP and see what's going on!"

i definitely agree that "Holy Cow!" would be the response i'd have given. what did the retailer who sent you to the shop have to say?

 

[Al Kraft]

My issue with GK is the reply I received from them (two months into the repair) when the said "the local repair facility (Protech) is independently owned and operated. They are simply a GK authorized repair facility we supply parts to."

In my mind, the proper response would be "Holy Cow! You've been waiting how long for your amp? Let me call them ASAP and see what's going on!"

I agree...a GK retailer sent you to the local GK authorized repair facility...the negative reflection on GK's credibility with the ensuing train wreck should have resulted in some high level management conversations and at least a few apologies by senior folks by the end of the next business day. However, now that you've got the attention of the right folks at GK, I'm confident they will do the right thing.

 

[pbass2]

Got my first guitar and amp from them. A WMC les Paul copy (man I wish i had it back a friend who it was lent to lent it to someone who sold it) anyhoo there were a couple of decent sales guys there and Chuck and his wife were always there but I always felt it was more about the money than concern for joe average customer. I liked Venemans much better!

Dude, I lived really close to Venemans. I used to ride my bike over and just drool at the gear. Bought my first good bass, a '74 Jetglo 4001 there, in '75 when I was a lad of 15. Bought amps, keyboards, you-name-it there. Great shop.

 

[loveandbass]

Unless I read something wrong, sounds like more of an issue with the repair shop than actually GK.

Except the thing crapped out after 3 months

 

[Gizmot]

Sorry to hear your story. I've done business with Chuck Levin's for a lot of years including some recent transactions and have always received red carpet and white glove service, They are very good people who have never done me wrong.

 

[alltomorrowsparties]

The reason I purchased a GK combo amp last October was because of the great customer service and dependability of the product I had heard so much about.

Well, I've had the amp 6 months and I've only been able to play it for about 3 months. Half of its life has been spent in the repair shop.

It started cutting out on me during band practice in March of this year. Took it into the store where I bought it (Chuck Levins Washington Music Center) and they said, wrong place to bring it in for repair. You need to take it to our repair facility (about 10 miles away, but ages in DC traffic). Bummed out since I called ahead and asked where to take the amp for warranty work and they said back to the store. Oh well.

The big issue I have is it took them 3 months to get the amp back to me. They claimed lost parts, amp didn't get put into repair rotation etc. etc.

Two months into this ordeal I wrote to GK to see if they could light a fire under the butts of the repair facility. Jason simply said the repair facility's are independently owned and operated and they have nothing to do with them other then to supply parts.

This brings us to last Friday when I FINALLY picked up my amp. Plugged it in at band practice and same damn problem. It's like they didn't even test it.

Can you imagine how tee'd off I am at this point?

I took it back to Chuck Levin's the next day to see if they could exchange it for a working amp or atleaast talk to GK. They said nope, you're only choice is to take it back to the repair facility. So here I wait again.

My local mom and pop store hooked me up with a cab to get me through gigs I've had and I've since purchased a Markbass since I will be selling this GK lemon.

I would be inclined to keep it if there was some concern on the part of GK or Chuck Levins for the crappy service and disregard for customer service. I really feel left out in the cold on this and it has REALLY turned me off of GK and Chuck Levins Washington Music Center.

Rant over.

My mb210 was garbage as well. Sounds like we had the same problem. I finally gave up (it's been sitting in my garage for months) and I only got about 6 months of use out of it. My local music shop couldn't fix it

 

[blubass]

Sorry to hear, but this seems much more to do with a piss poor repair facility, and a lot less to do with GK customer service. I wouldn't expect GK to offer to take an amp back that you already told them was at some point of repair at another facility. Anyone would reasonably expect if the amp is at a repair facility, it would come back, repaired. If you call them back and explain the situation and that you're in possession of the amp, I'm sure they'd offer up a solution.

 

[ZenG]

GK's response was " we have no control over the repair facility...we just send parts there'.....which translated means " We couldn't care less".

 

[pudgychef]

Sorry to hear, but this seems much more to do with a piss poor repair facility, and a lot less to do with GK customer service. I wouldn't expect GK to offer to take an amp back that you already told them was at some point of repair at another facility. Anyone would reasonably expect if the amp is at a repair facility, it would come back, repaired. If you call them back and explain the situation and that you're in possession of the amp, I'm sure they'd offer up a solution.

As soon as they heard of such a delay and treatment, an investigative call was in order...
Zen G hit the nail below imho

GK's response was " we have no control over the repair facility...we just send parts there'.....which translated means " We couldn't care less".

 

[blubass]

As soon as they heard of such a delay and treatment, an investigative call was in order...
Zen G hit the nail below imho

All I read is an assumption and a confirmation bias because you agree with the assumption. I never make assumptions in instances like this. I would call them, and ask them to take care of it, or recommend a repair facility with a good reputation in the area. I'm not interested in interpretations and hearsay- I want direct answers from the source.

 

[edencab]

why didn't you test the amp when you picked it up, after it was repaired, instead of schleping it to practice?

 

[B-string]

This certainly not the usual response from G-K, it is usually followed with G-K offering to call them to see if they can help. Of course we don't know how your message to G-K was written/worded. A person asking for help usually gets it? A rant with pos this - pos that, demanding action could be met by a human with less than stellar response. I would still offer a "page" to @rag

 

[KevInDaBassment]

To play Devil's Advocate here, consider the scale of a company like GK and how many authorized repair facilities there are in the U.S. for various amp brands. If the repair shop is independently owned and operated, that means that GK can't exactly tell them how to run their business or make any real threats to them if they don't get a move on. They don't know what the shop queue is like, if they are shorthanded as of late, or if there is some oversight or unforeseen circumstance that is causing delay. If GK tells them to get a move on, they'll probably give some excuse and GK can't confirm or deny their claims, so it just becomes time wasted for both parties. I don't know if they do repairs at their manufacturing facilities or how that works exactly, but if GK is unable to do these repairs and they are delegated out to authorized independent repair facilities, I don't really see how they have any control over this situation...it's the repair facility's fault.

The nice thing for them to do is offer a replacement, but that would be the exception to the rules and not something expected of the vast majority of major manufacturers. It really seems like the beef is with the shop that sold it to you and the bum repair facility that doesn't even get it fixed. FWIW I can cite that I've used GK gear (new and used) for years and haven't had any issues out of it. I wouldn't give up hope, they have some killer gear.

 

[wintremute]

I've been contrasting and comparing the GK MB212-II and the Markbass CMD102P. I'm very interested in hearing what the outcome of this situation is.

 

[skychief]

Any "authorized" repair facility should meet some basic performance standard. GK had to give the wink and the nod for the Chuck Levins to be granted "authorized repair facility". Chuck certainly didn't bestow that honor on himself.

The fact they had your amp for 3 months and returned it not functioning indicates one of two things; 1) they don't know what they're doing or 2) they just don't care.

In either case, GK should should be all over this like a duck on a June bug. (imo) I surprised they've shown such a cavalier attitude about this. You are right to be P.O.'d about this.

 

[interp]

File a Better Business Bureau complaint against the store and the repair facility.