I need some advice - Damaged Heat +FX

Elektron Gear Analog Heat
#1

So I bought a used Heat +FX on reverb, and it arrived in a box that clearly displayed water damage. So of course I quickly opened it up and tested it out - it worked perfectly. I have owned an OG Heat before so I knew what to expect. I recorded a full track through it with no issues whatsoever.

A few days later, I decided to sell it on reverb because I needed to majorly downsize my setup for a new living situation. The person who ends up buying it messages me immediately saying they were getting crackling out of the right output on Clean Boost and Saturation. They troubleshoot and get nowhere, so they return it to me for a refund.

I have it now and there is clearly something wrong with the right outputs. No matter what mode you are in you can barely hear anything on the right side, and occasionally you get severe crackling/pops. Everything else seems to be working. I’m probably out of luck with reverb to try and return it to the original owner. So my question is:

How hard would it be to try and fix this thing? Does anybody have any advice for me?

#2

Check the warranty. It should definitely fall under it, those boxes are like two months old.

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#3

Unfortunately since I’m not the original owner and bought it used I don’t get any warranty protection. You have to be able to prove original purchase.

#4

Why do you think you’ll have no luck with the original owner? how long ago was the transaction? Was there any damage stated in the original sales listing? did you already leave them positive feedback? did they already issue you some kind of refund for the trouble?

You could easily have put off using it for a few weeks. Unless you’ve explicitly cleared the issue in writing with the original party, that would be my first step.

Water damage, if it is visible damage, will void the warranty. It’s damage, not a defect.

incorrect. elektron warranties equipment for 3 years from the build date, which is printed on the sticker on the bottom as year and week number.

the warranty transfers between owners, it only becomes an issue of purchase date when outside of 3 years, as it can be an extension if you prove the date of purchase on the receipt.

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#5

Appreciate the response. I didn’t know it transfers to new owners. So would I just need the original owner to provide proof of original purchase? And it is not visible water damage on the unit, it was just the shipping box that had the visible water damage. I originally purchased 09 July

#6

You don’t really need anything from the original owner, it might help in the long run but right now just possession of the unit is all that matters.

In fact, if it’s july 09th I’d be talking to the original seller and reverb before anything, but do it however is necessary for you. how damaged is the box visibly? like, does it appear the unit would have gotten submerged in water? or was it like, something splashed on it and wasn’t cleaned up immediately. the packaging is pretty sturdy from all my elektron purchases…

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#7

I think you need to just contact Elektron. Get it’s serial number registered to your account and then start the warranty process.

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#8

Oh hell yeah… thank you both. I did reach out to the original owner for a refund but haven’t heard back. I will also reach out to Elektron. Ya’ll rock, I appreciate your time — I was feeling defeated and now I have some hope.

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#9

The fact that you tried to resell it may or may not matter, but given the situation and the timeframe my approach would be contact Reverb first.

The reason for this is you could easily say you didn’t understand their policies because obviously you didn’t, and tell them about the damage and now the issue with the equipment. Especially if the seller did not disclose the damage to you.

As far as the registration, the serial number will be on the box, also on the bottom will be something similar to this. Make sure the numbers match between the box and the bottom, also the build date I mentioned is on the sticker as the numeric year so 2023 then a W for week then a number indicating week of the year it was manufactured.

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I would expect the seller, rather than deal with a reverb arbitration, may offer you a partial refund. If you want to wait for elektron to potentially repair it, you can decide if that’s right for you, depending on the price you paid… However, I would expect it will take a minimum of several months to send your heat in to them and get it back, maybe more because I read that they are on minimal staff for the summer holidays and they’re pretty backlogged.

Just take it one step at a time and be prepared for what you need to do, contacting reverb is a good step, then registering it under your account on the elektron website would be the next step.

The one thing I would NOT do, if you haven’t already, is tell the original seller you tried to resell it and that it was returned to you. If you already did, then I don’t know how to approach the issue other than being straightforward. To me though, the issue is still between you and them as the original seller and the buyer, subsequent issues with the device included - the additional sale, not included. It will cloud the issue too much.

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#10

Great great advice. I did not inform them of the second resale.

#11

Alright, just don’t be a jerk with them or reverb, being angry is understandable but it won’t help you negotiate. Being in the right is your best negotiation tactic, you didn’t do anything wrong here, not really. You bought something, it was not as described. Bottom line is you are the one who get screwed. Even if you left them feedback, I’d tell reverb “I just thought that’s how it works when someone sends you something and you receive it.” Reverb is 99% on the side of the buyer because without buyers they won’t make any money off of sellers. Be prepared though because if it comes to arbitration, reverb may refund you and have you send the heat directly to them and they will deal with the seller. No guarantees about that, but I’ve seen it happen and they (reverb) even have an account where their corporate office resells gear that was damaged in shipping but is still saleable, although I’d have to look for it but I’ve seen it before with numerous items so they have policies in place to deal with this. It’s better if you had done it right away, but we’re talking less than 30 days so I think it’s still within reason to expect they’ll back you.

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#12

Agreed!

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#13

When the item arrived, was there water on the actual unit itself, or just the packaging? If just on the packaging, I wouldn’t even assume that water damage is the reason and I’d simply send this off to Elektron for warranty repair without even mentioning the water on the packaging. (Just send the device in a dry box to eliminate any risks.)

If the device itself did indeed arrive to you with visible water on it, and not just on the packaging, you really should have asked for an immediate return rather than testing it and then reselling it. :thinking:

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#14

As stated above, only the outside box had water damage, but it was pretty severe. And also as stated above, I tested it and it worked fine. The issues only became apparent after a few days-1 week. I’m not certain it was water damage that caused it, it just seems plausible.

#15

Update: Reverbs policy is 7 days.

Buyer denied refund but forwarded Thomann docs needed for warranty claim.

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#16

Well, anticlimactic as it may be, you’ve now got a clear plan of action and once it’s gone through repair or replace you can decide if you’ll move forward with selling it again.

Have you set up an account on the elektron website before this point?

Elektron

if you go to account and then register, you can start the process of opening a repair ticket.

You have to make sure your personal information on file is current and then register the piece of gear with the serial number so it’s on file, at which point you can open the aforementioned ticket.

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#17

Yep… and I might just keep it this go around haha. Yeah I registered it under my Elektron account last night and opened a ticket.

Do y’all think I’d be better off going the Elektron warranty route, or go through Thomann?

#18

What was the thomann purchase date? let’s take a look at their policy.

Also, are you a thomann EU customer or thomann US?

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#19

Original buyer purchased on 06Jun23.

Thomann also offers 3 year warranty: 3-Year Warranty – Thomann United States

#20

The buyer was in US but paid international shipping from Thomann